Isaiah 2:19-21: Men will go into caves of the rocks And into holes of the ground Before the terror of the LORD And the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth tremble. In that day men will cast away to the moles and the bats Their idols of silver and their idols of gold, Which they made for themselves to worship, In order to go into the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs Before the terror of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to make the earth tremble.

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“Come on, pick up…. I know you didn’t just run away on me.”

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Hey! It’s Norman! Why are you calling me? Leave a message and I’ll get back to you. Unless you’re a creep. If that’s the case, you’ll be blocked.

“Dammit!” I screamed like a bloody, beaten horse. It was the fourth time that day I had tried to get a hold of Norman, to no avail. His coworkers staying in his barrack said that he went to their woodworking activity early to work on something, and hadn’t been heard from since. Before this, I had just thought he’d snuck off with another coworker, but the extensive missed calls had all but confirmed the worst in my mind. Sulking back into my bunk, I tried to chase the toxic thoughts out of my mind. But they wouldn’t stop, as if the depths of these shadows were thick enough to blot out any ray of light that may save me. Without Norman, it’s as if I no longer serve a purpose here.

“Hey, sleepyhead! Didn’t you forget we’re going spelunking in 30 minutes? Get dressed!” Raven exclaimed while she reached into her toiletry bag. Begrudgingly, I got out of bed and put my wool socks on. Raven became increasingly anxious as she realized I would keep my silence. “Have you heard from Norman yet?” She inquired.

“I’ve been calling him ever since I woke up,” I whimpered. “Voicemail every time.” Raven sat next to me on my bunk, before simply giving me a hug and letting me burst into tears on her shoulder. This was supposed to be my vacation; how could it have all gone so horribly wrong? “Chloe, I know it’s hard right now to see that light at the end of the tunnel. But believe me, a light is there. I promise...I know Norman is out there, somewhere. Something is telling me deep in my heart, everything will be okay.” I sat up, with something deep inside of me heeding her advice. I knew her words weren’t coming from a place of deceit, but rather a place of pure, unadulterated charity. It’s just the way she was. Raven shifted, “Now come on and get dressed, we’ve got an actual cave to explore! Maybe that’ll take your mind off of things. I’ve always heard the rock formations are beautiful here!”

The ranger from Barrack 19, Giselle, paced the line, inspecting our gear to make sure we were fully equipped and prepared. “Now, I will warn you guys, the inside of the cavern is rather slick. We recently had a small cave-in, but we’ve patched it up since then. So watch your step, and always remember to carry three….”

Giselle stopped, looking at Shawn’s helmet with an inquisitive glare. “Shawn, that’s on backwards. The lamp is supposed to be in front of you, so you can see.” Giselle chided, before making sure the rest of his protective gear was on right side out. “Well. As I was saying, always remember to carry three sources of light with you at all times! Now, we’re gonna have to partner up, just to make sure no one gets lost down here in the caves. So buddy up!” Everyone looked as if they had been called to read a passage in high school, but forgot what page they were on. Raven clung to my side for dear life, while the rest of the group shifted and shuffled until they found their respective partner. As the motion stopped, only Shawn and a modest-figured, sickly pale man were left as outsiders.

Giselle, with obvious irritation in her gait, made his way over to Shawn. “You understand that partner means TWO people, and not one, right? You’re gonna be partnered with Doug.” Shawn looked as if the color was fading right out of his face to the rock floor beneath us. “N-no way, man! I’m not going!”

I watched Doug’s face as he glanced at Shawn for a split second. In that second, all time seemed to...stop, almost. By no means did Doug have an intimidating presence; he looked about as milquetoast as you can get. But something about his eyes seemed to strike dread directly into Shawn’s already hollowed appearance. So much so that Shawn simply tucked tail and ran back up onto the forest path from which we came.

“It’s fine; I work better alone. I’ll live.” Doug intoned, making his way into the cave.

Irritated, Giselle followed close behind, and the rest of us followed suit in our pairings. Once inside, Raven switched on her flashlight, while I held our lantern, its glow allowing us to take in our surroundings. Even though the entrance to the cave could have been only 4 feet wide, we walked into a cavern that reminded me more of a coral reef than a cave. Covering the vaulting ceiling of the cave, were what looked to be structures that almost defied gravity in their growth, growing and expanding wherever they saw fit.

Giselle turned to face us, pointing her light at a formation that looked like thousands of glass shards impaled into the face of the cave. “Now, these little structures are called helictites! They’re extremely fragile, so please keep your hands at your sides!” “That means you, Andrew!” Raven said with a smirk.

“What? I wouldn’t do anything like that! I definitely d-don’t want to take one of these home!” Andrew stumbled, both with his words and with his feet, landing face first into a small stalagmite. Raven giggled for a split second, before helping him back up onto his feet. “Thanks.” Andrew muttered, turning his eyes towards me. “Wait, you’re Norman’s girlfriend, aren’t you? Good god, I’m so sorry. If there’s anything you need, just say my name and I’ll be there.”

Even though Norman stayed in Barrack 19 with Andrew, I had never seen him in my life. Maybe I had, but I must not have paid attention, passing him off as an awkward mix between a surfer and a programmer. I knew he wasn’t actually sorry; his face couldn’t have looked less empathetic. But I didn’t want to make a scene.

“Thank you. By chance, did he happen to leave his phone at the barrack?” I asked. “I don’t think so, but I’m not sure. All I know is that he hasn’t been back since yesterday. Giselle may know for sure, though.” Andrew replied.

Descending deeper and deeper into the caves, the once vast walls turned into an increasingly cramped pathway that offered no respite from the dark, musty stench of sulfur. We were forced to continue on in a single file line amidst the ragged, protruding walls of limestone. However odd our situation was, though, I began to feel at ease as we continued. This cave was seemingly made for us to venture through and discover what secrets it may contain. Trying to solve this mystery helped take my mind off the mystery of Norman, and reprieve from my personal demons seemed to be just what the doctor ordered. “Hey! Can you guys slow down? I’m starting to lag behind!” Abby exclaimed from near the back of our line. We slowed to a halt, parting and shifting so Giselle could run back and take another head count.

“Hey Raven, how long is this thing supposed to last today?” I whispered. Despite telling me we were spelunking, she never gave me the actual details. As calming as it was down here, we needed to get back to our barrack at some point. “I think we’re supposed to be back at camp by 3:30. What time is it now?” Raven queried. “My watch is still on my nightstand…” I muttered. Scanning my coworkers, I looked to see who had a watch on them. The rose tint on my spelunking glasses was rapidly wearing off, as the sudden stop in movement had given my location time to settle.

Soon enough, though, the walls that comforted me minutes earlier began to feel dark and oppressive, as if a malevolent energy had sucked the life out of each and every part of our atmosphere at once. A sudden sense of foreboding overcame me, seemingly radiating from the walls themselves. A realization sank into me that the hundreds, maybe thousands of tons of rock above my head could come crashing down at any moment.

Shaking off the worried thoughts, I watched as Giselle made her way toward the front of the group urgently. “Has anyone seen Doug? He’s not here.”

It was that point at which all the life, hope, and optimism we had felt had been completely drained from our very bodies. Everybody’s eyes darted around, scanning the cave to see if he was simply playing a gag on us. Vinita and Giselle were the first to start backtracking to see if he was just farther behind. Abby had started taking deep breaths, almost a poor attempt at meditating in an attempt to calm down. Raven snapped me back to life. “Come on Chloe, we’ve gotta go look for Doug. Andrew, can you stay here with Abby and help her calm down?” Andrew nodded, immediately perching beside Abby and running through his tight five stand-up set.

Raven and I, meanwhile, ventured forward. Remembering our path so far, there were a couple of alternate paths and boundless tunnels we hadn’t explored. The possibilities could be endless in such a vast cave network. Coming from somewhere from behind me, a dim hum began to ring through my ears, coursing through my entire body. It’s origin was unknown, but it was an odd, unique grating sound. One that caused instant dread to bubble up in the recesses of my gut. Deep down, I was assured something very, very malevolent was here, perfectly confirming my earlier fears.

“Chloe, is everything okay? Do you hear that too?” Raven turned with a look of terror in her eyes.

“Yeah, and it’s not something good. We need to go back. Now.” “....Guys! Come back! Giselle found Doug!” Andrew sprinted into view, obviously winded by the jaunt he had just taken to find us. “Oh my God!” I jumped, “Where did they find him?” “He was in a shallow arterial with a little lake, but he was just staring at the helictites. Giselle said they could barely break his gaze.” “We have to get him to the infirmary then, he may have caught something down here!” I said while trekking back from where we came with a new vigor.

I stopped, and turned around for a second. “By the way, thank you, Andrew. You’re a real friend for coming back to get us.” Andrew laughed, “It’s my pleasure. All of my friends call me Jay, by the way.” When we got back with the group, I noticed immediately that Doug had a change in demeanor. His once average expression had turned into a sullen, hollow outline of a skeleton. Black rings around his eyes had formed, as if he hadn’t slept in three months. But above all, his lips had lost their hue entirely. Giselle was by his side, offering water and trying to ask him what had happened, but all she received in return was silence.

That night, after we returned from the spelunking trip, I had a vivid dream. Norman was sitting with his back against a decaying tree, looking up towards a red moon at the top of a hill. No matter how far I walked up, though, I would never get any closer. When I turned around, Doug was two feet behind me, clad in black, rotting chainmail. What appeared to be a crown atop his head, were simply petrified growths of bone, almost exactly like the stalagmites I saw in the cave a few hours prior. He never said anything, the only thing he seemed to do was bore into my soul with his glazed, jet-black eyes. I tried running to get away from him, but he was following every twist and turn I made. Suddenly, I had tripped on an exposed root from the tree.

I woke up in a cold sweat before I hit the ground. Seeing Norman had sent my emotional state into another tailspin, but this time I wouldn’t just lie down and take this tragedy. I’d fight for closure, no matter how grim the truth may be. My first reaction was to try and call Norman, but seeing as it didn’t go so well the first few times I tried, I put on my slippers and snuck over to Barrack 19 to see if I could find any clues as to where he was.

It was only a short walk over to Barrack 19, but it felt like an eternity. It was a majestic night in Eden, with the full moon casting beautiful patterns of light, striking off of different branches of the evergreen trees that surrounded us as far as the eye could see. With only the light from the moon as my guide, I made my way to the barrack. As soon as it came into view, I could see that the door was slightly unhinged. I lurked around for a minute or two, making sure no rangers were up late patrolling the camp before I made my way in.

At first, I couldn’t see anything at all when I stepped inside. Everything was at a still, eerie silence. I took a careful step forward, and slipped on a puddle of something, hitting my head on the way down. When I came back up, I had clambered my way over to the light switch, revealing the cascading monsoon of blood I had slipped in. The blood had pooled in the center of the room, but from two different trails. The first led to Vinita’s corpse, impaled on the western wall with several mining pickaxes that we carried as an emergency tool. Two of which found their way into her biceps, the third being implanted underneath the soft spot of her chin. Her face, however, was frozen in a smile, with blood staining her mouth a bitter maroon. After coming face to face with what was left with Vinita, I took a good long look into her dead eyes, and promptly threw up from the state of decay she was in. Fearing what else I would find, or worse, who did this to everybody, I slowly approached the second trail. It’s origin was one of the beds along the northeastern wall; another victim, wearing a set of Munchlax pajamas. Her head was underneath the mattress, but there was no bulge in the shape to indicate that her head was still round. In an instant, I heard one single breath in the dead silence. It was coming from near the male bedroom. I silently scrambled to the other side of the room, and took the pickaxe from Vinita’s skull before cautiously approaching the next room. All that separated me from whatever atrocities in that room, and myself, was a decrepit oak door. After summoning every ounce of courage from inside of my spirit, I opened the door, and turned on the light.

Jay greeted me right away. His bunk was dragged to the center of the room, and had the front two legs of his bed chopped off. He was bound to the frame with deliberate lashings, elevating him at an awkward angle. A damp cloth covered his face. When I peeled it back, I was greeted with a drenched Jay, with his mouth and nostrils stuffed full of fiberglass.

On the other side of the room, Doug was lying motionless on his bunk. Fearing that he may have suffered the same fate, I put my fingers to his wrist to feel for a pulse. He had one, but it was extremely faint. I bent over and gently tapped him on the face “Doug, look at me. You have to come with me, right now. Something ...horrible happened to everyone else here.” Doug rose, but only looked at me with his now glazed, haunting eyes. Without saying a word, he rose and followed me out of the barrack as we ran to the ranger’s quarters. There were others just lying about on the campgrounds like they had been struck by lightning or buried alive. I tried to count them all. 10. 15. 30? Maybe more.

“Where’s Giselle’s room?” I asked Doug, keeping my stride. He pointed to a cabin, and we ran together under the pale moonlight. Inside, I couldn’t hear a pin drop. All I could see was a thin line of fog that crept along the undercurrents of the baseboards.

A light flickered on, near the bulletin board, and I covered my mouth in terror. Giselle was there, her body impaled against it like a mangled crucifix, with her neck snapped upwards and her arms stretched upwards, way beyond their limits. From the blood on her palms, I could see that she tried to convey one last message on the glassy surface of the window nearby. My feet moved instinctively towards the glass to see the message she used her dying breath to convey. It was one word:

DOUG

I froze in place, not daring to move. In the dim illumination, I could still see Doug standing behind me. His face looked like a skull, it’s grim features contorted in a grisly smile.

“Did you do this?!?” I barked, whipping around to confront him. But he was gone. My heart beat fast as I stumbled onto the bulletin board. Giselle’s eyes darted open, somehow, she was still alive. She looked me in the eyes for a second, and simply mouthed two words: “Save yourself.”