The Cave

Part I - Into the Beast

CHAPTER 1

Tawny bumped her elbow on an outstretched rock, dislodging her flashlight. It hit the ground; the reverberation of the hard plastic and batteries scattering scared a group of roosting bats in a neighboring passage. They squeaked with a disorienting screechy resonance.

The group froze from febrile fright. No one let out a sound; they were too discombobulated to act.

Tawny's pain returned after a short distracted absence, the pain was fiery and still shooting through her. "Jesus that hurt."

"Leave Jesus out of this one; that was all you," said Dick. He wasn't particularly religious, but the thought of Tawny's incessant abuse towards him and others made him stew with reciprocating anger.

"Um excuse me? Mister amateur cave guide. This is your fault, too," hissed Tawny.

"How do you figure that?" said Dick, almost standing over her.

She was sitting hunched forward massaging the pain out of her elbow with her free arm, "Um. Because we are lost. Because you were too lazy to make a thorough survey."

"I can't be held responsible for someone wandering off all by his lonesome. I made you sign a waiver. It was a contract. Frank broke that contract. Now, is there anything I can do to get Madame back on her feet? Because time's a wasting!"

"Brittany, what do you think?" asked Tawny, her voice appreciably softer while addressing her friend.

"I want to get back to the farm. I just want to have a couple of drinks and talk about how lucky we are to still be spending time together after all this craziness." Brittany stared at nothing in particular as she spoke, her mind clearly zoned out.

"We will do all those things, soon," said a reassuring Dick, seeking solace in not-Tawny.

"Who said you were invited?" said Tawny, snidely.

"Let's go." Dick led the girls through the next passage——— the lights from their flashlights refracting off the walls. From the neighboring passage, the glow of the flashlights illuminated the wet walls for the first time since a solitary torch had many years hitherto.

* * *

In another part of this vast cave system, John and Melody searched for a connecting passage to their lost friend. The room they traversed had low overhanging stalactites, which they gingerly sidestepped. A nearby landslide had broken the stalagmites and created a small, wet, slightly slanting ground that caused them to proceed with caution. The pitter-patter of dripping water echoed loudly from a nearby fresh source.

"I can't believe that we let this happen," said Melody, her brow furrowed in concern. Occasionally they could hear what sounded like furtive and purposeful movements in the distance.

"What do you think that sound was?" asked Melody.

"I didn't hear anything. Are you sure it wasn't the sound of the others?"

"It sounded like something desperately trying to escape. Like a possum or raccoon. I dunno, like an animal stuck in a wall," Melody walked side-side with John. They found another tunnel on the left side of the room. Another tunnel lay some ten yards further down.

"Which one?" he asked.

"I have a good feeling about this one," she said pulling out a piece of foil to place on the ground as a marker.

"Remember that time we went on a hike? Frank pulled those hijinks?" asked John.

Melody screwed up her face. "It's not the same thing: this time he is really lost, last time it was deliberate."