Horror Short Story: Lost in Darkness

By George Woloszczuk

“Rufus,” Gavin yelled out as he hustled up the rocky trail. Pine cones crunched under his feet as he moved. Rays of sunlight filtered through shivering Aspen trees on the remote mountain trail in Western Colorado.

“Hey Rufus.” Jasmine echoed. “Come boy!” She was trailing a few steps behind Gavin. The Autumn air was cool and crisp. She was wearing a light gray jacket and carrying a backpack full of hiking supplies.

She was trying to keep up with her boyfriend, but she was stuck carrying everything and was out of breath. She wasn’t used to this elevation, and hiking in the Rockies was Gavin’s idea. She didn’t understand why he brought the dog. Rufus is such a handful, and it has been one thing after another since the start of the trip. He vomited in the back of the Subaru after eating her Mcdonald’s french fries when she left him alone for half a second in the car. And now he goes and runs off into the woods. What a headache, she thought.

“Gavin, we need to take a break.” She said, short of breath.

He didn’t turn around but continued to look up the mountain trail.

“It’s only been fifteen minutes.” She said. “We’ll find him.”

She grabbed water from her backpack and took a long drink. Rufus was Gavin’s Australian Cattle Dog, and Gavin never let Jasmine get too close to him. He got jealous if Jasmine spent time alone with Rufus. One time she took him out to a large open space while he was at work. When she got home, he went on and on about how she didn’t know how to take care of him, how Rufus was stressed out without him there, and that she shouldn’t take Rufus anywhere without him again.

“There are park rangers and other people that can help us look,” Jasmine said. “We should go back and get some help.”

“Typical. Rufus is lost in the woods, and you want to leave him all alone,” Gavin said.

“What?! I just said we should get some help.”

“You never liked him!” Gavin said as he kicked a rock and turned away. “He's MY dog. You don't care."

"I know he's your dog. You've made that abundantly clear. Maybe you and Rufus should have a romantic trip."

"You're going to start this now!" Gavin responded, "When  we have a crisis on our hands."

"Me start this?!" Jasmine responded.

"Yeah, you!" Gavin said.

"Well . . . would you be this worried if I was the one missing?" She said.

"Oh my God. My dog is missing, and this is the way you react." He said

"Admit it. You love that dog more than me!" She didn't want to start an argument now. Not about this. Everything was going great 20 minutes ago. She and Gavin sat on a blanket under the trees eating trail mix and discussing a possible life together. The weather was beautiful. The vista was amazing.

Gavin shook his head. "Rufus," Gavin turned away from Jasmine and began hustling up a steep hillside in the pine woods.

"Hey," Jasmine said. "Wait up!" She followed him up the incline. That dumb dog chases a chipmunk up a mountain, and our romantic weekend is ruined.

"Hey," Jasmine yelled, out of breath. "You're going off trail."

"I see paw prints," Gavin yelled over his shoulder.

"Paw prints!" Jasmine yelled, still running after him. "Alright Bear Grylls, are you hot on his trail."

They ran up a steep hill for another five minutes.

"Will you stop for a second?" Jasmine said. Gavin stopped and got down on a knee to look closely at the ground.

"Alright, that's it!" Jasmine said, finally catching up to him. "You carry the bag."

She threw the backpack on the floor in front of him. It hit the pile of dried leaves, and the water bottle rolled out of the side pocket. A crow cawed in the distance. The Aspen trees gave a faint rustle as a cold wind blew.

"He's gone." He said. "He's gone. You were supposed to be watching him" He began breathing heavy. He lifted his finger and pointed at her.

"I suggested we board him for this weekend," Jasmine said. "Don't blame this on me. Like you said, he's YOUR dog. Also, you were the one that decided to take off his leash."

"He'll probably get eaten by a mountain lion," Gavin said

"A mountain lion! In Colorado? What the hell are you talking about?" Jasmine said.

She walked away from him up to the crest of a hill. Blaming me, typical Gavin. Nothing is ever HIS fault, Jasmine thought. Well, she needed a break for a minute. He is usually pleasant and fun, but when he gets mad, the worst of him comes out.

Jasmine saw a fissure in the rock off in the distance.

"Hey, there's a cave," Jasmine said, pointing up the cliff off to the right.

"What?" Gavin said

"Over there. Off in the distance." Jasmine said. "If you were a dog in the wild, wouldn't you look for shelter? Remember the last time he ran away? We found him behind the dumpster in the alley."

Gavin ran up the hill. He started running to the fissure without saying a word to Jasmine. Jasmine returned, picked up the backpack off the ground, and grabbed the water bottle.

"Don't worry about it. I'll grab the stuff," she said to herself and ran after him.

The cave entrance was a narrow fissure in the rock. Jasmine could smell the earthy aroma. It reminded her of summer camp, and she hated summer camp.

"You think there are bats in there?" Jasmine asked

"Flashlight," Gavin said. Jasmine handed him the flashlight, and she saw a whole lot of nothing in the cave. It opened up to a large alcove about five feet passed the narrow entrance.

"It looks pretty big in there," Gavin said.

"Rufus!" Jasmine yelled. She could hear the echo of her voice bounce within the cave walls. "Rufus!" she cried again.

"Shhh. Shhh." Gavin said. "Do you hear that?"

"I don't hear anything," Jasmine said.

"The whimpering. Don't you hear it?" Gavin said.

Jasmine stood absolutely still for a moment. "I still don't hear anything."

"He's in there. I can hear him," Gavin said. "He's probably hurt. We need to go in there and help him."

Gavin turned sideways and started to push his way through the narrow fissure into the mountainside.

 Jasmine followed him into the tight entrance. The things I would do for love, she thought. That dog better brings me slippers every day for the rest of his life. She slid along the narrow gap. She felt the cold rock on her back. Her hand pushed in front of her as she sidestepped into the darkness.

Jasmine instantly recoiled as her hand reached out and hit something stringy and unpleasant. She knew it was a spiderweb, but she couldn't turn her head to look since she had to stand sideways in the narrow passage. She gave out an involuntary yelp and shook her hand furiously. She knocked her hand against the rock, giving herself scrapes and bruises on the outside of her hand.

"Shhh," Gavin said. "Keep it down. I can't hear Rufus."

 She felt the sharp pain of her scrapped skin. She could also feel something crawling on her hand, or was that her imagination? She had to get out of the narrow gap. She picked up the pace stepping quickly down the passage and knocked into Gavin as she fluttered into the cave.

"I ran into a spider web." She yelped.

"Will you keep it down? It's just a spider." He said.

"Just a spider," Jasmine replied. "You know that could have been a Black Widow. I also scrapped my hand on the rock wall. I think I'm bleeding."

"I hear him down this way," Gavin said, pointing the flashlight off into the distance.

The narrow passage opened up into a big cavern. The small beam of light from the flashlight shone into neverending darkness.

"Gavin, we should get a park ranger," Jasmine said.

He started walking into the darkness.

"This cave is too big. We can get a ranger and be back here in 45 minutes." Jasmine said. She looked down at her hand but couldn't see it in the darkness. She felt the rough, scaly scrapping of the top skin. Her hand was sensitive to the touch, but overall she was not hurt.

"Gavin, wait. There could be bears in this cave." She said.

"A bear?!" Gavin said indignantly

"Hey, don't give me that. You  thought the dog was going to get eaten by a mountain lion."

"I didn't think that"

"Then why did you say it?"

"I . . . I . . . never mind." Rufus stammered. "Let's just go."

"Fine, but I'm getting the knife just in case," Jasmine said. They had brought a pocket knife with them in the backpack. She went shopping and bought a bunch of outdoor supplies before the trip. She bought a compass, flint, a whistle, a first aid kit, water purifying tablets, and rope. This trip was Jasmine's first time hiking this deep into the woods, and she figured it would be good to be prepared. Gavin, of course, made fun of her. 'Why don't you bring a flare gun while you’re at it?' he had said. The irony is that a flare gun would have been super helpful. Also, the flashlight he was holding right now was one of the supplies he had made fun of. She unfolded the pocket knife. It was a decent size, about a five-inch blade. She felt better holding it.

As Jasmine walked through the cave, it got darker and darker. The small fissure of light behind here began to shrink off into the distance. The bouncing beam of the flashlight barely pierced the darkness ahead. The sound of echoing footsteps and dripping water repeated throughout the cave.

"Do you hear that?" Gavin asked.

Jasmine heard it. The sound was faint, but it was definitely an animal whimpering in the darkness.

"Yeah," Jasmine said. "Actually, I do hear it."  The sound was so faint and so sad it immediately brought a tear to her eye. If that was Rufus, he did not sound good. Possibly well beyond any help they could provide.

"It's Rufus!"   Gavin said

"Gavin. Wait. If that's Rufus. . . " Jasmine trailed off. How could she tell him.

"Let's go help him." He said.

Before Jasmine could respond, he ran toward the sound of the whimpering.

The whimpering creature was closer than expected. It wasn't Rufus. From what Jasmine could tell, it was a mountain lion, although it looked awful. It was missing a limb and looked like half its body was missing its skin. Exposed rib bones were showing on its chest. Its ear and half of its face appeared to be dissolving off. Exposed muscle and bone were showing in patches all over its body.

"This is awful," Jasmine said

--Whose here?--

Jasmine heard the voice in her head. She thought that the cave was messing with her mind. It was a bizarre feeling, as if a foreign presence invaded her mind for a second. As if, for a second, she could hear someone else's thought push into her brain. She looked back at the mountain lion and felt a hole in her heart for the poor creature.

"We need to put it out of its misery," Jasmine said. She knew it was the right thing to do. She did not know what happened but couldn't leave the creature in this state.

"Maybe we should just get out of here," Gavin said, barely above a whisper. Some rocks shook off in the distance deeper in the cave.

--I sense you--

Jasmine heard it in her head again. He's right. We need to get out of here. The mountain lion whimpered. The pain in its soft voice was more than Jasmine could bear.

"We need to do something." She whispered.

"How are you going to kill it? Smash its head with a rock?" He asked.

The thought made Jasmine sick. She was still holding the pocket knife.

"Hey, the knife," She stretched her hand out to Gavin. "Use it." She said.

"I'm not doing it," he said, "it was your idea."

"Me?! You're the one who brought me into this cave."

"You're the one holding the knife."

"I don't want it. You take it."

"I'm not taking it. You deal with it."

The mountain lion gave another soft whimper. Fine, she thought, I'll do it. She figured she would have to slice along its neck. She went down on one knee close to the creature's face. She felt its soft breath. She pressed the blade into the creature's neck, closed her eyes, and sliced. The beast gave out a loud moan that Jasmine did not expect. Jasmine's hand clenched on the hilt of the bloody knife. Tears started falling from her eyes.

--Ahh. There you are!--

"Let's get out of here," Jasmine said through tears.

--There is no escape.--

"I can't believe you killed that lion," Gavin said. "Cold-blooded."

"No, you don't get to talk to me like that now." She said. "I did what I had to?"

"Whoa," he said. "Take it easy. Don't slice my throat now." He said.

"Go to hell, Gavin," she said through tears.

"Maybe you should give me the knife," He said.

"Don't touch me," Jasmine responded. "Let's just go."

They walked toward the entrance, a pinprick of light in front of them. Jasmine heard some rocks shuffle behind her. She turned around and saw two soft glowing red orbs in the darkness.

Her breath hitched. For a second, she couldn't breathe; she felt a shiver on her spine and a ringing in her ears. With pure terror, she tapped Gavin on the shoulder.

The faint beam of the flashlight moved to the red orbs and illuminated the creature in the dark corner of the cave.

For a second, Jasmine saw IT in all of its horror. It was a giant spider, about the size of a small car. It had long sinewy legs and red eyes that glowed into her mind. It dripped a white fluid out of its hairy fangs.

--Come to me--

She heard it in her head.

--I'm going to get you. Suck on your sweet muscle. Feast on your bones--

Gavin began to run. The flashlight's beam left the hideous creature, and all that was left were the glowing red orbs. The orbs began to move toward her. Jasmine turned around and ran with Gavin to the faint light of the outside world. Gavin had gotten a head start. He was about ten paces ahead of her.

Jasmine was running in darkness. She couldn't see the ground under her feet. She hit an uneven part of the cave floor and tripped. The pain was immediate and intense as she didn't have the opportunity to brace for the fall, her knees hit first on the hard rock, and then her elbow slammed into the rock. She felt pain like a bolt of lightning, tearing through her arm. She needed to get up.

"Gavin," she yelled, "I've fallen. Help me!"

She could hear his footsteps continue down through the cave. He didn't even slow down.

"Gavin help!" She yelled.

"Sorry honey," He said. "It's you or me."

Thoughts raced through her head. She could hear the soft footfalls of the Spider getting closer.

--Ahh. You're mine--

She wished she had stayed home. She wished she was anywhere but here. She needed to push herself up. The pain was brutal. Everything hurt, but she needed to get up and run. No one was going to help her. She needed to get up.

--You tasty, tasty morsel. You're mine--

She pushed herself up off the ground, and just as she stood, it grabbed the backpack on her back with its fangs and pulled. She could hear the pumping of fluid into the sack. For a split second, she realized what was happening. It thought the backpack was part of her body. She still had the pocket knife. She began cutting the straps of the backpack.

The tough nylon of the straps was not cutting easily. They were so strong, and the knife was not going through. She sawed furiously back and forth. She could hear more thoughts in her head.

--I will slowly eat you. Keep you alive to watch as your limbs are removed one by one.--

She cut more furiously. Come on, she thought. She heard something. Screaming in the distance, but her heart was pounding in her ears.

--Your body will slowly dissolve--

The strap was starting to tear.

--Your insides will collapse into putrified liquid. You are mine.--

The strap was partially torn.

--Mine. Mine.--

Just a little more

--MINE MINE. ALL MINE.--

One strap broke. That was all she needed. The backpack flew off, and she ran.

--What is this?--

She saw the light. It was maybe only one hundred yards away, and then she saw Gavin. Close to the entrance, the light from the fissure shown back on him. He was caught in a web. A web near the cave entrance. Was that there before? Did the Spider build it while they were walking around? 'There is no escape,' that's what it had said.

She got to the front of the web. She looked at the entrance of the cave. It was just around the other side of the web. She could go around it and get out.

"Help me!" Gavin yelped. "I'm stuck."

She looked at the entrance and then looked at Gavin. So close.

--I'm coming. Don't think you escaped--

She looked behind her. It was coming, slowly creeping along the cave.

"You left me back there," Jasmine said.

"I'm sorry, I was scared." He said. "I love you, honey. Please. Please." He said.

He doesn't deserve this, Jasmine thought. She grabbed her knife and began cutting the web. She ran the blade furiously along the silk strands. It was no use. They were like steel. It wouldn't cut.

"Cut me down."

"I'm trying."

"Cut me down."

"I can't. It's too thick."

"Cut me down you bitch" Gavin yelled.

Jasmine looked at him and stopped cutting.

"Sorry, honey," she said. "It's you or me."

"Hey, where are you going?" Gavin yelled

Jasmine moved around the web and pushed her body through the cave entrance.

"Hey" he yelled. He screamed as the Spider approached.

"Will you keep it down? It's just a spider."  She said over her shoulder as she slid sideways through the cave entrance.

--Where are you going?--

She felt a long sinewy insect arm brush against her shoulder, but it couldn't grip it. She yelled and kept pushing through the fissure. The Spider can't get through. She said to herself. It can't get through.

--Where are you going? Where are you going? Where are you going?--

The voice in her head was getting fainter and fainter as she pushed into the light. Finally, she fell from the cave entrance and onto the forest floor. The rays of light washed her face. She was out.

She heard a dog bark. Rufus was lying next to a tree. He saw her and ran up to her. He began licking her face.