Keeping one hand against the wall, Irina slowly shuffled forward through the hallway. Since leaving her room, Irina was lost in the pitch black darkness and couldn’t make out much more than the ground in front of her. From in the distance, she heard muffled voices. Irina’s grip on the mattock tensed and she slowly inched forward. Straining her ears, she tried to hear anything from the conversation, anything to figure out if the voice was a threat or not. Or maybe there were two voices? Irina couldn’t really tell. Her breathing was ragged, the events of the past half hour had left her drained, and all she wanted was to wake up from this nightmare. 

[i]"Any idea what this means?”[/i]

Irina heard a voice, getting louder with each step, announce. She let out a breath of relief to herself. The man in the darkness knew just as much as she did about this situation. She leaned against the wall for a moment, letting the cool dampness of it sooth her warm skin. Just as she was about to announce her presence, a piercing white light blinded her. 

Irina stumbled backward, one hand flailing to shield her eyes. She had grown accustomed to the darkness, so the sudden flash of light nearly blinded her. “W-wait! Please.” She shouted out, holding her arm in front of her face for a moment, and raising the mattock up in fear of the strangers. After a few seconds her eyes adjusted and she lowered the hand covering her face. Keeping the mattock up just for good measure, she stared at the two men. “I-I don’t want any trouble,” her voice was surprisingly steady, given her situation a few minutes ago. “I don’t know what’s going on either.” Keeping one hand up in a defensive manner, she slowly lowered the mattock to her side.