Cavern

The boat rocked gently in the vastness of the lake, droplets of water echoed around the cavern, the light from my torch flickered, barely making a dent in the darkness. The blanket I woke up on squelched under my feet as I shifted around, I don’t know how I got there. I assumed it was an underground lake, how far deep though I was unsure. It would have been almost peaceful if it wasn’t for the utterly suffocating feeling of dread that was growing within me.

I don’t know how long I sat there before it appeared.

At first it was a small ripple of water, not much louder than the droplets hitting the surface of the lake. But it grew, and with it came a darkness.

Somehow this shadow was darker than the nothingness around it, a void moving closer and closer, the water rippling below. I froze. What was there to do? I had no oar, no way out, I don’t even know how I got there.

Before I knew it, I was surrounded by the shadow, everything went quiet, too quiet, no water dripping, no creaking from the boat, just complete and utter silence. The dread filled me, trying to claw its way out like some sort of primal beast. I couldn’t see a thing, the torch was still firmly in my hand, and yet no light emitted from it.

Suddenly I felt this intense pressure, as if I was being buried alive under a truckload of concrete, I couldn’t breathe, my thoughts began to muddle, nothing was making sense, I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold onto consciousness for much longer, but before I completely passed out, a deep voice reverberated through me, “I will consume.”

I awoke again on that wet blanket, the cold seeping into my bones, hands numb and everything slightly damp. It was not a dream. It was real.

I picked up the torch which appeared to have been broken, and noticed the boat was no longer moving below me, reaching my arm over the side to feel for the water, I felt cold, wet rock instead. I climbed out of the boat, and heard distant laughing, the noise brought me back to myself, and suddenly the memories hit me. Going hiking with my friends, a summer camping trip, finding a cave, being dared to go in, and being unable to refuse, but after that there was nothing, just waking in the boat and the all-consuming shadow.

The laughter grew and my friends appeared, who, after seeing my face, obviously full of fear, led me out to the light. The daylight seemed to stop just beyond the reach of the cave entrance, like the darkness was leaking out, reaching out for something.

Sometimes I wake in the night and hear that voice, the dark waits, and I hope it doesn’t get out.