“She said it while you were…busy with her. Made for some awesome photos, though.” The woman concluded.
“Indeed. Did you have as much fun as me? I love a fighter.”
“Hell yes! I really loved the way you stabbed her; that was a new move, compared to your strangling.”
The man chuckled, “Yes, it was, but it is harder to do than you’d think. My knife got stuck, and it took all of my strength just to get it out.”
“Yeah, but you kicked her in the stomach real good,” The woman replied. “Do you think we should make sure she’s dead?”
The man groans loudly and coughs. “Sure, babe, anything for you.” The sound of lip-smacking echoed within the cave. A loud wet squish amplifies in the darkness as a giggle hit Trish’s ears like a semi-truck.
“That’ll do it,” The man says.
“Thanks, handsome. Do you think she’s fine here, or should we move her?”
“We’ll leave her here. No one comes this far off of the trails anyway. She’ll never be found. Take some photos and let’s get out of here,” The man commands gruffly. The sound of fumbling in a plastic bag burns Trish’s soul. The camera clicks and echoes against the walls of the cave. The woman takes eight photos, and then they shuffle off, leaving Trish alone with her thoughts. She couldn’t figure out who they were talking about. She knew she needed to leave the cave, figure out exactly where the body was, and then try to find some help. Trish hoped that the murdered woman had some family who knew she was missing and was looking for her. She thought hard about leaving the cave for a while but decided against it. With her head foggy in pain and her body exhausted from trying to heal itself, Trish decided to take a small nap. She got as comfortable as she could as she was sat up right against the cave wall and shut her eyes.
“I see you’ve finally made it. Good,” The entity beckoned her like a bright light in the middle of a dark ocean. Trish tried to ignore it and pretend she was asleep.
“Come to me, Patricia. You need me just as much as I need you,” The voice deepened but still sounded smooth. Trish mimicked the slow breaths one takes when in a deep slumber.
“Patricia, your grandfather sent me to help you. He knew that you would be in trouble on this trip. Your grandfather told you to allow me to help you. Why do you keep fighting me?” The entity said, his voice feigning disappointment. “Patricia, look at me!” The entity commanded, which forced Trish to open her eyes. She couldn’t see anything in the direction she looked. Her head tilted to the side as she stared into the deep pitch black of the small and cramped cave. She couldn’t see a figure or even a shadow. It was like she was looking at nothing, pure emptiness. She stared past the torches and into the abyss of nothingness. She assumed she was looking at the entity, as her eyes held steady and watched nothing.
“There, thank you for your attention. I need you to pretend to wake for this.”
“Why can’t you just leave me alone?” Trish whimpered as she stared at him.
“I wish I could, I really wish I could. But, as you know, a few weeks ago, I was tasked with watching over you by your grandfather. And watch over you, I shall.” The entity stated matter-of-factly like he already knew the outcome of this meeting.
The entity continued, “Your grandpa knew that you would be in trouble when you decided to complete this arduous hike by yourself. Do you know what could happen to a little girl like you all alone in the woods? I am sure you do by now. I have frightened them off as much as I can, for now. They have gone off to relax for the rest of the night. They will come back tomorrow. Are you going to take your chances with them or with me?”
Trish paused and took a deep breath, her mouth filled with the stench of mold, moss, and decay, as she rubbed an eyebrow.
“I, uh, I guess I will stay here,” she responded, still unable to take her eyes off of the entity. Or at least what she thought was the entity.
“Good. I thought that you would eventually see it my way. You are just as stubborn as your grandfather was, if not more. Now, let me ask you this, do you like life?”
“Ex-excuse me?” Trish asked, perplexed.
“Do you like being alive? Living? Do you like being a meat bag walking this Earth and destroying everything in your path?” The entity's voice rose as it answered her question.
“I guess…”
“You guess? It is a yes or no question. There are not alternatives allocated for this discussion. Do you or do you not want to live?” The entity's voice boomed and dripped with a burning hatred.
“Yes,” Trish squeaked as her face grew hot.
“That is what I figured. Most mortals want to live. Now, do you want my help in living?” It asked curiously, its voice tilting upward with a smidge of a cheerful tone.
“I’m not sure; I’ve done fine on my own so far,” Trish bit back as rage boiled in her stomach.
The entity laughed, a deep barrel of a laugh, and then continued. “Patricia, I could easily send you back outside, into the dreary forest that is full of decayed bodies and rotting flesh.”
Trish whimpered and tried to will herself to look away from the deep of the cave, but she couldn’t force her eyes away. “Okay, okay! I would like your help,” she mumbled.
“Good, I thank you for answering my question. I only have one thing that I need from you in order to help you. Just one simple task,” The entity stated as its voice softened.
“What is it? I can’t hardly move right now,” Trish said.
“A simple favor, if you will. I need you to solve the riddle.”
“What riddle?” Trish asked, confused.
“The riddle that is carved into the wall,” The entity stated as the light burst brightly, enveloping the entire cave into a glittering golden hue. Trish was able to finally look away from the deep nothingness and at the wall in front of her. What used to be a dark grey moss-covered wall was now a gleaming silver surface with a riddle written with dark green moss. The moss coated the silver wall like dried blood, sticky and stained. The moss itself was dark green with pitch-black spots that made it look like it was dying. The moss dripped with a black smelly substance that reminded Trish of the time her toilet backed up into her apartment. The stench permeated every pore on Trish’s body-inescapable. She gagged and covered her mouth.
“There, there. No need to be dramatic, young one. Just read the riddle aloud.” The entity commanded. Trish began to read the riddle out loud.
“I poison their minds
I riddle their thoughts
I creep in their nightmares
I halt their breath
I possess their spirits
I kill their dreams, what am I?”
The entity clapped as its voice bounced off of the decaying and black cave walls. “Thank you for reading it, Patricia. I enjoy listening to you speak. Now, in order for me to help you, you need to solve the problem. Do you have any guesses?”
“N-no. Not just yet,” Trish sighed as she tried to think.
“You only have three chances to get it right. If you cannot solve this riddle, you will have to leave my domicile.”
“I creep in their nightmares…” Trish whispered to herself as she thought. “I possess their spirits…” She bit her lip. “Hmm, is it sleep paralysis?” She guessed.
The entity clapped. “I’m afraid you are incorrect, but that was a good try. You have two more chances.”
“How much time do I have? Is there a time limit?”
“You have five minutes. I am a busy man I do not have time to play with mortals.”
Trish whimpered as her thoughts raced, she had no idea what the answer was, and she really didn’t want to go back outside. She didn’t particularly want to be here right now, but at least it wasn’t murdering her…yet.
“Umm…it says, ‘I poison their minds… I halt their breath… I kill their dreams…”
“Indeed, thank you for showing me that you know how to read.” The entity quipped.
She sighed loudly, “So
mething that stops people from pursuing their dreams? Dreams as in passions in life, I’m guessing?” The entity didn’t answer. Trish continued, “It stops them from pursuing their dreams but also breathing? What could do that?”
Trish wrung her hands together as her thoughts raced. She couldn’t figure out how all of that tied together and what made all of those things happen. Possession? Suicide? Death? She pondered to herself until she spoke out loud, “Is it fear?”
The entity laughed, “Good job, Patricia. I am proud of you. Only a few humans have been able to solve this riddle.”
Trish sighed with relief as if she were a pipe with too much pressure. She sobbed loudly; her body convulsed as the weight lifted off of her soul. She fell over onto the dirt and mud-covered ground of the cave. Her tears and the blood from her wounds seeped into the Earth around her. The ground absorbed it as if it hadn’t had rained for a millennium.
“There is one last thing that I require of you before I can help you, my dear Patricia,” The entity said as if it were a parent caring for a crying child. Trish sniffled and pushed off of the cave floor with her good arm to sit up straight. “Look at me when I speak to you, child!” The entity commanded, and once again, Trish’s eyes were forced to look into the depths of the decaying cave, an abyss of nothing, a black hole that needed to feed on human life.
“Bow.” The entity calmly stated as the air in the room grew with a funk of rot and burning wood. Trish couldn’t comprehend what the entity stated as her head swam with thoughts of life and exuberance for having solved the riddle. She started into the cave, as the stench burned her eyes and prickled her skin, and slowly moved to her knees as if she wasn’t in control of her own body.
“Bow.” The entity repeated. This time Trish bowed as she lowered her chest and face to the ground. Her good arm smacked against the ground hard as she did.
“Good, thank you, Patricia. Now, get undressed and give your body to me.”
Trish no longer had control over her body as she used her good arm to unclasp her bra and pull off what was left of her pants. She slipped off her grimy underwear and threw them into the abyss. Tears streamed down her face, leaving a trail of bare and clean skin in their wake, as she sat before him. Her mind couldn’t fathom what was going on. Her thoughts raced between her grandpa, her dog, and the reality of the situation that she is in.
“Bow.” The entity commanded again as she threw herself onto the ground. Her arm sling came undone as she slammed her body down, broken arm first. Trish screamed loudly, and the entity only laughed.
“Bow.” Trish lifted her body off of the ground again and hurled her body to the cave floor once more, the crunch of her protruding bones burrowing into the dirt. Her face smacked the floor as well, her nose dripped with the essence of life.
“Bow.” The torches that adorned the cave walls started to flicker with every bow that Trish completed. When she slammed her body down and cried out, the lights would turn off. When she sat back up, in a daze, the lights would turn back on. The cave was dead silent except for Trish’s scream as she bowed over and over. The blood from her arm and face coats the floor with the creaminess of cheese left in the sun but the stickiness of a melted lollipop. The blood coated her body, which made her skin stick to the dirt with every slap.
“Bow.” Trish bowed to the beat of an imaginary drum. Her mind was devoid of any thoughts or feelings. She can’t feel her body being forcibly bowed anymore. A low hum erupted from the deepness of the black cave. The hum dark and melodic, the notes hit rough but soft, which caressed Trish’s entire body.
“Bow.” Trish felt like she was dreaming. Her body held in the tight embrace of the humming as her body shattered with each thump. She tried to start humming along with the tune, but she couldn’t get her voice to work. Her body no longer produced tears, and it had decided to not waste the little bit of hydration and nutrients it had left. Trish became numb.
“Bow.” Trish felt her spirit leaving her body. This didn’t feel like real life anymore, and she decided she was done. She felt as if she was floating up and away, into the dark and cloudy night. Up above the trail she had trekked, above the pine trees and mountains.
She kept floating until she landed on a large and comfortable cloud. She fell asleep on the cloud as she drifted off into nothingness.
Everything was faded to black as she watched her body grab as sharp rock and slit her wrist.
Chapter Seven
T
rish awoke to the soft beeping of the medical machines that have kept her alive. Her gaze hazy, her head heavy, and her breaths shallow. She opened her eyes, and the lights blinded her; tears formed in the corner of her eyes as she blinked. Trish shook her head as she tried to clear her mind. She attempted to move her arm, but it felt as though the weight of a thousand men lay on top of her. She couldn’t feel her left arm, but she could move her shoulder. She tested her voice, and her cracked lips and arid throat made the voice come out as a soft whisper.
“Help…” she mumbled as she took in her surroundings.
“Doctor Gutiérrez, nurses, Trish is awake!” She heard her father yell off in the distance. She smelt his leftover cologne that had faded from a day spent at the hospital. Her head swam as she watched her mom and dad move about the room, swinging their arms like they were drowning in a pool. A doctor and a couple of nurses walked into the room. Her father’s greying beard picked against the soft skin of her face as he kissed her several times. He left a trail of slobber and tears on her face as he did. She was thankful that she could feel that. Her mother squealed with joy and ran over to her other side as she kissed her as well.
“What is going on?” Trish coughed as her voice gave out. A short, plump woman in a white coat walked over to Trish’s bedside. Her black hair was slicked back into a tight bun, and her face has confusion written all over it.
“Patricia, you’ve awoken! How are you feeling?” the doctor asked, her voice deep with a Hispanic accent, as she looked over the machines.
“I’m okay, I guess…” Trish trailed off as her head swam. The colors in the room swirled around her into a mixture of white and stainless steel.
“I’m Dr. Gutiérrez, and I will be the one taking care of you, along with the nurses. It’s okay to be confused. We all would be if we went through what you did,” The doctor said as she continued to monitor the machines.
“Did you tell her anything yet?” Her dad shook his head no slowly.
“Honey, we have a lot to tell you. We were going to wait until you possibly got home, but I guess now is the right time…” Trish’s mom trailed off and stared at Dr. Gutiérrez, her face flush with scarlet. The doctor nodded.
“Do you want to tell her, or would you feel more comfortable if I did?” The doctor asked as she looked back and forth between her parents.
“Patricia, do you remember when you got here?” the doctor asked as though she already knew the answer to the question.
“No...” Trish whispered.
“Do you know what events lead you here?” The doctor asked sincerely as she looked into Trish’s dark brown eyes. Trish laid there and tried to recollect everything that she could. She remembered going on a hike and feeling thirsty, but right now she couldn’t remember much of anything else.
“No ma’am, I don’t…I remember going on a hike and that I camped as well, but past that, no.”
The doctor sighed and looked at Trish with pity. “I will give you the basic information that I have. Then I will leave to let you and your parents have some time alone. I figure the detectives will be coming by shortly after I call to tell them that you’re awake,” Dr. Gutiérrez stated as she motioned for a nurse to come over. “Patricia, you just woke up from a two-week coma—”
“Two weeks?!” Trish cried as her body trembled.
Dr. Gutiérrez continued, “You were found by some hikers right outside of a cave. You had a shattered arm, a severe concussion, a broken ankle, a stab wound to the chest, and several
flesh injuries.”
“What happened? I don’t understand…” she whimpered. Two nurses ran into the room to try to comfort her as her parents stood off to the side. Trish thrashed around and sobbed; her voice carried throughout the intensive care unit. The sound was a vicious pull to the gut, a sound everyone on the ward heard and would always remember. Agony, pure agony, an agony that Trish hadn’t felt since the night her grandfather passed. It was only going to get worse.
“You may want to come and hold her hand for this,” Dr. Gutiérrez stated to her parents. Trish continued to scream as both of her parents went to the right side of the bed and squeezed her hand tightly. The three hands interlaced with each other, grasping for comfort that would never truly come.
“Patricia, when you arrived, your arm was broken into two large pieces that pierced right through your skin. It became severely infected, and by the time you arrived, our only option was to amputate. It never would’ve been the same,” Dr. Gutiérrez grabbed the heavy white blanket that covered Trish and removed it from underneath her right arm. Trish looked down at her left arm and saw it covered in what seemed to be hundreds of stitches right beneath her elbow. Her skin was a deep red, which had a slight yellow twinge to it. The nub was pointy, and when she tried to move it, pain shot up her arm to her shoulder and hit her straight in the face. Her body started to shake and her vision, which was once blurry before, was now almost completely black. Trish sobbed. She couldn’t think straight. She didn’t know what to say. Her father squeezed her hand and patted her head gently.
After several minutes, the waves of grief subsided, and Trish spoke, her voice a whisper, “Was…was there a chance for my arm to be saved?”
Dr. Gutiérrez sighed and hesitated for a moment, “Yes, there was a chance for your arm to be saved. It would have taken several more surgeries and a couple of years, if not more, of physical therapy. You would be in pain for the rest of your life, but it could have been managed.”
The Cave Page 5