AFRAID OF THE DARK

Genre: Horror

 

 

 

AFRAID OF THE DARK

By Randy Romero

 

 

One wrong step was all it took to send Geoff plunging into the abyss. The fall probably only lasted a few seconds, but for Geoff, it felt like a lifetime. It was as if time had frozen even as his body continued to plummet.

But time was unfrozen now, and Geoff could feel the ramifications of his misstep. His leg was shattered. If the searing pain wasn’t any indication, his femur bone had snapped in half and broken through the skin. He couldn’t bear to look at the shiny white nub of bone that was poking out.

“Geoff!” Lisa cried out. “Can you hear me?! Please answer!”

“I can hear you,” Geoff called out, his voice echoing through the vast cave. “My leg is a mess. I’m going to need medical attention.”

“Can you see anything?” Lisa asked. “Any markings, any openings or passages? Any way for us to get down there?”

“It’s pitch black,” Geoff responded. “I can’t really see anything.”

“Hang tight,” Carl yelled down to him. “We’re going to find help.”

Geoff could hear the panic in their voices. An idyllic summer afternoon hike had turned into an absolute nightmare. Carl, Lisa, and Dana were miles from the car. And they hadn’t encountered anybody else on their lengthy walk.

“Water,” Geoff choked. “I need water.”

Carl fished through his pack and found a bottle of water. It was lukewarm but it was all he had to offer.

“I can’t see anything, but I hope you’re able to reach this,” Carl said before dropping it into the mouth of the cave. It landed near Geoff’s side with a thud and he snatched it up and drank it all in two or three gulps.

“Hang in there, buddy,” Carl said. “We’re going to get you some help.”

Dana was muttering something about her cell phone. All Geoff could make out was, “No reception.”

He couldn’t even hear their footsteps as they ventured off in search of help.

“Wait! Don’t leave me alone in the dark,” he cried out.

Geoff suffered from severe nyctophobia, an intense fear of the dark.  As a kid, he slept with a nightlight on. As an adult, he needed the TV on or the glow of his laptop monitor to fall asleep. But it wasn’t the nyctophobia that truly terrified him.

He felt a presence. Something was down there.

Something more animal than man.

He tried to sit up but the pain was too extreme. He was able to reach into his pockets. His phone was miraculously still intact. He didn’t have any service either. But at least there was a light on his phone.

He shone the light around the cave, taking in his surroundings. In the shadows, it lurked. He didn’t see it all at once, and he was grateful for that. It revealed itself in pieces, allowing Geoff to take in its shocking form.

It was a twisted, perverse amalgam of every animal it had encountered. Flesh and fur, claws and teeth, scales and pelts. It had hooves for feet and a tail at its backside. Its face was hairy, wet snout. And it had more eyes than Geoff could count. A bipedal organism made up of other organisms. Whatever this thing was, it had absorbed every living thing it had ever come into contact with.

It made a sound that he couldn’t even begin to describe. A horrible, tormented squeal that was anything but human. Geoff cried out. He begged for Lisa, for Carl, for Dana, for anyone. But nobody was there to answer his cries for help.

He shut his eyes to shield himself from this abomination and lost himself in happier times. He thought about the day that Carl and Dana introduced him to Lisa. He thought about his first date with her, about her perfect smile, her warm embrace. He thought about anything but his impending demise.

 

 

***

 

 

“Geoff!” Lisa screamed. “Help is here! Just hang tight!”

Dana managed to get service on her phone and call 911. They used GPS to pinpoint their location. The police, paramedics, and fire department were all present.

“Geoff, can you hear me?” Lisa called out. No response.

“He may have lost consciousness,” one of the paramedics said. “We have to get down there.”

“I know an entrance into the cave,” one of the officers said, volunteering to lead the way. And so they began their descent into the dark, massive cave in search of Geoff.