Vanished (7 page)

Jasmine is pale when they lead her back to where the rest of us are waiting.  Her dark brown eyes are wide with fear but she seems determined to try and go down with us still. 

              Logan takes the lead. I’m glad he is there, in front of me, instead of Madison.  The rule is the second most experienced climber brings up the back so Madison is stuck behind us, dragging her section of LED lights.   

              I have to admit it is a long way down. I start to orient with my surroundings and notice the ledge winds around the wall, in an inverted funnel type shape, wider at the base than at the neck.  I feel mist on my face and the sound of trickling water grows louder each time we complete another circuit around the outer wall of the cave.

              Logan yells over his shoulder, “This is all one gigantic chamber called the Cathedral Room.”

              “My father called it that,” Madison interjects from the back of the line, “he named it after the entry room of the
Marvel Cave
at
Silver Dollar City
in Branson. Marvel cave has one of the largest entry rooms of any cave in North America.  My dad claims this one is bigger.”

              We stop talking while we concentrate on our steps and the only sound is the distant roar of water and Jasmine occasionally whimpering and asking Madison how much further we have to go.

              Finally, I feel the ground smoothing out beneath our feet, and the incline becomes less sharp and more tolerable. I don’t feel like I’m going to fall forward anymore.  My calves are burning and sweat is dripping down my neck.

              “We’re down?” Jasmine asks and the relief is clear in her voice.

              “Yeah,” Logan replies and he switches on his flashlight and shows us that the floor of the giant room is flush with the ledge near the wall where he’s standing.  “Come on,” he says with a grin and takes off across the big, creepy cavern.

It is an odd feeling having infinite darkness all around you, aside from the soft beams of light from our head-lamps, and it is impossible to fathom the scale of the Cathedral Room. It takes us at least ten minutes of hard walking to reach the other side. 

              Logan stops in front of a small fissure in the wall. 

“From here things get really beautiful” he tells us, grinning, as we catch up with him. I notice the rest of us are out of breath and bending forward or reclining against rocks to catch our breath. Logan is not burdened by this shortness of breath.  He doesn’t make a big deal that we are though. He just pulls a water bottle out of his pack and waits.

We enter the crevice and find another narrow passageway with paths going off to our right and left. Logan shines the light and we can see some of the cave features better.  Large charcoal colored stalactites hang heavily down from the ceiling to our left and right.

              Suddenly, Jasmine starts to shriek and dance around. We turn to see Zayn grabbing at her, trying to hold her still, “It touched my head,” she screams, “check my hair, check my hair.”

              “If you would just stop moving,” Zayn urges. Collin is closest to them and steps up to pin Jasmine’s hands to the side of her body while Zayn unhooks the hardhat and pulls it off. 

              I see a flash of movement above and shine my flashlight upwards towards the ceiling.  Logan follows the beam of light with his eyes.  Clinging to the ceiling above us are thousands of tiny brown objects with tiny glowing eyes. 

              “Quiet her down, “Logan hisses to Zayn, “She’ll wake them
all
up.”

              Jasmine hears him and slowly turns her face up, her eyes widen in horror as she registers what she’s seeing.  She opens her mouth to scream but Zayn cups his hand over her lips before she can, “They’re just bats,” I hear him say in a soothing voice, “but you don’t want them all flying down here, right?”

              Jasmine’s eyes grow wider but she stops trying to struggle and shakes her head up and down. “You can let her go now,” Zayn tells Collin.  Collin immediately releases Jasmine and she sags into Zayn’s arms, covering her head and peeking upward but thankfully being quiet.

              I try to conceal my sigh.  Jasmine doesn’t belong in a cave. She belongs back at Party Cove, improving her tan and showing off her voluptuous breasts, or getting her nails done at the mall. She’s delicate. 

              A little pang of guilt twinges in my stomach.  Maybe Jasmine is escaping from something too.  I doubt it but the thought reminds me that I’m not here to critique anyone, I’m here because I don’t want to be home. 

              I look over at Madison who is watching the bat fiasco with an annoyed look on her face.  Unlike Jasmine the bats don’t seem to bother Madison and
I wonder how many times she’s done this.  

              “Camp isn’t far,” Logan reassures us, “a tent and a beer and she’ll be right as rain in no time.”

                Logan is beginning to grow on me.

The closer we get to our destination the louder the sound of rushing water becomes. Abruptly, we emerge from the bat passageway into a beautiful open chamber, light pouring in from a crack in the ceiling somewhere way up at the top illuminating several small, round pools of water, a little stream, and a waterfall pouring down from the rocks above. 

“Wow,” I whisper. Madison, the only one standing close enough to hear me, smiles.     

“My father called this the Waterfall Room.  Now the real fun begins,” she says and pulls off her shirt revealing a light blue bikini top lined with rhinestones. Next she removes her pants and, taking a running start down the smooth path, she dives into the biggest pool and reemerges several seconds later under the waterfall. 

Jasmine immediately follows suit.  Collin takes off after them.  The rest of us, Zayn, Logan and me, set up the tents and get a fire going.  We put the tents up behind a low hanging rock that blocks most of the mist spraying up from the falls.  There is already a circle of round stones for us to set our tents up around, from a previous fire in this room.  The four tents are inflatable and take less than a minute to set up.  Logan tosses a brick of Duraflame inside the fire ring and using his lighter catches it on fire.  

After that, Logan and I sit back to watch Zayn cook.  He pulls a small collapsible grate out of his pack, extends the legs and places it over the fire.  He’s more muscular than Collin, but less than Logan, he’s shorter then both of them, his skin is olive tinted and his dark hair is always hanging in his face.  I watch him get out some pans and a case with a bunch of knives in different shapes and sizes inside it. From an insulated cold-bag, he removed six individually wrapped, tilapia filets and a stick of butter.  From a plastic container, for dry goods, he extracts garlic, dried herbs, sea salt and cracked peppercorn. 

Madison, Jasmine and Collin are laughing and splashing around in the pool but they get out when they see Logan opening a bottle of whiskey, “Shot time,” Maddie calls, and they wrap their towels around them and join us around the fire.  We each got a Dixie cup.  Then Logan fills our cups to the rim, “bottoms up,” he calls and they all empty their cups simultaneously. 

Then they’re looking at me, “Um…” I say, staring down at the cup full of liquid in my hands.

              Madison sighs and leans back, placing her hand on Logan’s thigh, “Figures,” she mutters.

              I lift the cup to my bottom lip, lean my head back and tilt it like they did.  The liquid stings my tongue and the back of my throat and burns like crazy going down.  I swallow hard and cringe a little, wiping my lips with the back of my hand. “Yuck” I say without thinking and everyone laughs. 

              Dinner is delicious; tilapia grilled in garlic and butter in a white wine reduction with grilled asparagus and tiny roasted pink potatoes. 

              Logan pulls out the flask of whiskey and I’m not sure how many little Dixie cups full I have after that. Logan just keeps pouring them.  Eventually, I get the sneaking suspicion that they are getting less full with each cup until he cuts me off completely, “I think you’ve had enough, Snow,” he says, taking my Dixie cup from me with a grin, “for a first timer, at least.”

              I like the warm, brave feeling burning in my cheeks.  

              “This isn’t my first time,” I argue, slurring my words a tiny bit. “Hey, where did everyone go?” I ask, realizing it is just the two of us sitting next to the fire. 

              “Swimming,” he nods over at the pool.  Jasmine and Zayn have their feet in the water and are sitting on the edge of the pool kissing.  Collin is nowhere to be seen and Madison is lazily floating around on an inflatable device, a Dixie cup in each hand, a whiskey bottle propped between her legs, sunglasses on.  It’s hard to tell if she was awake or not because she isn’t moving.  

              “They shouldn’t drink when they’ve been swimming,” I point out.

              “I think you mean…nevermind,” says Logan with a chuckle, “You’re right, that’s why I’m keeping an eye on them.” He leans back against the rock, putting his arms up behind his head. He’s wearing a white t-shirt with cutoff sleeves and his arms are contoured like he was cut from marble.  He looks like a man despite the fact that he’s not eighteen yet.  

              “Who’s keeping an eye on you?” I ask, pointing a finger at him.

              “Who me?” He answers, poking his chest with his thumb, “I don’t need looking after.”

              “I’m not so sure about that,” searching for my cup and remembering he took it.
How rude.
“I need a refill” I tell him.

              “OTrin, but just one more,” he pours me half a cup.   

              “I’ve been looking after myself for a long time,” he says, resuming his position with his arms behind his head. 

              “What about your parents?”

              “Mom died when I was seven.  I haven’t seen my father for two years.”

              He pours himself a drink and looks over at the group.  I follow his gaze. Zayn and Collin are watching the girls dive into the pool and pretending to hold up signs to rate their dives when they climb out. “Do you know where he is?”

              He looks back at me then down at his drink, “Sure, he’s up in the city somewhere.  He’s not really right in the head,” he points to his own head, “if you know what I mean.  Brain injury. PTSD. He’s a vet.”

              “I’m sorry.”

              “Don’t be.”

              “So who do you live with?”

              “I live in my parent’s house still.  My brother, Josh, is in the marines. He checks in with me every once in a while but for the most part it’s just me.”

              I almost groan at the idea of such freedom.  Every moment of my waking life is monitored and judged.  I am never alone and privacy is a dirty word in my house. 

              “How did your mom…I mean, we don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to.”

              He dismisses my comment with a wave, “It was a long time ago. It doesn’t really mess with me anymore.  She had cancer,” he pauses for a minute but I can tell he’s going to say something else so I sit quietly and wait, digging in the dirt with a stick I find nearby, “I don’t think she would be very proud of who I’ve become.” 

              I frown, “Why not?”

              He raises an eyebrow, “You have to ask?”

              I nod.   

              “I’ve been such an asshole to so many people just because I like the respect I get when I act that way.” he gestures towards the group. 

              “You’ve never been like that to me.” 

              He chuckles bitterly, “That’s the worst part of it, Trin. I remember the first time I saw you.  It was between classes, the hall was empty, except for you trying to open your locker.

I saw you and I wanted to talk to you but I was…scared, I guess.”

              First I think it’s not possible he actually knew me before the trip, and then I look up, “Scared? Scared of what?”

              He flinches, like I hit him. “This is where you’re going to start agreeing with me about the asshole thing.”

              I swallow, and hope he isn’t going to say something like what I suspect he is.  It’s been such an amazing day so far.  I don’t want anything to ruin it.

              “I was afraid someone would see me talking to you.” He says, and drops his head, apparently too ashamed to look me in the eyes.

             
You’re right
, I think,
you are an asshole.

             
But I don’t say anything out loud.  Instead, I just stand up and walk away. 

Chapter Six

Logan

I want to call out to her, to go after her, to tell her how much I regret what I just confessed to, that I was trying to apologize.  But she has every right not to speak to me again for the rest of the trip and I decide to leave her alone.