Rock Bottom
Darcy wakes with a start and a missive fucking headache. She’s lying face down on the stone hard cavern floor with a slightly raised edge of rock digging into her cheek and an arm trapped under her body. Rolling over onto her back she hisses as a sharp pain shoots through her arm.
“oooooouch.” She moans pathetically. At least her boobs had broken her fall. Go team go!
“Darcy?! Darcy!” Jane’s shill voice was so not helping the throbbing in her head. Wincing at the sudden bright light shining in her eyes, Darcy blinks rapidly up at the three figures leaning over the edge of the narrow hole. Wow. She’d fallen pretty far.
“Yeah?”
“Ohmygod- Darcy! Are you ok?! Don’t move, the guide went back to the village to get help!”
Darcy would’ve snorted if she wasn’t like eighty percent sure a rib was cracked and the dust floating in the air wasn’t filled with toxic cave death rot. The village- more like six huts and a latrine- was a thirty minute jeep ride one way, shyeah right she’s just gonna lay here and wait for him to get back with reinforcements while she was stuck in Ethiopia’s smelly asshole. Cautiously, she rolls to her side and spots her flash light. Eureka! Reaching for it she cautiously sits up, wincing as her ribs protested the movement.
“I think I’m ok Jane.” She calls up.
“What do you see down there Darcy? The readings are off the charts!” Erik yells back.
“Uh,” carefully rising to her feet she wraps an arm around her midsection and starts scanning the area with her flashlight. Dust mots dance lazily through the beam as she took in the pocket she’d fallen into; it was made of the same limestone as the one above, but this one seemed less natural, more….crafted? The walls were too perfect, too symmetrical, sharing none of the irregular divots and curves that spoke of centuries worth of water and wind wear and tear, “I think it’s another cave?”
“Is there anything down there?”
“I don’t think so. It’s pretty small.” Slowly she traces the light across the walls, as far as she could tell, there was no other way in or out, just the hole she’d fallen through, “There’s nothing on the walls. I’m pretty sure it’s-“
Something is behind her.
The hair on her arms stands up and apprehension streaks in an icy trickle down her spine.
Ohmygod- something is behind her.
Sweet baby Thor protect her.
Bracing herself, she swallows her heart back down as it tries to crawl up her throat and spins around holding her flash light in front of her like it’s a gun, expecting to see Predator or Freddy Kruger or Alien or the Mummy-
There is nothing.
Darcy blinks. Actually…
”There’s a black puddle?” it even sounds like she’s asking the cave if that’s what she is seeing.
“A black puddle?” Jane yells out.
“Maybe it’s like a really, really small tar pit?”
There was a moment of unintelligible muttering then, “Ok Darce, we’re gonna toss down an empty water bottle, do you think you could get a sample?”
Glancing up at the three shadows she shrugs a shoulder, “Sure. I’m gonna be down here for a while anyways, right?”
“Great. Ian, gimme your water bottle.”
“Huh?!” came his startled yelp.
“Just fork it over. Sheesh, you’re acting like it’s that stupid camel or something. Catch Darcy!”
She doesn’t even try and instead watches it bounce hollowly against the cracked cave bottom then looks up at the shadow she’s pretty sure is Jane,“…Seriously Janey. We need to work on your people skills.”
“What? Why? Whatever, just get the sample.”
Rolling her eyes Darcy grabs the canteen and shuffles her way over to the tar stuff. Kneeling down carefully on the rocky floor she unscrews the cap, and reaches out out towards the puddle with a sigh. Jane’s lucky she’s her Bae. The things she does in support of her friend’s Science! addiction… Darcy’s so into rolling her eyes that she almost doesn’t notice how its shiny black surface sort of swells up the closer she gets to it. Blinking, she pulls her hand back and the surface goes flat. Well color her intrigued. Reaching forward once again she watches as it bubbles back up. Pulls her hand back and watches it go flat. Falling back on her heels she cocks her head to the side and regards the goo spot.
“Huh.”
“What?! Darcy, what is it?!”
“The puddle sort of…..Swells? When I get close to it?”
“It does what?!” (Jane) “Fascinating!” (Erik)
“Yeah, like the closer I get to it, it sort of fills up. Like a zit.”
“Hold on Darce!”
More muttering from the peanut gallery.
“I think she’ll be fine, Jane.” (Erik)
“I don’t know. The last time I touched something wonky I got possessed by weird red mist.”(Jane)
“This is true.” (Erik)
Sighing Darcy settles in for the long haul. This could take a while. To amuse herself she starts to play chicken with the tar stuff. Arm out, arm in, arm out, arm in, out,in,out,in-
Letting her arm drop she rolls her head back and releases out a pained groan, “Seriously guys! I can get the sample. No biggie.”
“I just don’t think-- hold on Darcy!”
A strange sort of buzzing noise starts humming lowly through the cave.
Blinking in surprise, Darcy looks around, “Do you guys hear that?”
“Yes, Erik I get- hear what Darcy?!”
“That buzzing noise.”
“What buzzing noise?!”
“Seriously you don’t hear that?” Darcy asked glancing around the cave. There better not be some weird, mutant cave bees down here. She wouldn’t put it passed Africa to have those. It had giant, mice eating frogs it could totally have mutant cave bees.
“No, what are you talking about?!”
Darcy spins around trying to pin point where the sound’s coming from, then stops and glances down at the puddle, blinking in disbelief, “I think it’s coming from the puddle.”
“What?!”
As she stares, the buzzing noise gets louder.
She leans closer.
“Darcy! Get away from the puddle!” Jane said urgently, but it’s faint and echo-y like she’s suddenly much further away.
The tar stuff swells and oozes over the edge.
“Darcy, do what Jane says, now!” Eric’s voice is faint.
She leans closer. The noise gets louder, and suddenly it’s like a million bees are filling the air around her.
“Darcy!”
A glistening black hand shoots out and grabs Darcy’s face.
The world goes black.