Chapter 2

I woke up on a net, suspended ten feet above an underground lake.

I shouldn't have been alive. No one should have been able to survive a fall of this length, even with a net. But the thoughts escaped me as I gazed in awe at my surroundings.

Shadows and light intermingled, creating a hypnotic mosaic on the stone walls, making it feel as though I had somehow fallen into the sea, instead of an old mine shaft. Clumps of algae seemed to be dancing in the uncertain light, as if enjoying the grand balls Mam used to tell me about, before she was taken away. A lord there, a duchess there, watched over by two extra large boulders, a king and queen peacefully watching the merry-making of their subjects. {TRANSITION WILL BE PLACED HERE} The rhythmic sound of water lapping against the smooth floor echoed around the cavern, a peaceful lullaby to a girl who had just barely escaped death.

I looked down at the net. Woven of the thick, strong plexiglass {i don't even really know what plexiglass is...can you make rope out of it?} cords used to lower workers into the mines, it made me wonder. How had it gotten here?

A rope ladder leading down from a slightly larger hole in the net allowed passage to a small gravel path, which led to a dark tunnel dug deep into the wall. I followed the path, hoping it might lead to answers.