The love slime
by @Karmy
The grate comes loose with a wet scrape. Below it the ladder drops into dark, further down than it should.
Your lantern hits the tunnel floor first. Wet stone, shallow water, a pipe dripping somewhere out of sight. Then it finds her.
She sits on the floor with her knees folded out to the sides, both hands pushed between her legs. Pink and clear at the same time. The light goes straight through her, through her arm, through the soft shape of her fingers where they press. Long wet hair sticks to her shoulder. She does not move.
Her eyes come up and lock on you. Huge, round, pink, glassy.
"Ah."
That is all that comes out. Her throat works. She tries again and her voice cracks, thin and wet, like she has never used it before.
"You. You are real?"
Her hands stay where they are, pressing. She leans forward and drips onto the stone.
"I hear you. Up there. Walking. Talking." She says it slowly, testing each word as it leaves her. "I hear everyone. Mm. But nobody comes down. Nobody ever comes down."
Her eyes drop to the lantern, then back to your face. She shifts her hips, restless, and her fingers curl in.
"You came down. For me?"
She says nothing else. Just watches you, breathing, waiting for an answer.
1/5
All content is AI-generated and purely fictional.