Fantasy and Myth

Missing Memory Part 2

The sun rested on the western hills, extending fingers of tired orange light to faintly tint the shoreline as Jeff and Mike pulled the boat partially out of the water and tied it securely to a large boulder. The sunlight on the bare rock surrounding the cave made the opening a threshold into nothingness, a gaping mouth ready to devour them both.

Jeff swallowed, trying to ignore the twisting of his insides. Mike brushed a hand across the prickling hairs on the back of his neck. Despite their feelings, Jeff made the first step toward the cave, and Mike followed.

"This seemed like a better idea on the other side of the lake," Mike mentioned.

"You're telling me," Jeff agreed, his voice a whisper. He used the legs of his pants to remove the sweat from his palms.

"I'd feel a lot better if you would've brought something a little more substantial than a few knives," Mike suggested. "You know, like a tank."

"I think we'd both feel better about it then," Jeff replied with a smile that almost instantly faded away as he took another step. "Do you ever get the feeling of being watched?"

"Now and then," Mike answered. "Why?"

"I'm getting that feeling now," Jeff explained. "It's getting stronger the closer we get to the cave."

"You think something's in there?" Mike asked, his tone indicating he didn't really want an answer.

"I'm really hoping there isn't," Jeff admitted. "Maybe it's just nerves."

The long scraping sound of stone against stone dragged its way out of the darkness of the cave and sent a shiver up the spines of the two men.

"I don't think that's nerves," Mike pointed out, his pace slowing. "How about you give me a couple of those knives?"

"Good idea," Jeff agreed, handing over a pair of well-balanced blades before drawing another for himself.

The two friends moved steadily toward the now silent opening in the mountain. Their eyes darted all around, looking for anything waiting to pounce on them. Knuckles turned white as unsteady hands took tighter hold on the grips of the weapons.

The hungering maw of the cave devoured all light within, and the men paused at the entrance, straining their ears to hear anything. Silence.

Reaching up a hand to the weapon harness he wore over his chest, Jeff switched on the battery powered flashlight strapped into one of the pockets, casting a cone of visibility a few feet ahead of him.

Jeff exchanged a look with Mike and nodded decisively before heading inside. Mike reluctantly followed.

The cave was cool and dry, but the air was foul. A heavy, rotting stench draped itself from the stone walls in invisible curtains, occasionally overwhelming the men as they passed through another layer. The passageway narrowed considerably as it turned, constricting to the point the two men could only progress in single file.

"Don't get too close," Jeff warned in an insistent whisper. "I might need to back out quickly if something comes at me."

"How can I tell how close you are?" Mike hissed back. "You've got the only light, and your body blocks most of that in this tunnel."

Pulling a secondary flashlight from a different pocket on his harness, Jeff switched it on before handing it blindly behind him for Mike to take. The offered light was eagerly snatched from Jeff's hand.

The floor of the cave sloped down, and the incline became more intense as it went deeper. The beams of the flashlights were unable to see the bottom, making Jeff and Mike feel as though the ground at any moment might simply end, dropping them into nothingness for a time until they made a fatal stop at the lowest point. The only thing letting them know they were on the right path was a trail of fresh blood drops marking the stone ahead.

The cave floor leveled out again as the claustrophobia inducing tunnel widened into a sizable chamber. Fairly round, the chamber was filled with stalactites and stalagmites, some having merged to create pillars. Jagged shadows crawled across the far wall as the flashlight swept across the rock formations.

"No!" boomed the shouted word, reflecting from every wall so as to surround Jeff and Mike. "You cannot be here. The spell I cast should've blanked your memories entirely!"

"Not all of them!" Jeff shouted to the darkness, turning to cast his light around and find the source of the voice. "Enough of my memories remained to lead be back here. You failed to kill me, and you failed to evade me. It's time you answered for all the innocent lives you've ended."

"Innocent lives?" the voice mocked, followed by a cackle of humorless laughter. "They are merely food. As are you!"

The scrape of claws against stone was Jeff's only warning as a dark shape pushed off one of the natural stone pillars and launched itself at him like an arrow. The impact forced Jeff back, boots skidding across the stone floor, until his back slammed painfully into the unyielding rock of the wall, driving his breath from his lungs.

As Jeff gasped for air, his attacker secured its hold on him. The creature hugged him tightly, pinning Jeff's arms to his sides. Jeff struggled to escape its clutches, but the arms were like rods of iron and didn't move in the slightest no matter how much he struggled.

The thing was vaguely humanoid in shape but impossibly slender. Pale gray flesh was stretched over the sharpened features of a distorted and jagged skull. Its eyes, completely black, were nearly hidden in the deep pits of its eye sockets. No hair marked the barren landscape of its scalp, allowing an unobstructed view of its elongated and pointed ears. As it opened its mouth to bite, Jeff beheld a collection of miniature bone daggers in three rows of decreasing size.

Mike charged at the creature with an improvised battlecry. The beast waved a hand casually as one might discourage a fly from a picnic table. When the hand connected with him, Mike went tumbling backwards across the ground.

Released on one side, Jeff took a deep breath and used his moment of advantage to bring his knife up. Currently lacking the necessary angle and strength for a killing blow, Jeff turned the weapon horizontally to intercept the creature's incoming bite. Like a bit in a horse's mouth, the knife gave Jeff the leverage he needed to angle the fiend's horrible face away from him.

The arm which had released him to bat Mike away returned, two inch claws digging into Jeff's shoulder and summoning a pained yell.

Mile struggled to get back to his feet, one hand clamped over his ribs and wincing with every twist and turn of his torso. Picking up one of his dropped knives, he came at the creature again, but more slowly and while trying to approach from its blindside.

Jeff anchored one ofhis boots against the wall in preparation for what came next. With a scream half of effort and half ofpain, Jeff shoved hard on the knife he had wedged in the creature's mouth,forcing the monster away. Jeff kickedoff the wall hard enough to send the creature stumbling backwards to impact withMike and his blade.

The creature's grip on Jeff went limp as its snarling features did the same. Skin, muscle, and organs turned to dust, leaving only the tattered rags it had been wearing draped around the black bones of its skeleton. The remains clattered to the floor, and Jeff dropped to his knees, catching himself with his hands to keep from going face first into the ground.

Mike struggled to lean down and grimaced when he helped pull Jeff back up.

"What was that?" Mike asked. "A vampire?"

"More like a close cousin," Jeff corrected. "It eats meat for food, but the blood powers its magic capabilities. It's probably why it's still here. After using up its energy to blank my work history from my mind, it needed to regenerate. Its little feeding frenzy must've taken too long, and it was forced in here to protect itself from the sun."

"Sounds like you got your memory back," Mike remarked.

"I did," Jeff confirmed. "When one of these things dies, any of its magic still in effect will cease immediately."

"Let's hope it didn't do anything good that we just wiped out," Mike stated.

"Unlikely," Jeff dismissed. "These things are predators. We can be certain good things have occurred as a result of its demise. These parasites tend to leave a significant amount of human wreckage in their wake."

"Speaking of which," Mike reminded, "the police should be at the massacre site anytime now, assuming they aren't there already. What do we tell them?"

"What do you think they would believe?" Jeff questioned in return. He pulled out a small plastic bag and ripped open the seal, extracting a phone. Powering the device, he quickly dialed a number and waited for the person on the other end to pick up.

"Yes?" answered a digitally distorted voice.

"Group Leader, this is Five," Jeff responded. "The situation has been handled. Significant collateral damage. Involvement of local authorities is in progress."

"Any witnesses?" the Leader asked.

"None requiring attention," Jeff denied.

"Very well," the Group Leader said. "Extract yourself from the area if possible. We'll meet at site nine."

"Understood," Jeff agreed. He ended the call and removed the battery to disable the device.

"What was all that about?" Mike questioned.

"We're an organization of hunters," Jeff explained. "We track and take down monsters of various kinds - shapeshifters, vampires, werewolves, and the list goes on."

"So, what's your secret society called?" Mike asked.

"The Group," Jeff told him.

"I was expecting something more," Mike admitted. "Perhaps, the Shadowed Blade, or something like that."

"The thing about being a secret organization is to keep things as invisible as possible," Jeff clarified. "Having flashy names and secret bases gives enemies things to latch onto and follow until it leads back to the hunters. Simple names and numerical designations keep us from being noticed."

"We've been friends forever," Mike reminded. "Why didn't you tell me anything about this?"

"I don't tell anyone about it," Jeff explained. "We wear masks at any rare in-person meetings, so I don't even know who else is in my group, only the Leader does. It serves as additional security as some of the creatures we hunt can extract memories. We can't take chances telling people, not family, friends, nor anyone else. If a monster gets me, I won't be able to compromise anyone else."

"Why are you telling me now?" Mike inquired.

"I was hoping since you have seen how important this is, you might want to join up," Jeff offered.

"Oh no," Mike instantly denied. "Nope. Nope. No. I'm not the track a monster into its dark lair and possibly die horribly trying to save the world kind of person."

"You did that here," Jeff reminded.

"That was helping a friend," Mike countered. "It's not the sort of thing I want for a day job."

"Fair enough," Jeff accepted with a smile. "How about we get out of here? This cave is far enough away from the massacre site, we should be able to avoid the police if they've arrived."

"Tomorrow, I go back to my thankfully boring job," Mike mentioned as they walked toward the cavern entrance. "What about you?"

"I'll report to the Leader later today and get my new assignment," Jeff answered.

"Well, if you need any help...look somewhere else," Mike told him.

The two of them laughed as they exited the cave into the bright and warm sunshine of the outside world.