Part 1: The Beginning • • • On that day all those years ago, I only meant to explore. I’ve always been drawn to forgotten places, they somehow felt familiar, safe even. But I was wrong. So wrong. About 45 minutes into the descent, the cave began to tighten around me, pressing closer with each step. The air turned thick, damp, and dead quiet. Then, my light began to flicker. The silence was unbearable, but I didn’t dare move. In the pitch black, every sound sharpened like a knife. At first, just the drip of water echoing endlessly, Then, metal. A soft, rhythmic clank. Like chains being dragged. Getting closer. Closer. Louder. Then, nothing. Silence. I don’t know how long I sat there, paralyzed. Twenty minutes? An hour? Long enough for the darkness to start whispering. Just as I started to forget what light felt like, snap, my vision returned, but I wasn’t in the cave anymore.
