*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.
"Maybe I should walk in front, so I can break your fall next time." Harper suggested.
"Ha! Then we'd both go down!"
The girls continued on the path as it curved slightly, then started increasing in difficulty. The incline up the hill toward the cave left them both panting. After stopping for water and to snap a few landscape shots, they continued to make their way to the cave.
The land around them was covered in green, lush grasses and occasional wild flowers. Montana had plenty of rain and water so the hills remained full of growth during summer months. Even summer time brought weekly showers, sometimes moving through quickly and other times lingering for hours. The blue skies from earlier in the morning were already becoming dotted with darker clouds.
"It might be raining when we get out of that cave." Eliana said.
"That would suck." Harper replied. "Sheesh, it's getting cold too. I should have worn warmer clothes."
"Yeah, same. I think I'm already going to put on the hoodie I packed for inside the cave." Even with the strenuous hike up the hill, Eliana felt the temperature dropping.
"Right! I forgot about mine!" Harper cheered, stopping immediately to put her sweatshirt on. Mountain peaks in Montana were known to have a light dusting of snow, even in June. The drop in temperature wasn't unusual.
Once again, they continued up the hill, pointing out the flowers that seemed more concentrated the closer to the cave they got. After a thirty-minute hike, the cave entrance came into view. A small placard at the opening reminded explorers of cave safety: explore with a partner, carry water and supplies in with you. Wear headlamps for light, mark your path as you go.
The cave they were exploring wasn't one of those typical tourist caves with lights installed and tour guides. This one had been kept mostly authentic, meant for serious spelunking. Which Eliana had learned was a fancy word for cave exploration. The girls donned their headlamps, undeterred by any warnings considering they had all their bases covered.
"Ready for this?" Harper asked.
"As I'll ever be." Eliana replied, silently admitting to herself that she actually was excited to be trying something new. She kept that quiet, however, not wanting Harper to get any ideas about future adventures.
"Okay, let's get in there!" Harper led the way into the cave, headlamp already on.
The cave started out as an easy walk. The entrance led to a wide path moving without twists or turns into the mouth of the cave. The ceiling was high, so both girls could stand up straight. When reading the brochure, they learned that the deeper they went, the smaller the spaces were likely to be, especially caves that hadn't been turned into tourist attractions. Of course those wouldn't support that type of visits.
A few minutes later, the entrance and it's light still visible, Harper came upon their first decision. The path split into two directions, and neither girl were sure which to take.
"Sheesh, I feel like Katniss right now. What did they do in that movie again?" Harper said back to Eliana.
"If you're talking about Mocking Jay, they sent one person a few feet in to see if it went anywhere." Eliana replied.
"Kay, looks like I'll take a peek." Harper said, then took a few steps into the left tunnel shining a light further into the darkness. "This looks like it might keep going. But let's check the other one." She said as she emerged from the left side.
"I'll take a look on the right." Eliana told her, stepping just a few feet into the opening. It seemed to become very tight, very quickly. Not a good spot to continue into, Eliana thought. "Nope, this is no good. To the left it is. Let's leave a glow stick here so we remember which way we came."
"Right." Harper said. She reached into her pack and pulled out a stick, snapped it to get the glow started and then laid it down at the entrance to the left tunnel. The glow sticks had been found with the supplies in the downstairs closet, and after reading the brochure on cave exploring basics, they realized the glow sticks would be great trail markers.
They stepped into the left tunnel, and not five feet in, Eliana stumbled right into Harper. Luckily her friend kept her balance and steadied Eliana as well, keeping her from taking another fall.
"Girl, you need some balance lessons." Harper teased.
Eliana shrugged. "Not much good it will do. I'm just a clutz, what can I say."'
"Hashtag truth" Harper teased. She kept the lead, finding her way in the cave just ahead of Eliana.
As the space between ceiling and floor continued to shrink, Eliana felt a sense of panic rise. She felt a determination, however, and didn't let the panic take over. Instead, she decided to look at her surroundings, taking them in. The darkness was airy, the headlamps illuminating their way made the darkness melt away. On the edges of the beam of light, the cave walls seemed wet. As Eliana reached out to touch them, she was surprised to find these cave walls dry, but shiny.
As they followed the twists and turns of the main cave tunnel, bending slightly as the space tightened up, Eliana noticed a change in the cave walls, still illuminated by the headlamps.
"Can you see that?" Eliana called up to Harper.
"What?" Harper stopped and turned to ask.
"That. The sparkle in the cave." Eliana pointed to part of the wall where the sparkle was.
"I don't see any sparkles. It's probably just the angle of the lamp." Harper answered. "Besides, doesn't some rock contain that stuff. You know, the sparkly stuff?"
"You mean pyrite. Yeah, maybe that's it." Eliana agreed verbally, even though deep down she knew it wasn't pyrite. It was easier to just end the conversation rather than argue with Harper about minerals and rocks. That science class had been too long ago. Her current studies didn't include those elements.
"Right. Just keep moving, kay. We can go a little ways futher and then maybe we should head back to the entrance." Harper stated. "It's getting pretty tight in here."
"I feel that too. Almost too tight." Eliana was still trying to push the sense of panic away. Her emotions were conflicted. There was a strong pull to go through the cave, continue exploring. At the same time, her heart was pounding in her chest with nerves. She had started taking calming breaths, figuring her body was just responding to the stress of the situation. Although it didn't feel like stress, it felt more like a warning that something was about to happen.
Not three steps later, Eliana tripped again. Things began to move in slow motion this time. She felt her foot hit something in her path, then her body lurched forward, twisting as she started to fall. Eliana must have made some type of noise, or she cried out, because Harper turned suddenly, shock registering on her face. She seemed to lunge for Eliana, grabbing her by the arm as both girls started to fall.
Bodies twisting and turning, still with a sense of slow motion, as if time had stopped, the girls held on to whatever they could grab. Backpack straps, shirt collars, waistbands, their hands were frantically reaching out for some type of steadying hold. The thought ran through Eliana's mind, why haven't I hit the floor yet? Her body was still moving downward, but she was sure that they should have already come to a stop on the cave floor. The sensation was strange, as if the floor had suddenly disappeared. Her mind registered a sense of being pulled, as if a part deep inside of her was being yanked somewhere, although the feeling didn't hold a direction either.
Then the headlamps went out, and everything was dark.
〰🖤〰
Thanks so much for the reads, votes and comments! ❤️
So...thoughts? What do you think happened in that cave? And are the girls going to get out? Things won't be normal anymore, that's for sure.
I love the sound of Cool Kids, and somehow it seemed like a good match for this chapter. It's less about the words and more about the tone for me, to be honest...