Chapter 3
Again, thank you for the lovely reviews. Poor Castle, he's got such a long road ahead. He could use some help just about now. :)

Castle was beginning to regret his decision. The tunnel was long, it felt like it went on forever, and it wasn't like Castle was used to crawling over rough rock. He'd tried to keep the glowstick in his hand but it was proving difficult so he wound up placing it in his teeth. With sweat pouring from his forehead and dripping down into his eyes, he would stop occasionally to wipe his face with his shirt. He'd have to take the glowstick out and take a few breaths too. Wonder what I look like? Thank God Beckett can't see me now.

He was just about to simply lie down - he had no idea the time or how long he'd even been in the natural tunnel - but finally he came to the end, which opened up to another room. He started to stand but hit his head because the room was maybe only five feet tall. "Dammit!"

Sitting down, he rubbed the part of his head that hit the rock, glad he hadn't jumped up. He knew it was foolish to move too quickly. The cave could have cliffs in it and he'd have met his certain death. Leaning against the wall, he thought about the time he and Alexis had spent the night at a cave.

It had been Cumberland Caverns in East Tennessee. It was something unusual to do and Alexis was on a nature kick. At that time she was thirteen, so he took her and her best friend, Paige, on the trip. They were part of a larger party and the first thing one did was take a walk tour around the large parts of the cave, learning the history. It had been interesting and Alexis had really enjoyed it, but the hard part was going on a cave trip designed for the young and strong. Size was a concern and one couldn't be overweight, as there were many holes to squeeze through. Castle hoped that wouldn't be the case where he was now. He was certainly larger than he used to be.

Taking out some water, Castle drank a sip. The glowstick was growing dimmer and he knew he would have to start using the flashlight soon. He decided he better rest during this time and figure out a way to carry the larger flashlight, which was now in his lap. When he leaned his head back, he thought of a moment on that earlier cave tour where the guide had sat them down. They had squeezed through a narrow opening to get to that spot. The room was about the size of a double elevator shaft and the whole exploring party was shoulder to shoulder.

The guide pointed to the top of the room, which was very far up. He explained that there was a hole up there and about twenty years earlier, three college guys discovered it while hiking. Curious to how deep it went, the boys had come back with rope, flashlights and other material. They drew straws and the one who won got to head down the "well" while the other two lowered him using the rope. Slowly down the cave he went but unfortunately he dropped the flashlight, it breaking on its far fall. Embarrassed to tell his friends he had them keep dropping him until they ran out of rope. They had hoped he would find bottom but it never happened, even though there was a good twenty-five feet of rope. So they went to pull him up.

Unfortunately pulling up twenty plus feet of rope with your friend attached is a lot harder than lowering him. It took much longer than they wanted. They were sweating and the rope was slipping at times. Meanwhile the man hanging was getting tired too. He felt himself slide and since he hadn't properly powdered his hands, he started to slip. He held on for a long time but eventually let go when they were only about seven feet from the top. Hitting the hard rock floor at an odd angle, he was immediately killed. The true tragic part of the story was, if he had not dropped his flashlight, he would have seen when he "got to the bottom" he was only about four feet from the floor.

Everyone had commented on how stupid the boys were, including Alexis and her friend. But Castle had felt himself shiver, realizing at that age you feel invincible and he was damn lucky in his life he had survived even stupider stunts. Nothing was sadder to him than how close the man had been to safety.

Castle hoped he wouldn't make a similar mistake. The glowstick was now useless, so Castle turned on the flashlight and headed forward carefully. He had no idea how large this room was but it was certainly bigger than the last room he was in, since the flashlight didn't extend all the way across. Walking slowly through the beam of the flashlight, Castle eventually came to an edge and peering the light down into it, his body shivered as he realized it was a cliff. Leaning over, he couldn't see the bottom and thought about throwing a rock down. But the dirt below him hadn't supported any weight in so many years, his standing there began to shift and the edge started to crumble.

Scrambling, Castle jumped back, clutching the flashlight in one hand and reaching out for anything he could hold onto. Luckily the floor had only collapsed about a foot and stopped and Castle was now on sturdier rock.

"That was stupid!" Castle told himself.

"You got that right!"

The fact he didn't scream but only yelped was a miracle in and of itself, but Castle dropped the flashlight at the voice.

"What-, who's there?" He thought of that movie Descent. Those creatures didn't talk did they?

A laugh came and Castle could almost place it. "It's okay, Rick. I'm here to help. Can't let you die down here, can I? What would Kate do then?"

Finding the flashlight, Castle whipped it around. Four feet away from him he stared at the man sitting down, leaning on a natural corner. He was wearing a jacket, jeans, and looked as clean as if he just gotten out of the shower. But his appearance didn't stun Castle as much as whom.

"Royce!"

" can call me Mike."

Thoughts?