It Hides In The Mines

5

"B-but, she was just there...." James' voice trailed off, echoing around the chamber. Robert's hand was shaking so hard that he couldn't keep his flashlight still on Kate's impassive face.

She was dead.

Dumped onto the ground of the cave like trash.

"That wasn't Kate. Something took Kate yesterday... and now it's going to take us," Robert said, pushing his sudden grief aside and giving priority to fear and adrenaline. He shot to his feet and motioned for his friends to follow him, ignoring the stench and sight of the lifeless body of Kate.

Loud clangs started echoing from behind them, either like very heavy footsteps or things falling repeatedly.

"Run!" Jen ordered, and the group took off as one, running in the direction Robert had last seen the miner.

Robert could feel his heart trying to beat out of his throat. What the hell was going on? He wasn't cut out for this. It was supposed to be an easy gig, but it turned out to be real...

"Hurry!" Robert yelled when the clangs got quicker and louder. He quickly took a right turn, and the other two followed him. As soon as they stepped foot into the chamber Robert had made them stumble upon, the clangs cut out. Everything was completely silent.

Robert bent over to catch his breath before shining his flashlight around the chamber.

"What's that?" Robert asked, his voice echoing around the chamber. He pointed his flashlight towards a small wooden chest sitting on the ground in the center of the chamber, next to Robert's lost shoe. Jen stopped staring at the map and approached the chest along with James and Jen.

Robert kept glancing behind him as they approached, not willing to leave anything up to chance. James was the one who opened it, to Robert's relief. It creaked slightly, and James had to use both hands to pry it open. It was roughly the length of Robert's forearm and as tall as his hand with fingers outstretched.

Inside stood a golden ring, its shine and beauty contrasting the grim and dark surroundings of the group. James took it out of the box carefully, his hand shaking visibly, albeit a lot less than Robert's.

"Guys, the ritual!" Robert said as an idea entered his mind. His friends sent him a confused look. "I mean, if this thing really is a spirit, which it should be, then we might be able to get rid of it with a ritual. Kate's books were written by believers, so if their beliefs are real, then the ritual should work!"

A slight simmer of hope entered his friends' eyes. James clutched the ring tightly and gave Robert a firm nod.

"We can do it, boss. Burn this ring and hold hands while chanting those words we practiced today. We were going to use a necklace as a prop for the recording, so it's not that far off."

"If we're gonna do this, we need to do it fast. James, lead the way with the map. Let's move!" Robert ordered, not allowing his fear to paralyze him. They had exactly one shot at saving themselves.

James went first with the map in hand while Jen and Robert focused on keeping the way lit. They moved at a fast pace, but didn't run. They decided to save their strength for when the spirit attacked.

After making several turns, they were finally back at the main chamber. The burning pile was left intact in the center, opposite of the elevator. Robert grabbed the ring from James and ran towards the pile as soon as he heard soft noises beginning to echo around them.

"Hurry, let's go!" Robert ordered, and Jen ran towards him. But James wasn't joining them.

Robert looked on to see that James was eying the elevator as the noises got louder. Robert couldn't determine the origin no matter how much he tried, but they seemed slow. They had a chance to finish before the spirit got to them.

"Come on, James, come!" Jen screamed, but James only shot them a sad look.

"Sorry guys, I'm climbing out!" With those words, James put the flashlight between his teeth and jumped into the elevator space, grabbing hold of the cables.

"James, no, come here!" Robert yelled in anger and betrayal, sprinting towards his friend.
But a sudden loud creak coming from the elevator made him stop in his tracks. James looked at Robert with a horrified expression and eyes full of fear right before the cables which were holding it up snapped loudly, and the elevator slammed straight into James, deleting him from the face of the earth instantly and with a horrifying squash, leaving nothing behind but a splatter of blood all over Robert's face and clothes.

"No!" Robert screamed out, wiping his face as panic overtook him. He could vaguely hear Jen screaming from behind him as he tried to calm his hammering heart. The footsteps had sped up, and judging from past experience, someone else was going to die really soon unless they did something about it.

Robert snapped out of his shock and ran back towards the pile, grabbing Jen's wrist and dragging her with him. He tossed the ring down and managed to light it up, the flames illuminating the surroundings and creating dancing shadows which did little to soothe Robert's nerves as the footsteps and clangs got louder.

"Evanescet, spiritus antiqui, requiem!" Robert chanted loudly, his strong voice mixing with Jen's shaky one.

The cavern was filled by grotesque sounds of grunting, raspy breaths and pained howling, all happening so suddenly that Robert nearly lost his composure. The footsteps had stopped.

"Evanescet, spiritus antiqui, requiem!" They chanted again, louder, and the wails got more frequent.

"Evanescet, spiritus antiqui, requiem!" The last chant brought complete silence with it. They stood still for a whole minute before daring to look at each other. Robert smiled at Jen - they finally did it.

"We-" Robert was interrupted by a dirty, oily hand reaching from the darkness behind Jen and pulling her away with a shrill scream.

Robert was too shocked to produce a sound. Too horrified to move a muscle.

They failed.

Kate died scared and alone, James was crushed and his blood was covering Robert from head to toe, and Jen was taken right when their hope was restored.

Robert felt hot tears stain his face when the fire suddenly blew out at the exact same moment as his flashlight stopped working. His soft wails of sorrow and fear were the only noise in the cavern aside from his terrified heart. He couldn't make out anything in the darkness.

He felt a hot breath tickle his ear, and he turned around instantaneously, only to be met with empty space.

"It was the chest," a soft, rough voice whispered in his other ear, producing a scream like no other from Robert's throat. But once again, there was nothing there.

The weight of the realization hit Robert like a truck.

They had burned the wrong thing. The chest was the item they were supposed to burn.

Hopeless, Robert let his body clatter onto the ground. He failed.

Through tears, Robert's eyes adjusted to the darkness around him. Crouching in front of him was the grinning figure of the bald miner, blood-covered and red-eyed. The miner stood up, and the last thing Robert could see before he died were those black boots, which remained the only evidence of the horror that had happened inside those mines.