Amber Waves of Angst

Chapter 22

Shawn climbed down the ladder in total darkness. The opening far above seemed to dwindle to a mere speck before vanishing altogether. He was reminded forcibly of the story of Aladdin, where the evil magician locks him inside the darkened tomb for refusing to give him the lamp. It horrified him, even though it was supposed to be a child's fantasy story; the boy wandering the dark cavern forever, surrounded only by the dead that he would soon be joining. It combined fear of the dark and of enclosed spaces into a neat terrifying bundle that he never thought he would survive if it ever happened...and here he was. Aladdin was able to use the genie to get out of the cave. Shawn had no such escape plan.

He felt the bottle of water in his pocket and thought about drinking it, but decided to save it for later. He had no idea how long he would be down here, though he knew he had to hurry. The bottle comforted him somehow, perhaps because his mother had given it to him.

When he finally reached the bottom, the light from above was gone. Shawn cursed himself for not counting the rungs. He had an image of the ladder stretching way up to infinity when he tried to leave, unable to reach the top before he simply fell from it in exhaustion. He would lie at the base, broken and bleeding, rats leaping out of the shadows to feast...

'Don't think of things like that, dope!'

Shawn put tentative hands out in front of him. The damp stone wall seemed to be circular; perhaps this was once the bottom of a well. Wasn't there a horror movie about an evil little girl who died at the bottom of a well?

'I SAID DON'T THINK ABOUT THINGS LIKE THAT!'

There was a break, what felt like a crevice that led even further down into the earth just across from the ladder. Shawn wanted to shout and listen to the echo, but was afraid of waking whatever might live down here...

'SHUT! UP!'

"There is nothing down here. Nothing living anyway." Shawn breathed aloud. Wait a minute, that thought wasn't particularly comforting.

Grinding his teeth, he squeezed through the crevice. The ceiling was low, forcing him to walk hunched over. The walls were close on either side, their chill dampness starling him every time he made contact. His hands were stretched out in front of him. He hoped there weren't some monster in front of him, jaws agape, about to chomp down on his fingers...

Shawn smacked himself, hard.

Ten seconds later, he hit a wall. He felt it, puzzled. There were no openings to either side. Panicked, he backpedaled swiftly praying that the way behind him hadn't sealed itself shut leaving him to die in a capsule of rock under the earth. The way back still stretched out behind him.

After a more thorough exploration, it seemed this was merely a dead end in the cavern. There was nothing down here; no monsters and no coins. He exhaled a great sigh of relief, though he didn't relish bringing the news back up to the wolves. He took out the water bottle and spun the cap off, tossing it into the darkness before taking a long swig of water (which tasted amazing, wiping out his thirst immediately). Listening intently, he heard the cap bouncing along in the darkness ahead of him. Frowning, he finished the bottle before getting on his hands and knees to feel around. A cool draft hit his face. The wall contained a hole that led forward, towards the coins...less than 2 feet in height.

He would have to crawl through a tunnel barely large enough to accommodate him, wiggling his way through with no idea what, if anything, lay ahead. Maybe it wasn't a tunnel, maybe it was just a hole that led into a larger area...

Shawn reached down and felt around, praying that there was no imp or goblin ready to grab his hand and yank him through like that movie 'Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark'. Again he smacked himself. It seemed to be a tunnel, not a hole after all. Damn. What if he got stuck? No one besides the werewolves even knew he was down here, and there was a good chance they would be killed before they told anyone. He would die there, the weight of a mountain surrounding him, alone in the dark.