In The Dark

It was dark. Very dark. That kind of darkness that your eyes never
adjust to because there is no light at all.

Ben sat on the ledge, his back against the wall. A hand slid into his.
It was the hand of his girlfriend, Lina, who was sitting next to him on
the steps. Ben gave it a gentle squeeze.
It was quiet too. Not completely quiet, but quieter than it was a few
moments ago. The jokey comments had now stopped, and the silence was
occasionally punctuated with nervous whispers.

Outside, it was a bright summer Sunday afternoon. But where Ben, Lina
and the rest were, it could have been any day, any season, any
time.

Ben and Lina had been meaning to visit the caves ever since they moved
into the area, and today they had decided that, as they had no other
plans, they would take a guided tour and then have some lunch in the
caf? near the entrance.

There were seven of them on the tour, plus the guide who had introduced
himself as Tim. He told the assembled tourists that he had been working
down the caves, on and off, since 1968 and knew them like the back of
his hands. He showed them a map of the caves and explained the route
they would take.

'The caves are thousands of years old and have been mostly man-made.
Allegedly the Druids used to use them for their ancient ceremonies,
including human sacrifice.' He stopped and stared at a small boy who
was standing with his parents. 'Mostly small boys, I'm told', he
continued, a twinkle in his eye.

The boy shifted uncomfortably and looked up at his parents with a
worried look on his face.

The tour guide winked at the boy and began to laugh. The boy's father
placed his hands around the boy's neck in a mock strangling gesture and
grinned.

'You behave yourself,' he said. 'Or the Druids will get you.'

The boy laughed nervously.

'The Romans also used the caves when they were here,' continued the
guide, 'and they were used as shelters during the wars. Indeed, during
the Second World War, the caves at times resembled a small town there
were so many people down here. Parts of the caves were used as a
church, hospital and each of the families has their own address that
they slept at. As we go round, you'll see numbers painted at the top of
the walls, these were like house numbers. In fact, it was possible to
send letters to people while they lived down here.'

'They had a mailman?' another of the tourists asked. This particular
tourist was an American and had the obligatory video camera stuck to
his eye. His wife stood quietly next to him, occasionally
nodding.

'Yes, you could address a letter to Mrs Smith, 186 the Caves and it
would get here. They even had a concert hall where they used to have
dances and live bands. We'll see that later.'

'That's amazing,' said the American.

'And, of course,' continued the guide, 'like every good British tourist
attraction, it has its share of ghosts.'

The young boy's eyes widened again.

'Okay,' said the guide. 'Let's go.'

The group followed the guide into the caves and took a paraffin storm
lamp from a table as they passed.

Ben and Lina followed Tim as he led the group through the tunnels and
caverns pointing out the places where they stored ammunition during the
First World War, where the chapel was and where some old carvings had
been made. Some of the locations had scenes with life size figures
depicting life in the caves to give tourists some idea of what it may
have been like down here during the various periods that the caves were
in use.

Every so often the American man, whose name turned out to be Harv,
would hold the group up so he could video his wife standing in front of
something or other.

Tim led the group round another corner and stopped. They were standing
in a cavern with an oval alcove at the end. The alcove was about ten
feet in height and had two steps leading up into it. The steps were
worn and pitted with the impressions of many feet throughout the
centuries.

To the left of this alcove was a short tunnel, about a dozen feet or so
in length, that ended in a rough wall with sharp flints protruding from
it.

'This is the Druids Hall,' said the guide. 'In the alcove at the end,
you can see the altar where, allegedly, human sacrifices took
place.'

'Is that true?' asked the American woman who, up until now, had been
quiet.

'Oh, I don't know about that, but it is a great place for
echoes.'

Tim explained that he would leave the group for a few minutes and go
around the corner. Once there, he would bang on an old tank and the
group would hear a loud echo lasting about twenty seconds or so.

'To add to the atmosphere, its better in the dark so, unless anyone
minds, I'll take your lamps with me.'

The young boy looked at his parents.

'It'll be okay hon,' said his mother.

The American woman looked as though she was about to say something, but
was interrupted by her husband exclaiming, 'Hey, that sounds like
fun.'

The guide gathered up all of the lamps and walked away along the
passageway from the altar. Ben and Lina sat down on the altar steps and
watched as the guide walked away and the light dimmed. As he turned
into a side passage the tourists found themselves in complete
darkness.

After a few seconds the caves reverberated with a loud bang that echoed
for about twenty seconds.

'Wow,' said an American voice in the darkness. 'That was some
echo.'

The group waited for the guide to return.

After a few minutes, but which seemed to most of the group like a lot
longer, the young boy's voice asked 'Where is the man, mummy?'

His mother assured him that he would be back shortly and not to
worry.

They waited.

So here they were, thought Ben. Sitting on an ancient Druidic altar in
the dark some eighty feet or so below the ground with no one to show
them the way out. Nobody wanted to be the first to say that they were
worried.

'Look,' said a female voice that Ben recognised as the mother of the
young boy. 'At the end of the passage.'

At the far end of the passage the group could see a faint blue
light.

'Is that him?' asked the American lady.

There was a sudden flare of light and Harv's face appeared with a match
flame wavering in front of it.

'Reckon so,' he said. 'C'mon guys, and gals. Let's go.'

The light given off by the match hardly did much more than illuminate
the air around its head, but to those who had been stranded in the dark
it was like a beacon in the night. The group followed Harv and his
match along the passageway towards where the light had appeared.

'How many of them have you got?' Lina asked the American.

'Not too many,' he replied. 'We'll find the lamps soon, so don't you
worry little lady.'

'You'll be just fine, little lady,' whispered Ben in Lina's ear. She
dug her elbow into his ribs.

It went dark again.

'Dang!' said the American.

Ben could hear some blowing noises as Harv blew on his fingers where
the match had burnt down to them. Ahead of the group, down the passage,
the blue light still glowed.

There was a brief scraping sound and another match sparked into life.
The group slowly made their way along the passage again.

'Hey Tim,' shouted Harv. 'Wait on a minute.'

There was a crunch underfoot and the sound of metal against
stone.

'What the...?' said the father of the young boy.

Harv bent down and held the match near the floor. The tiny flame
illuminated shards of broken glass lying across their path. Among the
glass were pieces of twisted and melted metal.

'The lamps,' whispered Lina.

'Daddy, where's the man?' asked the boy.

'He's... he's...'

'He's probably gone to get some more lamps,' interrupted his
mother.

'I think we'd better try and find our way out,' said Ben.

'We could stay here,' said Lina. 'Someone is bound to come and get us
eventually.'

'Maybe,' said her boyfriend, 'but that could be hours.'

'Can anyone remember the way out?' said the mother of the young boy,
'because I can't.'

'What about your video?' Ben asked the American. 'We could use that.
You've been filming all the way down here, we should be able to work
our way back from that.'

It went dark again as the second match burnt itself out.

A tiny flickering picture appeared, floating in the darkness. Everyone
gathered around the video camera's tiny liquid crystal screen as it
showed Harv's wife standing in front of the Druid's Alter.

'Wind it back a bit,' said the father of the young boy. 'Lets see if we
can work out which passageway we came out of. That'll be a
start.'

They played the video back a couple of times and came to a consensus
between them that they had passed three tunnels on their way down to
the altar, so they would make their way back down the passage and take
the fourth passageway.

'I only have a few matches left,' said Harv, his face lit by the glow
of the tiny video screen. 'So I suggest that we should all join hands
and feel our way along the walls. We'll be able to count the
passageways as we pass them. Once we are there we can look at the next
part of the video.'

Everyone reluctantly agreed and linked hands. The video screen went
blank and the group were plunged into darkness again.
The only sound was that of the young boy, whispering to his mother that
he didn't like it and that he wanted to go home. His mother whispered
back trying to comfort him.

The group moved forward very slowly, feeling their way along the
wall.

After about half a minute, the American's voice piped up 'First
passageway.'

'What do you reckon that blue glow was?' Lina whispered to Ben.

'I don't know, but it's gone now.'

'I still think we should have waited for someone to come and get
us.'

'Second passageway,' shouted Harv.

'Everything will be fine,' said Ben. 'Trust me.'

'Third passageway,' shouted Harv again. 'Almost home.'

Very soon the group were squatting around the small video camera screen
in the fourth passageway trying to figure out which way to go
next.

'Who's that?' said the young boy. He was looking off down the
passageway.

'Where?' asked his father.

'There.' The boy pointed along the passageway. 'There was a man.'

'One of the guides, come to look for us,' said the American lady. 'He
must've just missed us as we came around the corner.'

Everyone began to shout, to try and attract the guide's
attention.

They were making so much noise, that only his mother heard the boy's
next statement.

'A soldier.'

'What?' she asked him.

'A soldier. He had a gun, and a hat.'

Everyone had stopped shouting and were all now listening to the
boy.

'There aren't any soldiers down here,' said Lina. 'Not any more.'

'It was a soldier,' insisted the boy. 'Like in the books.'

'He must've caught a glimpse of one of those scenes we passed on the
way here,' said Ben. 'At least that means that we're on the right
path.'

After some more discussion the group decided that they should make
their way to the next passage and turn left. Each of the group watched
as the small screen dimmed and went dark. Each of the group savoured
every last moment of the light it gave out and none of them moved until
it was completely dark.
Then they linked hands and began to feel their way along the wall again
to the junction of the next passage and turned left.

The group stopped and the small video screen flickered into life
again.

After a short while they decided that they should take the next passage
on the right and then continue straight until they came to a
T-junction. They should then be near where the guide had told them that
the First World War ammunition stores were.

Once again the group set off, their hands joined, keeping close to the
wall. They turned into the next right hand tunnel.

'Look,' shouted the young boy. 'The man.'

The group looked ahead of them.

Standing at the end of the passageway was a man. Despite the darkness,
the group could see him clearly. He was dressed in army uniform, with a
rifle slung over one shoulder. He looked at the group, turned and
walked up the passageway to the left.

It went dark again.

'Who? what was that?' asked Ben.

'A ghost?' asked the American woman.

'No,' said her husband. 'It was probably one of those mass
hallucinations you hear about.'

'It was the ghost of a soldier, come to show us the way out,' the
American woman continued.

'Or lead us to our deaths,' said the boy's father.

The boy started to whimper.

'Now look what you've done,' scolded his mother.

No one was sure what to do. Opinion was divided on what they had seen
and it was decided to carry on with the video camera method. After
studying it once more the consensus was reached that they should head
the way that the soldier had gone and the group began the ritual of
joining hands and feeling their way along the wall.

Apart from the occasional sob from the boy, there wasn't a single sound
as the group nervously hugged the wall. As they rounded a corner, they
could see the blue glow ahead of them once again.

'What is that?' asked the boy's mother.

Suddenly there was the sudden light of a match flaring up.

'Sorry folks,' said Harv. 'I just had to see something again. Does
anyone recognise this place?' He moved the match slowly around. A
couple of times it flickered violently and threatened to go out. The
rest of the group held their breath.

After a few more seconds the match burnt itself out and the pitch
blackness returned. Down the corridor, the blue glow dimmed and
disappeared.

The group joined hands and resumed their journey.

Suddenly there was a huge explosion. The caves shook and a couple of
the group were knocked from their feet. The boy and one of the women
screamed. The caves were full of the sound of running footsteps,
shouting and screaming. The group cowered in the passageway,
frightened, holding each other.

'Quick, this way,' said a voice.

The group looked up and saw a soldier standing in front of them.

'Hurry,' he continued. 'Down this way.'

Without thinking the group ran the way he was pointing. It did not
occur to any of them that despite the absolute darkness of the caves,
they could see the soldier standing there as clear as if it was
daylight, and that the passageway he was pointing to was lit up.
As they reached the next junction the lights went out.

'What happened?' said Lina. Her voice was wavering in fear and
confusion 'Who was the soldier?'

'I don't know.' It was the voice of the boy's father. 'What the hell
was that noise?'

The sound of heavy breathing filled the passageway as the group caught
their breath.

The young boy was sobbing.

'Mummy, when can we go home? Are we going to die?'

His mother tried to reassure him.

'Is everyone here?' said Harv.

They did a quick roll call and everyone was present.

'Where is here?' said Ben. 'Does anyone know where we are? I think
using the video camera to retrace our steps is out of the question
now.'

A murmur of agreement went round the group.

'So what are we going to do?' said the American lady.

'We'll think of something honey,' said her husband. 'Don't
worry.'

'How about following the outside wall. Eventually we'd get back to the
start.' Said Ben.

'Maybe,' said Lina. 'But which is the outside wall?'

'Good point.'

'The numbers,' said the boy's mother. 'We could use the numbers.'

'What numbers?' asked another of the group.

'The house numbers. Harv, how many matches have you got?'

'About a dozen, tops,' Harv replied.

'Of course,' said the boy's father. 'The numbers will get lower as we
get nearer the entrance.

Harv struck a match and held it carefully above his head. He moved
carefully along the wall until they spotted a number. It said 688. A
few feet to the left was the number 686.

The match went out. Harv informed the group that he had nine matches
left.

The group began to head along the passageway to the left, carefully
feeling their way along the wall. After a minute or so they came to a
junction. They decided to use another of the matches to see whether the
numbers increased or decreased along the new passageway, hoping for an
indication of which way to go.

The tiny light showed that the numbers had dropped to 602 and dropped
into the 500's in the new tunnel. The group turned the corner continued
the journey.

It was Lina, who first noticed that the wall was becoming damp. Soon
after, it became wet and they could feel that the ground was becoming
wet beneath their feet. They could hear the sound of water dripping
somewhere in the distance.

'Be careful,' said Ben. 'Everyone watch their step, it's getting
slippery.'

'Look,' said Lina. 'The blue light. It's back.'

Ahead of them, was a blue glow.

The blue light filled the passageway ahead and lit up most of the
cavern around it. It seemed to be hovering above a pool of water, which
sparkled as the light reflected off it. For the first time since the
guide disappeared, the group could see themselves properly. As their
eyes adjusted to the faint blue light they could see that their clothes
were grubby, and their faces and hair were covered in dust.

'There are no numbers here,' said the boy's mother, looking up at
wall.

The others looked up at the walls, defying her to be wrong.

'So much for the plan,' whispered Ben to himself.

'So, what now?' asked the boys father.

'And what about this light?' said Harv. 'It's the darndest thing I've
ever seen. Has anyone got any idea what it is?'

'Some kind of phosphorescence in the water?' said Lina. 'Some sea
creatures, like plankton give off a glow sometimes.'

Ben shrugged.

'Could be,' he said.

'Nathan, what's up?' the boys mother said.

Nathan, the young boy, stood staring at the light as though
hypnotised.

His mother waved her hand in front of his eyes. Nothing, She clicked
her fingers.

Nothing. The boy's eyes were fixed on the light.

'What's he looking at?' asked his father.

His mother shrugged.

By now everyone was looking at the boy, then at the light. The light
seemed to have a bright ball at the centre with tendrils reaching out
from it, like one of those plasma balls that used to be on the desk of
every mad scientist in the movies and that you now can buy in the
Gadget Shop.

The boy started to walk towards the light.
'Nathan,' shouted his mother. 'Stop!'

The tendrils reached out from the light and wrapped themselves around
the boy. They started to pull him towards the bright ball at the centre
of the glow.

His mother screamed.

Nathan suddenly snapped back into life. He turned and looked at his
mother. His eyes looked frightened.

'Mummy!' he shouted. 'Help!'

She grabbed the boy and began to try and pull him from the grip of the
tendrils. She pulled as hard as she could, but the pull of the light
tendrils was stronger. She screamed for the others to help her. The
young boy screamed as he fought against being pulled into the centre of
the light.

The rest of the party grabbed onto the boy and tried to wrestle him
from the grip of the tendrils. Still, the boy was pulled towards the
light. By now he had been pulled into the water. The noise was terrific
as they fought to hold onto him. The screaming of the boy, the shouting
of the tourists combined with the splashing water and a strange,
unearthly, high-pitched scream that came from the light filled the
caverns.

Suddenly the tendrils gave an enormous pull, wrenching the boy from the
arms of the group. The tendrils pulled Nathan into the centre of the
blue light. Nathan's mother screamed hysterically and ran into the
water towards the light. The light intensified until the whole cavern
was lit as though it was daylight.

Then it went dark again. No, not quite complete darkness, the blue glow
was still there, but it was now very dim. Even though the glow was very
faint, there was enough light for the group to see a body floating face
down in the shallow pool.

For a moment, no one moved. Then, as the realisation dawned, the
woman's husband yelled and fell to his knees in the water. He grabbed
his wife's body and began to pull it towards the edge of the pool. Ben
followed him and, between them, they lifted the body from the water and
laid it on the floor of the passage. They tried to revive her, but it
was too late. She was dead.

The blue light began to dim. As it did so, the figure of a young woman
holding a child could be seen standing in the centre of the pool.

The figure faded and disappeared.

Darkness returned.

A lighted match once more brought a dim light to the scene.

'We've gotta get outta here,' said the American woman, her voice on the
edge of panic.

'That's what we've been trying to do,' said an angry voice.

A brief discussion followed, and the group agreed to try the 'house
number' method again. They carefully retraced their way back along the
damp passageway to where they had last seen the numbers. By the time
the matches ran out they were still in the five hundreds.

* * *

'Okay folks,' said the guide. 'The caves have about twenty miles of
passages that we know of, and have been used for a thousand years or
so.'

'Are they haunted?' asked a voice.

'Some say they are,' replied the guide. 'I'll tell you all about that
as we go round.'

'Has anyone ever got lost?' asked another voice.

'Not on my tour. But you may have read of a party a few years ago that
went missing down here.'

'What happened?'

'No one knows. They only found one of them and he was as mad as a
hatter when they finally got to him. However, some people claim to have
heard voices as they go round, so if you do hear something, let me
know. Maybe we can give them a map.' He smiled and winked at the
group.

'Right then,' he continued. 'Grab your lanterns and let's go.'

THE END