"They left a swimming pool of salted crimes, crimes
Oh, what could I do to change your mind?"
Lena
The tunnel ended just over two miles further along. Without warning, she found herself facing a blank wall, with no side tunnels that would allow her to continue.
"Okay, what now? Did we go into the wrong cave?"
"It's not even four yet." June assures herself. "We can get back to Luis and Manuel in twenty minutes. Still got eight hours."
As June started to turn back, the ground gave way beneath her.
"June!" Lena cries out, kneels near the hole she fell in. She quickly grabs her flashlight and beams it down the dark hole. "Holy shit, June are you alright?"
"Yeah!" June's voice echo's from the hole. "I think I'm stuck."
Lena takes off her backpack and opens it in search of some rope. She finds it but she is unsure much she has or how far June is down the hole.
"How far do you think the ground is?" Lena calls.
"Maybe a foot away…"
Lena ties one end of the rope to a stalagmite and ties the other end around her waist. When she made sure the rope was strong enough to support her weight, Lena carefully and slowly crawls down the dark hole.
She dug her hands and fingers into the rocky wall for support. As she descends deeper, it was hard to keep track of where her hands were landing. She worried that she will lose her balance and she and June will fall to their death.
You can't think like that. Keep your head in the game.
She crawls next to June. "You owe me big time for this whole trip."
"Yeah yeah…hurry up." June's hands grab hers.
SNAP!
The rope breaks and the two women plunges into the blackness.
Lena was certain that her body was on fire. She unfortunately landed on her side on the hard and rocky cave floor. She felt June's hands on her shoulders.
"Lena?"
"I'm still alive, Junie." Lena said, getting up with wobbly legs. Her helmet was only a few inches away from her. "I think I may have cracked a rib- "
Skulls?
Hundreds of animal and human skulls were embedded to the cave's wall. How long have they been here?
"June do you know how long we been here? Was I unconscious?" Lena questions.
"Maybe not long. I'm not too sure." June replies.
Lena shivers slightly. The cave was cold and damp. She moves towards the skulls to examine them. She wishes she had her camera.
"Lena…"
She turns towards June who was near a bear-shape altar, carved from the walls of the cave. She moves towards the altar as well. The bear's huge paws held two figurines: one man and one woman.
June reaches and picks up the female figurine.
"June, be careful." Lena tells her.
Silence.
"June? June?"
For some reason, June wasn't listening. Instead she twists the figurine's head off and removes its lid.
Shadowy wisp flowed from the jar and spread through the chamber. Lena fell backwards, watching as the black smoky mist dance past her.
"June!" Lena yells. "June what the hell did you do?"
Lena.
A voice calls out for her.
Lena.
June.
Lena quickly turns around and in the pitch blackness, she saw eyes.
Frightening eyes.
Dark yet glowing eyes.
Staring at Lena and June.
The two pairs of eyes belong to two people. They were barely visible until June aimed her helmet light at them. It was two frail women, barely skin and bone. Looking closer, Lena sees that they are made from the same black smoky mist that emerged from the figurine.
We've been waiting for this our entire lives.
Lena didn't recognize the voice.
Do you remember me? One of the women asks.
"Yes," June gulps. "From my dreams."
The other woman looks at Lena intensely. I thought we would never meet Lena. Don't you remember I?
"You were in my dreams?"
My sister and I are more than dreams… The black fog starts to surround June and Lena. Cold and clammy hand touches Lena's face. We're your destinies. And you are ours.
June was the first to pull free and made a run for it. Lena didn't have the chance to. Her body was either paralyzed from fear or shock. She heard June struggling and shout.
"Let go of me! Let go of Lena!"
Embrace this, Lena. Morana tells her. You are destined for this.
Morana's face nearly touches her. I must be whole again. I need to be whole. Morana turns into the black smoky mist, its tendrils start to enter Lena's nose and more.
When Lena finally became conscious, she rolls onto her hands and knees and vomits. She coughs and heaves, foolishly hoping it would expel that…thing that forced its way into her body. Her body was freezing and shaking.
She looks for June who is right next to her unconscious. She crawls over to her, gently shaking her shoulders.
"June? June wake up." Lena begs. "C'mon honey…wake up."
A faint moan escape from June's lips. She flutters her eyes open staring at Lena. The first thing she did was roll to her side and vomit. She coughs and gags violently.
"We have to get out of here. We need to get out." Lena tells her frantically.
"I can feel it." June whispers. "I can feel…her. Inside."
"June we can't stay here." Lena tells her again. She wanted to pretend this wasn't happening. This wasn't happening.
June grips on her shoulders, her bright blue eyes wide in utter terror. "Lena…it's inside me. It's inside of us. Something is inside us…"
At that moment, it sunk in. June was right. Something did happen. Something had violated them. Something dark and primal.
It was inside of them.
True to their word, Luis and Manuel had waited for herself and June's return. However, their warm welcoming smiles had quickly disappear from their faces. Lena sense-no she actually felt-concern and fear coming from Luis and Manuel.
"Dr. Moone, Ms. Roth," Luis says, not moving from where he and Manuel stood. "are you alright?"
"Yes," June speaks. "we just had an accident. But we are fine."
No, we are beyond fine.
"Did you see what you needed to find, Dr. Moone?" Manuel asks.
June took a deep breath before answering. "Yes. Yes I did."
"Was it worth it?" Luis questions.
"I honestly don't know how to answer. I really don't know."