#NaNoWriMo 2017 Short Story #9 of 10 — The Cave

“Cold, almost like a freezer” whispered Jordan as she broached the entrance. Ever since she was a kid, she wanted to go inside. To explore it. Her parents always prevented her, saying it wasn’t safe, never giving a reason why. All she wanted was to take a peek and see what the fuss was all about. With all of her brains, she figured she could take care of herself. Now, on a dare with some friends on the even of High School graduation, it was time.

Advancing further into the cave, light became an issue. It was already dark, so the kids had been using their cell phone lights. However, the utter darkness of the cave began to swallow their light, almost like it fed on it. Seemingly large and endless, it was impossible to see much more than what was in front of them. Stepping carefully, Jordan heard a loud crunch, causing everyone to look down. What she saw caused her to let out a little scream.

“What was that all about?” her friend Amanda asked quietly.

Jordan, catching her breath, replied, “I think I just stepped on a skull.”

The three adventurers froze, wondering if they really should be continuing.

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Everyone feared the cave, but the kids found that silly. Jordan was with her best friends Amanda and Derek tonight, and they didn’t buy into the “be afraid” mindset. They were determined to explore this thing. Of course, that is the nature of a teenager, wanting to prove the adults wrong. Here was their chance, Jordan thought. To show them all there is nothing to be afraid of.

The planning for this get away had been in the work for weeks. So much had the parents of this small town been concerned about children wandering into the cave they barred any overnight activities, so just getting away for a night wasn’t a simple matter. Wanting to move away and go to college, the students feared their parents making them stay at home if they ever ventured in to the cave. The result? Kids always stayed home unless they were out with their parents.

In order to get out for the night, they had to sneak out quietly, and they had to be back before the sun came up. This gave them roughly six hours to work with, once they made sure their parents were asleep. Using a few electronic devices that Amanda had put together and programmed, a knock at the door or motion would trigger a response that was their voice, and would actually respond to some common prompts and keywords. It like like what Ferris Bueller did, but a little more modern. If it messed up, they would have to kiss their bright futures goodbye.

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Gathering themselves, the trio huddled closer, consolidating their light, and pressed onward. Dripping and a light howl from the wind were the only sounds they could hear besides, of course, their stunted breaths. Each step drew more intrigue. Each step more tentative than the last. The sheer nothingness of what they could see in front of them filled their minds with terrible images. Was there a giant bear? A mountain lion? Or worse, some mythical creature too horrible to describe? Whatever it was, they had to find out.

Progress was slow as they made sure every step was clean and that they were always looking behind themselves. Jordan was no stranger to horror movies, and it always bothered her that the characters would never look behind themselves, always becoming preoccupied with what was in front of them. No matter what happened, she was determined to make sure they had all of their bases covered.

“Do you think it ever ends?” asked Derek.

Amanda was quick to respond. “I don’t know. But I’m about ready to leave. This seems foolish — we can’t see a thing.”

Jordan thought about it a little harder. Tuning her senses, she realized something. A breeze. Coming from in front of them. That gave her the answer. “Don’t you feel that? Wind from in front of us. It has to end, or we wouldn’t feel that!”

Confident in Jordan, whom the other two considered their defacto leader, they continued onward into the depths of the blackness.

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The stories were wild about the cave as the kids grew up. Even though no kids were supposed to be out overnight, that didn’t stop curious adults from making their way up to the cave. Officially, the town had a policy against anyone venturing up there. However, they couldn’t completely stop the craziest resident from their overwhelming intrigue. Much like the urban legend of the Bermuda Triangle, no one who ever entered the cave made it back home. The last such case was five years before Jordan’s journey.

So what happened to the man who never came back? Rumors swirled. Much like the ideas the kids had, the word in the town was that a wild animal lived in the cave, which of course was the simplest and neatest explanation. If it was simply a crazy bear, everything would be different. Of course kids wouldn’t test their luck (well, the reasonable ones anyway). It just didn’t seem logical to Jordan and her friends. How, for the entire history of the town, could one bear, or even a family of bears, continue to terrorize them without an absolutely confirmation?

In the absence of a believable story, many in the town made up their own ideas. The most popular was the thought that there was a rip in time inside the cave. Somehow, every person who entered was being sent to some point in the past. Of course this was outlandish, but it was fun and scary and kept the kids away. Adults also like the use fables to frighten kids into behaving. But, for ones like Jordan, Amanda, and Derek, the charade could only last for so long. Eventually, they just had to know.

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The group continued onward, stepping over bones along the way, all three suppressing their disgust and fright. Despite the popularity of the time rift theory, it seems that the presence of bones would be much closer to the boring, but still deadly, wild animal theory. At this point many would turn back. But not these three intrepid explorers. Each was able to procure a firearm, and they felt confident they could fight back against any creature.

Checking their cell phone batteries, they decided now was the time to switch to flashlights. With roughly four hours left before needing to be back in bed, they had another hour to dive deeper. Not knowing how much battery the flashlights had left, they wanted to make sure they had some light to get back with. Hovering around 40% for each of them, conservation was necessary as they powered down the devices. For the rest of the way, they hoped to make due with the slightly more powerful second options.

Seeing more of their surroundings now, they discovered just how large this cave was. The walls were at least ten yards away in either direction, and the ceiling stretched at least that much in the air. It made sense, as the cave was located in the side of a small mountain just outside the town. Going through Jordan’s mind, she wondered why the town didn’t make more of an effort to secure the cave and make it an attraction. As much as she could tell, it was beautiful and extravagant. Being an artist herself, she would have loved to paint it in the daylight. Even though she really wanted to know the truth about the cave, she would give anything to be back home in her studio, drawing the images in her head instead of the evil visions her eyes were filled with now.

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“Mom! MOM! Come here!” a younger Jordan screamed. She was ten years old and had just painted her first masterpiece.

Rushing into the room, her mom looked upon it with complete adoration. “Oh, baby, it is beautiful! We need to get this framed and on the wall as as soon as possible. You have a talent Jor!”

Jordan was just beaming. At her young age, she felt like she found her thing. It just took off from there. Over the next eight years, she dedicated herself to artistic pursuits, gathering the best materials, and improving her talents. Watching hours of Youtube, she supplemented the rather short art classes at school with a huge investment of time on her own. By the time she was a Senior in high school, she had won awards at local and state competitions and was eyeing a full ride at Yale.

She badly needed the aid. Her family didn’t have much, so any chance of attending an elite university depended on help. Derek had a slightly different story.

He excelled at football and wanted to pursue a career first in that. The college didn’t matter so much, although he would have loved to play at a big school. However, being from a small town made that a very difficult pursuit. Ultimately, it would take an incredibly amount of exposure, determination, and amazing performances at the Junior college or lower division ranks for him to get a shot. Quarterback was his position of choice, but he was athletic enough to play anywhere. The biggest question for him was — would anybody know who he was when it counted?

Amanda was the technologically gifted one of the crew. As evidenced by her ingenious creations to help their alibi while they were out, she loved working with all manner of circuits, computers, and electricity. Unlike her friends, she wasn’t looking to go to college. She had plans to create a startup. Based off of the creation she made for her friends, she already had a minimal viable product to show. Now, it was just a matter of getting an investor to bite. The money just wasn’t there, and it wouldn’t be coming from Jordan or Derek. As soon as she graduated, she was ready to drive across the country to California to find the right people to make it happen.

The three kids all had big dreams with some serious obstacles. In many ways, their adventure into the cave was a way to distract from all of that. Conquering the cave could give them the confidence they needed to go out and overcome the real challenges in their lives.

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“What is that? Do you hear that?” asked Jordan in a panic.

“I didn’t hear anything, did you Amanda?”

“Nope. Sorry Jor, but I think your mind is playing tricks on you.”

“I swear I hear breathing. You don’t hear that?” Jordan was still concerned. Not only did she hear it, but it seemed to be getting louder as they went. Still, it was faint enough that Jordan convinced herself that it was too quiet for the others to hear at this point.

Both Amanda and Derek shake their heads. With that, they continued onward.

“Cree cree!” was heard and a fluttering flew past the group, causing them to jump, Derek to shout, and Jordan to fall over.

“What the heck was that?” shouted Amanda.

“No idea. Probably a bat.” replied Derek. Once their breathing calmed, they began to move on.

“Wait for me!” Jordan shouted as she tried to get up. Using her hands to prop herself, she felt something sticky on her left hand. Moving her flashlight to show what she was feeling, her light slowly illuminated a viscous, red liquid. Lurching back instinctively, Jordan didn’t need any confirmation to know what it was.

“Ahh! Ahh! Bl…bl…blood!” she cried. The rest of the party stopped cold, unsure what to do next. Brains on overdrive, the kids began to wonder if they had made a terrible mistake. Was their curiosity really worth the risk they were putting on themselves? Why couldn’t they have just trusted their parents and not gone out?

Shuffling over to help their friend up, Amanda and Derek both followed the pool of blood up to its source. Carefully, their lights eventually revealed a large shape. Derek reached down grabbing Jordan by the right arm, and helped her up. They exchanged glances, and without speaking, decided on their course of action. The magnetic pull of the mystery of the corpse was too strong. They had to know. Lights trained on the body, they take soft baby steps closer and closer. Soon, they are upon it. Amanda sees and nearby stick, picks it up, and pokes at the shape.

No moving. No sounds. Just still and stiff.

Using the stick as a lever, the most inventive member of the team was able to wrench the body over, revealing a deceased bear.

“Phew.” sighed Jordan in relief. “At least we don’t have that to worry about.”

Amanda, in a serious tone, chided, “Yeah, but we have to worry about the thing that killed it!”

“That would be me.” Jordan’s heart stopped. The voice was not one of theirs.

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Five years ago, Marcus Laury disappeared. The most recent of many, his situation shocked many. Known as a huntsman and the toughest man in the town, he would have been the most prepared to take on whatever challenges would await inside any cave. Routinely he would bag ten point bucks and scoop up enough fish in one day to feed a family for a month. Chopping wood almost everyday allowed him to supply anybody who wanted it firewood for the entire winter. In short, if Marcus was taken by the cave, there would be no hope for anyone else.

The newspapers claimed he was killed by a bear, but there was never a body discovered and the town hushed it up as soon as they could. Even though he had a funeral, it was closed to family only. Essentially, the only way anybody knew about it were the stories that were told to frighten those foolish enough to consider the cave their challenge. But nobody really knew what was up there. At least, the ones that did never made it back.

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Paralyzed and unable the move, all the three teens could do was huddle together and stare. In front of them was a tall, grizzled man with tattered clothes and dirt smudged face.

“Why in the world did you come here?” asked the man with a tinge of pity. “Why didn’t you listen when they told you to avoid the cave at all costs?” Anger seeped through his voice, but Jordan could sense he wasn’t angry at them, but more upset at what they had done. What exactly had they done?, she thought.

Nobody spoke. Dread was wafting over them all.

“Well? You don’t speak now?” He was becoming agitated. Finally, Jordan broke the silence.

“Who…who are you?”

“Oh well, I bet you already know. I’m Marcus. Marcus Laury. I’ve been in this cave for five years. Now, if you don’t mind helping, I need to get that bear meat in a fire as soon as possible. That could feed us for a couple weeks if we play our cards right. Everyone, together now.”

Without even thinking, they just help him. Derek and Jordan primarily lifted, while Amanda used her flashlight to guide the way while Marcus directed her. Then, she stopped, and almost like she snapped out of a trance, questioned what they were doing.

“Why are we helping this guy? We should just turn around and go home!” Jordan and Derek seemed to agree. Meanwhile, Marcus started cackling.

Irritated, Amanda barked at him. “What is so funny? We did need to be with you crazy old man. We need to go home!”

Continuing to laugh, he fired back. “Haha. You haven’t been listening sweetheart. You aren’t going home. Ever. Want to know what the mystery of the cave is? Pretty simply — you will never find the exit once you come inside.”

All of her worst fears welling up inside of her, Jordan lost it. “What? You are a liar and psychotic! That makes absolutely zero sense. We were just walking straight in here. We can walk straight out. Let’s go everyone. Leave this senile vagabond in the dust.”

Marcus became serious now. “Fine. Go. But your life was over the moment you decided to leave your houses tonight.” With those words, the trio, defiant like they had been coming to the cave, walked their way towards the direction they came from.

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Sobs were heard wailing from the town square. Nearly all of the citizens of the small town gathered to pay their respects to the missing teens. It had been over a week since they disappeared, and it was clear that their intention was to head up to the cave. Their parents were inconsolable, blaming themselves for not doing enough to keep them away from that place. Never had such a somber sight occurred in that town.

A plan was hatched that day. With dynamite in their hands and revenge in their hearts, the townspeople would destroy the entrance to the cave. They had regretted they hadn’t done it sooner, hoping those who disappeared may come back again. But no one ever did come back. Fearing not the death of someone trapped, for they did not know of the curse of the cave, all they knew was they didn’t want anyone else to get lost up there. On a cold June morning, they made their final preparations.

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“Ugh. I’m starving. Why haven’t we found a way out yet?” cried Jordan. Hunger pangs were stabbing the trio of teens. Even though they had shared the bear meat with Marcus, is was all they had to eat for a week. Split amongst four, it went quickly. Scattered sunlight through cracks in the apex of the cave gave some light during the day, but no matter where the teens went, they could never find their way out.

Feeling a soft flow of air, Derek was sure they found the way out this time. “Here! This way! I think I’ve found it!”

Tired, thirsty, and famished, they had no choice. Unlike Marcus, they simply weren’t built to last here. So, they trudged onward, towards the apparent breeze.

“It’s getting stronger and stronger. And…I think…yes! I see light! Come on!” Derek was ecstatic. Too exhausted to argue the point, Jordan and Amanda simply followed him, their feet stumbling over rocks and debris. Fighting to stay upright, they linked arms, with Derek in the middle holding them steady.

Derek was frantic now. “I can see the trees and the entrance. We’re almost there!” His pace quickened, dragging the others along.

“I can breathe the fresh air! So close!” The brightness of the large world ahead burned Derek’s eyes as he pushed forward, leaving the girls trailing behind. His eyes grew fierce at the sight of freedom. His quickened pace turned into a run. Ready to leave the cave behind, his speed made the girls cry after him. But it was too late. A deafening boom knocked Derek back. Then another. Rocks fell from the ceiling, and in an instant, the cave collapsed, never to claim another life.

For a moment, Jordan was walking through a museum. Wandering through the massive halls of archaic works of art, she stops. Looking at the wall, she sees a gigantic framed painting of the first creation she ever painted. As she inched closer, everything faded to black.