It was the summer of 22. Me and Alice always had a summer ritual if you will, diving in the Rabbit Hole. For us locals it wasn’t anything steeped in logic, it was just something that happened dead of night on one hot summer day. 600 meters of crystal clear water that had claimed dozens of lives within a month. You could try to close the hole as much as you could. But come daybreak it would open once more as if by an unseen force beneath the depths. It was dangerous or so we’ve been told since we were kids. I was always the cautious one, never diving further than where the hole disappeared from view. Alice though was the adventurous type, going deeper and deeper than I could ever imagine. We were professional divers but Rabbits Hole had always been an enigma.
I’d always be the first one waiting at the top, anxiously scanning the surface for any sign of her sandy blonde hair. She’d always come up eventually, always joking about the strange light that flickered in the deep blue. A light that seemed to taunt her, beckoning her to catch it. It was just play for her. I tried to warn Alice, afraid that it was some unseen creature waiting to consume her. But like always she’d always wave my fears away, saying it was probably just a small fish. But that day in the summer of 2022 as the sun set in the horizon I wasn’t so sure. 5 minutes ago passed than 10 and the silence continued. I was terrified wondering what monster lurked in the depths, luring Alice over for its feast. She was my friend and I had to believe she was still alive so I slipped on my diving gear and dove back down. Luckily I hadn’t dove down too far so there was a chance I could make it deep enough to see her. At that point I wasn’t thinking straight, too afraid for my friend’s life to think about the monster that could’ve taken her.
Down I went not even caring as darkness consumed me, the only light I had coming from my own flash light. And yet there was no sign of her. By that point I only had enough air to dive back up. And so I resigned myself to her fat. But as I stepped wearily on the sandy shore of the beach I found a familiar go pro waiting for me. It had been Alice’s. I would’ve shivered if I hadn’t already been worn down from desperately looking in the depths. And then I took a look through the footage and I could feel my whole body shake from fear. I could see my friend swimming blindly in the dark following a faint light that seemed to be glowing in the distance. And in that footage I could hear a voice rasping in the distance.
“Come,” It had said.
Alice seemed to almost be moving in a trance-like state, blindly following the strange voice. Deeper and deeper she went, to a point where no human could go. It was unimaginable. I stained against the darkness, struggling to spot the creature responsible. But there was none, only a voice that sounded almost sugary sweet. And finally there echoed the horrible thud of her body hitting the bottom of the hole. Alice said nothing, not even giving a final gasp for air. It was this silence that has haunted me to this day.