Dark (Book 1)
By: Ray busH
Sadie was having the best day, she could not remember the last time that she was this happy. She loved being in nature, and since she had lost a bit of weight, hiking had become one of her favorite hobbies. Caves were probably her favorite thing in the world, Sadie found them a little scary but very fascinating. The tour was going great, Sadie lingered at the back of the line taking pictures and enjoying the beauty. The colorful stalagmites stretched towards the roof of the cave while the stalactites hung low, some almost to the floor.
The divorce had been hard on Sadie, it had been two months and she was beginning to find her old self. The two were once happy together, and they both still loved each other. The problem was the routine that they had fallen into. They had both gained weight, went to work, and lost all the wonder that had been there in their budding relationship so many years ago. She would always love him, and she guessed he would as well. The divorce was easy, there was no bickering over this or that, he had felt much the same way as her. All she wanted was for him to be happy, and he wanted the same for her.
Sadie spent a lot of time the last couple months at the gym for two reasons. One to distract her from her emotions, and two she wanted to feel better about herself. This particular cave is one that she had always wanted to visit but was never in good enough shape to make the hike halfway up the mountain. She was more than proud of herself for how far she had come, she hoped her ex was doing the same for himself.
“They think the outlaw gang known as sundown and the death riders hid treasure down this branch,” the guide said standing at a T intersection. “As far as I know there has never been any real evidence of that.” Sadie wished that she had days to explore this cave system. She thought that she would ask about becoming a guide after she finished the tour.
Sadie had felt like she had been living for someone else for nearly her whole life. She was by no means rich but she did have enough savings that she would be able to take a pay cut to be a guide if that is what it took. Her headlamp shined down the outlaw tunnel.
Was that movement? She wondered to herself, she thought she saw a shadow dart around the bend.
Her body broke out in goosebumps when the guide said, “Some people claim that they see a shadow person down that tunnel, but I’ve been a guide for five years now and I’ve never seen anything down there.” Sadie wondered if he was telling the truth. He went on, “The legend is that an outlaw gang, known as The Death Riders lead by Percy France a.k.a. Sundown, got pinned down in here. The sheriff known as Cactus Jim Hodges, herded them to this cave because there is no known exit. The tour had come to a stop while the guide gave the group this history lesson. “After days in the dark with very little food and even less water the gang turned on Sundown. It was his girlfriend in particular, Miss Leslie Jackson; her nickname was Yosemite. She snuck to the entrance with a white flag and made a deal with the Sheriff. When she got back to the gang she convinced Sundown that the sheriff had abandoned his post and the coast was clear.
“The gang exited the cave led by Yosemite, they left Sundown to come out last,” the guide continued. “He was convinced that the sheriff would openfire as soon as they saw someone. He didn’t want it to be him, he liked to kill but had no desire to be killed. When they didn't, Percy hesitantly left the cave and into the ambush. He managed to spot some of the gang before they fired but only by a split second. He got shot seven times as he ran back in the cave. The posse waited outside the cave for a week awaiting Percy. When he didn’t come, Sheriff Jim had the gang lead him to where they had been hiding. That’s where they found Sundown, he bled out alone in the dark.”
That story was so sad for Sundown but Sadie found it utterly fascinating. “Is that true?” Sadie asked, the old her never would have never spoken out in a group but this was the new Sadie and she loved it.
“I have never seen any proof," he said again and Sadie remembered him saying that so she blushed. She guessed tour guides had to repeat themselves all the time. Their whole job was repeating themselves through each tour. She relaxed. “I have done a bunch of research online. I found a bunch of stories about Sundown and The Death Riders but there is no clear evidence that they were real people. I did find that Cactus Jim Hodges was a real sheriff and one of the best. True or not though,” he went on “I would recommend going down that rabbit hole, the stories are very interesting.”
“So you don’t know if Sundown was real?” Sadie asked, knowing the story was over but not wanting it to be.
“From what I’ve read,” the guide answered, “I believe that he was and the stories have him and the sheriff living in this area.” Sadie thought the guide to be very handsome. “If you have time after the tour we can sit and have a chat if you would like.” Sadie agreed and the group moved on but Sadie stayed at the intersecting T.
She lingered for a moment then lingered a moment longer, What are you doing? Sadie asked herself but she still did not move.
Sadie wanted to explore the fascinating left branch. The distance between her and the group grew but still she waited. She turned left down the branch by herself, knowing how dumb of a decision this could be. It would not take much to get lost in here, but she sure was enjoying this new brave Sadie. She smiled a wide smile, in her marriage nothing like this would have ever happened. Even if they did make the hike her husband never would have agreed to leave the group. Honestly, the old Sadie would have never even suggested it, both lost the adventure a long time ago.
The tunnel had a slight decline and veered lazily to the left. An Icy breeze swirled around Sadie, giving her the full body chills. She decided that she would only go as far as the first intersection, then simply turn around and wait for the tour to come back that way. Now that she was alone, she was surprised by how completely the darkness of the cave swallowed the light from her headlamp. She thought that she could hear breathing but decided it was just the air moving in the cave. Despite the fact that she should be terrified on her own, she could not get the smile off her face.
She stopped walking so that the sounds of the earth could take over her mind. Sadie felt the breeze wisp by her face and absently thought how it didn’t sound like someone breathing. The musical sound of water trickling over stone made her mind feel completely at peace. She had never felt such true bliss in all her life. This is the moment that she had so desperately been searching for. She could not remember a time that she felt this peaceful. If Sadie thought hard about it she would have realized there had never been this much peace in her life. She heard footsteps approaching softly but she was not ready to rejoin the group. She turned off her headlamp and breathed as quietly as possible.
Sadie turned back the way that she had come from, or at least she thought she did. In this deep blackness she could have been staring at a wall. She could not see any lights but she still heard the soft foot fall on the stone cave floor. Sadie focused all of her attention to her ears to try to determine which direction the footsteps were coming from. She even closed her eyes. The footsteps stopped directly behind her. Sadie gasped.
Before she could spin an arm wrapped around her neck and put her in a classic sleeper hold. She meant to scream but she felt a hand cover her mouth and muffle the sound. There was a moment of anticipation where nothing happened. Suddenly, Sadie was being dragged backwards against her will. She kicked wildly to try to create some resistance, her feet bounced off the stone. “Keep it down little lady,” Sadie heard inside her head, “we don’t want noone hearin ya.” The voice sounded spiritual but also western, like a ghost cowboy. This must be Sundown. She thought half scared and half fascinated. The story must have been true.
She tried grabbing the arm around her neck but was not able to feel it with her hand. It was very weird to experience. The air felt just a little thicker around her neck and over her mouth. Sadie reached for the button to turn on her headlamp but was unable to with all the bouncing that was going on. She thought for a moment how the old her and her husband would have been right to stay with the group. Her feet whipped wildly and smacked painfully into the uneven stone floor. It was horrible to be dragged backwards by an unseen force in this complete blackness. In her imagination she felt a crossroads and that she was pulled right down another passageway. The decline increased but only slightly.
The grip around her neck did not loosen and her backwards speed did not decrease in the slightest. She decided to take one more chance at the headlamp. By the grace of god, or whomever it was that watched over the universe, she hit the button. The light illuminated and the darkness around her screamed. Whatever had her let her go and took off into the darkness. Sadie fell hard on her back and thumped her head on the stone. She wasted no time getting back to her feet. She sprinted back the way they had come. Sadie found the crossroads, she remembered being pulled left so she quickly turned right. Before long she realized she had made a big mistake. She was still descending when she should have been ascending.
She turned around quickly to correct her mistake, the darkness screamed again. Sadie almost saw the shape of the shadow before it disappeared back into the darkness. Sadie caught a glimpse of the small rock before it hit her under her right eye. She watched another fly through her light and hit her in the chest, they were not big enough to hurt so she paid them little attention. She sprinted like an olympian back the way she had come. At the edge of the light she could see two shadow feet running away from her. The crossroads came quickly, the shadow feet dated off to the right.
She stopped in the center of the intersection trying to think so she didn’t make another mistake. It didn’t take her long to realize that straight was the way she came from. Another rock hit here in the ear, this one was quite a bit larger. She thought she heard another flying from the darkness towards her, it was eerie how well sound traveled in complete silence. Foolishly she turned in that direction, the stone shattered the glass on the headlamp and the bulb. Sadie was again engulfed in darkness. She didn’t think twice, Sadie sprinted straight and felt the slight incline of the floor. Running was difficult on the uneven surface but she thought she moved well. The incline let her know that she was heading in the right direction.
A fist sized stone hit Sadie hard in her left calf causing her to stumble. She felt her skin split and the warm blood run down her leg. She was on one knee and heard the scuttering footsteps approaching rapidly. Sadie stood but a hand wrapped around her ankle so she was unable to move. She kicked at the invisible hand but only hit the stone and her other leg. Quickly Sadie reached into her pocket, pulled out her phone and hit the unlock button. She almost saw the distorted face in the light before it pulled back into the shadows.
Sadie, like most people nowadays, listened to music in her car via bluetooth from her phone. That is what she did on the three hour drive to the cave. Unlike most, she never charged her phone while the music was playing, she even had a car charger in the compartment where her phone sat in the car. She used the screen’s dim glow to determine the incline so she knew she was heading in the right direction. She thought her calf muscle also tore when the rock hit her.
“Ma’am?” She heard someone call from somewhere in this cave system. “Where did you go?” It was very hard to tell how close the voice was.
Three things happened simultaneously. First Sadie took a deep breath, second the light on her phone died, and third she was tackled hard to the ground. The breath she planned to use to scream burst out of her in a whoosh. She rolled on the ground and felt the ghost tumbling on the ground with her. It felt like being engulfed by the smoke from a smoke machine. The sprawl ended with Sadie’s head smacking hard against the stone wall. Her vision flashed bright behind her eyelids, it was the most light she had seen for about an hour. Sadie immediately began feeling the floor, again for the incline. She didn’t want to run further into the darkness. She had the right direction so she got to her feet and ran, even though there was almost no air in her lungs. She moved more quickly than she would have thought possible with a gimp leg and no breath to breathe.
She had no idea what this spirit wanted with her but she felt it was still in hot pursuit. “Ma’am,” the voice called to her again ,”I can hear you. Are you ok?”
Now Sadie thought she could see the faint glow of a light but it was hard to be certain. She hobbled towards the hope of rescue, “I am…..” But that is all she said before she was, again, tackled to the ground. She was laying on her back while a solidified blackness held her down and started tearing at her hair. She could feel its smokey mouth trying to bite at her wrists and hands. Sadie tried to fight it but it was nearly impossible since she had nothing of it to grab on too. She scratched where the things face should have been, her hands waved through the air. Now however she was able to scream so Sadie took full advantage. She screamed with the last breath that she had in her lungs. A hand quickly clamped over her mouth muffling the sound. The echo died away under the mountain but not before it found the ears of the tour guide.
“I’m coming,” He shouted back and the concern in his voice was very evident. She could see the light for sure now, Sadie thought he was getting close.
The hand left her mouth then two hands entangled themselves in her long hair. “Yosemite!” A demon voice said angrily in her mind. Sadie was right, this was the ghost of Sundown. The problem, he was mistaking Sadie for the woman that betrayed his trust and his heart. Sadie tried to protest but before she could her head was lifted then smacked hard into the stone floor once, twice, then a third time. That almost turned her lights out but she fought hard to stay conscious.The light seemed to be just around the corner now, she prayed that the guide would make it in time. Her head was lifted one last time but instead of being slammed again the hands let go and her head dropped like a stone.
Sadie’s head hit the floor hard and she knew that would be the one that knocked her out. As her mind drifted into the dream abyss Sadie felt the weight of the spirit jump off her with a scream. She was engulfed in the light from the tour guide's bright flashlight.
“Ma’am!” she could hear the worry in his voice, “Are you….” That was the last thing that Sadie heard.
Sadie awoke with the warmth of the sun on her skin and the brightness of the sun piercing her eyelids. When she opened her eyes the tour guide was standing next to her holding her hand lovingly.
“You’re awake,” he said with a smile. Sadie tried to sit up but he stopped her with a gentle hand, “No just relax, you have been through a lot.” He had no idea how true that was. Sadie realized she was moving, she was on a stretcher being wheeled into an ambulance. He let go of her hand as she was pushed into the back.
“Thank you,” She said weakly just before the door closed. He smiled a wide smile and waved.
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