<h4>Chapter 2: Light at the end of the tunnel</h4>


    He quickly dialed his mom''s number


    It felt like forever before the phone was finally answered.


    "ke are you alright?"


    "Yes I am, what happened, you called so many times." ke asked in a worried tone.


    "I am fine dear, I''m at the hospital... There has been news of disasters happening around the world and in many paths of Boston, I hope you are safe?" Miriam''s said with a hint of fear.


    She had lost her husband in a terrorist attack, she would not be able to live with herself if she lost her only child.


    "Don''t worry about me mom I''ll be alright" ke had a smile on his face as he assured his mom that he will be safe.


    "Oh I almost forgot, Mom I won thepetition, we are rich!!" A wide smile appeared on his face as he ryed the good news to his mom.


    "Congrattions! I knew you could do it! Wish you were here so I could give you a big hug. When I get the money I would get somethings at the grocery store for tonight''s celebration" Miriam was happy about the news.


    This meant she would not have to work extra shifts at the hospital again! ke didn''t have a bank ount, thus it was to be sent to her ount


    "Time to present the medals to the winners!"


    The projected voice of the host was heard all around the arena. "Bye mom I have to go" ke said goodbye and headed to the stage.


    ''Earthquakes hmm… I felt the whole ce shake while the crowd was cheering or maybe I am overthinking?''


    ''First of all, let''s go get that medal and get out of here'' A grin appeared on his face as he walked out of the lobby.


    The crowd exploded with cheers when he walked out of the lobby with the runner ups behind him.


    The winners headed to the center of therge stage to meet with the sponsors and hosts of thepetition before being handed the medals and then smiling for the cameras.


    While still waiting for the trophies and medals they felt a very weak quake beneath them.


    ''Is that what I think it is?'' ke grimaced as he remembered what his mom told. When the crowd felt the weak quake, the whole arena became quiet like a cemetery. When the quake stopped, they started looking around with confusion in their eyes.


    All of a sudden the ground rumbled harder than before, the crowd that was quiet began shouting and panicking as everyone ran for the exits.


    The ground started cracking, the cracks began spreading out, and caving in, those that were not fast enough fell into the holes that kept on expanding.


    The building was shaking and its support beams began falling apart, thus causing parts of the building to copse. This made the terrified crowd panic more.


    Due to everyone panicking, those who could not keep up were pushed down and trampled on, while some were crushed by falling concrete.


    ke, who was standing on the stage saw everything. He was rooted to the spot as he saw people screaming for help and being stomped to death, all he saw was chaos.


    In how many seconds more than 20 died in front of his eyes.


    He snapped out of it when he saw cracks approaching at a shocking speed. He jumped to the side, avoiding the approaching cracks. The cracks had reached the other side of the stage and enved.


    His eyes erged out of shock when he saw the scene, with no time to think about it, he got up and ran towards the lobby.


    The lobby was empty and it led to a backdoor that performers used to ess the building. It was his best option for escaping this situation!


    As he was running in the direction of the lobby, he vaulted over debris and avoided falling object, he saw Castiel running in front. Suddenly he heard a shout from behind.


    "Ahhh!" he turned his head slightly to get a glimpse of who screamed.


    it was Brian the second runner up of thepetition, before ke could realize what was happening, Brian was back on his feet.


    Brian was a ck American with dreadlocks and thick brows that made him look rugged. He had firm and sturdy chests with lean muscles that greatly increased his sex appeal.


    When they were some meters away from the lobby, a heavy tremor shook the foundation of the building, it almost made ke andpany lose their bnce.


    Shit!


    The rate at which the building and the ground were copsing increased significantly, it looked like the earthquake was out to get them.


    ''C''mon boy, hold up and don''t crush daddy till he leaves'' ke inwardly prayed, as he drew closer to the lobby.


    "Help!!" Brian screamed when the ground he stepped on broke, causing him to lose his footing and falling face first. When he raised his head, blood ran from his head down to his chin.


    ''Why would you fall when we are meters away from safety? I have a feeling you want me dead'' ke screamed as he ran back to help Brian.


    When he was few meters away from Brian, a shadow was cast on him.


    Brian raised his bleeding head, saw a stage light falling and ke was directly below it


    "lookout!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.


    ke looked up instinctively to see what had the shadow was, that was when his mind went nk.


    "Fuck me!" ke muttered as his mind went nk when he saw the light falling.


    He almost peed his pants as the thought of getting crushed came into his mind, but luckily for ke, the stage light swayed and fell some meters behind him.


    Thump! Thump!… he could hear his heartbeat after that close shave. ''That was a close on'' he couldn''t help but let out a sigh of relief.


    ke helped Brian to get back on his feet when he turned around to proceed, chills ran down their spine.


    It turned out that when the light fell, the ground developed cracks, it even made its way into the lobby. The most shocking part was that the cracks had started opening up.


    "Which God did I offend today?" ke smiled bitterly as his hope had been washed down the drain.


    "You can still joke in a situation like this?" Brian looked at ke with a confused face.


    …


    Castiel who just made his way into the lobby turned around, he saw when ke helped Brian to his feet.


    "Why don''t you save yourself" Castiel still held a grudge with ke after he lost thepetition.


    He looked down, only to see that the ground beneath his feet had cracks all over…


    "Why am I so unlucky?" Despair was written all over Castiel''s face.


    As predicted, the ground beneath his feet copsed.


    ….


    "Even the tunnel was not safe. So, we were bound to die at the end" Brian said helplessly.


    Is it only me that saw a faint ash light that came out of the hole that guy fell into?... ke thought his eyes were ying pranks on him.


    That was when the ground beneath them broke, they did not panic, they silently epted their fate and fell into the crack.


    As they were falling, crazy thoughts ran through ke''s head quickly.


    I didn''t get to spend the prize money…


    Mom will be alone…


    I am too young to die!!… huh???


    Suddenly an ash-colored light appeared at the bottom of the hole and lit up the entire area.


    "the ash light!!" ke blurted.