Cave of Terror (5 page)

"I'm just trying out my new camera.” I smiled. She knew I had her.

"Whatever."

We followed Stan to the big back room of the cave. Walking to the railing, I glanced down into the deep open hole below us.

"Right down there, that whole area once held water. Many animal bones rest in that wet mud. An excavation site was set-up to remove some of the bones. A complete set of a small horse was successfully removed years earlier and is on display at the University of Texas. Other bones have been attempted, but they crumbled into little pieces, so future excavations were put on hold,” Stan explained.

Flash. Flash. Flash.
Mandy snapped several pictures in a row before moving on.

We all gathered around a formation where a ladder went up to a fairly large hole in the ceiling of the cave.

Stan walked around, his light flicking across the formation. “This morning there was a tiny little frog sitting right there.” His light landed on an area by the ladder. “Oh, there he is."

I leaned in, trying to see it. “Where?” I asked.

Mandy pointed. “Right there. Are ya blind?"

The scent of almonds wafted toward me and screaming echoes sliced into my eardrums.

No, not again.

Evil shimmered in the air around me in varying shades of black. I glanced around, searching for the ever present pain-in-the-butt bats that seemed to have some twisted attachment to me. Sure enough, there they came, buzzing by my head. This time, it wasn't one or two. No, it was more like six or eight of them all at once.

Everyone cleared away from me, leaving a wide berth for the bats to circle. Nice. Even Mandy abandoned me.

The bats toyed with me for a while, then flew off, disappearing into the large open area. My classmates stared with open mouths. You could hear a cave kiss plop on the ground, splattering its guts. Yep, it was confirmed. I was officially a freak. No doubt it would be all over school tomorrow. I could just hear it now—the bat girl of Round Rock High. The sad thing was that it wasn't that far from the truth.

Since all the attention focused on me anyway, I decided to make light of the situation. I stepped forward and made a dramatic bow, sweeping my hands in a large arc like I had seen actors do at the end of a play. “Thank you, thank you. I'll be signing autographs in the souvenir shop."

Laughter filled the silence. Miss Cheerleader didn't appreciate the attention being on me. She scrunched up her heavily made-up face and snarled like a dog protecting its bone, then turned away as if I wasn't worth her time.

Mandy raced over to where I still stood. “Boo-yah! You handled that perfectly, like fo shizzel!” She had a huge grin plastered on her face.

"Right. And by the way, thanks for the support.” I pressed my lips together and fixed her with a stare.

"My bad! I guess I panicked. I'm kind of freaky fried about bats.” She shuddered in exaggeration.

Gee, I bet she'd be really freaky fried when she found out exactly what I am.

"Hey, Bat Magnet, you okay?” Stan asked, trying to turn the disturbing situation into a more humorous one.

"Oh, yeah, I'm just great."

"Good. Let's get moving before your friends come back.” He headed off in the opposite direction.

Mandy grabbed my arm and pulled me along. The day just kept getting better and better.

We entered another big opening—a room I've always enjoyed. It's full of all kinds of cool looking formations. I liked it even better now because the suffocating evil presence and the sickening almond smell weren't overbearing. Seemed I'd finally get a reprieve.

Stan turned, facing the group. “This room was once called the Lunar Landscape Room because it was believed this is what the surface of the moon would look like. Once it was known what it did actually look like, the name was changed to Imagination Station."

I nudged Mandy. “Take a picture of that.” I pointed to the soda straw covered ceiling, then gasped. Another stupid bat. I wondered just how long it would be before Stan noticed and pointed it out to everyone.

"Oh, another bat,” Mandy whispered.

"No shiit ... ake mushroom.” I rolled my eyes.

At least only one occupied the area and it wasn't dive-bombing my head. I didn't feel overly threatened or stalked.

"Can anyone guess what that formation might be?” Stan pointed his light toward a small lit up formation protruding from another formation resembling a big finger.

"Oh, oh ... it's ... E.T.'s finger,” one of the guys in the group burst out.

"Yep, that's right. What about that one?” Stan pointed to my favorite formation—Granny on a Harley. He pointed to another. “And that one is the Grinch. You know, the Grinch Who Stole Christmas?"

Finally, Stan got around to the soda straws on the ceiling.

Here we go
.

"Well, look here. One of your friends, Bat Magnet?” he asked in a silly tone.

Everyone turned to stare at me yet again. Cheerleader smirked. Not giving her the satisfaction, I grinned. “Yeah, that there is Ralph."

Laughter rang through the hollow area. Miss Rah Rah turned up her nose.

Good. Take that. Whatever
.

I let the rest of the group move ahead and trailed behind in a daze. It seemed the farther away I moved from the Crap Room, the more normal I felt. The darkness that had invaded my body eased and was replaced with a comforting warmth. The coldness around my heart peeled away in layers. A huge weight lifted from my shoulders. I now felt safe and protected—a strange but wonderful sensation.

"Oh, I love this room,” said Mandy.

"Yeah, me, too. It's my favorite."

The only word to describe Fairytale Forest is breathtaking. It resembles a magical forest with trees and clear lakes. I expected at any time for tiny fairy creatures to come skipping through the forest.

Peaceful and calming, the room enchanted me. My eyelids drooped and I became incredibly drowsy. A slight mist hovered above the water. Not creepy like the Crap Room, but ethereal and beautiful. I could've stayed there forever. In that room, I felt safe from any lurking danger—felt it clear to my bones.

I dreaded the return trip back through the cave. I wasn't sure how much more of the malicious entities dwelling in parts of the cave I could handle. Not to mention the long tight tunnel where I'd almost lost it.

"This is the part of the tour where I like to take a little break and enjoy the scenery.” Stan sat on the ledge of the man-made barrier.

His makeshift seat looked inviting, so I joined him. Once Mandy finished taking a million pictures, she sat next to me.

Stan turned his head toward me and smiled. “Quite a show today, huh, Bat Magnet?"

"Yeah, it sure was. I guess I won't be wearing perfume next time.” I tried to play it off, so he wouldn't think it was a big deal or anything.

Stan chuckled. “Sorry if I embarrassed you."

"No big deal,” I said with a note of cheerfulness I didn't feel.

"Yeah, that sure was weird how you attracted all those bats,” Mandy had to add. I raised an eyebrow and glared at her. “What?"

"Like you have to ask."

Mandy shrugged.

After a few minutes, Stan stood and announced, “If you'd like to stop and look at something we may have missed or you want to see again, let me know. We have plenty of time to get back to the cable car."

Since we had to leave the sanctuary of the room, I wanted to bulldoze my way back through the cave and get the heck out of here as fast as I could. No lingering, especially not in the Crap Room where the majority of the spazmo bats were hanging out. I didn't need a replay, thank you.

As soon as we moved from the Lake of the Moon room, a cold oppressive heaviness crept through me like a snake winding its way through the thick grass. Blackness crowded my senses, leaving me cold and wanting. Like ten of the biggest creeps all laying their hands on me at once. A twinge jerked through my body and I shuddered, drawing Mandy's attention.

"You cold?” she asked. “I'm kind of sweating. It's so humid down here. And look at my hair.” She lifted a lock and made a face. “It's all frizzy. I'm going to have to redo it before going to the party tonight. Thank goodness we don't have to go to gym today."

She didn't exactly seem to be waiting for my answer, so I ignored it. “Yeah, I'm sure I have horns sticking up all over my head. Glad I didn't spend much time on my hair today."

"Hey, have you decided what costume you're wearing tonight? Are you gonna be a pirate or a vampire?"

With everything happening over the past two days, I hadn't put a single thought into what I'd wear to the Halloween party. But, I really didn't think I'd be up to a vampire costume of all things. “I don't know. I'll probably wear the pirate one."

"Really? I think you look really hot in the vampire one. The pirate one looks good, too, but the vampire costume is guaranteed to turn some heads."

"Like I care about turning heads."

"Sure seemed like you cared back in the souvenir shop when the hottie stepped into your radar.” Her lips slowly spread into one of her all-knowing smiles.

"Ha ha."

A surge of ice shot through my veins and I paused, waiting for the horrid feeling to go away. The closer we approached the dreaded room, the worse I felt. My respite had ended. The coldness wouldn't be leaving for a while now. I sucked in a deep breath and steadied my nerves. No telling what lurked in the next room.

I finally understood the saying ‘ignorance is bliss’ as I glanced back at Mandy. She had no clue of the danger awaiting us in the very room we entered. Sure, a few of my classmates looked around for flying bats preparing to duck or move out of the way, but it wasn't like they feared for their very existence. It appeared painfully obvious no murky evil scratched at their souls. Why me? Why had I been singled out?

Because I'm one of them.

I recoiled from the realization I could be a similar creature to the flying bits of evil. But, my parents aren't evil. I'm not evil. Or am I? No, what I sensed radiated pure malice. If I was the same, I wouldn't be feeling all icky inside.

Shrills of macabre laughter reached into my senses. Not a single bat flew around the room, but I was never more aware of their existence. I jerked my head up, staring at the hundreds of bats still hanging from the ceiling silently mocking me.

Mandy stopped and waited for me to catch up. “Lucky for you the bats seem to be snoozing. But, I'd give anything to see the whole bunch of them drop a load of
guano
on Val's head.” She chuckled and appeared to be sending a silent plea to the bats.

Val's the ‘cheerleader.’ You know, the I'm-so-special-my-farts-don't-stink one. The one still clinging to her dumb-as-a-doorknob jock. The one making my life miserable for some unknown reason. I choose not to give her a name because that's how unimportant she is to me. She's just plain ‘cheerleader.'

Ghastly fog settled over the area under the bats, partly hiding the large flowstone formation. It seemed to lie in waiting.

For me.

As I passed, it morphed into blurry humanoid creatures, reaching their arms out toward me—beckoning me within their malicious grasp. I hugged the opposite wall, keeping my distance. I wasn't exactly sure what fog could do to me, but I'd seen way too many movies to take the chance.

Mandy stopped in her tracks, causing me to bump into her back. She whirled and moved trance-like to the edge of the oppressive fog entities.

My eyes widened and my voice hitched in my throat. I wanted to scream a warning, but pure terror paralyzed me as I watched my best friend move closer to the horrid creatures. My gums itched, alerting me fangs would soon extend. Blood pounded in my ears as my heart went into overdrive. Mandy walked toward danger and she didn't have a clue.

Closer she approached, almost within its grasp.

"Stop!” My voice ripped out, echoing throughout the cavern.

The shifting fog ceased its movements, settling into a chilling calm.

"Did you want to stay a little longer?” Stan asked, giving me a strange look. Thank goodness most of the group had moved ahead and hadn't paid the least bit of attention to my outburst.

"No. I mean yes. I just wanted to take a picture of the flowstone with the fog around it.” So it wasn't one of my brighter cover-ups.

I walked over to Mandy and took the expected picture.

She shook her head and blinked. “I must be getting your headache, cause I sure don't remember walking over here."

The puzzled look on her face would've been laughable in any different situation.

"Okaaaay, and you say I'm the weird one.” I grabbed her by the arm and tugged her away before the fog decided to rear its ugly head again.

The lights in the cave flickered, casting eerie shadows in all directions. Stan glanced around, a frown creasing his brows. The lights flickered again. The group that had been moving forward stopped in their tracks—waiting to see what would happen.

A bone chilling foreboding crept through me. Another flicker and then the lights went out, enveloping the room in blackness.

A squeal and a collective gasp echoed through the huge opening.

A beam of light appeared.

"Everyone stay put. I'm going to try the next switch.” The beam of light moved forward as Stan walked toward the other light switch.

Although the flashlight provided a little bit of light ahead, it left those of us behind in darkness.

I held my breath, expecting to be accosted at any moment. I reached forward and came in contact with Mandy's shirt. I held on, making sure nothing pulled her away.

"What are you doing?” Mandy whispered.

"Oh, I just don't want to lose you in the dark."

"Okaaaaay!"

From the deep recesses of my soul, an icy cold fear exploded upward as adrenaline flooded my veins. My heart rate exploded and my lungs fought for air. A whiff of almonds stung my nose, causing my stomach to clench. Every muscle tightened and my legs threatened to buckle beneath me. A desert took up residence in my mouth, evaporating all moisture. Automatically, my tongue darted out to lick my dry lips. Sharp fangs descended without any notice, scraping the tender flesh as I retracted my tongue.