Vision Of Darkness

10: The Plan

Simoun began to explain everything he had seen in the documents he had found in the dream, recounting every detail that he could recall. The captain listened intently, his eyes narrowing in concentration as he tried to piece together the fragments of information.

"So, let me get this straight," he said after Simoun had finished. "We need to find this golden statue, and then perform a human sacrifice at a specific time and in a specific way in order to break the curse?"

Simoun nodded gravely. "Maybe, but that's what the documents said."

The captain rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I don't like the sound of this," he muttered. "But if it means saving the lives of everyone on this island, then we have no choice."

Simoun nodded in agreement. "I'll do whatever it takes," he said firmly.

The captain clapped him on the back, a glimmer of respect in his eyes. "Good man," he said. "Let's get to work."

Simoun and the captain made their way through the dense jungle, the path growing more treacherous the closer they got to the cave. Simoun could feel his heart pounding in his chest as they walked, the memory of the whispers still fresh in his mind. He clutched the knife tightly in his hand, ready to defend himself if necessary.

As they approached the entrance of the cave, the captain pulled out a flashlight and shone it ahead of them. The beam of light illuminated the entrance, revealing a narrow passageway that led deep into the heart of the mountain. Simoun felt a shiver run down his spine as they stepped inside, the darkness pressing in around them.

They moved slowly, taking care not to trip on the uneven ground. Every sound seemed amplified in the darkness, and Simoun couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. He tried to push the thought out of his mind, focusing instead on the task at hand.

Finally, they reached the chamber where Simoun had seen the two Americans earlier. The book was still there, sitting on the ground just as they had left it. Simoun approached it cautiously, eyeing it warily. As he picked it up, he realized that it was written in Spanish once again.

Simoun frowned, turning the book over in his hands. "This doesn't make sense," he muttered to the captain.

The captain nodded in agreement. "Agreed. It's as if the book is trying to conceal something from us. But what?"

Simoun felt a chill run down his spine. The more he looked at the strange symbols and markings on the pages, the more he felt like he was being drawn back into a dark and sinister world.
"Calm down, we'll figure it out," The captain said, his voice firm.

Simoun took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves. "Right, right," he said, nodding. "We just need to keep looking."

They pored over the book for what felt like hours, examining every page and every word, but they couldn't make heads or tails of it. The language seemed to shift and twist before their eyes, transforming from Spanish to some unknown tongue that left them feeling disoriented and confused.

As they continued to examine the strange book, a thick fog began to roll in once again, obscuring their vision and filling the cave with an eerie silence. Simoun couldn't shake the feeling of dread that had settled in his gut, and he shuddered involuntarily.

The captain, seemingly unaffected by the sudden shift in weather, let out a dismissive snort. "Just a bit of fog," he said, waving his hand in the air as if to dispel it. "Nothing to worry about."

But Simoun could feel his heart racing, and his palms growing slick with sweat. He tried to focus on the book in front of him, but the words seemed to blur together on the page, as if they were trying to escape his understanding. Suddenly, the captain let out a low groan and staggered backwards, clutching at his chest. Simoun leapt up in alarm, knocking over the book in the process.

"What's wrong?" he cried out, reaching out to steady the captain. Simoun tried to rouse the captain, but he remained unconscious.

Panic threatened to overtake him, but he forced himself to remain calm. He knew that if he let his fear take over, he would be of no use to the captain. He took a deep breath and checked the captain's pulse, relieved to find that he was still alive. Simoun knew he had to act quickly. Simoun's vision began to blur, and his legs gave out beneath him. He collapsed onto the cold, damp ground of the cave, the book slipping from his fingers. He felt his consciousness slipping away as the darkness closed in around him.As he opened his eyes, Simoun found himself standing in the same dream world he had seen earlier. The captain was standing beside him, looking just as confused and frightened as he was.

Simoun's heart raced as he found himself once again in the dream with the captain. The same dark, foreboding atmosphere surrounded them, and he couldn't shake the feeling that they were in grave danger.

"This is what I mean about the dream," Simoun whispered, his voice barely audible in the eerie silence.

The captain's eyes widened in fear. "How in the world does this even exist?" he muttered, looking around frantically, as though expecting something to leap out of the shadows at any moment.

Simoun shook his head slowly, his mind racing with possibilities. "No idea, Capt," he said finally, his voice barely above a whisper. "But we have to find a way out of here. Something's not right, and I don't like it."

Suddenly, they heard a sound that chilled them both to the bone: a low, guttural growl that seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once. Simoun spun around, knife at the ready, but there was nothing there. Only the fog, thick and suffocating, and the endless darkness beyond.

Simoun cursed himself for forgetting that they were in a cave, and that the sound was most likely just an echo bouncing off the walls. But he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something else there with them, something lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike.

The captain noticed Simoun's unease and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Pull yourself together," he growled. "We need to focus if we want to get out of here alive."

Simoun's heart raced as the growl echoed through the cavernous chamber. It sounded like something out of a nightmare, something not of this world. He felt a chill run down his spine, his hand tightening around the hilt of his knife. He couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched, that something unspeakable was lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike.

The fog had thickened, making it impossible to see beyond a few feet. Every step felt like a gamble, a roll of the dice with their lives on the line. They stumbled through the darkness, the growling getting louder and more frenzied with each passing moment. It was like a pack of hungry animals, ready to pounce at any moment. Simoun's mind raced, trying to think of a way out of this nightmare. But the darkness was all-encompassing, and he couldn't even see his own hand in front of his face. He wondered if this was it, if this was how they would meet their end. In the depths of a cursed cave, with no one to hear their screams.

Suddenly, a pair of glowing eyes appeared in the fog, like two orbs of hellfire burning in the darkness. Simoun raised his knife, ready to defend himself against whatever was coming. But the eyes disappeared as quickly as they had come, leaving them alone in the darkness once again.

Simoun and the captain stumbled on, their fear growing with each passing moment. They couldn't tell how long they had been in the cave, but it felt like an eternity. And then, just when they thought they couldn't take it anymore, they saw a faint light up ahead. They quickened their pace, hope surging in their hearts. But as they drew closer, they realized that the light was coming from a torch held by a figure in a hooded robe. Simoun's blood ran cold as he realized that they had stumbled upon something even more terrifying than the growling and the glowing eyes.

The figure turned to face them, and Simoun felt his heart stop. Under the hood was nothing but darkness, a void that seemed to swallow everything around it. And then, in a voice that sounded like it came from the depths of hell itself, the figure spoke.

"Welcome, my children," it said. "You have come to the end of your journey."