CAVE

Chapter 1 - Jimmy Dark

Mission log. Day 27, around noon. Run out of other options, we decided yesterday to explore the cave, Gillian claimed she knew enough about speleology to make this sound like a piece of cake. The doc supported her, and so I didn't tell them about my claustrophobia. Anyway, we were in for a major surprise.

The Doc looked up at Jimmy then back down at the mission log. Jimmy could see his jawline pulsing under his skin and when he took off his glasses and put the mission logs on the table next to him, all without saying a word, he knew it was a bad sign. 

"Jimmy? I can call you, Jim?" The Doc said without waiting for an answer, "Jim. Is this some kind of joke? This is what I just had to know about my daughter? This...fairy-tale?"

Jimmy nodded, "Yes. See, there's this cave—"

"Yeah,  I read about about the magical little cave, Jim. But if I've never even been inside a cave, why does this log say that I have?"

Jimmy jumped in...

"But Gilli—"

...and then got jumped out.

"Gill—i—annn," The Doc said, holding up a lone finger, "is my assistant, Jim. She's never mentioned a single word that even remotely supports what you've written about her in these logs of yours. And certainly nothing about some strange cave."

Jimmy tried to speak but his nervous energy had dried his mouth. He had always been holding the mission logs in his hand when he practiced what he would say, but now they were all folded on a table and out of his reach. And his words weren't coming out the right way. Katie did warn him about Doc - that her dad may never understand The Cave.

"Love. If it's falling apart and he's not buying it, use Note 3. It's risky because it's from a different future so do not read it before he does. And above all else, Love, don't lose track of the time. No matter what, make sure you get out of that building!"

Jimmy snapped back in the middle of a Doc diatribe.

"...my secretary's an operative and my dead daughter works for DARPA? So basically your typical, everyday story."

Jimmy's voice was still lost.

"When we were in the parking garage, I really believed you knew something about Katie."

Where was Gillian, Jimmy thought. He looked at his watch. Something wasn't right.

"Are these Mission Logs about you wanting to hurt people, Jim?" The Doc said.

"No! God, no!" Jimmy blurted out in a moment of clarity.

"Because you write about these attacks and people vanishing. I don't want to vanish, Jim. I want to help. But if you're planning on hurting people..."

Jimmy shot up out of his seat.

"Dammit, Doc, why can't you get it?! In a few minutes, if we don't—"

"Oh-no!" The Doc interrupted Jim in his tracks, "There's no 'we', Jim. There's only you. You're in control here."

Jimmy slammed both hands on his skull like a vice grip, trying to quell the sting that was branching across his brain. This whole thing! None of it was working according to script. Then, like a flipped switch, Jimmy reached into his back pocket and pulled out several pieces of folded paper –  Note #3.

He looked at his watch and tossed the letter to The Doc and then crumbled up the others and stuffed them back into his pocket. For later.

"What is this?"

"Read it," Jimmy said pointedly.

"No, Jim. I'm not—"

"Katie gave it to me," he said, stuttering in pain.

"You think using my daughter's memory can—"

Jimmy pointed at the doctor's face and yelled, "Read the damn letter! Now! OUTLOUD!"

The Doc hesitated but reached into his pocket and grabbed his glasses and looked at the log.

"Somehow, I wrote that 4 months ago. Read it," Jimmy said.

Mission log. Day 4, 8:37. Tried explaining to doc what was happening but couldn't. He's so damn hard-headed. I got him back to his office. Gillian showed up just in time. The exploding window is still the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life. I still have no idea how to explain what The Cave is or where it's at underground. But I will say that when the doc stood up and fell down, it was funny as hell. He deserved it.

Doc looked toward the windows and stood up just as his left leg buckled underneath him. Asleep from the knee down.

He looked up at Jimmy from the ground and mouthed 'Impossible' just as the explosion from the street blew out the windows. Shards of glass flew around him like bullets. He covered his face and ears and embraced the floor of a building that was now shaking like an earthquake.

Jimmy ducked and crawled over to the back entrance.

Doc looked up but could barely see and he damn well couldn't hear. He pulled his hands from his ears - blood dripping from his palms. He wiped his eyes with his knuckles and squinted again finally spotting Jimmy's blurry figure by the door.

Jimmy saw Doc through the smoke and falling bits of ceiling plaster just as another explosion hit in the distance. But Jimmy kept mouthing words and motioning to The Doc.

"THIS WAY! THIS WAY!"

Doc crawled to Jimmy and took his hand and they stumbled out into an empty street of helicopters circling overhead. Sitting ducks. A Black SUV spun around the corner, dropped its lights and skidded to a stop just feet away from them. Dead in the water.

Gillian kicked open the door.

"Get in!"

They both jumped inside and Gillian hit the gas. 5 minutes later, they were clear. And silent.

Finally, after an awkward bit of no-talking and driving, Doc asked her, "So, Gillian? Where we headed?"

He knew it wasn't the time for answers, but then again, he already knew where they were going.

"The Cave."