The monster inside the cave

Coming from outside my vision range I see something that made me wish I had chosen to run away.

It looked like a wolf, only much, much bigger.

It was so big it was almost at eye level with me. Its white fur was as dirty as my clothes, if not more. However, the amount of red could not be compared.

Its claws were so big and sharp I could swear they were leaving scratches on the stone floor.

But the face was the worst part.

The eyes had no pupils, just pure white with red veins; the scowl it was making was showing all of their teeth. It was almost like the flexing of the muscles ripped apart its cheeks. A streak of saliva and blood mixed with strings of flesh dripped from it.

I mustered all my will and took a step back, as soft as I could to not draw its attention.

The wolf creature lets out an abhorrent sound across the entire tunnel. I can hear gargling with this high pithed sound. It’s like it destroyed its throat from screaming but it kept trying to scream with everything it had, while also drowning in its own body fluids.

I cover my ears out of reflex. I can feel my heartbeat through my entire body.

The sudden movement makes his head lock on to me.

It lunges towards me, but I dodge to the left side just in time. I feel a streak of blood running down my right arm.

I barely felt him graze me. If he were to get a good hit in…

(Stop thinking. Do something!)

He gets ready for another pounce again.

As he goes for it I rush towards him and slide under. I hear him hit the wall behind me with full force with a loud thud. He starts to claw and bite the wall before he even hits the ground. The sound of his teeth and claws scraping the stone surface is awful. I can hear them chipping and cracking.

(What the hell is wrong with him?! He’s not holding back at all!!)

The way is clear; I finally run for it.

My sore feet are screaming in pain, with every step, I can feel this electric shock go all the way from my soles to my brain.

But there’s absolutely no way I’m slowing down.

If this was my old body, I would have died for sure. No way I would have run this fast for this long after walking for the entire day.

The creature is catching up to me. I’m too scared to look back but I can feel him coming.

Ahead there’s a sharp curve on the tunnel. I slow down so I can make the turn and start to pick up speed again after going past it.

I then hear another loud and fleshy impact from behind me.

I look back.

It ran straight into the curve and is having to almost peel itself off the wall before it starts to run again.

(What is this thing?!?!)

I keep running until I reach a big opening on the cave.

A dead end.

No…

No, no, no, no, no, no, no!!!!

No way this is happening.

(Think damn it. THINK!)

I can hear the creature getting closer. It’s taking all my willpower and courage to stop moving and think. And as soon as I do I feel my hair float slightly. It’s solid ground beneath me so that can only mean one thing.

(The airflow of the cave is going up!)

Looking up at the wall I can’t see the top or even if there is another tunnel or something, but I have no choice but to take the chance.

I began climbing. My fingertips feel like they are about to fall off, but I keep going. It’s really hard but not impossible. I can do this. I feel some relief and begin to calm down a little.

I hear another loud fleshy impact. My stomach is starting to churn; this sound is making me sick.

My body tensed up again. Then I started to hear. The scratching of its sharp claws of the wall of the cave.

Looking down I can see it. It’s climbing. It’s climbing fast!

I try to pick up the pace but I’m way beyond my limit. My hands are trembling, and I can barely feel my arms.

I look up and see what it looks like and ledge. I try to speed up again, but I mess up.

The panic of what’s under me, the anticipation of what’s above, the low light and my tired hands all add up. I slip my grip on the wall and begin to slide down.

“NO, NO, NO!!!”

I try to grab on to anything I can and barely manage to. Looking straight ahead at the wall I can see red lines leading up to my finger. But I have no time to think about them.

I feel a searing, blinding agony on my right foot. It was so intense that I couldn’t even scream.

As I look down, I see the creature gnawing on my ankle. Blood is spouting everywhere and the whole world starts spinning. I never felt this before in my life.

I finally feel my voice returning and the scream I let out circles all around me. The panic I’m feeling makes me start to thrash.

No matter how much I shake it he doesn’t let go. Eventually the creature lets go of the wall and dangling itself by holding on to my ankle. I kick him with my other foot, holding on to the cliff with only my hands. With each kick it feels like my limb is going to be ripped off.

I get a good kick on his snout and it finally lets go, and I watch as it falls all the way down the bottom with another loud thud.

The tears won’t stop; It hurt too much. I give up. I don’t want to do this anymore. I want to quit. It’s not worth it. It’s not…

A memory from today’s morning flashes through my mind.

The sad face my mother gave me before I slammed the door as I was leaving.

(Damn it all…) I continued my climb.

It was torture to finish the ascent. My fingers were completely numb, and I could barely place my right foot down, but I pushed on until I finally got to the ledge. I lay down on the flat floor exhausted. I really want to rest. But I hear a familiar sound.

That gargling howl, followed by the scraping of the stone wall.

This thing is relentless.

I get up and start limping towards the next tunnel. But this time there’s a bit of hope.

It looks like I just climbed out of the dead end of a mineshaft. Theres a railroad track and support beams. I waste no time and go inside.

The panic begins to set in again as I don’t know which direction to follow. It’s like a maze in here. My foot is throbbing, and I can’t focus on the flow of the wind anymore. I try to go up whenever I feel an inclination, but I feel like I’m getting increasingly lost with each turn I take.

The creature growl start to echo throughout the tunnels. It made its way up here.

I am starting to get desperate. I am looking around for something, anything to get me out of here, when I see something on the wood beam.

A painted symbol is giving off a faint golden glow. It’s a circle with a weblike design inside of it. There’s also what looks like feathers dangling from it and beneath it, an arrow pointing to the right.

Before I can even think if following it is a good idea the thing shows up at the end of the tunnel behind me. It lets out another sickening howl, before locking on to me again. I run for it. I must be on the right track. I hope so.

The pain gets worse with every hurried step. I want to pass out so badly, but I keep my focus in front of me, looking for every glow, every symbol and following it, with every turn I can feel that I’m gaining more altitude. But it’s gaining on me I can feel it.

I take another sharp turn, and I see what looks like a minecart. As I get closer to it, I see a break lever and pull it as I pass by it. The minecart starts moving and heading down to where I came.

The wolf turns the corner and as the cart picks up speed, it can’t follow the weathered tracks and derails, hitting one of the support beams full force. The tunnel shakes and a small cave in starts happening, rocks falling on top of the creature and blocking the path. I want to let out a sigh of relief, but I know what comes next.

The fallen rocks start moving, and the wolf gets out from under it. However, one of its back legs is stuck. It keeps pulling, trying to get itself free, until I can see blood gushing from it and he gets out from under the stones. Its paw is almost detached from the leg, holding on to it only by its ligaments. But nonetheless it keeps speeding up like nothing happened.

I don’t know what kind of hell this thing came from, but I pray in never have to go near it ever again.

I reach another symbol and take one more turn. And what I see fills me with relief.

Sunlight.

At last, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. It feels like the nightmare is almost over.

I give my final push. With everything I have, I start limping.

(I’m almost there!)

(I’m going to make it!)

(I can do th…)

Next thing I know I fall to the ground. My ankle is completely mangled. It’s impressive it could even hold up my weight for this long.

As I look back, I have no time to react. It already reached me and lunged at me. I barely have enough time to raise my left arm to protect myself.

The creature bites into my forearm and starts trashing me around.

(It hurts.)

The pain is overwhelming me once again.

(Let me go.)

I try to punch it, slap it, push it away but it is too strong.

(I’m scared)

It’s claws are cutting my chest, face and other arm.

(I don’t want to die again).

I begin to scream again, I don’t know what else to do. My mind is racing.

(HelpMeItHurtsIDon’tWantToDieSomeoneDoSomthingNoLetGoOfMeNotLikeThisMomHelpI’mScaredPleaseStopSomeoneHelpNotLikeThisDadWhatDoIDoHelpGetOffMeSaveMeSomeoneAnyoneIDon’tWantThisPleaseItHurtsNotAgainNotLikeThis)

I start to feel cold. Like I’m in the bottom of a freezing lake. I feel a chill go down my spine.

“GET AWAY FROM ME !!!” I almost don’t recognize the voice that left my mouth as my own.

I swipe at the creature’s face with my right arm. But this time it lets go of me letting out a loud whine.

Blood splatters across the wall and ceiling of the tunnel as the wolf runs away whimpering. Vanishing into one of the side tunnels.

I’m left speechless, with a ringing in my ear.

“What just happened…” I mumble to myself.

I look at my left arm. It is in horrible shape. It’s bloodied, my skin full of cuts and tears. I might have a broken bone too.

I look at my right arm. And I don’t know what I’m looking at.

It is extremely muscular and slender. My skin has tightened around my forearm to the point where I can clearly see every muscle fiber and vein. My nails grew several centimeters long and look as sharp as the wolf.

There’s a faint purple glow pulsing on it.

No matter how I look, it doesn’t look like a human arm anymore. It looks monstrous.

With the danger seemingly gone and the exit so close by, I start to calm down.

The cold feeling starts to pass, and the purple glow on my arm fades away. With it, my arm starts to turn back to normal. My bloody fingernails and the cuts I got on it are gone too.

I’m feeling sleepy.

I get up and slowly drag myself out of the cave. The closer I get to the outside the brighter the sunlight gets. It is blinding, but I don’t stop so my eyes can adjust to it. I just want to see the sky.