Megan's Cave

Jedidiah Bird

The sky had gotten dark fast. The loud rumblings of thunder were getting closer. Within minutes, Megan was drenched by the sudden deluge. Lightning flicked across the sky, followed a split second later by a roar of thunder. She shivered involuntarily. The late March rain was cold, and she knew she'd have to find some shelter or she'd become hypothermic.

Off to her left she saw the rocky base of the cliffs through the trees, and wondered if she could find a cave or overhang to get out of the weather. The trail wouldn't take her there, so she would have to cut through the woods. She'd hiked this part of the Appalachain Trail before, so she wasn't concerned with getting lost. As the next crack of thunder boomed deafeningly in her ears, Megan made up her mind and started pushing through the foliage.

Branches kept snagging at her hair and clothes, like the fingers of a thousand coarse men rudely probing her body. As the light was fading in the sky, she stumbled on a root, falling and receiving a small cut above her eye. Her ankle was sore, but she could tell it was only a mild sprain--she could still put weight on it. Ahead, Megan could see the rocks looming closer.

As she broke into the open, the ground was strewn with boulders and smaller loose rocks. She'd have to be extra careful in the dim light so as not to twist her ankle again. Her eyes scanned the base of the cliff for any place to seek refuge from the torrential downpour that had vastly intensified after leaving the sheltering trees. Megan moved slowly and cautiously along the cliff base, straining her eyes in search of hope, while the cold, hard reality was sinking into her violently shivering body. She needed to find shelter now, it was too cold to be in the rain for any longer.

Just as she was about to give up hope, she saw a darkness deeper than the surrounding shadows. It was a cave. Her heart began to race excitedly. Megan quickly made her way toward the cave with a mixture of hope and trepidation. While the cave offered shelter from the growing tempest, she had no idea what was waiting for her inside.

The entrance of the cave was fairly large, with a good-sized room. As she entered the cave, she unshouldered her small daypack. She liked to think of herself as self-sufficient, practical, and prepared. She removed an old metal flashlight that her grandfather had given her, a small snack bar, a light fleece blanket, and her first aid kit.

Megan flicked the flashlight on and did a brief scan of the cave. Near the back of the room it looked as if a small tunnel extended past the main room. Satisfied that there was no immediate danger in the cave, she quickly stripped off her shirt, laying it on a rock to air out. She unlaced her hiking boots, gingerly removing the one with her sprained ankle. She then peeled off her jeans, which seemed to weight about a hundred pounds, being soaking wet.

Once the jeans had been placed on a rock of their own, she used her fleece blanket to towel dry, although she would wrap up in it as soon as she had taken care of the other necessities. Once she had put ointment on her eyebrow cut--along with a bit of gauze, she wrapped her ankle with an Ace bandage to keep it rigid and prevent her from making it any worse.

With her medical issues taken care of, Megan turned toward the next important issue, which was warmth. She wrapped her light fleece blanket around her shoulders, and wished she could make a fire. Unfortunately, she would have no way of getting any dry wood. She settled for a sip of water from her water bottle, and hungriliy munched on the snack bar. After finishing the light meal, she stretched out on the floor, awaiting the arrival of the morning sun.

After a while, Megan began to drift off to sleep. Some time later, she awoke suddenly, as she heard low voices talking. She slowly opened her eyes, and tried to see who was speaking. In the low light of her flashlight, which she realized she had left on, she could make out two robed figures near the entrace of the cave. One of them was preparing some rope, while the other was rummaging through her backpack. The were obviously not there to help.

Unfortunately for Megan, they were also between her and the entrance, so there was no hope of getting out before they caught her. Not to mention, with her nearly nude and without shoes in the freezing rain, she wouldn't get far. Her eyes darted toward the back of the cave. There was the tunnel. No telling where it went or how far back. She was close to it, and could make it before the two men had a chance to react. Armed with only her flashlight, was it possible to escape?

The two men were both large, and it was possible she might be able to find a hole too small for them to follow her into, but was it the best choice? Megan glanced cautiously back at the two men. One was eyeing her lustfully, which heightened her sense of vulnerability with her nakedness.

He looked away, and it was either now or never to make her move. She sprang to her feet and sprinted toward the back of the cave, reach the tunnel as she heard one of the two men shout. She took off down the passageway, shining her light ahead to guide her through this unknown labyrinth. The rough stones were cutting and scraping at her bare feet, and she winced each time she put a foot down.

She was rushing down the rock corridor, and rounding a corner, ran her head hard into a low hanging stalagtite. She lost her balance and fell backward, dropping the flashlight. It went dead as it hit the floor. She quickly regained her feet, although her head was ringing from the blow, and groped for the flashlight.

Megan could hear her pursuers coming down the tunnel after her. They were more cautious than she was, since they knew they were blocking the way out, but it did make them slower. She pleaded with the metal flashlight to turn back on, as she slowly crawled forward. After several seconds that seemed a horrifying eternity, the light blinked on.

She frantically glanced around to locate an escape route, as the flashlight began to flicker. She saw a small opening in the ceiling above her head. She put a foot on the wall, and used it to lunge and grab a rough stone in the opening. She used her toned muscles to pull herself upward, concealing herself in the crevice. Her pursuers were getting very close, so she switched off the flashlight, bracing herself in the hole so she didn't cause a sound.

Megan waited, anxiously holding her breath. She could hear the footsteps approach, and knew they were at the turn in the tunnel. She could hear their footsteps slow down, passing directly underneath her. The footsteps continued slowly down the passageway, and grew fainter until she could no longer hear them.

After several moments, she quietly released her held breath. Suddenly a hand grabbed her foot and yanked on her, dragging her downward and tearing her hands and legs against the cave popcorn and abrasive stone. Megan screamed as she was smacked on the head with a crude wooden club. With her head swimming, she still continued to struggle, but her hands and feet were soon bound, and she began to feel herself dragged. Down the tunnel, she thought, perplexed.

After about twenty minutes, her captors stopped dragging her, and stood her up. She gaped speechlessly at the sight before her. At least six dozen dark-robed men stood in a huge cavern, lit with hundreds of torches. In the center of stone auditorium was a small rise, with a giant stone slab, the size of a small bed.

Standing next to the stone was a white-robed figure. He clutched a gleaming gold ceremonial dagger in his claw-like fingers. At each corner of the stone slab was a large wooden post with ropes attached. Megan's captors quickly drug her to the stone in the center of the room, lashing her limbs to the posts. She fought, but could not match the strength of her ropes or of those who bound her.

After the man in white made some type of speech, he roughly ripped her bra and underwear off of her body, fully exposing her lithe, virgin physique to everyone in the room. She struggled still, especially when she saw the glinting dagger raised. As it fell, she screamed.

Conciousness buffeted her as she awoke and tried to sit up, still screaming and blinded by the intense light. She couldn't sit up, and realized she was still restrained. Seven men in white medical coats stood around her. Megan blinked in confusion. One of the men checked some readouts on a monitor that was connected to several wires attached to her head.

"Analysis shows that the test subject responded as planned. The subject experienced real fear and believed the situation to be reality. We were also able to psychomanipulate her subconcious to introduce new data." The man staring at the monitor said. "Excellent!" The lead figure exclaimed. "Let's try the bear experience again."