Part Nineteen, Three: Stranger, Informal Meeting

What had just happened here? As we stood staring into the dark abyss of this cave into the mountain, I stood still, with baited breath in confusion. Who or what was it? Why did it want to drag me down there?

I looked at Cook, confused still and amazed at how he managed to know that about the fire, and also what other surprises he had hidden in his mystique. Yet now, I had to focus on this dilemma, on finding Prowler in this dark place. Our eyes met, both baring shock and fear yet also an urge to find answers still in this unimaginably wretched place. A howl from Prowler sounded deep in the cave, slowly fading into the midst of the dark below. "Prowler!" I shouted frantically too receive some sort of reply from him, an anger of his negligence almost. "We need to go now." said Cook, still breathing heavily from the onset, "We need to go now! Whatever that was is down there, probably ready to strike again either way. We can’t hesitate." He said with urgency in his tone. "Ok lets go." I said, with a tad of reluctance as we left down this dark cave passage, the walls slowly going narrower before widening out and splitting. We were wandering down this passage for what seems like an age, with absolutely no clues as too whether or not they came this way when before us lay a split ahead.

"Ok then, left or right" I asked in a low whisper that too echoed in the depth denseness of the caves.
“I uh…Um, I really don't know, left I guess?" Cook suggested reluctantly, “Whichever passage we decide too take, they'll be other choices to make.”
I nod, Cook had the hammer in hand with that. “I don’t know Rek…do we have any clues as too where Prowler is?” He continued with a frown, “No, so I guess our guess is as good as each others. Either which way dude, I’ll have your back and you will have mine."
We paused momentarily, each of us staring at this divide in route trying to make sense of which way Prowler had gone. "Something is drawing me to the left one, not sure why, just seems more disturbed, the ground doesn't feel untouched" I said as I knelt down to the dust like sand on the ground. Cook tilt his head with a confusion across his face, “Drawing you?”
“Yes, I can’t explain it. It’s almost like déjà vu.” I nod looking up at him with this strange motion within me. He sighed, “Creepy…” as he head forward, towards the left of the divide. I got up and followed him as the silence grew thicker, the light so densely dim around us.
"Hey!” Said Cook stopping me with a jolt. The sudden outburst shocked me from my depths of thought and suspense that gripped me in this place of invisible threat and I snapped, "What? You nearly gave me a…"
"Sssshh!” he said with determination now, and I shut up. “Do you hear it? Scuttling ahead of us, something is down there.”In the dimness of the light, I strained my ears but could hear nothing. “What do you think it is?” asked Cook turning to face me with wide eyes, “I'm scared Rek, I don't like the sound of it."
"Hear what Cook? I don’t hear anything."
"Listen" he said with urgency again, “Just listen…”
I strained my ears again, closing my eyes to focus on anything but my fear that strived over what felt like all my other senses. Through the dimness, in the distance of this cave within this mountain, I heard it. A ominous and eerie scuffling, and breathing almost. Then whispers from voices, sounding possessed.
"Yes I hear it now." I answered whispering it as shivers went down my spine, "What is that?"
The faint noises sounded busy. Whatever was making that noise was active. It was ahead of us and didn't seem to be getting any further away. We were bound too come across it somewhere soon. It's just a matter of time - so difficult to work out how far noises were away, they just echoed in the darkness.

We continued on cautiously and closer together. The noise was getting closer now, and our heart rates increased immensely, our eyes ever vigilant for this invisible threat. Everything else that we encountered had been terrifying, but they we could see. "Wait. Stop" said I holding Cook from moving any further forward.“What is it?" he asked nervously, yet with a braveness too. "I felt a breeze on my feet like something brushing past or investigating me, like a cat."Just then Cook leaped out in front of me yelling in shock and fear, battling this invisible menace. "Get it off me! Get it off me!" he screamed as he was smacking against the walls desperately trying to get whatever it was off him." Try and keep still, what is it?" I scrambled too him, attempting to make out what it was that had literally grabbed him. "It hurts, get it off!" he urged, but I could see nothing. I felt helpless in that moment, unsure of what to do so kept throwing blind swing like punches hoping one would connect with whatever it was. Then, to my surprise, one swing did. I felt against my hand something, a physical existence unseen to my eyes and Cook stumbled to his knees. I stood in awe, confused, trying to spot this thing in the air in front of me."What is it, are you ok?" I asked stumbling into the cave wall."I have no idea.” He said fearful now that sight of it was lost when I looked down hoping to see the sand moving perhaps and I jumped back in fright.“Jesus!” I screamed, stumbling sideways along the wall until I tripped onto the ground. Cook spun around and on the sand, scurrying along towards the wall was a large, round black spider with long black legs encrusted with long black hairs. Its head was swarming with enormous black eyes.“It’s a spider!” said Cook turning to face me confused.“Kill it!” I said in alarm, almost unable to breathe now as my arachnophobia stuck in. “No, its not a spider…” said Cook turning to watch as the eight legged demon head up the wall, “No spider could carry you in the air like that.”“Just kill it!” I said, feeling my body tighten and tense now. Cook frowned, “Are you ok?”“Kill it!” I urged with a desperation in my voice that I had not had the entire time here in this decaying world where souls are brought for torture.Cook turned to the hand sized spider that had begun to blend color with the cave walls as it walked, like a chameleon. “Please…” I said as tears ran from my eyes now, my body unable to move. Cook raised his foot and crushed it down.

∞∞

A silence now hung between us as we carefully head along the cave, the crushed spider haunting the way back behind us, my fears now of the chameleon spiders that could be lurking all around us in this cave. Cook was in the lead as the cave grew tighter and narrower. Then the nook of passage split again. The left side stemmed higher, more walking space and the right a narrower, lower raised gap. A yelp echoed from the side."I think we should try right this time.” Suggested Cook with a cocky arrogance that almost had the ability to overpower my fear in that moment. As we knelt lower and head inwards, another yelp sounded and we began to move faster now, to save our friend Prowler from these invisible beings. By now the passages were becoming so narrow we had to crawl through certain areas. There were strange markings on the wall, like scratches made by fleeing prey and I instantly thought of that spider, remembering those fangs and those legs. They could have made these scratches, but made by something much - much bigger, a mother spider. I tried in vain to clear my mind of these haunting thoughts from Hollywood.We were crawling at this point, for the ceiling was too low and covered in spikes from years and years of dripping. From behind me, Cook persisted to push me forward when I felt like stopping and crawling to the fetal position and crying at the dreaded fears of any spider and the sound broke when Cook whispered and grabbed by ankle."Rek, we need to hurry up, there's something following us.”"Not again" I sighed with broken mercy, "What is it this time? Please don't say another spider!""No, it’s more uniformed.” He said, “We have to move!”I began to crawl again, faster and faster as my hands slid beneath the dust like sand that felt so cold, damp almost.“What do you mean uniformed?” I asked with a persistence now.“Like there’s an army of something coming for us!" huffed as Cook sped behind me, “I think it is the spiders!”“What!” I gasped, gushing forward now; eager and frantic as I felt my worst fears startling to life in this god forsaken place of hell and torture.Cook followed briskly on my trail. Another split in the passage, and without thinking I went right again, any way to evade any army of anything here in this dark cave. We hurried along and finally the space widened until we could stand upright. I helped Cook to his feet and then continued to lead us in a run forward, away from what Cook said lay behind us, as we heard Prowler howling somewhere in this mountain. I felt my strength evading me, my faith and hope wondering now as the fear that would cause my body to go into shock began to toil in my head over and over again. “Keep running.” Said Cook behind me as I began to slow. I closed my eyes and began to drive myself forward as more sounds emerged from ahead of us now, as though from an opening somewhere. Prowler was in pain. "Rek!" shouted Cook behind me, and I spun around in awe as Cook slid to the side, in a crack on the walls I had not seen sprinting past. I dart after him and grabbed his hand. Behind him, in the tight space in the rock was a large dark centipede dragging at Cook towards it as it raised its body."Rek help! It's too powerful!" he cried as I began to tug him out of the gap with all my might, his sweaty hands in mine providing little grip. “Jesus what is this fucking thing!” I screamed, when the top portion of its body flung down and gripped my leg in its hairy legs and whipped me backwards, flipping me aside and sliding Cook backwards screaming and frantic. I struggled to my feet, winded almost and leapt up again, grabbing Cook’s arm and pulling downwards but entirely not strong enough against this thing with all the legs and soft mucus like body of rubber and skin.

The centi-beast coiled almost, its body camping down onto me and its feeler like legs caging down around me. Cook dropped to the ground beside me just as the centi – beast began to thump the bulk of the body down on to me, like kneeing a roll of dough as its legs kept me caged within them. “Rekara!” shouted Cook, darting to his feet and delivered a kick to the body. Coiling, the centipede snatched Cook up in its legs again. Just then a loud, mighty bang, pop like sound fired in the hollowness of the cave. Cooks body flopped down to the ground again and the centi-beast coiled and slithered almost, its legs plopping and stomping down around me as my body drug around, still caught beneath its tube like body. Another bang erupted, a blast like that of a gun somewhere in the darkness and the centi-beast coiled the length of its body, shoving me out. Cook rolled to help me when the legs of the centipede stumped down, the one slicing down on my outer thigh and the rest trampling over my legs as the centi-beast coiled upwards, its tail end slamming Cook into the rock wall.

Sprays of juice from this centipede thing hurled out as another bang then another sounded. I tried to lift to my feet but the devilish pain that struck from my ankle forbid me and I toppled down again, calling in both pain and desperation, “Cook!”Cook staggered to his feet, on his hand as he brought it from the back of his head red mortal blood.“Are you ok?” “I think I broke my leg!”Just then, all around us, fragments of glass tinkled down and then, the centipede burst into flames. We leapt backwards, rushing away towards the opening to the passage again as the centipede began to coil and roll as the flames tore at its mucus like body.
“What the hell is that?” asked Cook pointing up as a dark figure stepped onto the ledge of the rock face to the light from the hole further above it leading out to the barren world again. The being lowered down and then hoisted itself off, falling almost weightlessly through the air and landing on the ground in front of the flaming centipede, looking at us.With the flames on the coiling and melting centi-beast behind it, the being stepped forward, watching us like a dark silhouette against the flames, merely just watching us as we stood there flabbergasted and watching back. The figure seemed to be wearing a long trench coat and a hat, the silhouette to the fiery centi-beast behind it similar to that of a cowboy and in a low, frightening tone said, “Boo!”