It Lives in the Hole

It lives in the hole

I didn’t mean to crush Jane’s head. It’s not my fault I fell on top of her. How was I supposed to know she’d be here instead of anywhere else? What happened to the others? Did they leave Jane behind? I tried to find the entrance, but everything above me was darkness.

Jane’s lit phone screen was my only source of light. How is her phone still working after all this time? I was too tired to care. Jane was dead. The others are missing and probably dead. The smooth walls mocked me as I picked up Jane’s phone.

There's no point in trying to climb up after throwing myself down here. I’m surprised Jane’s body is still here. My stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten in days. My body throbbed and ached from my collision with the ground and Jane’s body, but I needed food.

And Jane was right there. I’m already taking her phone…

When does a hole stop being a hole, and how far does this thing go? Time lost meaning beyond putting one foot in front of the other. Blood, mud, and dust have long since dried, making my pants feel tight as I half-crawled and half-dragged myself away from the entrance.

Away from Jane. The tiny rectangle of blue light barely reached the walls, but there was enough illumination to show the floor. And the faint scratches in the rocks. Did any of them bring a walking stick or something long? I couldn’t remember. Sally might have, but she left while I was sleeping.

She took most of our food with her, and she’d never been hiking before our trip. Don’t think about it. The trip ended with the four of us hiding in a cabin while the world ended, and the hole showed up in the basement. Stop thinking about it. We all went into the hole one by one, hoping for a way out.

But Jane had been the first. She’d been calm and optimistic as she packed. She knew how to take care of herself, yet she was at the entrance. Was she coming back? Why didn’t she call for help? Why was she alone? Why… I smacked my hand against the wall, welcoming the pain as it distracted me from my thoughts.

But it didn’t cover the scraping sound. My head jerked forward, trying to see past the shadows. But nothing emerged, and the sound wasn’t repeated. Was that a rat? Could a rat survive down here? Did rats eat my friends?… but Jane didn’t have any bites or scratches. She was pristine until…

I shook my head and moved forward. The shadows didn’t flee from my light’s advance. They tolerated it, wrapping around it before I’d gone two inches. The wall beneath my left hand grew rough and mossy, giving me hope that I’d be able to drink soon.

My throat sent tiny jolts of pain every time I swallowed, but the moss kept growing, and I kept going. The phone’s light never dimmed, yet the tunnel started closing in, gradually drawing closer with every inch. I trained the light ahead of me as I bent down.

What am I going to do when it dies? I shook my head and tried to keep the phone steady as I moved. The moss had grown into the ground, but it couldn’t completely hide the sharp edges of the rocks. The knees of my jeans felt like they were trying to merge with my skin, and my palms and elbows became numb as I switched hands, holding the phone.

The top of the tunnel slowly inched towards my head until I was flat on my stomach and wiggling along. I feel like I’m doing a lousy rendition of the worm. How much farther is this going to go? I felt the breeze before something warm and wet hit the hand holding the phone.

I froze, unable to see what had touched me, but I could still hear her.

“Please.”

Is that Sally?

“Please.” I twisted my head, and something cracked against the stones above me. But Sally didn’t react beyond calling please again.

Should I answer her? What just happened?

“Please.” I opened my mouth, but another drop hit my hand. Its warmth almost burned my skin as it trailed down my wrist to sink into the floor. What the hell is that? Is she bleeding?

“Please.” I nearly dropped the phone as I slowly stretched my other hand ahead of me and felt something sharp pin it to the ground!

“Please.” Sally’s voice ghosted over my wounded hand as I shouted out of reflex and tried to free myself. But whatever pinned my hand wouldn’t budge. “Please.”

“Sally, it’s me. Stop it. Let go!”

“Please.” Why does she keep saying that? More hot liquid fell onto my hands as the pain grew in my pinned one until I was abruptly dragged from the tunnel into the air. The phone slipped from my fingers, briefly illuminating what was holding me, and I screamed.

“Please.”

Sally’s mouth opened and closed like a fish as the skeletal… thing looked at me. Its fingers pierced my hand through the palm and poked out the back. Blood dripped down the stump of Sally’s neck, landing where my hands must have been moments before.

The rest of Sally’s body was nowhere to be seen, and as I watched, the stump of her neck started melting into the creature’s body. I screamed again as the light went out.

How am I still alive? My hands ached. The rest of my body felt numb. But I couldn’t hear Sally’s voice anymore. Did it drop me? Is it waiting for me to run? Can I make it to the tunnel before it catches me? I tried to strain my hearing, but I couldn’t detect anything beyond the blood pounding in my ears.

I counted to ten before rolling onto my stomach, biting my lip to cover the scream as my hands moved. That can’t be good. Am I still bleeding? After another count of ten, I risked sitting up. Nothing came to investigate. Nothing disturbed the shadows around me.

I need to find the phone. I can’t stand being blind! My hands twitched whenever I put pressure on them, forcing me to move slowly. I rubbed them together and immediately regretted it, as they made a horrible squishing sound. I pressed them against my shirt, hoping to stop the blood and anything else from slipping out of me.

Breathe. You made it this far. Can you bleed to death from your hands? I didn’t want to think about it. My breaths and sobs echoed around me, but that thing didn’t emerge, so I stayed put until I felt a little better. I can’t stay here. That thing has to be somewhere, and I couldn’t climb out even when my hands were normal!

I tucked my hands under my shirt and shakily stood up. My legs wobbled but held my weight. If the room can produce echoes, it must be big, right? Isn’t that what those survival videos said? I couldn’t remember. The days leading up to the end felt like a lifetime ago.

But the ground felt good under my shoes. Even down who knows how far, the earth is still the earth. And there’s some kind of monster lurking around me. Why the hell did I throw myself down the hole?! I tried to move quietly. My shoes kept making soft scrapes against the rock.

Every step could end with me falling to my death, yet the ground never dipped or dropped away. Am I getting close to a wall? What if that thing finds Jane? It could have been saving her for last! I shook my head and kept walking. My foot lightly thunked against a wall when I heard it.

“Please.” That’s still Sally’s voice. Is it close? “Please.”

My foot tapped the wall again, and I pressed against it. Sally’s voice came closer.

“Please.”

Can it see me? I held still, Sally’s voice was moving, but I couldn’t hear anything else. The creature was huge. Is it climbing the walls? “Please.”

I turned my head and felt a breeze brush my cheek. “Please.”

That wasn’t breathing. There’s a way out! But how do I get there? “Please.”

Sally’s voice faded, and I slid my foot against the wall. Her voice didn’t return. Nothing grabbed me, so I did it again. The voice never faded completely. It was always calling out every few seconds, never shouting. Never changing pitch. Never saying anything besides, “please.”

I have no idea how long we stayed like that. There was no gradual change in light or sensation. My foot never strayed from the wall until it touched something in front of me.

“Please.” What the hell is that?! My foot nudged it again. It wasn’t a rock, but it was hard, and Sally’s voice drew closer. “Please.”

I slowly raised a hand, hoping my fingers could help me feel my way around when something moved. “Please.”

Don’t tell me. My hand still didn’t move right, but lightly touching things no longer hurt. Sally’s voice hovered above my head as my hand moved along a cold surface that drops of hot liquid dripped down! I jerked my hand back, but nothing happened beyond another, “please.”

I just touched the monster, and it didn’t attack me? Sally’s voice sounded beside my ear, but it still didn’t strike. “Please.”

I leaned away and reached out again. Sally’s mouth moved under my fingers, but she didn’t bite. So, I continued exploring the thing’s body. It looked like Sally’s head was melting into its flesh. Is that where the blood came from? Where did the rest of her body go?

The “neck” wiggled and squelched under Sally’s head. I couldn’t tell where the monster began and Sally ended. Her mindless cries continued no matter what I did, but it didn’t move. Is it unable to? How am I supposed to get around it? Sally’s head knocked against mine, and I pushed it away instinctively.

The creature hissed, and I froze, but it didn’t turn. Instead, it got up and moved away from the wall. Did it move because Sally’s head was knocked over there? “Please.”

I resumed my careful pace along the wall. Sally’s head didn’t return, and the monster remained silent. The breeze brushed my face, almost causing me to cry as I found another hole to duck into. I crawled as fast as I could until I couldn’t hear Sally anymore and passed out.

There was nothing to tell me that I was awake. The darkness was absolute regardless of whether my eyes were open or closed. But Sally’s voice was gone, and my hands were somewhat functional. I could slap them against the ground with little discomfort. That’s probably not a good sign…

But it was the least of my worries. I’ve watched and read hundreds of horror stories but didn’t know how to deal with the creature. Hopefully, it can’t follow me. If it reaches the surface, then it won’t be my problem. The tunnel was bigger than the last one. I could walk normally, but I kept my head tucked down.

There's no point in risking a head injury on top of everything else. No point in looking up when you can’t see. The lack of light didn’t make me careless, but it did mess with my head. Or maybe that’s blood loss? My head feels so light like it’s pulling the rest of me forward.

Nothing mattered beyond taking another step. My hands switched between hugging myself and swaying by my sides. I stopped trying to get them to bend fully. The skin of my palms feels tight, like they could burst at any moment. But the pain was almost gone.

They were little more than meat sacks with fingers attached. Are my feet the same way? I didn’t stop to find out. I hadn’t taken off my shoes since the ash started falling. There wasn’t any point in taking off shoes or changing clothes when one of your friend’s skin was slowly falling off.

That was Jane, wasn’t it? She went to check the well, and the ash got onto her skin. She was the last one to take a shower, but the water hadn’t helped. Jane was the first to enter the hole. The first to decide the unknown darkness was better than slowly starving to death in the daylight.

The rest of us didn’t fare any better. Sally certainly didn’t manage any better. Maybe I’ll find her body. I think she took the last of the first aid. If I can find her bag… Shaking my head made me collapse as I tried not to puke. My stomach refused to cooperate, and I let the tears flow with the vomit.

Two of my friends are dead. One is being used by a monster to… what? Lure people? Who else would be down here? I didn’t want to think about it. Nothing made sense, and moving was the only way to pass the time. The bile burned my throat but did nothing worse as I began crawling.

I found water. It trickled over the rocks, guiding me on. The breeze returned to play with my hair as I struggled to drink. My fingers barely twitched when I tried to move them. My palms were hard and stinging like slabs of meat were attached to my wrists. But my mouth still worked.

I pressed it against every source of water I found. Dirt slipped over my tongue, but it was a small price to pay. Anything felt good in my mouth at this point. The water made my head clear and my stomach heavy, but water meant life. And that was all I cared about.

I couldn’t tell if my eyes were open, but I didn’t need them anymore. The dirt and rocks kept me centered. They kept me calm. Moving was better than staying still because I had nothing to distract myself with when I stayed still. So, I kept moving. More moss soon met my outstretched fingers, giving me hope for more water.

But even that hope paled in my desire to move. To feel the earth disappear under my limbs as I stretched out. It was almost like gliding through the air. The earth no longer hemmed me in, forcing me to bend to move forward. I simply probed where I wanted to go and went through.

Jane, Sally, and Greg were distant memories at the back of my head. I didn’t know where I was going, but I didn’t stop except to sleep. Sleep was the only thing I couldn’t beat. It didn’t matter if my stomach was empty or full. Sleep would always claim me.

So I didn’t panic whenever I woke up. Nothing emerged from the darkness to attack me. Nothing told me where to go as I followed the moss and the breeze until I was bored. How can I still get bored when nothing makes sense? The nubs of my fingers scratched against a rock, knocking it loose and allowing it to fall into my mouth.

I swallowed and froze as a familiar voice reached me. “Please.”

I growled, pulling myself closer to the new entrance and sniffing the air. Sally… It’s still using Sally. Were the others safe? I hadn’t thought of them in a long time. Sally’s voice wasn’t in front of the entrance, so I burrowed through and waited.

“Please.” I tilted my head. Left. They’re on the left and… and there’s a river! I bounded towards the scent of fresh water, plunging my face beneath the surface before taking a drink. The water felt good, trickling down my neck as I raised my head. Sally’s head smelled awful.

It was little more than a pair of lips using whatever passed for vocal chords to croak out, “please.” I’d almost forgotten what she used to look like when she was alive. But the thing that attached her neck to it was slowly, oh so slowly, sending her head to duck and weave as she called.

The creature was trying to avoid damaging the head, but I knew Sally wouldn’t last much longer. I could smell the rot rushing to claim her skin while her mouth continued to move. A part of me felt bad for her. Sally hadn’t been a bad friend. Hell, she might have been my best friend.

Sally didn’t deserve to be treated like a lure. She should have ended up like Jane. A pretty corpse waiting to be a meal for her friends. Did Jane sacrifice the others in an attempt to escape? What would have happened if she’d climbed out of the hole? “Please.”

I watched the creature instead of the head’s slow movements. It didn’t move beyond sending Sally’s head to stretch in search of food. It didn’t seem to be aware of anything beyond Sally’s lazy movements. That was fine. It could watch her all it wanted because it wasn’t watching me.

Is it even aware of me? I still don’t know why it dropped me. Or… what was I thinking about? “Please.”

Right. Sally. I was thinking about Sally. Sally doesn’t look like she’d taste good, and that thing is all bone and hard stuff… “Please.”

But I can’t ignore her. Falling on Jane had been an accident. But leaving Sally like this was… Not good? I closed the distance between us in three stretches. The creature didn’t react. Sally’s head didn’t turn towards me. So, I slammed into the thing’s side and bit down on one of its limbs.

It didn’t react, but it tasted awful. Worse than Jane and those super healthy foods she loved. Worse than the rocks and dirt I’ve been swallowing with the water. But I kept biting, kept clawing. One of my hands found the stalk supporting Sally’s head and dug into it.

“Please.” The stalk was easier to tear into. It grew slick with blood as the flesh was torn away, and Sally’s head fell to the floor. I looked at it. Was she smiling? She didn’t say please again, and the creature refused to move. Maybe I killed it. Maybe that thing used to be Sally.

Either way, it still didn’t taste good, and Sally’s head smelled awful. I returned to the river and took another drink. The thing was still there when I sat up, and it was still there when I moved on.

The breeze felt good. The earth felt good. I felt good. The tunnels and holes have merged into an endless loop, hoping to be chosen for my next adventure. Sometimes they led me back to places I’ve been, sometimes they took me to new places, and sometimes they went nowhere.

That was the fun part. Seeing a solid wall of dirt and rock in front of me. And not knowing if I could turn around and keep going. The wall in front of me wasn’t that interesting, though. The bones were. The bones were wrapped in cloth and caked in dried blood and mucus.

I tilted my head when I didn’t see a skull. Aren’t most skeletons supposed to have skulls? I blinked, letting the membrane flick over my pupils, but a skull refused to appear. I tore the cloth and wasn’t surprised to see no traces of meat. This thing had been here too long.

But bones have other uses. I cracked one between my teeth and grinned. The marrow was still there, and most of the bones were intact. The mucus was sour but didn’t bother my stomach on its way down. The crunching filled the air as a fresh breeze played with my scalp.

I looked up, and a different shade of darkness was above me. A new hole? I haven’t climbed in… when? I felt along the wall, never looking away from the new shades above me. What’s up there? A way out? Another level? Should I finish these bones first?

The walls weren’t smooth. Not after I touched them. They had little dents and dips, almost naked to my eyes, yet my hands found them. They stroked them as I forced myself to stand. When was the last time I stood up? This feels… odd. I want to see it.

I need to see it. The tunnels and holes no longer interest me. Everything I want and everything I am is up there. My mouth waters as the last of the bone slides down my throat, and I begin climbing. It was easy. The walls weren’t any different here, though I didn’t glide up as quickly as through.

Gravity tried to push me back, pull me down, but I needed to see what was up there. Something flew by me, hitting the ground and the last of the bones with a sob, but I didn’t look back. There was nothing for me down there. And everything was waiting at the top.

I reached the ledge and poked my head up. A concrete floor, an old couch, and a few sleeping bags greeted me. I listened, but nothing came to stop me, so I crawled out and went to the nearest sleeping bag. Empty. Who the hell leaves a sleeping bag empty? There should be snacks nearby!

The other sleeping bags were just as disappointing, but I found some change in the couch cushions. They didn’t taste as good as the bones, but I needed something in my stomach. Climbing up was much more challenging than I thought it’d be. A staircase led to a partially closed door, and I crawled up slowly.

There was no light. But beyond the door showed a table, chairs, and a cabinet. Kitchen. I’m in a kitchen… Food?! I slipped through the door and under the table in a single lunge. The chairs rattled and scrapped, but none fell, and no one came to investigate.

I waited a bit longer, sniffing the air and letting my tongue taste the table before poking my head out. There’s… a warmth here. No dust… Is someone living here? I rose and went for the nearest cabinet. It only held cutlery and an assortment of cups.

The rest of the kitchen wasn’t very interesting. The fridge had no electricity and was empty, but there were no signs of mold growing. I closed it and turned to the oven. It took a few tries, but a brief spark eventually appeared on the stove.

If they had water… I switched off the stove and pulled back a curtain. The window was covered in ash, and the edges had been painted over. Wise choice, can’t have ash sneaking in through the cracks… Did we do that? I let the curtain drop and turned to the entranceway to the rest of the house.

I stepped through. The hallway was short and split into two rooms and a staircase leading up. Should I make some noise? What if they have guns? A quick dart to each entranceway revealed a living room and a bathroom. Both are empty yet as clean as the kitchen.

I took the stairs five at a time and listened. Nothing. No clocks, no hum of electronics, and no sign of people. What were you expecting? You went into the hole because the world was ending. Why would leaving it now be a good idea? I had no answer to that.

The wooden floor creaked under my light tread. There were only four doors up here, but only one was open, revealing another bathroom/laundry room. I looked down at my clothes, seeing the mess I’d become, but not bothered by it. What color was my shirt? Was it my favorite? Did I like it?

My feet were bare lumps of nail and bone. When did I lose my shoes? Where are my socks? My pants were ripped all over. Some holes were large enough to give me a glimpse of my skin, while others were indistinguishable from it. I lifted my hands and tried to clench them, but they barely bent the way I remembered.

They looked more like cups with stubs attached. Good for digging, gliding, and clinging. Bad for… What else did I do with my hands? A mirror rested on the wall above the sink. It had several streaks across its surface, but I could see it. Me. My face. My eyes stared back from a form I didn’t know but wore.

I smashed the mirror, refusing to let myself scream. That wasn’t you. This is a nightmare. You’re dreaming. Now wake up! But the smashed mirror was still there. I was still there, standing in an empty house with a hole that led… home. I checked the other rooms more out of curiosity than need.

Two bedrooms and an office with no clue where the inhabitants went. But there was some candy next to a fishbowl. I ate it and went downstairs. I looked at the front door. It didn’t have the same pull as when I left the hole. I didn’t need to open it to see what the world looked like.

But it was still new, and I didn’t know if I’d ever leave the hole again. So, I opened it. Ash blew in on the breeze, and I waited to feel the itchiness, the burning—the instinctive need to wash it away before it made me tear my skin off. But I felt nothing. The ash didn’t call to me.

It had no power over me. Only one thing did, and it was calling for me. Begging me to return, just like it had called me to join my friends… My… friends… Are they still down there? Are they mad that I left them behind?! I had to know. I glided back down the hole, arms outstretched as I embraced it, and it embraced me.

When I landed, the bones were little more than dust and shards, but that was alright. My friends were down here. And they’d have more. Didn’t something fall past me when I was climbing? I opened my mouth. “Please.”