The Legendary Ghost of the Cave

Story

   It was the season of Summer that came and brought its sunny days and warm
climate with it, some people consider it as the best season of the year, others
simply don't, they prefer being under the blanket and listening to the falling drops
of rain and the sudden scary sound of thunder that is preceded by a terrifying
lightning while smelling the odour of Petrichor. It was in one of the most crowded
streets of Virginia where lived James Wily, an eighteen-year-old young man who
studied Chemistry at college, James was tall and slender, with a pale complexion
that he inherited from his father Mr. George Wily, he had big green eyes, and
blond curly hair like his mother. It was eleven AM, James was still sleeping, Mrs.
Wily abruptly entered her son's room finding this latter drown in his dreams.
"Oh God! he is still sleeping! James wake up for goodness sake!!" she shouted as
loud as she could, then went to the window, opened it and drew the curtain and
the brightness of the sun invaded the room and made James finally woken up
from his deep slumber.
"Why are you shouting mom? I was just sleeping; did I do anything wrong?" he
said while he was stretching himself.
"Don't you know what time it is?!"
"How could I know? I just woke up," he replied.
"Well, it is eleven gentleman! now you do that bed and when you finish, you
come down to the kitchen to have your breakfast! understood?"
"Alright mom, I'll do as you command,"
When Mrs. Wily left the room, James was thinking about going back to sleep, then
thought about how he would provoke the wrath of his temperamental mother, so
he just forgot about the idea and did his bed as she told him.
After James had had his breakfast, he went out as usual to meet his two friends at
the park, when he arrived there, he found his friend Owen, an obese pop music
lover waiting for him, Owen was small and overweight with a peculiar reddish
skin, he had a small beard and always wore an earring on his left ear, because he
thought he looked cool with it, in fact he always thought girls liked him.
"Hey Owen how is it going my friend?"
"I've never been so excited!" said Owen while he was lighting a cigarette.
"Hmm I see... what is her name Owen?"
"Come on! you know that I'm not interested in such thing,"
"What is it then?"
"I thought Philip informed you about it," said Owen in a surprised tone.
"Well, no! where is he by the way?"
"Did anyone mention my name?" Philip emerged suddenly.
"Hey Philip! I was looking for you my friend! how are you? it's been a while!"
"I am doing pretty well, it seems that you just woke up, am I wrong?" Philip said in
a sarcastic way.
"Haha! yeah since we are in holidays, I take the chance to have some rest."
"did you tell him about it?" asked Philip.
"I thought you did, I was just about to tell him when you showed up," replied
Owen.
"what is that thing you both are talking about?" asked James.
"Actually, we decided to go on an adventure to Robben Island in southern Africa, I
made some researches about it, and I am really interested about exploring it, so I
said to myself that it would be fun to go all of us to spend two weeks there, Owen
has accepted to come with me and I am sure that you are an adventure lover,"
"Wonderful! two weeks in an island! I'm not gonna miss such a great opportunity
I'm on it!" said James in excitement.
James kept silent for a moment reflecting then said: " Wait! my mother! oh no!!"
"What about her James?" asked Owen.
"Oh no! if I ask her I'm sure that she will refuse!" he answered sadly.
"No, come on! I am sure that she will accept James, she wouldn't refuse to let you
enjoy your holidays after you've got good results at school,"
"I don't know Owen, I'll ask her and I just hope she will accept." James said as he
was looking down.
"Alright then! if you are ready just inform me about it." said Philip.
"Sure!" then the three friends split up.
James was so excited about the idea of exploring an island with his close friends,
his wish was finally fulfilled, ever since he was a child he would often ask his
Father Mr. George Wily to tell him about the adventures that he had made when
he was young. On the other hand, James was not sure about his mother's answer.
When he arrived home, he found his father in the kitchen sitting and reading the
newspaper and his mother washing the dishes.
"Mom! May... may I ask you something?" said James in a hesitant manner.
"Of course honey! tell me, what is it?" said Mrs. Wily smiling at him.
"Hmm... to be brief, Owen and Philip are going for an exploration to an island
situated in southern Africa, they will spend two weeks there, so may I go with
them?"
Mrs. Wily turned pale and said: "two weeks!? in an island!?"
She then looked at her husband who seemed busy and said: "George!! are you
listening to what your son is saying?"
Mr. Wily didn't say anything, he was just thinking and was looking at his son.
"Out of the question! I will never allow you to go, what if something bad happens
to you?" she cried.
After some deep reflection, Mr. Wily smiled and said:
"It's Okay Elizabeth, let the boy have fun with his friends!"
"What!? you are joking aren't you?"
"No, I am not dear Elisabeth, I think that we can count on him, he is a man now
after all, moreover when I was at his age or even younger I used to go on a lot of
adventures with my friends; therefore, there is no need to worry about him."
Mrs. Wily took a deep breath, started thinking then asked in a low voice:
"Are you sure about that dear?"
"Yes, I am Elizabeth." he declared confidently.
After her husband's declaration, Mrs. wily went to her son and hugged him
tightly, then told him
"promise me that you will come back safe,"
"I promise mom! don't worry about that!" he said happily.
The day after, James took his bag that he filled with garments and goods that he
would need during the voyage, he hugged his parents then quitted the house.
He was walking along the street heading to the park where he usually
encountered his friends, and in the same time he was imagining the amazing
things he would do and all what he would discover in that island. When he finally
reached the park, Owen and Philip seemed to be ready. Philip carried a loaded
bag on his back which made him feel uncomfortable, he was skinny and always
looked pale as if he never ate or slept, just like Philip, Owen also brought an
overloaded bag, but this latter didn't bring much than what he would fill his belly
with.
"There you are!" said Philip.
"Hi guys! what is that? what did you both bring in those overloaded bags?"
"Few books with which I'll spend some time when I get bored, and some gadgets
that I might need in our exploration." answered Philip.
"As for me, I brought enough amount of food that will keep us alive within the
two weeks." uttered Owen confidently.
"(Sigh) that is all you think about." said Philip.
"How can you stay alive if you don't eat food? you should thank me instead!"
shouted Owen.
"Okay guys, calm down! that is enough! both of you brought necessary things for
the voyage." said James.
"So, are you ready to go?" asked Philip.
"I guess so, but are we going to go through a ship or what?"
"Don't worry about that, actually, my uncle has got a boat, and I asked permission
from him to use it and he accepted."
"Great! so now I guess we have to go to the harbour." said Owen.
"That is right!"
The three friends finally reached the harbour which was not far from the Park
where they did meet. The place was calm and peaceful, the singing birds could be
heard, it was as if only the three of them existed on the planet, for it was early, it
was still six AM. The boat that they would use was there floating on the water,
the sea was so calm that it appeared like a flat mat which one could walk upon
without any fear. The boat was dyed in a white colour, and it was big enough to
carry the loaded bags of the three adventurers. Philip was the first to get on the
boat, he put down the bag that he carried and felt more comfortable, thereafter
called upon his friends who seemed to be somehow hesitant to join him, for they
never had a trip on a boat for such a long distance.
James was drowned in his thoughts for a moment, after he remembered the
promise he had made to his mother that he would go back home safe, then
regained confidence, in the meantime, Owen was creating scenarios in his mind -
negative ones - regarding how their lives might be in danger during the trip, yet it
didn't deprive him from getting onboard the boat so that he wouldn't be
considered a coward.
Everyone was ready for the adventure. Philip turned on the motor and the boat
suddenly set off with an average speed, next he took his bag and pulled a map out
of it to help them reach the island they were supposed to get to. Owen started
getting more relaxed as he was having fun with the others and eating eventually
from the food he brought with him, James on the other hand, was enjoying the
beautiful sight of the vast blue sea they were navigating upon, it was his first
experience ever, as for Philip, he spent most of his time reading scientific books
and making researches on the internet using his laptop.
Three days elapsed, James and Owen were getting bored and also impatient to
arrive, Philip was still occupied with his laptop and was checking the map now and
then to know their location. At that moment, they were navigating on the Atlantic
Ocean and the nearest land was Brazil, which means that they were in the half of
their trip; therefore, they needed three more days to reach South Africa.
Few hours later, the weather began to change, the waves were getting bigger, the
sea became angry and agitated all of a sudden, the sky turned dark and a storm
took place. The three youth were frightened and startled by what they were
seeing, it wasn't something they expected to happen, it was something unusual
for their kinds who have never experienced such an event that is full of fear and
worry.
The boat was swinging left and right, and it started getting filled with water until
it reached their knees, the youth didn't know how to handle the situation, so they
began to call upon God to save them with a miracle, even Philip who did not
believe in any deity was praying with them.
The sea's agitation did not stop, and the three adventurers lost hope, they were
just waiting for the sea to swallow them and put an end to their existence. While
they were saying their prayers asking forgiveness from God, an enormous ship
emerged out of the fog, Owen started calling for help and his fellows followed
him.
As they were shouting and calling as loud as they could, a giant wave was coming
towards them, so they dove into the water swimming as fast as possible, before
the wave could reach them. A man was standing upon the ship looking down at
them, shouted with some words that they didn't comprehend, it was a foreign
language for them, but not all of them... he then threw down a rope to help them
get onboard, so they climbed until they reached the top. There were eight men
on the ship, they wore strange clothes and had odd haircuts, they looked as if
they lived in an ancient epoch, their language was different and they used arrows
and spears as weapons. James figured out that those people belonged to a tribe
living in an island situated in the south-east of Argentina. He remembered that his
father once told him that he had been there with his friends when he was
younger. James knew some words that his father had taught him, so he took the
chance to make contact with one of those men so that they might help them get
to their destination.
The man James was talking to seemed gentle and welcoming, he told Owen and
Philip some incomprehensible words and turned his head up and down to greet
them with an honest smile on his face.
"Can you tell us what he is saying?" Philip asked curiously.
"He wants us to go with them to make a visit to their place, he says that their
chief would be glad to meet us." he answered.
"That is a great idea guys! we will spend a night there and get some food since we
don't have anything left." Owen said, then went to the edge of the ship and
looked down the sea and saw that nothing remained of the boat except few
pieces, after it had been crushed by the giant wave.
"I guess we have no choice, we ought to spend the night in their place until
tomorrow, then we will see what we could do after," said Philip.
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking about as well," said James.
Thereafter, James spoke to the man to tell him that they accepted their offer and
were ready to go with them, so the man smiled and asked his fellows to head
towards the place.
An hour later, the land started appearing, it looked like an island, yet it wasn't the
one they were supposed to explore. The sea began to calm down, the sun finally
showed up and the dark clouds vanished, the place looked extraordinary, it was a
second Hawaii to be precise. Though he had already visited Hawaii, Philip thought
it looked even better. It seemed as if he started to forget about exploring the
South-African island, he was more interested in the new one, his friends shared
the same feeling of amazement, James was already told about the island by his
father, but when he saw it with his own eyes, he felt as if it was the first time he
knew about it.
The ship ceased from going forward, the men threw the anchor and finally got
down to the land where some men came to encounter them, and who seemed to
be members of the tribe. Amidst them stood a man who looked different than the
others, he was aged with a long white beard that made him look like a sage, the
three adventurers instantly realised that he was the chief that they had to meet.
In an impulsive way, James headed towards the chief to greet him and shake
hands with him, but two well-built men intervened immediately and stopped him
from approaching their master, they told him that it is not permissible to go closer
to him, yet the chief interrupted them and gave order to his body guards to let
him go closer to him, the chief was welcoming and lenient, he was even able to
speak English contrary to his men. He told James that there were visitors who had
come earlier before them to the island and from whom he had learned the
language, James guessed that he was talking about his father and his friends.
Afterwards, the chief invited James and his friends to go with him to the place
where the tribe were camping. As they arrived there, they were shown a tent in
which they were expected to spend the night, the tent was not that big to be
adequate for the three of them, they were also been given enough amount of
food, which made Owen content and satisfied.
"Do you want to make a little visit around the place since it's the first time you
come here?" suggested the chief.
"That is nice of you sir! what do you think about it guys?" asked James.
"Yeah sure! count us on!" replied Philip.
Thereafter, while the chief was showing them the beautiful places and the
landscapes, Philip was asking him several questions regarding the sorts and kinds
of species that existed there, for he was interested in knowing about everything
concerning the island they just discovered.
When they were walking, the chief stopped for a moment, lifted his head and
kept looking at a mountain and started reflecting about something, something
that intrigued him...
"Is there anything wrong sir!" Asked Owen.
The chief turned around and looked at Owen with an intense gaze that if you
looked at him you would interpret it as anger; nonetheless, it was not the case, in
fact, the chief was worried.
"There is a legend concerning that mountain up there, our ancestors informed us
that there is a certain cave near that mountain in which dwells a spiritual being, a
ghost to be precise, this latter keeps a treasure that our forefathers had hidden
there, the legend says that nobody came alive after trying to venture inside that
cave."
"Non-sense!" Exclaimed Philip in a sarcastic tone.
Philip could not believe such claims, because he thought it was nothing but a
superstition transmitted from generation to generation, yet his other friends took
the chief's claim seriously, especially Owen who was shaking out of fear and
anxiety. James on the other hand, was eager and curious to see the ghost by his
own eyes, his curiosity overcame his fear of putting his life in danger.
In the evening, during a cold night, Owen and Philip lit up a fire to warm up, Owen
couldn't get rid of the words that the chief of the tribe said concerning the ghost
living in the cave.
"Do you think the ghost we were told about does really exist?" Owen asked.
"It's absurd! do you believe in such superstitions? we are in the twenty first
century idiot! there is nothing called ghosts or spirits or whatever," Philip
responded firmly.
"But, my mother once told me that she has already seen a demon wandering in a
graveyard where her father had been buried!"
"Your mother was just having some kind of delusions, that could be explained by
psychologists as one of the symptoms of Schizophrenia,"
"You're free not to believe anyway, it does not matter to me!"
Suddenly Owen heard a sound, there was something hiding between the leaves of
the grass, Philip heard it evidently as well, yet they could not tell what it could be,
they thought that it was a wild animal willing to attack them, Owen started
shaking and did not know what to do next, he had two choices: either to escape
or to stay there and surrender, Philip took a stick and was waiting for the creature
to show up.
The thing finally came out and the face of the two boys changed, their fear
vanished and the sentiment was replaced by shock, for the thing was nothing
other than their friend James who was trying to scare them. "You idiot! I almost
died outta fear!" yelled Owen as tears were dropping from relief, "Don't get mad I
am just kidding bro!", "Well! seeing the high degree of his sensitivity I doubt you
could even make jokes with him" said Philip, "Shut up! don't pretend like you
were not scared!" suddenly a scream was heard, it was a female scream coming
from above the hills, precisely from a mountain...
The youth did not really pay attention to the yell thinking that it might be some
kind of sound produced by a certain animal, yet James was not convinced about
this idea he was sure that it was a human scream, could it be that a woman was in
danger? who shall tell?
Later on, everyone seemed to be plunged in a profound slumber except for
James, this latter was thinking about the woman's voice he had heard, so he took
his mobile phone to play some distracting games till he could get sleepy, but
nothing... the ideas were still there haunting his mind, at that moment, Owen
started groaning and mumbling from time to time with incomprehensible words,
James thought for a little then decided to venture to the mountain to see with his
own eyes whether the sound came from a human being so that he may quench
his curiosity that deprived him from closing his eyes. After he had prepared
himself, he lit up a torch and started walking along the way to get to the place, he
did not awake his sleeping partners, he decided to go on his own. At first, he was
getting scared as he was listening to the scary sounds produced by owls and
ravens, but then he thought that it was too early to go back and that he wasn't far
from the place. When he finally arrived, he started looking left and right to check
if there was any trace of some kind of creature, but nothing was found;
nevertheless, something captured his attention, something he didn't expect to
find there, it was a cave!
At that exact same moment, some questions arose to his mind, "Is it the cave the
chief told us about?" he thought, "Was that scream produced by the ghost inside
this cave?" he continued. No answer seemed to come, James was getting
bewildered and felt the need to know about whether the chief's claim was true or
just a superstition as his friend Philip had suggested. The adventurer managed to
get himself out of his mind and decided to make the endeavor to venture inside
the dark hole to figure out the truth about the mystery.
There was a total absence of light inside, James went forward without looking
back, he was so determined that he did not even think about the outcomes that
may result. His torch was of help to let him see inside the cave, as he was walking,
he could perceive different drawings upon the walls that must have dated
thousands of years, when he looked at his right, he could see drawings that
pictured different kinds of animals such as mammoths, tigers, llamas, and when
he turned to the left, he could see some kind of creatures that resembled
humans, yet they were scary, James thought.
The place was totally quiet, all he could hear was his footsteps, but it was not so
long until the quietness was disturbed by a sound that could scarcely be heard,
James thought that maybe it was just his imagination, so he kept marching
forward, suddenly the earth beneath him shook and he dropped the torch from
his hands, which made him in a total darkness, nothing could be seen, nothing at
all, just as if he was blind, his heart started beating faster and faster as he was
sweating out of fear, the fear of the unknown, he used his shivering hand to look
for his torch and finally found it, yet when he tried to turn it on, unfortunately it
didn't work, and this made his fear grow more and more, but that was not all,
there was an echoed voice approaching him closer and closer uttering in a
frightening tone: "Leave this place! Leave this place!" James became horrified and
startled about the scary sound he had heard, his adrenaline lifted him and made
him run quickly till, by chance, managed to reach the place from which he had
entered.
James felt relieved to escape the place and shocked at the same time, for it was
not something ordinary for him, in the end, he attained certainty about the
mystery regarding the ghost that was once considered a legend told by
superstitious men. But, then it became a fact that was undeniable in the eyes of
James.
He went back to the tent in which his fellows slept, and the sun had already risen.
He woke them up and informed them about the matter.
Philip who had first taken the claim of the chief to be a joke and that it was
unnecessary to try to figure out about its authenticity, gave up to his extreme
skepticism and decided to see it by his own eyes, because he was the type who
believed solely in what he saw.
"What makes you say that what you have heard was actually coming from a
ghost? what if it was only a human living inside that cave?" Philip inquired.
"No! I am sure it wasn't a human, I really felt something strange and unusual,
something spiritual to be precise, and I can assure you that my hunches have
never fooled me!" James replied.
"That is not convincing enough! however I think that I am going to venture there
the way you did and see by my own eyes whether it's true or not, furthermore I
am not gonna lose anything."
"And I am coming with you as well, I am not gonna stay here on my own." said
Owen.
At the very moment when the three adventurers decided to go together to the
cave and face the mystery, the chief made his appearance to check on whether
they were doing well, then he was told about what James had heard and seen,
and that made him shocked and surprised, he then spent some moment
reflecting, then withdrew from his pocket three objects resembling medals that
were made out of silver.
"Carry these amulets with you and do no longer worry about your safety when
you'll enter the cave, for those precious objects shall protect you from any kind of
spirit intending to approach or hurt you. My forefathers used to wear it wherever
they went and it had always protected them."
James and Owen happily received the amulets and thanked the chief for his
contribution to help them, as for Philip he was first being hesitant, then took it as
well.
James, Owen and Philip were finally ready to delve into the dangerous adventure,
when they arrived there, James thought that it was as obscure as the last time he
had entered it, he proceeded by turning on a torch and marching forward.
Suddenly, something passed by them quickly, it wasn't clear enough to tell what it
could be, after that a voice was approaching them from behind pronouncing
"Leave this place!" and James recognised the voice, it was that of a woman, yet it
was so scary that the youth turned paralysed, they could not even lift their legs to
make a single move. The voice kept approaching till they could no longer bear the
pressure, so they shouted loudly and ran and ran seeking a refuge, yet they ended
up at a dead end where the treasure was kept, so many golden objects from all
kinds glowing and attracting the attention of its perceivers, however it was not
the right moment for the youth to think about taking the treasure with them,
their sole purpose was to find a way out of the nightmare they were living in and
escape from the ghost that was chasing them.
It did not take too long until the ghost emerged before their shaking eyes, the
ghost seemed to be a female, an aged woman clad in a middle age style with a
crone upon her head indicating that she was a queen during a certain epoch. She
did not look happy as she was looking at them, and the first thing she uttered
was: "What brings you here?!" No one of them could pronounce a single word,
for they were seized by an immense fear. Philip who once thought that ghosts
were mere superstitions and legends, changed his conviction, and was as well
plunged in a well of dreadfulness that he couldn't escape, his heart was throbbing
fast and his sweating could fill an empty bottle. James who was the most daring
responded by saying in a hesitant way: "we are just curious people, we did not
come here for the treasure." "Silence!" she interrupted. "Liar! Do you think I am
that naive to believe such fabricated claims?!" she continued firmly then
edeavoured to attack them using an axe, but fortunately for the three youth the
ghost could not reach them, the amulets they wore protected them by creating a
kind of barrier between them and the ghost. When the ghost realised that she can
not attack them, she threw the axe away.
"If it wasn't about the treasure, what is your reason for coming here?" she asked.
"Just as I told you, my curiosity is the only thing that brought me here." answered
James.
"And I am here to see whether a ghost does really exist." Philip added.
"We did not come here for the treasure, I swear!" Owen shouted.
"You don't seem like those greedy people who think only about wealth and
stealing things that they do not possess, for that I'm going to tell you about who I
am. My name is Elilya and I was a queen of this land a thousand of years ago, and
the reason why I took the shape of a ghost is that my people made a ritual and I
happened to be the sacrifice in accordance to our tradition, and after being
sacrificed I became an immortal spirit just as you can see, in order to guard this
precious treasure. It was the only way to keep it safe, for my people back then
were not strong enough to protect it from the pirates."
Afterwards, when the youth were amazed and shocked about the story they had
heard from the mouth of the queen Elilya, this latter invited them to take some of
the golden pieces of the treasure as a gift from her, as she realised that they were
innocent people. Then, when they finally quitted the place, James, Owen and
Philip felt proud of being in such a memorable adventure, they lived a tale that
would make them thrilled to tell their acquaintances about, a tale that resembled
a legend, a tale in which they were the heroes, and a tale that could be titled The
Legendary Ghost of the Cave.