Escape from Planet Bossatron: A Septic Story

An Old "Friend"

    Once Evie had disappeared, all the light around Jack disappeared along with her (as it had been coming from Evie's screen in the first place).
    Trying not to panic, Jack quickly pulled off the backpack that the others had given him and fished out a flashlight. He flicked it on, and he could see around himself once again.
    Now, Jack had a decision to make; should he go forward and look for his missing friends, or should he go back to find the others? This wasn't a video game where he could try the other option later. This was a once in a lifetime choice.
    But as he thought about it more, Jack realized that his friends who he, Selah, and Jackie had left might not even have been back there either. Plus, if he found Sam, maybe the little eyeball could help him... Besides, he had come this far, hadn't he? He might as well go on forward and try his best to find the others that way.
    With a confirmative nod to himself, Jack continued forward. His flashlight cast eerie shadows on the walls of the cave; Jack tried hard to ignore them. His footsteps echoed along with the drops of water that fell from the cavern ceiling.
    "Oh f**k," Jack moaned to himself. "This just turned into a horror game all of a sudden."
    It was all he could say to make himself feel better; something familiar.
    He kept walking, starting to become more and more aware of a presence behind him. Someone was definitely following him, and it wasn't someone wanted. Jack stopped and turned around to look; no one was there.
    He involuntarily shivered; this feeling of being followed was something that he didn't like. Jack turned back around and continued to walk, moving a little faster this time. Soon, Jack found himself jogging, and not too long after that, he was sprinting with no idea of where he was going.
    Then, (because he had been sprinting) he suddenly slipped on the damp cave floor and went sliding down the slope until he ran into a large rock that was blocking the path ahead of him; a dead end.
    Jack got to his feet quickly and looked back behind him, breathing hard.
    "Oh f**k me," he muttered. He shined the flashlight all around him, looking for either friend or foe. He found neither; he wasn't sure if that was comforting or not (I guess it would depend on how he looked at it). Once he was (for the most part) sure there was no one around, he turned back to the large boulder in his way and sighed.
    "Okay," Jack breathed to himself (as if someone might hear him if he didn't stay quiet), "f**k. What do I do now?"
    There didn't seem to be any way to get around the boulder, and it was certainly way too big to move, even if Jack hadn't been on his own. But there had to be a way around it... there just had to be.
    For a moment, Jack debated on whether he should wait for the others or not, but then he remembered that none of them would probably be coming. Jack sighed again and turned back to the boulder.
    "Well shit," he said. He looked around his environment for any clues of what to do next.
    There seemed to be a candle that was embedded in the wall to Jack's right. It wasn't lit (not that Jack expected it to be, but then again, candles weren't usually found in caves unless they were put there). There was also a lever to Jack's right. What was Jack supposed to do? Pull the lever, obviously; but what was the candle for...?
    Thankfully, Jack looked at the candle more closely and noticed that there were small scratches on the boulder (which was right next to the candle). A closer look showed the scratches to be words. It had been so small that most people would probably have overlooked it in their haste.
    Thinking of haste, Jack turned around to look behind him again, keeping an eye out for the presence that had been following him. Then, seeing nothing, he turned back to the tiny words and read what they had to say:

To You who wish to Enter further,
Heed my words:
Those who wish to find the way,
Need only turn on the light.
Those who wish to perish,
Need only to flip the switch.

    Jack pulled back from the boulder, glad that he had seen this piece of the puzzle. If he had pulled that lever... well, it would've been bad. He turned around and shone his flashlight around, making sure that he was still alone. Again, no one was there. He turned back to the boulder and shrugged at it.
    "Seems easy enough in that case," he said.
    He walked over to the candle and then took off his backpack again. After rummaging through it for a few moments, Jack found a small pack of matches. He pulled one out, lit it, and held it to the candle's wick which caught fire immediately.
    "Jeez, Sam," Jack muttered. "What are you doing all the way down here, buddy?"
    As the candle's wick caught fire, light suddenly poured into the small area that Jack was in, making him feel a little more secure now that there wasn't just darkness at his back. He didn't even bother to wonder where all the extra light came from. At the moment, he wasn't sure that he cared. He turned his flashlight off and put it into his backpack's side pocket.
    "Okay," Jack said to himself, "what do I do now? The boulder still hasn't moved."
    Jack looked back at the boulder for another clue, but the only clue that was there was the one that had led him to light the candle. Jack sighed with frustration and started to look around the walls and the floor of the area around him.
    Finally, he turned back to the candle and saw that there were more instructions engraved on the wall beneath it. Jack knelt down to read what it said: