Cave of Corruption Read online

  Cave of Corruption

  S Mays

  Cave of Corruption

  S Mays

  www.s-mays.com

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  Cover art by: Rob Hartless

  Other books by S Mays:

  Curse of Souls

  © 2017 S Mays. All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Cave of Corruption

  Author’s Note:

  “Hey, wait up!” Alexander yelled at the lithe form darting between the trees ahead of him. His breathing was ragged. Sweat dripped from his forehead with each step as he tried frantically to keep up. Dusk was approaching fast, their destination still a fair distance off. They wouldn’t break their promise, not today. He stopped as his arm snagged a thorn bush, its hooked barbs piercing his thick sleeves, digging into his flesh. He cried out, slowly pulling the entangled branch from his arm. He listened as the sound of crunching leaves and snapping twigs ahead of him grew even more faint.

  “I said wait up!” he yelled over his shoulder, but there was no response. He finally worked his arm free, wincing as some of his skin was pulled away along with the unforgiving hooks. He dreaded the inevitable itching that would result, but pushed on. He didn’t want to get lost, especially with the shadows growing longer by the second.

  The footsteps had completely faded by the time he pushed by a large barrier of brush not too far from the annoying brier bush. He stopped, holding his breath while listening intently. There was only the sound of a few birds chirping and squirrels scurrying up and down the trees. He continued slowly, trying to recall any familiar landmarks along the way. The view in every direction looked similar, so he continued in the direction of his best guess. The crackling leaves underfoot was the only sound he could discern now. He hoped he’d chosen correctly.

  Minutes later, up ahead, a large rock covered in moss looked familiar. As he closed the distance between himself and the rock, he became surer that this was the correct path. He climbed up the small boulder, and looked around, trying to figure out the direction to head from here. His destination wasn’t too far from this point, but if he went the wrong way, it would be dark by the time he circled back and then he’d never find his way. His frustration mounted at the thought of wandering the woods at night, all alone. He began to climb down the boulder, but let out a yelp of surprise when something attacked him from behind. It wrapped around his face, strangling his speech before he could speak. He tried to fight it off, but he had no leverage. Then, he was let free.

  “Natalie, you jerk!” he cried, gasping for air while turning to meet his assailant.

  “Alex, I can’t believe you fell for that again. And you couldn’t break my hold, even after I showed you how!” the giggling young woman exclaimed.

  “Yeah, well maybe I suck at martial arts, but at least I’m not an asshole!” he retorted.

  “Vulgar language is the bastion of a feeble mind,” she teased.

  “It’s almost dark and you’re playing these games again. I told you I don’t like walking back when it’s dark,” he complained.

  “Stop whining then, and let’s get moving,” she said, dashing ahead again — hinting that she was going to leave him behind again.

  “You’d better not!” he replied, running as fast as he could.

  A few minutes later, she stopped, waiting for him to catch up. “See? We’re here already,” she said.

  “I always think it’s further off,” he remarked, looking at the spot before them.

  “Yeah, I know how bad you are with directions.”

  He dropped his pack to the ground, pulling out two flashlights. He handed one to her, and switched his on to test it, sweeping the beam across the ground. Night was fast approaching. They’d be walking back without any light at all, which would give her more opportunities to play tricks.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t do anything on the way back, I promise,” she said, noticing the look of worry on his face.

  He smiled, then motioned forward with his light. “Shall we, m’lady?” he asked in an extremely bad English accent.

  “After you, m’lord,” she said, bowing.

  Kneeling, he pushed a tangled mass of branches and vines out of the way, revealing a dark hole in the ground. It was several feet wide and lead down into the side of a small hill. He poked his head in, surveying the cave with his flashlight, then crawled in. The entrance was small enough that one had to either crawl on their knees or walk with their head almost touching their knees. After about ten feet, the space opened into a large cave, almost as big as an average living room.

  Natalie came tumbling in behind him, rolling forward multiple times then flipping up onto her feet. “I could have done that too, but I didn’t want to get covered in mud,” he said, pointing to the gray clay staining her back and legs. “What, you have a hot date tonight?” she teased, untangling her hair and pulling it from her face.

  “No, but my mom would kill me if I came home looking like you do.”

  “Ah yes, the infamous Terrel household rules. I’ve heard the punishments for dirty clothes have been banned by the Geneva Conventions. I think your mom is on the list of war criminals.”

  “I think your parents can be pretty harsh too,” he said.

  “Yeah, but they’d have to actually notice that I wasn’t there before they could punish me, now wouldn’t they? But hey, today isn’t about parents, it’s about The Order of Sacred Knights,” she said, drawing her arm across her chest to salute.

  He returned the salute, then chuckled. They’d been coming to this cave every few months since they were nine. Today was the anniversary of the first day they had found the cave while exploring the woods. It seemed silly to continue honoring the traditions of their now defunct guild (if two people could be called a guild) at their age, but he loved spending time with Nat, and she wanted to continue doing it. He was beginning to think she just enjoyed tormenting him though.

  Years ago, they’d play around the cave mouth, making it into a dungeon or a castle or a creature’s lair, but now they visited because it was their sanctuary of solitude. No one else on Earth had ever set foot in there, and no one knew where it was. After Natalie’s parents split up, they could only see each other every six months or so. She stayed with her mom most of the year in California, but visited with her dad several months out of the year. They still kept in touch over social media, but it wasn’t the same as in the old days. No matter what happened, they agreed to always meet back at “Devil’s Dungeon”. He guessed neither one wanted to admit it seemed childish now.

  “Come over here,” Natalie said, patting a rock outcropping in the wall. He sat beside her, shining his light around the room. He was always afraid some bear or wolverine or nest of snakes would find their cave, but ever since they’d been visiting, there had never been any other sign of life. Except there was a huge mass of giant spiders on the ceiling once.

  At first, it had looked like a big bushel of hair attached to the ceiling, but it began to move when prodded. Natalie poked it with a flashlight, breaking the mass apart. Spiders rained down upon them, and scampered across the ceiling. That adventure had been cut short as they both ran out of the cave screaming, frantically brushing spiders from their hair and clothes. It had taken a lot of convincing to get Alexander to return after that incident.

  “Always the worried one,” she said, chuckling at the incident in her mind.

  “Someone ha
s to be.”

  “Life’s too short to sit around fretting about every little thing.”

  “Do you ever run out of words of wisdom?” he asked.

  “I’ve got a million of ‘em.”

  “Don’t you think we’re too old to be coming out here?” he said, setting his light down on the floor facing up. It illuminated the area without shining in their eyes.

  “You’re never too old for anything. If you want to do something, just do it, and screw what anyone else says. I’m older than you, and I say it’s fine. The oldest person is always the wisest.”

  “You’re seven months older than I am. What if someone else finds out? They might think we’re weird or dating or something,” he worried.

  She half-smiled and brushed a spider web out of his hair, then leaned in close and whispered, “it’s only weird if you make it weird, Alex. Speaking of weird, what the heck is that?” she cried, a look of horror on her face. He cringed away from the direction she was looking, then relaxed. “I’m not falling for it, this time!” he said in an exasperated tone.

  She leapt up and crossed the room, looking at something on the wall. “I’m not going to keep coming here if you are going to spend the whole time fooling around, trying to scare me,” he said loudly, not bothering to turn around.

  “No, seriously, look at this!” she said excitedly. “There’s something in this wall.”

  He reluctantly got up and went to join her at the far wall. As he got closer, he could make out a faint glow coming from the wall.

  “What is that?” he breathed, crouching down beside her.

  “Something happened to the wall. There’s a huge crack in it.” she said, peering into the glowing space in the wall.

  “Was that there before?” he asked.

  “Uh, I think we would have noticed a two-foot-wide crack in the wall, after all of the time we’ve spent down here, don’t you think? The land must have shifted, or maybe some kind of earthquake or something. I guess we didn’t notice it at first because it took a few minutes for our eyes to adjust.”

  “Where’s that light coming from?” he asked.

  “Why don’t we find out?” she said, standing up.

  “What? No, you don’t know what’s in there. What if you get stuck? I won’t be able to find my way back home to get help!” he cried, panic in his voice. She was already squeezing sideways into the hole, her body halfway in.

  “If that happens, then you can have my comics, and I have to say: it’s really sad that you can’t find your way back after all of these years,” she said, her body completely disappearing as she shimmied into the hole.

  “Get back here, Nat!” he hissed, looking around the room frantically. He could no longer see her, but he could hear her shuffling. After too long of a pause, he heard her shriek.

  “You’ve got to come in here!” she yelled back through the crevice. She wasn’t that far off, maybe fifteen feet or so.

  “Damnit Nat,” he muttered, sucking in his stomach while trying to squeeze into the wall. She was slimmer than he was, so it was slow going. He exhaled and found that he couldn’t move anymore. Panicking, he tried to go back, but his body was wedged tight.

  “Nat. Nat! I’m stuck!” he yelled. Sweat trickled into his eyes, stinging them, while his breathing grew more desperate. He felt his heart racing.

  “Nat!” he cried out, as the pressure in his chest increased. Something seized his flailing hand and pulled.

  “Geeze, chill out, Alex,” Natalie said, peering at him from the other side of the crack. “You’re only a few feet away. Calm down, exhale and wiggle free. That’s the tightest spot you’re at.”

  He looked down to where she shone her light and noticed she was right. The rock protruded slightly more at chest level exactly where he was lodged. He sucked in his gut and squeezed past, as she pulled on his arm. Shortly thereafter, he emerged into the new room.

  “Of all the stupid things you’ve done over the years Nat, I think this has to...” he started, before noticing the room they were in.

  It was almost perfectly circular, the walls smoothed down to a mirror-like finish. The room was slightly larger than the initial cave. The difference was the other room was bare and raw, hewn of rock and dirt, with damp, cold walls. This room was alien by comparison. It was like being inside of a gem of some kind. An unearthly blue glow illuminated the entire room, seemingly originating from a perfectly calm pool of water at the center of the room.

  “Check it out, Alex!” Natalie shouted, heading back towards the spring. She waded in, splashing water with her hands as she went. “I think it’s a natural spring or something. It’s really warm too.” The water came up to her shins at the deepest point.

  “You-you should get out, Nat. You don’t know what’s in that water. It could be full of bacteria or some kind of chemicals,” he said, his eyes surveying the glittering cavern around them, his mind in awe.

  “It looks crystal clear to me,” she said, bending over to scoop up a bit in her hand. She leaned over and sniffed the cupped water.

  “Don’t even think about...” he began, but she quickly took a small sip before he could finish. “I can’t believe you did that!” he exclaimed, exasperated.

  “It’s just spring water, Mr. Worry-Some-More. It’s actually pretty good. Maybe we could bottle it and make some big bucks.”

  “I’d be surprised if you aren’t up all night puking your guts out,” he remarked.

  She squatted down in the water, staring at her reflection, which undulated with the water.

  Alexander walked around the room, touching the walls. They appeared to be wet and slimy, but they were completely dry. The mirrored surface was almost frictionless. His reflection warped and stretched in all directions like an unending fun house mirror. The floor was composed of the same substance, although it wasn’t slippery like the walls, which was curious. He bent down to touch it, wiping his finger across it, then inspected his finger with his flashlight. It was hard to tell, because his hands were dirty from the trek through the woods and contact with the other cave, but he could have sworn the floors were completely free of dirt or debris. He turned his attention back to the pool. Natalie was still in the same position, unmoving.

  “What are you doing?” he asked. She didn’t react to his voice. “I’m not coming over there just so you can splash me.” She remained unmoved. “Natalie!” he shouted. She jerked, then slowly turned her head in his direction, a smile creeping onto her face.

  “Geeze, no need to shout, spaz. I was just lost in my thoughts.”

  “It must be some kind miracle water if it keeps you quiet for more than a minute. Are you sure you feel OK?”

  “Look at this glow. I can’t tell where it’s coming from. It looks like it’s from the floor of the pool, but I can’t focus on it enough to tell.”

  “Probably some of that biolumen-whatever fungus or something,” he said, “you’re probably going to get glowing athlete’s foot from it.”

  “No, it’s almost magical,” she said, while scooping up more water, and splashing it on her face. “It feels so good.” She continued to wash her hands and face with the water. Alexander walked closer and stared at the water around her, which remained completely clear.

  “Where’s the dirt going?” he asked.

  She glanced around her and smiled, “like I said, it’s magical. You really should come in here and feel it. Maybe take a sip. I feel so refreshed.”

  “Like I’m going to drink your dirt water. I wouldn’t have put that water in my mouth before you got in, so no way I’m drinking it now. You should come on out and start drying off.”

  “Just think, this whole time this place was right next door to our little domain. It’s like a secret room’s secret room,” Natalie said, stepping over the raised rock edge of the pool.

  Alex turned to look at her. “You’re soaking wet! It’s going to be forty-five degrees outside.”

  “Sorry, Mom,” she said, looking down
at her shoes. Water squished out of her shoes when she flexed her toes. “So, I’m wet, but it’s not like I won’t dry out. It was worth it. Probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

  She took her shoes off, tossing them to the side, then slipped the soggy socks from her feet. After wringing them out several times, she hung them off the side of the pool. She started unbuckling her pants.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” he cried out.

  “Getting the water out of my pants?”

  “You can’t just take your pants off in here!”

  “Why not? It’s not like you haven’t seen me in a swimsuit, or even my underwear before,” she said, her interest turning towards his sudden bashfulness.

  “Well, that was before. No one thinks about how appropriate it is when you’re ten. We’re older now, and it’s not right.”

  “If I was a guy, would you be flipping out like this? Do you tell everyone to keep their eyes shut when you get dressed in gym at school?” she asked, buckling her belt.

  “Of course not, we’re all guys. Plus, it’s at school, not in the middle of nowhere with no one around, plus — I only get dressed and undress after everyone leaves, that’s why I’m always late,” he said, continuing to stare at the wall opposite of her.

  “Why is it weird now?” she asked, pretending not to know why.

  “Because we’re older now. Things are different,” he stammered, trying to figure out how to explain it. The wall was so reflective in front of him, he could see a distorted image of her behind him. She was staring at him, silently. She approached him slowly.

  “Wh-what are you doing?” he asked, not turning around.

  “So, you are saying you think of me differently now?” she asked, standing behind him.

  “I-I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Like, how do you think about me?” she asked coyly, teasing him. “Why won’t you look at me?”

  “You’re my friend. We’ve been friends for a long time. We’ve got the same interests. If you lived closer, we’d probably hang out all the time instead of just every few months for a few days,” he explained, carefully analyzing the words, as if he was explaining it to himself as well.