Isobel had already disappeared into the largest cave, staring around in awe as she faded into the dark. Abby and I hovered at the mouth of the cave. Her expression was a picture of disgust and apprehension; I guessed it was a mirror to my own face.
“Are we going in, or not?” she muttered in an uncharacteristically small voice. My friend was usually loud, the life of the party. Maybe she shared my concerns about the whole thing crashing down on our heads and burying us alive, second only to my fear of getting a spider in my hair.
“We don’t have to if you don’t want to,” I said optimistically, as though I needed talking out of it.
What I could see of the cave floor was basically one giant puddle, and the air radiating from within was stale and stinking. At least this one didn’t smell of piss, only mould and damp. I lifted my eyes to the cave roof. There wasn’t much to see, dark as it was, but I was willing to bet my life there were spiders up there. The overall effect was unappealing. Had we really walked all this way to see this? I glanced at my watch. It was way past lunchtime, and the falafel wrap in my backpack was calling my name. My stomach grumbled. The sooner we went in, the sooner we’d be back in the sunshine, sprawled on the grass, stuffing our faces.
I heaved a sigh. “Come on, let’s get it over with. If we don’t go in, we’ll never hear the end of it.”
I had no doubt that Isobel would set up camp in the cave, refusing to come out until each of us had been suitably awed and expressed our burning desire to wed the fairy prince. The longer we waited outside, the longer we dragged out our own suffering.
Abby went first, the brave little soul. I followed her wine-red ponytail, grimacing as the soles of my boots sank into what I hoped, with every atom of my being, was only water. Before the summer was out, I’d be dealing with all manner of bodily fluids, but that didn’t mean I wanted to wade through human piss while I was on my holidays.
Our sloshing footsteps echoed around the cave walls, but other than that, neither of us made a sound as we followed the narrowing walls deeper into the cave. My eyes remained fixed firmly on Abby. The last thing I wanted to see was a spider creeping down the wall or dangling from a thread. My skin prickled at the thought, warning me to back out into the sunshine before I was assaulted by a hideous beast, but Isobel wasn’t far ahead.
I could do this.
No doubt alerted by our wet footsteps, she called, “Isn’t it amazing? It makes you wonder, doesn’t it? How many people have been here before us, looking for the doorway in the legend?”
“I don’t know,” Abby replied doubtfully. “I was thinking more along the lines of what must have inspired the story in the first place. I mean, this place doesn’t exactly scream fairyland. I can’t imagine fairies living here.”
“They didn’t live here,” Isobel explained. “This is just the gateway. They live on the other side.”
“Personally,” I cut in, raising my voice enough to carry as we closed the remaining distance, “I can’t imagine fairies living anywhere. You know, because they don’t exist?”
A beam of light whipped in my direction, scorching my retinas.
“Oh! Sorry, Aliza,” Isobel chuckled. “You scared me.”
She lowered her torch, leaving me blind and blinking. The urge to snatch it from her hands, throw it to the ground and stamp on it repeatedly was almost overwhelming. God, I needed sleep. And food. I usually had enough patience to tolerate her, but today, I was struggling. I took a few deep breaths of air fragranced with stagnant water, and forced a smile onto my face, just in case anyone was watching.
“Found anything interesting?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
Isobel proved me wrong, though. Apparently, she’d seen all kinds of mystical crap. I should have known better. I let her words wash over me and retrieved my own torch from my bag. It was darker than expected inside this god-forsaken hole, and the last thing I needed was to slip and have to walk back to the site covered in cave slime. The campsite showers were simply not up to such tasks. I’d even avoided washing my hair, instead dousing my pride and joy in dry shampoo and tying the pastel lengths into a ponytail.
Isobel was still waffling on about nonsense when I flicked my torch to life, directing the beam carefully at the floor. I didn’t want to see what lurked above my head. Ignorance was bliss. Sadly, there was no ignoring Isobel’s outfit. My torch illuminated scuffed boots, similar to my own, but clearly well used, whereas mine were fresh out of the box, an extravagance I couldn’t really afford. That wasn’t the worst of it. She wore khaki green waterproof trousers, if that was the right word for such shapeless sacks of cloth, and a bobbled, zip-up fleece in the most hideous shade of orange I’d ever seen. She looked like someone who enjoyed this sort of outdoorsy stuff. A crazy person, which was exactly what she was. There was no other explanation for this horrendous trip, which had been her bright idea. Apparently, she came from a family of avid campers. I was no human doctor, but I didn’t think there was a cure for that.
Unable to stand another moment of such a crime against fashion, I set off deeper into the cave, leaving Isobel and her orange fleece behind. I picked my way between the puddles, avoiding a particularly nasty patch of uneven rock. The dark stone stretched ahead of me, beyond my little sphere of light. With every step, I was convinced the back wall of the caves would emerge from the shadows, but it never did. How big was this place? And was it my imagination, or was the ground beginning to slant down? The last thing I wanted was to end up lost in some underground cavern. In fact, I didn’t want any of this. I wanted to be back outside, with the breeze stirring my ponytail and the mild sunshine warming my skin. What better accessory for my graduation gown than a good tan? My belly flipped in apprehension and excitement at the thought. I was going to be a vet. Even after five years of study, I still couldn’t quite believe it. I couldn’t wait for Mum and Dad to see me graduate. As an only child, the responsibility of making them proud fell squarely on my shoulders. It had seemed like a burden at times, one I wasn’t strong or clever enough to carry, but now, I was glad that I would have all the glory. It would be worth all the work and stress to see their faces on the day, if nothing else.
Maybe it was some strange desire to be the first to find the end of this god-forsaken warren, or maybe I wasn’t as clever as I thought I was, but I didn’t turn back. My wet footsteps echoed off the cave walls as I took step after step after step. The voices of my friends grew fainter, an indiscernible murmur. The air grew cold. I shivered in the chill, and as I did, my torch flickered.
Weird. It was borrowed from my dad, and he’d ensured it was in full working order before I’d left, dithering and fussing over every tent peg and battery pack.
The beam sputtered again. I gave it a whack against my palm, and light flared bright again. Maybe a battery was loose.
I continued my walk of madness. The walls pressed in closer, the cave growing narrower the deeper in I went. I’d have to give up soon. I had no desire to become wedged and have to be cut free by the fire brigade. Most of the firefighters I’d seen were getting on in years and balding. They never lived up to the fantasy, and frankly, it just wasn’t worth the humiliation or horror.
My skin prickled again, and I paused to sweep my hand over my itching neck. I would not think about spiders.
My torch gave out, plunging me into pitch darkness.
“Shit,” I hissed, slapping it again. Nothing happened, not even a flicker of light. Not even a spark.
I whacked it harder, my sense of panic building rapidly. How was I supposed to find my way out if I couldn’t even see my own body? If I shouted for the others, would I cause the ceiling to collapse on top of me?
Whack, whack, whack. My palm began to sting. My heart began to race. What was I thinking? Why had I ventured so far in, alone? I didn’t even want to be here. I had to get out. My eyes stretched wide in an attempt to drink in any scrap of light, but the darkness was complete, pressing against my eyeballs. My breath grew louder, my chest rising and falling in a rapid dance.
My first blind step was faltering, unsteady. Spiders be damned. They were the least of my concerns. I stretched my hand out, reaching for the walls I couldn’t see. My fingers found nothing. That was a good thing, or so I told myself. The passage was narrow and I’d turned around, so as long as I didn’t hit a wall, I had to be going in the right direction.
My lungs sucked in shallow, noisy breaths. My muscles tensed up, telling me to run. I fought against all of it, determined to keep my head. If I gave in to fear, I’d break my ankle, and then I’d be stuck in here for hours. That couldn’t happen. I couldn’t be trapped here in the dark with unseen spiders inching closer.
I concentrated on my feet, on placing one in front of the other, carefully navigating the hidden, uneven rock. A puddle seeped into my boot, soaking my sock, but I didn’t care. I’d walk home barefoot if that was what it took. The sound of rushing water echoed on the cave walls, and it occurred to me that I couldn’t hear anything but that and my own breathing. No voices, muffled or otherwise. Not even Isobel’s droning. I fell still, my already straining eyes beginning to sting. A warm wet tear spilled down my cheek.
“Abby?” I called, as loudly as I dared. My voice shook and squeaked. “Isobel?”
There was no answer. My knees began to quake.
“Hello?” A hysterical note worked itself into my voice. “Abby? Where are you?”
Nothing. Only silence, and my rasping breath, growing more desperate with every passing second.
Fuck it all.
I stumbled into a run, my boots slipping on wet stone. Rock thudded against my shoulder, sending me careening off course. My feet fought to steady me, scrambling and sliding, but all at once, they whipped out from under me. A yelp burst from my throat as my bottom collided with cold, unforgiving rock, but I didn’t stop there. The ground swept downwards, a slick, sharp slide into blind darkness. Stone skinned the backs of my bare legs and cracked against my elbows as my arms flailed, searching for purchase. My screams echoed back to me, as though a hundred idiots were falling into the same pit. Somehow, I flipped onto my belly, accelerating rapidly, feet first. My nails cracked and tore as I scrambled for a hold. Something sliced my chin, clacking my teeth together hard enough to vibrate through my skull.
The unyielding rock beneath me disappeared as suddenly as it had crashed into me, and with the roar of running water filling my ears, I was in freefall. There was nothing but rushing air on all sides. I flailed in the empty air, but even then, I knew it was hopeless. Any moment now I would splatter on the rocks.
I didn’t want to die in these horrible caves. I didn’t want to die at all.
