Caverns of Hell

The First Mistake

We had always used to joke about the monster of the mine. The older miners always told about people going too deep in the mines and never returning. Then a few months later, their mangled bodies would wash up on the shore of the nearby lake. Grime caked their arms and legs, faces are torn apart, hearts speared with narrow crystals. 

Everyone took the stories lightly, for we thought that monsters didn't exist. Sure when we were kids we always thought the monsters crept out of our closets and under our beds. They had tentacles and large, toothy mouths. Claws as sharp as razors and red eyes as big as a basketball. I personally wanted to have an experience of my own but knew it would never happen.

Everything was a routine. We showed up early in the morning and would use pickaxes and dynamite to blow away ore and rock. It was dangerous but everyone remained careful and didn't do anything stupid. Sure we joked around and messed with each other but we didn't just detonate dynamite on unsuspecting miners for laughs (that would be insane). Then we would leave work and spend time at home. We age from late 50's to teenagers. I personally was 26 and fairly built. I mainly taught the new miners and set off the explosives.

One day we were doing our regular business. We were digging out a patch of dirt that was blocking off what we assumed was another cave system. We wanted to use explosives because it would go faster and it was simply more fun to use dynamite than shovels. Suddenly, Ben broke through and fell about ten feet to the ground. When he hit the ground a splash could be heard. We all peeked over the three-foot diameter. Our headlamps illuminated the cave below.

" Whoa! Look at this guys!" Ben laughed. Crystal formations were all across one of the walls. Flowstone stood at the exit of the room Ben had dropped into. Stalagmites and stalactites stood wherever the flowstone and the crystals didn't reach.

Our excitement and curiosity were at their peaks.

" So, who gets to name it?" I joked. There was a black liquid all across the floor. A steady stream of the substance flowed down from the exit.

" What is this stuff?" Ben grunted as he stood in the substance. It stuck to his clothing and skin. He peeled it off to reveal his now red skin.

" Does it hurt?" Wilson asked.

"No. It's kinda like when your hand falls asleep," Ben responded.

" We'll get a rope," Jessica told him before getting up and running towards the supply station on this level of the mine. Ben scanned the area and crawled up towards the opening. When he looked through it we all heard the most chilling groan we had ever heard. Ben scrambled back from the opening and tried to jump up to us.

" Help me! It's the thing! It's the cave monster!" Ben shouted. Gabe grabbed Perry's feet and lowered him down. They couldn't reach him. Another groan came only closer. Hank grabbed Gabe and lowered him down. Ben grabbed on and was lifted out of the hole. His skin began to turn into a grim shade of blood. His skin began to crack and bleed as he struggled to get out of the rocky crypt.

" Let's get out of here," Gabe ordered. We didn't need to be told twice. As we ran the holed imploded and a dark figure jumped out. It looked like it was made of rock and covered in the black substance. A single, perfectly round, orange hole sat in the middle of its body. It had two large fists and feet. It didn't appear to have a head.

We ran like the devil. Ben's face began to change completely, with crust the color of amethyst forming. His eyes began to crust over. He stumbled and fell to the ground. Perry went to help him but the thing from the cave crashed through the guides on the sides of the cave. It charged the two and Perry narrowly dodged the thing. It slammed into Ben and crushed his torso against the wall. We watched in horror as his limbs shot off and his intestines shot out his mouth. Hank threw up on the spot.