The Cave

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Dennis had been having the same nightmare for months. He would wake up screaming every night, his blanket wrapped around his body like a cocoon. He hated how Nikki would comfort him, soothing him with kind words. 

It bothered him how he continued to scare her with his nightmares. Nikki would assure him that she doesn't care, but the dark circles underneath her eyes said otherwise. 

Dennis knew she was stubborn, but he didn't want to upset her. They had been together for several years, and he was already considering marrying her. He was planning to propose to her after the trip with his friends. 

They were going to go splunking, which was another way of saying that they were going to explore a cave. Despite how exciting this trip sounded, Nikki expressed doubts about Dennis leaving. 

"Den, I don't think this is a good idea."

Dennis was finishing up packing his bags, as he checked the time on his watch. 

"Why? I've done this so many times. Why are you worried about this now?"

Dennis took a peek at Nikki. She was wearing a robe, after taking a shower. Her soft eyes were filled with concern, her hands placed over her heart. Dennis' heart opened up to her at that moment. He was a lucky man. 

"I'm not sure. It's difficult to explain…do your friends know about your nightmares?"

"No. They uh, I haven't told them."

"Why not?"

Dennis shrugged. 

"I don't think it's important."

Nikki put her hands on her hips. 

"What if you scare the crap out of them when you wake up screaming?"

"I'll tell them I was dreaming of you."

Nikki playfully punched him on the shoulder. Dennis grabbed hold of Nikki's waist, pulling her in for a kiss. Nikki laughed as Dennis applied kisses all over her face. 

"I love you, you know."

Nikki placed her forehead against his.

"I love you, too."

A honk was heard outside. 

"I gotta go."

Nikki and Dennis walked together to the front door. Nikki reached out to play with his hair. 

"Be careful, alright? I worry about you."

Dennis gave her a quick peck on the lips. 

"I promise."

Nikki and Dennis shared one final kiss before he left through the front door. He looked back to see Nikki waving, a smile on her face. Dennis hid his smile when his friends started to catcall or mimic kissing noises. 

Dennis kept thinking of Nikki while his two friends continued to tease him. He was lucky to have her, and he didn't understand why he had such an uneasy feeling inside of him. Those stupid nightmares have really been getting to him, and he had to snap out of it. He should be excited that he was going to go cave exploring. And he had done it thousands of times. 

His friends and Dennis were talking the entire trip to the cave, discussing their futures after college. 

John was majoring as an engineer. He dreamt of living out of state and working in a power plant, alongside his boyfriend. 

Trevor wanted to do some traveling after college. 

Dennis wanted to marry his girlfriend and hopefully have a family one day. 

The cave was located in another town about two hours from where Dennis and his friends live. They were already about to arrive. Dennis took a deep breathe, trying not to picture the nightmares he kept having over and over. They were only dreams. Nothing more. 

Dennis jolted along with the car when it came to a stop. John cheered and hit the wheel of the vehicle. 

"We're here, baby!"

John threw the car door open and ran out of the car, whooping the whole time. Trevor was laughing as he exited the car, and Dennis followed. The cave was a couple of feet away from the car. It looked like a gaping mouth, like they were about to swallowed whole. 

Dennis didn't know why he was thinking like that. All caves looked like a damn mouth about to close down on you. 

"Dennis? You good bro?," John asked. Dennis looked back to find that his friends were already getting their stuff ready. 

"Yeah bro. I'm fine."

Dennis got his things too, and followed John and Trevor into the cave. Each of them had helmets on their heads, with lights attached to them. 

"How did you learn about this cave, John? I never even knew one was this close to our town," Trevor said. 

John shrugged. "It's kind of a weird story. I heard it from some random old lady when I went drinking with my boyfriend the other day. She told me about the cave, and where it was located. I stopped listening to her when she started bullshitting me a story about a monster inside of the cave."

"The fuck? That's weird," Dennis said with a nervous laugh. 

"You don't believe in that shit, do you?," John said with sarcasm in his voice. 

"No! I don't believe in that shit at all!"

"I believe in serial killers," Trevor said with a straight face. 

John snorted. "Where the fuck did that come from? You two are acting so weird today."

"Yeah. That is weird," Dennis replied. 

"Coming from the guy who sounded like a pussy about monsters possibly in the cave," Trevor said with a smirk. 

The three young men started to argue, and it lasted a long time. They walked and walked, but never came across anything they were used to with the inside of a cave. 

"What the fuck? How deep is this cave? When can we do the climbing and shit?," John said, spinning around with confusion on his face. 

"How long have we been walking for anyway? Shouldn't we have already come across something?," Trevor asked. 

Dennis looked around. He didn't realize the cave's structure at first. It looked strange. Off. The cave was too smooth, and it felt like they were walking within the inside of someone's throat. Dennis shuddered. 

"Should we keep going? This is weird, man," Trevor said. 

John rolled his eyes. "Are you starting to believe in the monster bullshit too?"

"I'm with Trevor on this one. This is weird," Dennis said. He no longer cared if he sounded scared. He lost track of time, and the fact that they were walking for who knows how long was really bothering him. They should have come across something at some point. 

Dennis decided to be the smart one in this situation. He thought of Nikki, and knew she wouldn't want anything to happen to him. He turned back and started walking. 

"Bro? Where are you going?," John said. 

"Leaving. I'm not staying here any longer. Something doesn't feel right, man."

Trevor caught up to Dennis. "Fuck this. I'm leaving too."

"You guys are such assholes -''

Dennis and Trevor both jumped when John let out a huge scream. Dennis whirled his head back to see John get pulled into the darkness of the cave. His helmet fell from his head, and landed on the ground. Trevor was the first to run. Dennis followed. He ignored the crunching and ripping sounds from deep within the cave. 

Trevor and Dennis ran side by side, not stopping. Dennis felt his heart stop when he heard footsteps behind them, gaining up on them. Dennis suddenly thought that whatever was behind them was most likely running on all fours. That made him run even faster, and Trevor did the same. 

Dennis gasped when Trevor was pulled back. He heard Trevor scream, but Dennis kept on running. There was no point to try and save him. He thought of Nikki, and willed his legs to go faster. Dennis let out a sob when he saw the entrance up ahead. He booked it straight for the car, and then something sliced through his legs from the back. 

He fell to the ground, face first on the ground. He lifted up his head, his tongue touching broken bits of his teeth. He whimpered, and tried to look over his head. A large claw that resembled a dinosaur pulled back into the darkness of the cave. Dennis thought he saw the hand smoking, and he wondered if it was the sun that harmed it. 

He let out a small laugh, and started to crawl toward the car. Whatever happened to Trevor and John was a shame, but at least he will be the sole survivor. He can let their families know what happened. Whatever that thing was that killed them. The best part is that he could be with Nikki. 

Dennis laughed again, and made it as far as the front of the vehicle. Dennis passed out from blood loss. He would die during the day from his injuries. Due to shock, he never realized that whatever that thing was had sliced off his legs. Two mini trails of blood led to his legs that were left at the entrance of the cave. 

The creature waited patiently until night fell. It was hungry again, and dragged Dennis' legs into the cave. Then it took his body. 

It had a good feast that night. 

Its owner took good care of it. The old lady from the bar two hours away loved it very much. 

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Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn