Weaver's Curse

Chapter 27- The Cave

Isaan woke in a cold pool of goop, shivering. Wherever he was, the light was dim, barely enough to see Kaedwyn floating beside him.

Where are Allie and Toby?

He struggled to sit up, the goop sliding off like water on oilskin.

He felt around for a bank, eventually running into one a few feet away. He struggled back to Kaedwyn and dragged her along with him. The goop resisted.

Finally, he managed to haul her up over the edge, onto solid ground, and managed to struggle up after her.

He felt her pulse and found that she was definitely still alive. Isaan breathed a sigh of relief, and began to scan the darkness for any sign of the other two.

Are they alright?

"Isaan? Kaedwyn?" Toby's voice sounded in the darkness.

"Over here!" Isaan cried. "Is Allie with you?"

"Yeah! She won't wake up!" Toby called "Where's Kaedwyn?"

Oh no. "She's with me. Also unconscious."

"Were you conscious when you came in here?" Toby asked. Isaan heard shuffling.

"No. I just woke up in this weird pond of goo with Kaedwyn."

"But you were able to wake up. Which means they will be able as well." Toby said.

He came into Isaan's sight, dragging an unconscious Allie with him.

"Hang on." Toby said. "I grabbed my pack. I should have a lantern in here."

He lit a lantern, illuminating the small cave they were in. It was maybe fifty feet around, with a ten foot ceiling. The pond of goo took up about half of the cave, and there was no entrance in sight.

"How the hell did we get in here?" Isaan muttered.

"Well, if Allie is any indication, you went into some kind of trance and walked right in." Toby said. "I followed her to try and find the two of you, and the entrance disappeared as soon as I came in."

"What is this place, do you think?" Isaan asked, scratching his head.

"Probably one of those cursed places Mr. Hexing warned us about." Toby said.

"Do you think that pool is supposed to like, dissolve us, or something?" Isaan wondered.

"Probably something sinister like that." Toby said. "So what do we do?"

"Find a way to wake the girls up." Isaan decided.

Toby cupped his hands around his mouth, leaned down, and screamed into Kaedwyn's ear.

Her hand shot up, smacking Toby across the face, and her eyes popped open. "What the HELL, Toby?" she snapped. "Wait, where are we?"

Isaan hurriedly explained the situation to her while Toby tried the same method on Allie.

It did not work.

"Maybe we have to wait for the trance to wear off?" Toby suggested.

"Give her a few minutes." Kaedwyn said.

Toby nodded, balling his blanket beneath her head so she'd be more comfortable.

"In the meantime, let's look for a way out." Kaedwyn said.

They placed the lantern in the middle of the floor, and began to feel around the walls. Isaan felt around the places the other two were two short to reach, allowing them to run their hands over the lower parts of the wall.

Allie sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Huh. I must still be asleep. This is a weird dream." She said.

"No, you're awake." Toby promised her.

"Oh! Uh... why are we here?" she asked.

Toby explained what had happened, and what they had been doing.

"Hm." Allie said, standing. She began neatly folding Toby's blanket, and laid it on top of his pack. "Have we checked the ceiling yet?"

"Not yet." Kaedwyn said. "Isaan? Can you reach it?"

He nodded, and began running his hands over the rough ceiling. There was no sign of any sort of gap anywhere on it.

"Well, looks like we're going to die here." Toby said, plopping down. "Please don't cannibalize me first."

"Stop that!" Allie said, smacking him. "Has anyone tried the pool?"

"No. But I don't think there's anything down there."

"Well, we may as well." Allie said. "It looks like you three tried everything else."

Isaan exchanged a look with Kaedwyn. He did not want to get into the creepy goo puddle again.

"I'll do it." Allie said. Before any of them could stop her, she hopped into the pond.

"Wait!" Toby cried, running for his pack. He fished out a coil of rope.

"Tie this around your waist. If you can't get back up for any reason, give it two vicious tugs. We'll pull like hell."

"Got it." Allie said, fastening it around her waist.

She floundered underneath the surface, the length of rope uncoiling as she went.

The three waited in tense silence. Seconds dragged on for what Isaan could have sworn was hours.

"It's been over a minute." Kaedwyn whispered. "Should we pull her back up?"

"Give it a few more seconds." Toby said.

Just as Isaan was considering grabbing the rope from Toby and yanking Allie back up, her head popped up. Sheets of goop slid off of her dark braids.

"I was right!" she crowed. "There is some sort of exit down there! The tunnel has air in it, not goop!"

"Nice work!" Toby said, clapping her on the back.

"Let's go!" Kaedwyn said, jumping into the puddle with Allie.

Isaan joined more reluctantly, followed by Toby. He flailed around, trying to find the bottom of the pool. Someone grabbed him, and dragged him through a tight opening. His shoulders caught for a moment, but then another of his friends grabbed his other arm, and yanked him the rest of the way through.

He took a gasp of cool, slightly stale air, goop sliding off him onto the stone floor.

Tobie relit his lantern, illuminating a small tunnel with no end in sight.

"Well lads, let's go get 'em." Toby said.

"Yes, let's." Allie, taking the lead.

"Um, Allie?" Kaedwyn said. "Loving the enthusiasm and all, but what if there's something hostile down there?"

"Oh, you're right." Allie agreed. They turned expectantly to Isaan.

"Okay." He sighed. "Let's do this."