Chapter Four

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*Due to revisions and rewrites of the first draft, chapters 1-3 were reworked and combined. Rather than change ALL of the following chapter numbers, I'm just choosing to skip chapter 3. Sorry for any confusion!*


Song of the chapter – Cool Kids by Echosmith


"Listen to this one..." Harper started to read yet another cave legend that she had Googled on their drive. Eliana took the driver's seat for this trip, feeling more comfortable and familiar with the surroundings than Harper did. Immediately as the car turned onto the road, Harper started bombarding Eliana with useless facts and cave stories, her excitement barely contained.

"Another one? Don't tell me about anymore cave monsters, I won't go in one if you do." Eliana threatened.

"Nah, no monsters this time. Besides, that was a cave in the Himalayas, not here in Montana."

"Oh, yeah. That's so much better." Eliana scoffed.

"Anyway..." Harper continued, drawing out the word in irritation, "This one says that some Native tribes believed caves were tunnels to other worlds, or to the afterlife. One legend says that warriors who would protect the land, lived in caves, and would only come out during an eclipse."

Eliana shook her head at her over enthusiastic friend. "Are you telling me you believe that? Come on! Harper these are stories, nothing like that is even possible."

"You say that now, but you know how it goes..." Harper looked at Eliana, who just shook her head. "Famous last words, that's how." She responded, completely serious.

Eliana just laughed, "Alright, well we are here so I guess we'll be finding out soon enough."

She pulled the car off the road to a dirt turn out. No other cars were parked there, but a sign indicating a cave trail was located at the end of the dirt section. Eliana secured the car near the sign and both girls started preparing their packs. As Eliana bent over to pick up her backpack, the odd metal necklace slipped out from under her tee shirt, and dangled in view.

"Hey, you're wearing that weird thing." Harper observed.

"Oh" Eliana replied, as if just remembering she had it on. "Yeah, um, I put it on this morning. I don't know, it just feels like Aine or something, it seemed appropriate, almost like I'm doing this whole cave thing as a memorial. I just thought it would be bringing part of her with me."

"I get it. You're right though, like I said last night, it's almost like she planned this all out for us: Maps in the locked desk, supplies in the closet. Fate." Harper agreed.

What Eliana didn't tell her, for some reason even she couldn't figure out, was that she also had the letter and the strange rock in her pack. She wasn't sure what made her put those in the outer pocket of the bag, but almost without questioning the need to bring them, she did. At the time it had felt like a given, there was no way she could leave the house without those three items.

"Alright, I'm ready. How about you?" Harper asked.

"Yup, let's explore." Eliana replied.

The two set out on the trail leading to the cave. Again, a sense of familiarity filled Eliana's every step. She didn't have clear memories of the location, just a sense that she had been there before. It was a dull déjà vu, however, the feeling increased with every step. That was, until she tripped on a rock and fell flat on her face.

"Now, how the hell are we going to cave explore if you fall every ten seconds?" Harper chided her as she helped her clumsy friend up.

"Well, you know me. If there's a pebble in my path, my toe will find it." Eliana said as she dusted herself off, no worse for the wear. Luckily she hadn't scraped anything other than her pride.

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