Dark Visions

14: The Peculiar & Uncanny Valley

How could I resist after he had picked me up and carried me in his arms to safety earlier? This time, I would lead him to safety. I took his gentle hand in mine. "Follow me." I pulled him forward and we gradually made our way down the dark path ahead, moving through the blackness with a map I made within my memory. Without resistance he followed, trusting me wholehearted as I instinctively guided him toward the unfamiliar. I held the broken flashlight in front of us as our only form of defense, but I was eager to take my mind off of what lay ahead. "Moving through this cave is like searching for a deep dark secret that's been hidden somewhere in the pit of an abyss."

"Or your subconscious." His grip tightened slightly on my palm.

"Exactly." I nodded even though he couldn't see me. "I've learned more about myself while struggling to survive in this cave than I had my years of living outside of these walls."

Blamore grunted and I imagined a bashful grin upon his face. "Surviving life requires you to learn from your experiences, the good and bad."

"I used to tell my clients that when there was bad news in the cards." I huffed at the realization. "Learning is like food for the soul. And for me being psychically gifted, I never saw this scenario in any vision."

"Being trapped in a cave?"

"No." I pulled him closer until I felt his radiating body heat on my exposed skin. "Developing a deep sense of connection and understanding in such a short time with someone I barely even know."

"We know each other on a deeper level." He squeezed my hand. "You just don't remember. But don't worry. I have a feeling it will all come back to you."

There was no doubt he was right. As the words left his lips, they fit snug in my heart like a missing piece of the puzzle. "I can't wait to get out of here."

"The determination you have to leave this place is the same determination I have to get back to where I truly belong. You're feeling an eagerness to return to where you know you're safe, where things feel familiar and comfortable. You're ready to return home too."

I thought of all the loss, grief and fear we've encountered so far. "Why go through so much hell for comfort, or safety, or home?"

"You wouldn't fully appreciate any of it if it were just given to you. The best things in life are usually earned."

I continued to sweep the broken flashlight ahead of us to prevent us from blindly bumping into the jagged walls. And after a few minutes of walking in pitch black, the flashlight oddly flickered back on. Teasingly, the light blinked on and off until we took our final steps and exited the tunnel. I examined the light, questioning why it was sporadic in its assistance and if its aid was somehow calculated.

As soon as I took my eyes from the handle of the flashlight, I focused on what the beam had illuminated before us. Droplets of water that dripped from the menacing, teeth-like stalagmites on the roof of the cave that hovered over a vast black lake.

"This looks like the same lake we just crawled out of." What my eyes saw and what my heart felt contradicted one another. "This is not the same lake. It can't be."

"It's not but it's a splitting image." The puzzled look on Blamore's face remained as he stood on the landing near the edge of the black water where three interconnected spirals where carved into the rock at his feet. "There's only one way to go from here."

"I'm not getting in that water." Just the thought of going through a similar experience of losing Brent to the cursed lake was more than enough to convince me to stay put. "What if what happened to Brent happens to us?"