Chapter 1 - Adventure Calls

If anyone had told me when I got up how a simple decision I would make later that day would change my life forever, I wouldn't have believed them.

I didn't have time to believe them. I worked two jobs and barely had time between them to enjoy some down time. Even now, I was walking past the beaches on my way home from one of my jobs.

The smell of sea water and the sound of crashing waves drew me in and I found myself standing on the beach, toes curling in the cool sand as the water flowed up the beach,, not quite reaching me. I smiled, taking a deep breath and then letting it out, feeling the tension that had built up over the last few days just roll off my shoulders.

The ocean had always had that affect on me. No matter how worn out I was, a few moments by the water seemed to just relax me. Opening my eyes, I looked out over the water before turning my gaze toward the cave at the far end of the beach…

The Haunted Caves.

There was legend well known in my hometown revolving around that cave, a tale that parents told their kids to scare them…a tale that the police used to keep trouble making teens off the beaches at night. But many believed this Legend, believed it to be real…I was one of them.

Legend says that anyone who enters the cave will be judged. How this judgement is passed is unknown but, in the last seven years since the first incident many have been curious enough to try.

It was that curiosity that had lead to twelve people going missing and twenty-five found dead in the morning…three of bodies found had been close friends of mine. What had struck the police as unusual was that all that had been found were over twenty years old while those who had gone missing, were under that age…and that each time a body had been found, it was always after the first night of a full moon.

I found myself walking toward the cave, not paying attention to the bright full moon that lit up the beach in a soft glow. I still remembered that day my closest friend had vanished…Jo-Jo had called me only a few minutes before I had lost her for good…

-Flashback-

"What're you talking about, Jo-Jo?" I pressed the phone to my ear using my shoulder, pulling on my sneakers quickly as she spoke again, her voice low and calm.

" I know if I go in, I won't be back…but the pull is strong, Sky, so strong…it calls me." I could feel my heart beat picking up, pounding against my ribs as I raced out the door the moment my shoes were on. She was going into the cave. I couldn't lose another of my friends! I needed to buy time, try to keep her from going in until I could get to her. Managing to keep the brewing panic out of tone, I replied,

"Just make sure you send a postcard when you go through. No napping on the beach, okay?"

The phone suddenly started to cackle and I could hear her feet crunching along the sand coated flor of the cave through it. I could see the beach up ahead…I wasn't going to get there in time! The last thing I heard from her was

"Adventure is calling for me. Shouldn't be long now. Bye!" After that, I only heard the waves. Sprinting down the beach, I stopped outside the cave, peering around until my gaze landed on the phone. I knelt on the ground, slowly picking it up as tears welled up in my eyes.

She was gone.

But, at least she had sounded happy in those last few moments and now she was free…free from her abusive father. Raising my head, I stood, her phone held against my own in my hand.

"Farewell, Jo-Jo."

-End Flashback-

That was only a few months ago and no bodies had been found so I could only hope she had found the adventure she had gone after. But I had noticed that, since her disappearance, I had been drawn back to the cave more often. I had become a frequent visitor, always stopping just outside the save and standing there for a few minutes before turning and heading home.

Was that what happened to Jo-Jo?

Something made me turn away from the cave again, turn and walk back the way I had come and kept going until I reached my home. Something was telling me I would be leaving tonight…something was drawing me back to the cave and, like Jo-Jo had said…

I knew I wouldn't be returning.

It wasn't much longer I found myself back outside the cave, a small bag packed with the essentials plus extra over my shoulder. I could feel the wind tickling across my base skin, winding around my body into the cave…pushing against my back as if telling me to enter. I had felt this sensation before, each time growing in strength but each time I had ignored it…managed to pull away.

This time though, I let it.

Sarah132cs: Hello please read and review! Thanks!