The Viral Chase

Chapter 20: The Cave

Chapter 20

The Cave.

I wake up to someone calling my name and shaking me gently. My eyes flutter open and I find Kevin looking at me with an anticipated look on his face. The morning sky is bright blue with the sun shining brightly overhead. "Wake up sleepyhead." I sit up straight in my car seat only to be reminded of the last night. The car is parked under a canopy of the branches and leaves hanging low, tangling themselves with the climbing creepers and I can see a small cave few metres ahead.

"Where are we?" He gestures for me to follow him and I oblige, groggily pulling myself up without any answer from him. His footsteps leads us towards the cave and I feel a sense of insecurity inside my stirring heart. What if he is lying to me? What if he just made up the story of his act last night to gain my trust? And slowly all the 'what ifs' crowd my mind. We reach the mouth of the cave and Kevin stops, turning to look at me. "Its dark in there, so keep close, okay?" I nod curtly and his hand finds mine as we start walking inside grey stone cave, covered with moss and low hanging branches. I turn around to look back and the car is perfectly hidden in the natural covers. The ghost of sleep that lingered in my eyes few moments ago has been lifted all of a sudden as I am about to enter the dark. The cave steeps downwards and the rubble makes it hard not to stumble. I keep my grip on his hand tight, scared of losing my balance as we descend further. The dark of the stone structure starts getting more darker, if it is even possible. This cold, pitch black and musty smelling cave is a nightmare for any human being and here he is, leading me right into the demonic structure. I can feel the steep path curve slightly and the ground beneath my feet seems to be getting plainer. A faint glow provides me back my vision, enlightening me about the surroundings. The walls of the cave are rough and smoothen as we enter further down. Thankfully, there are no bats here, hanging from the ceiling. Or are there? Soon, my eyes catch a small ball of light in the far corner and Kevin leads us straight towards it.

A small stone archway stands before us. He bends down to pass it and beckons me to follow. Even after the fear rushes inside me, I copy his actions and emerge on the other side to find a waiting Kevin and a large metallic door. His hand slides on a small stone and a red light blinks steadily. He stands in front of it and then I realise that he is getting a retina scan done. A biometric security system in a cave. Sounds supercool. And soon enough, the metal door slides smoothly, revealing a small room resembling a living room. A couch and a small coffee table at one wall and a small study in the other side lined up with a small counter holding books, discs and few other things. There is another room joined to this one and I slowly whisk myself away from Kevin to find a kitchen, a small bedroom and the most spacious room in this structured cave, a lab.

A lab with few computers, some other devices unknown to me and lots of files, tucked in the shelves is what I see. The low hanging lamps on the work table cast large spots of light. I find myself a chair and take a seat to digest the reality that a cave can be structured in such a way to conceal the proof of one's presence. His feet makes way towards me, finding a chair for himself on the way and settling in front of me with two mugs in his hand. "Coffee?" He offers one of the mugs he is holding and I can hardly turn it down as the aroma of the fresh coffee hypnotises me. I accept it and blow over the warm liquid before a sip, pondering over many questions that I need to ask him. Its not my regular creamy cappuccino but I can't be demanding, not the condition I am in. "I thought it was going to be a vacation spot." I mumble sarcastically catching kevin's attention. "It is." He replies with an astonished expression on his face. "Are you guys even normal? A training center at a cottage and a vacation in a cave. I am not sure what comes next. A secret base on a tree?" He gives me a funny look before defending himself. "Yes. It is perfectly normal. Me and Edward work on interesting things here." "Yeah right. All cooped up inside a cave." "Not cooped up!" He yells in a childish manner. "If you would have paid attention, this is a natural habitat where we choose adventure sports over boredom." He adds when my face remains unchanged. That impresses me a bit but I am not the one to let him know that he has won.