W.S.S.H.

Caves with Secrets

I took a deep breath, staring at the world in front of me that seemed so far away. I couldn’t miss this shot; it seems as if my life depended on it. I aimed, looking through on eye to make sure my aim was right. And then I shot in an exhale of breath, but the basketball bounced off the rim and landed on the concrete driveway.
“And I win!” Greg yelled loudly, making me frown. He picked up the now rolling basketball to make sure it didn’t roll into the road, not like there were any cars driving anyway.
“Oh whatever, you’re lucky.” I decided with a frown.
“It’s not luck, it’s talent.” Greg pointed out, trying to twirl the ball on one of his fingers but it ended up just falling back into his arms again.
“It was twenty nine to thirty, I think it’s luck.” I defended, rolling my eyes at him.
“Whatever you say Johnny.” He laughed.
“Don’t call me that.” I snapped. He just hurled the ball at my chest, and it took some reflexes to catch it before I got hit.
“You’re a poor loser.” He sighed.
“You’re a poor winner.” I defended, wiping the sweat from my brow and looking at the door. “Do you think Harry will be out of the living room by now?”
“Doubt it, but I’m parched.” Greg decided, walking to the porch and hopping up all steps at once. Always a show off apparently. I followed, setting the basketball on one of the rocking chairs, holding the screen door open for him and joining him in the house. The air conditioning felt extremely nice compared to the outside heat. The TV was on in the living room and he could hear Harry and Clara laughing about something, stupid drama probably. Greg opened the fridge as if he lived there, which he practically did.
“Just water for me.” I said as he held up a coke can. I glanced in the fridge, kind of embarrassed at the numerous bottle of beer he had to move to get the soda. All dads of course, I’d never even dream of touching one of those things. I grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it up with cold water from the sink, jumping up to sit on the counter and kicking my feet against the wall.
“So what now?” Greg asked, popping open the tab and sipping the overflowing bubbles from the top of the can.
“Don’t ask me.” I sighed. it seemed like everything we’d wanted to do had been done, we were trying to fill the last day of summer with everything we loved, video games, basketball, bike riding. It was three o’clock, so the day wasn’t over yet but our schedule was clear. Greg frowned, leaning against the fridge and thinking of any possible activities.
“Do you think you’re man enough to check out the caves?” he asked with a smile. My stomach twisted nervously and I shook my head.
“Didn’t you say someone died in there?” I asked nervously.
“Only adds to the décor.” He pointed out.
“I’d prefer if we avoided them.” I decided.
“Oh come on John, this is our last opportunity!” he debated.
“Just because school starts doesn’t mean we can’t go anywhere.” I sighed.
“But you’ll be even more of a baby about it because all the homework!” Greg pointed out, trying to convince me with disturbing puppy eyes. “Come on John, it’s the middle of the day, we’ll bring flashlights and some food for dinner, it’ll be like a picnic!” he suggested. I groaned, you can’t argue with food I guess.
“But it’s a million degrees out there!” I debated.
“So you’ll probably need a jacket for in the caves.”
“My parents would never agree.”
“Oh come on John, tell them we’re going to the park, I’ll drag you if I have to, come on.” He decided, chugging the rest of the Coke and crushing the can in his hand, throwing it into the blue recycling bin.
“Get a backpack, I’ll make sandwiches.” I decided, finally giving in. Greg smiled triumphantly, walking to my room to get a bag. I heard Harry complain that he had walked in front of the TV, unnecessary violence if you ask me, but next time Greg would probably have to slither across the carpet to avoid coaster being flung at his head. I honestly don’t know why Clara even bothered to stick around with my irritable sister; she was the worst human I’ve ever met, except maybe my father when he was drunk. As I said, I grabbed a couple of pieces of bread and threw some ham and cheese on them, wrapping them in tin foil and grabbing a couple of bags of chips and bottles of water. Then I rotted around in the junk drawer for two flashlights and grabbed my thin windbreaker from the closet and waited for Greg to come back. I honestly didn’t know how it took so long to find a backpack, but I guess the state of my room spoke for itself. Finally Greg ran into the kitchen, Harry screaming at him from the living room and Clara trying to calm her down.
“Good thing her handler is here.” I sighed, stuffing all the food and flashlights into the backpack and slinging it over my shoulder.
“MOM WE’RE GOING TO THE PARK FOR DINNER!” I called up the stairs, Harry calling for me to shut up from the other room.
“Okay dear, have fun and be safe!” she called back, the okay to get going. Greg smiled happily, I knew it has been his dream to go to the caves, but had no one else to go with. I had always made sure to avoid them; they radiated bad vibes and rumors. I doubted any of them were true, but the leading one was that some psychopath went on a killing spree and then killed himself in the caves. His body was never discovered, but they say his spirit haunts them. Greg led the way outside, prancing down the steps like an excited deer.
“Don’t look so excited, it’s annoying.” I grumbled, pulling on the garage door handle to push it up. Greg muttered something that I didn’t hear as I picked my bike up from leaning on the wall. I rolled it out and shut the door, leading it to the edge of the driveway where he was waiting with his own bike. Usually I wore a helmet, but according to Greg it was the number one chick repellant, and I had my eye on a couple of girls so I didn’t want to risk being seen with it. My mother will kill me for all factors of this situation, going to the caves, riding my bike on the road without a helmet, and even hanging out with Greg. She liked him of course, he was polite in the house and compared to Harry he was one of God’s angels, but she claims he was a bad influence. She was right of course, but sometimes you need a bad influence to have fun in life. We kicked off on our bikes, speeding down the middle of the road since it was completely empty.
“Race you!” Greg called. I put on speed, catching quickly up to him since my bike had more gears on it.
“Are you sure you want to do that?” I asked tauntingly.
“If I can beat you in basketball I can beat you in anything!” Greg called back, his words lost quickly by the wind speeding past my ears. I flew down the hill, swerving the side of the road as a red minivan came driving past, blaring the horn and yelling some choice words about kids today. Probably just irritable about the crappy car he was driving. Greg was far behind me, but I could get there myself, I didn’t need his directions. I turned off the main road to a dirt road, rocky and bumpy and slowed down a little bit to let him catch up.
“Hurry up Lestrade, we’re losing daylight!” I called to him, looking over my shoulder to see him scowling as his tires rolled over a big rock.
“Just follow this road until you get to the fence.” He said as he rode up beside me. I nodded, riding along until an ivy covered iron fence came into view. It was obviously to keep people out, but the only way it could people out was if it was electric and had armed guards. The teenagers always crawled around the caves, for thrills, dares, and a place to escape with their special someone. There were huge holes in the fences so I knew we wouldn’t have any trouble getting in. Greg abandoned his bike, kicking some weeds over top of it to hide it from any by passers, like there would be any on this road. I looked through the ivy and saw the black entrance to the caves, taking a nervous breath.
“Are you sure this is legal?” I asked nervously, looking around to make sure there weren’t any police officers hiding in the overgrown grass as if waiting for us.
“No of course not, but it’s fun.” Greg assured as I sat my bike on the ground and covered it with plants like he did. I threw him one of the flashlights and clicked on my own, making sure the batteries were working. A light flashed on, temporality blinding my eyes, but I guess that was a good thing. Greg was already poking around the fence, looking for a gap big enough for us both to fit into. He then dropped to his knees, holding up the chain link and rolling under the fence like it was some sort of secret ops mission.
“Coming?” he asked, holding up the fence as if it was a polite gesture. I nodded, rolling my eyes but rolling through the mud and weeds, the fence scraping my back unpleasantly. I got to my feet, avoiding the helping hand he stuck out and brushing of the dirt. The cave looked extremely dark, rocks poking out of the walls and the floor a muddy mess or small rocks and abandoned beer cans.
“Now remember, if we find the bones of a dead psychopath we’re taking the skull and putting it on Mrs. Fletcher’s desk.” Greg decided and I managed to crack a smile. Mrs. Fletcher was the science teacher sent by the devil himself, and unfortunately we shared that class this year. Greg walked up to the cave, shining his light over the damp rock walls.
“It’s fine so far.” He shrugged, walking into the mouth just to check it out. I stayed where I was, nervously watching to make sure there were no snakes or psychopaths. “Oh come on John, don’t be such a baby!” he called, making me nervously creep into the cave after him. I walked swiftly, not wanting to be alone in this darkness. He had been right about the jacket, even here it was chilly and the warm summer air was lost. I shined the flashlight at the ground, terrified I’d trip over some guy’s rib cage or something. Greg was laughing at some graffiti drawing on the wall, but I thought it was rather disturbing and went back to checking for human sized spiders.
“See it’s not so bad.” He pointed out, his voice echoing off the walls. I sighed, not letting my guard down yet. “Maybe we’ll find some treasure.” He said excitedly, but I seriously doubted it.
“The kids already combed over this whole place, we’d be lucky to find a nickel.” I pointed out. Greg didn’t seem so happy with that answer but kept walking. I shivered, wanting to pull my coat out of the backpack but too afraid that Greg would run off and leave me alone. I tried my best to jump around the puddles and mud on the floor since the sneakers I had on were the new ones my mother bought for school. If I got them dirty she would kill me, but it was unavoidable. Anyway it was better to die at the hands of my mother than the zombie of a psychopath.
“Where are we supposed to stop and eat?” I asked skeptically, half of me wanting to leave and the other half wanting to explore deeper.
“On some rocks or something, whenever you want I suppose.” Greg shrugged.
“I’ll wait until I don’t think the shadows are going to eat me.” I decided. Greg glanced back at me with a grin.
“So sorry John, but you’ve got two shadows.” He said as he kept walking. I stopped just to make sure he was joking, and thankfully he was. Call me stupid but it seemed even some of Doctor Who’s aliens seemed likely to show up here. “So I suppose you know the story about it here then?” Greg asked.
“You’re the one that told me!” I pointed out, but I knew he was just trying to get me scared.
“Somme normal guy suddenly broke and killed all these people with a knife then dragged the bodies down here and stuck the blade in his own skull.” Greg repeated.
“Greg shut up, really!” I begged, walking closer to him and holding my flashlight as a weapon. My light shown on an abandoned spider’s web, which only made me wonder where its owner was lurking.
“I don’t like it down here.” I muttered, but Greg just laughed, kicking a rock into the cave wall with a loud, echoing bang. I jumped like a sissy, wanting to run back to the exit and see sunlight again. Greg wasn’t making this easy on me.
“Maybe the psychopath didn’t die, maybe he’s still down here, watching us, waiting to stab us with his rusty, blood stained knife.” Greg said in a spooky voice, suddenly turning his flashlight off so the only light was coming from mine. I ran close to him, making sure he was still there as he made ghost sounds.
“Greg come on, turn on the light please!” I begged, if he were someone like Mary Morstan I would be trying to act brave, maybe even hold her hand for my own comfort, but since he was Greg I settled for punching his arm until he turned his light back on. I did a quick sweep of the cave with my flashlight, as if something or someone had crept up on us while his light was off.
“Maybe we should go, wonder if my mom comes looking for us?” I suggested in a weak voice.
“Prefer the swan’s company rather than spiders?” Greg joked.
“Well, yes.” I muttered, not bothering to be embarrassed. It was fun to throw the little duck pellets at the swans and watch them dive bomb the food. Spiders just linger around and scare the crap out of everyone.  We walked along for a little bit, I didn’t want to go too far but slowly the cave became more interesting than terrifying.
“Do you want to stop here?” I asked. Greg looked back in surprise, as if wondering if I had been possessed or something.
“I guess so, got over your fear then?” he asked.
“We still have to thoroughly check for spiders.” I pointed out, making him grin with satisfaction.
“Good, I’m hungry.” He agreed, starting to poke around in the rocks with his flashlight. I joined in, checking in the cracks and under the rocks. Greg cursed silently as a rock he was leaning on gave out, rolling to the side and he had to stick his hands into the muddy unknown to keep himself steady.
“You okay?” I asked, trying to hold back my laughter.
“I’m fine, it would be- wait look! What’s that?” he asked excitedly, shining his light on the wall that was now exposed since the rock was moved. Except it wasn’t a wall anymore, there was a gap of darkness leading to who knows where.
“Passageway I guess, come on, let’s move it!” he decided with a smile, bracing it to push and looking back excitedly.
“Absolutely not!” I exclaimed, scrambling away from the mysterious path.
“Don’t be such a sissy John, obviously this hasn’t been touched, maybe we actually could find treasure!” Greg pointed out, and I just scowled.
“No way.” I insisted.
“Just think what you could do with a couple million in gold.” He pointed out. “You can buy your own house, the girls will love you, you could buy your own basketball team if you wanted, the first step is to push the rock and find that money.” I didn’t want to look around, there could be skeletons down there, rotting dead bodies or worse, but he was right. What if there was something valuable like treasure? I could really use some treasure in my life.
“Oh fine! But you’re going down there first.” I decided after a while, walking up to the rock that was waiting to be moved. I put both hands on it and nodded at Greg, and then we combined our strength to push it through the mud, making the space grow more and more. It felt cold, colder than the rest of this cave at least. My stomach twisted nervously, I was sure whatever was in there couldn’t be good.
“We’ll have to crawl through, looks like it opens up on the other side though.” Greg said, shining his flashlight in and looking around.
“Be careful, I don’t want to have to explain to the cops that you got your head bitten off by a ghost.” I pleaded, and Greg just rolled his eyes, climbing head first through the hole in the wall. He was brave; I had to give him that. Brave and stupid, a particularly bad mix of traits but the perfect mix for certain death.