I haven’t seen my sister in years. I used to be a real asshole, just completely self centered. It drove my family batty. We were constantly fighting. I’d do something shitty like skip a birthday or steal some money, they’d yell at me, I’d yell at them, etc. etc. Once I was supposed to be babysitting my sister Macy’s toddler. I got bored, so I took some of her money and went to buy some clothes for the weekend. I figured she’d be home in a few minutes and her kid would be fine. I mean, I was right, he’s fine, but it was shitty and irresponsible.
The fight that broke out was as loud as it was short, and it was the last time my family talked to me. They were done and I was out. At the time I was fine with it. I don’t know why, but I just couldn’t see past my own wants.
It didn’t take long to figure out that family will put up with way more than anyone else will and life got hard. So I eventually did what my family begged me to do so many times and got a therapist. I started meditating, started exercising, and just started trying to be more consciously aware of others. It took a while, but it worked out and I started patching things up with my family, except for my sister. She wouldn’t hear any of it.
So when I saw her walk past my apartment the other day, my heart jumped. I’m on the other side of town, there’s no way she would be out here by accident. I thought she was either looking for my place and just missing it, or trying to get up the guts to say hi, so I grabbed a jacket and ran out to find her. I ran a few blocks and thought that I had lost her, until I saw her at the edge of the woods, slipping down an old path.
This is not the best part of town, and I’m quite aware of what happens in there after dark, so I ran after her. I had no idea what she could have been doing there, but I doubted it would lead to something good. I caught up just in time to see her turn into the cave.
I’d heard stories about a cave being out here, but I’d never seen it. Honestly, I mostly avoided this place. I’m not really into the outdoors and the people I saw coming into and out of the woods all looked like they’d seen some pretty hard days. There’s a housing crisis right now, though, so I did my best not to judge. It wasn’t always easy, that old asshole is still in here somewhere, but I did my best. Every time I caught myself judging, I made a donation to the local shelter.
The cave was unassuming. It was short enough that Macy had to bend nearly in half to get in, and it was nestled between a couple of rocks. If I hadn’t just seen her go in, I’d have just thought it was a shadow. I ducked down and slipped in behind her.
The first 20 feet or so were short and tight. I shined my phone light down the tunnel and called out to her. “Macy! It’s Darla Rae! Macy! It’s not safe in here!” She didn’t answer.
I wanted to leave. I really did. It was damp and claustrophobic here, and I’d had a pretty intense fear of caves since I read about Nutty Putty. I know there are people who really love this stuff, exploring in these dark places, but those people are wrong. Caves aren’t fun little adventures, they’re death traps. But. Macy was down there. She didn’t have any equipment or even a flashlight that I saw. The last thing I wanted was for her to think I abandoned her in here just because I wanted to be somewhere else, and if she’s out here without any equipment it must be for a good reason so I should really try to help.
I closed my eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and stepped down into the cave.
After the first 20 feet it opened up quite a bit. It was maybe a foot taller than my head and wide enough to walk side by side if you wanted to. There were no tracks or carts or tools to suggest it was an abandoned mine, but it still had a carved out look to it. Moisture collected at the ceiling and ran down to drip on the ground, leaving short mounds on both ends. The air was thick and damp and smelled like a wet penny.
“Macy! Where are you? Macy!” I hollered. She didn’t say anything, but I heard something shifting in the darkness ahead.
Phone lights seem so crazy bright when you’re using one to get to the bathroom in the middle of the night, but try walking in a dark cave and listening to something move in the darkness. At the time I still thought it was just Macy, but your mind gets to thinking about this stuff, and then it starts painting pictures of things that aren’t there. Rock shadows become toothy faces, bouncing light becomes the slither of secret creatures, and your light is just never going to be bright enough.
“Christ almighty, Macy better appreciate this,” I whispered to myself.
The tunnel curved and dipped and turned on itself. Back and forth, around and around. Every once in a while I’d think I saw a bit of her shirt or something up ahead, but it was never enough to say it wasn’t the light. Then it opened up into a huge cavern, and I got a small idea why cavers do what they do. It was beautiful. Like a cathedral. The walls sparkled with minerals, water, and biofilm. Fingers of rock reached down from the ceiling grasping at the floor. It was breathtaking.
A breeze blew past me and I turned, shining the light on Macy at the far end of the cavern. She didn’t look right. Her eyes sunk in, her hair looked brittle, she was covered in a thin film of sweat, and there was something wrong with her skin. It was like it didn’t fit right. She looked like she was severely ill.
“Macy! Are you ok?” I shouted to her. My voice reverberated down the hall and back. Macy held up her hand to block out the light and disappeared down a tunnel behind her. My brow furrowed in disbelief. “What the fuck, Macy? I’m trying to help you!”
I started across the cavernous room, shining my light back and forth in front of me, looking for obstacles and slick spots. A small trickle of water ran across the center of the room, cutting out a small trail in the rock. Yellow minerals grew out at each turn in tiny, mossy growths of crystal. Everything here was covered in a damp slime. My light would bounce around in it, giving the rocks a slight glow. Something small skittered around to the back of a stalactite and I stopped in my tracks, shining my light down at the floor.
There were bugs and worms everywhere. Roaches, millipedes, and beetles walking over and around each other. My footsteps crackled, and they got thicker with each step, only just starting to thin out again as I got to the other side of the room. I turned around and shined my light on the trail of creatures massing in the room, and followed them left towards the wall, where a movement caught my eye.
I thought it was moss, or more of the crystal growth like I’d seen by the water. It slipped off the shiny, rounded rock and flipped over, flopping upside down on the rock. A string of red jelly connected to the surface it left behind. My head tilted and I held my phone out, trying to light it up a bit more.
It was hair. Short, blond hair sliding off a film covered scalp. Worms crawled out of the caverns where eyes used to be. There was a slickness emanating from it, a discolored film pooling out over the rocks. Beetles and the other creatures that inhabit this place swarmed it, causing constant small movements throughout the body. Another bit of hair sloughed off, causing the head to turn to look at me, pleading.
A low, guttural moan came from the cavern Macy had slipped into. “MACY!” I yelled, as I turned and ran towards her. I had to get to her and get us both out of here. Let the someone else deal with this shit.
I was in a panic and didn’t notice the rock floor had turned and dropped into a sharp incline, covered in the slick film that was all over this place. My feet reached out for floor, didn’t find any, and just kept going forward until my back found the floor for them, then down I went. It was probably only 20 feet of sliding, but it felt like I was going forever. I spilled out into another cavern, even bigger than the last. My light couldn’t even reach the walls.
This place was nothing but damp grey. No rock fingers, no crystal growths, Just slimy rock. I brushed myself off and did a quick mental check for anything that hurt more than a bruise. Seemed fine. Cold, wet, and a little slimy, but otherwise fine, so I crawled up off the floor and started to look around.
“Macy! Where are you? We gotta get out of here!” I yelled out.
A low, guttural moan responded, just out of my line of site, and definitely not Macy. I opened my eyes as far as they’d go and jumped behind a rock outcropping, covering my phone light with my hand. All I could hear was my own breath, sharp and fast, but I kept as still as I could, focused on my breathing, and then started paying attention to what else was going on.
I could hear it out there. A wet drag, scraping across the floor. Small squelches of the slime breaking free as it pulled away. Always coming from the same direction. Squelch, drag, splotch, slap. Then another moan, small and quiet. Uuhhhnn…..
And finally a whisper: “Help…”
Fuck. God dammit. Fuck.
I took my hand away from my light and shined it in the direction of the noise. Nothing. Whoever it is must be out of reach of my measly little phone light.
“Hey!” I whispered forcefully. “Hey! Where are you? Are you ok?”
“Uuhhhnnnnnnnn….”
“I can’t see you! Make some noise so I can find you!” I said.
The squelching picked up its pace, and I came out from behind my rock, cursing under my breath. I crouched down and stepped slowly through the space, shining my light all around and listening so hard I could hear the beating of my ear drums.
The light crawled towards him, slowly bringing him into view. I recognized him from around the neighborhood. We’d never spoken, but I had seen him for sure. He was lying on his side with his arm stretched out above him, slapping away at the rock floor. As I got closer, more of him came into view, and then suddenly stopped. He was missing a good chunk of his lower half. Gore slipped out of him, squelching into the slime covered floor, wetting it down with blood. I ran to him and slid to a stop next to his head.
“Oh man, you’re not looking good here…” I said to him.
“The worms. They’re all worms.” He said, struggling to get the words out.
I looked around, and sure enough, there were worms everywhere. I’d shine my light on them and they’d react with a pulse of color. It was a beautiful adaptation to living down here in the dark. Every color I could imagine would be repeated by at least one little worm.
“Yeah, buddy, they’re worms all right.” I said. I didn’t know what to do. He surely didn’t have much time left, and I wouldn’t be able to carry him out. I brushed his hair out of his face and did my best to comfort him. “They make such beautiful colors.”
“They’re all worms…” he said. His eyes roved around wildly.
“Yeah buddy. All worms.” I slipped my hand beneath his head so he wouldn’t be laying on the hard rock. I sat with him like that, fully intending to keep him company for his last moments. His eyes wandered wildly all over, and he just kept talking about the worms.
A wet thud landed in the dark behind him, and I spun the light back. A thick, muscled tentacle pulsated out of the dark, searching wildly.
“FUCK!” I said.
“All worms…” He said.
“NO SHIT” I said.
I crab walked back to my hiding rock, letting his head bounce lightly against the rock floor. The massive earthworm swung along the floor until it made contact with what was left of his lower half, then it curled around him and yanked him back into the darkness. I listened to him slide for a good 10 seconds before I heard the sound of him slipping into water.
“Fuck this shit. Macy, you’re on your own.” I said to the darkness as I stood and spun around.
My light fell right on her. There she was, standing in the middle of a puddle, staring at me. Her sickly skin quivered with the light and her mouth dangled open a little. The light wrapped around her and made it look like she was glowing.
“Macy! We have to go! Now!” I turned the light on my face so she could see me. “It’s Darla Rae. You’re sick, and this isn’t a safe pace. Please just come with me and we’ll get you fixed right up, ok?” I pleaded with her, before shining the light back at her.
She just stood there, staring at me silently, looking so tired. A rivulet of drool fell from her lip in a long, slimy string. She glistened with moisture, as she wobbled slightly, back and forth.
“Macy, honey, please… Please just come with me! I’m sorry about everything, but you gotta trust me right now, we gotta go!” I said, holding out my hand. She didn’t respond.
I lit up the cave in the direction of the giant worm and took some careful steps towards Macy. Every nerve I had was turned up to max sensitivity. I could hear my the waves of goosebumps wash over my skin, and each of my tiny vellus hairs were busy making out the eddies and currents of the air I was displacing.
One step, two step, shine the light around, pause and listen.
“Come on Macy…” I said. She didn’t move.
Another step, and another, shine the light around, and listen. Nothing.
“Macy…”
Nothing.
I shined the light on her again. I was almost at the edge of the puddle she was in. It was black and shiny. There was barely a ripple in the surface. She was standing so perfectly still, with only the slightest wobble disturbing the surface of the black goo. I followed the light down to the surface of the liquid.
Where I expected to see her feet I saw only her ankles. The pulsated and elongated, turning into long, thin shapes. The shapes squirmed and react to the light. Worms. They’re all worms.
I flipped the light back up to her face, wobbling slightly in the still air of the cavern. Her sickly skin quivered and undulated. Her mouth dangled open, dropping farther and farther. Too far. A drop of slime fell from her mouth, followed by a long stringy muscle that flashed quick to a different color. Worms. All worms. Her entire facade is worms, one of every color, bonded together to look like my sister, and standing in puddle of black ichor.
“Fuck. I’m fucked.” I said, pointing the light at the surface of the puddle.
A thick, muscled worm was slowly moving out towards me, feeling around in the air in giant circles, no more than two feet away. I fell back onto the rock floor, the vibrations exciting the wormy appendage. It slapped against the floor inches away from me.
Faster than you can believe, I was up and scrambling towards the tunnel out of here. I could hear the worm behind me, slapping and dragging excitedly against the rock, hoping to get ahold on me and drag me into the darkness.
The slope up was drenched in slick ooze. I dove up, bracing myself against both walls as my feet slipped across the well lubricated rocks. I dug the tops of my fingers into every little bump I could and dragged myself up, my legs pumping twice for every step, unable to get any grip at all. Behind me, I could hear the worm slapping on the floor. Finally, I managed to grab the edge of the turn into the cathedral cavern, and I yanked myself through.
The sound of screaming drowned out the sound of the slithering worm. The soreness in my throat let me know it was coming from me. Over the waterway, past the crystals, into the tiny tunnel, and out to the woods. I didn’t stop until I was in my apartment, doors locked, and letting the hot water wash off the slime of the evening.
I sent my sister another email, telling her I just wanted to know that she was ok and to tell her I love her and I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do at this point. What would I tell the cops? There’s a worm monster in a cave that fishes for people by looking like my sister? They’d just lock me up. I don’t know.
All I know is that now I’m safe, and I just got a response from my sister.