He was late.

  In truth, he didn’t want to be here in the first place. The hair on his neck prickled as he thought about what could happen, and he pushed down the memory that always rose up with his anxiety. The slip. The scream.

  The Jeep hummed as it turned the bend, the rocky dirt path that could barely be called a road crunching beneath the sturdy tires. Alex watched as the imposing face of the cavern grew with each passing second. Scattered about the entrance, people gathered in small groups and talked among themselves.

  Normally, Alex and the outdoors would be acquaintances at best. They both existed, but neither sought the other out. For Alex, a night of video games or binge-watching television beside his dog sounded far better than a drive through the countryside or a spelunking expedition into the local wilderness. Yet, his friends decided it would be good for him to experience ‘the joys of nature’ and treated him to a three-session package as a late birthday gift.

  Obligation rarely manifested as a gift in Alex’s life, and today was no exception.

  Now, he found himself an hour outside of town with fourteen strangers, a natural cave formation, and a growing sense of anxiety. The hair on the back of his neck prickled as he looked around the group.

  Get it together, Alex. They’re just people. There is nothing to worry about.

  Grabbing his backpack from the back seat of the jeep, Alex rushed over to the two instructors. “Sorry! Traffic wasn’t great. I’m Alex Everett.”

  “About time. Almost started without you,” a giant of a man said. Muscles bulged out of his tank-top as the man turned to face Alex.

  Another man standing next to the giant reached out and clasped his forearm. “Stop that, Chad.”

  Of course, his name is Chad. Why is it always Chad?

  “I’m Marcus, an instructor for today’s expedition,” he continued. “This is Chad. Don’t let his rudeness bother you; he just didn’t eat lunch today. Isn’t that right, Chad?”

  The giant snarled, a challenge in his eyes. “Fine. Why don’t you go over the basics?”

  Hushed whispers quieted all around. Most of the group must have had a passing familiarity; they were all huddled together and speaking to one another, except for a few who were by themselves. Alex took a seat on a wooden bench carved from a fallen tree, already winded after walking from the Jeep.

  Why did I ever think this was a good idea? I’m not in shape; I am a shape.

  When all the whispers stopped, Marcus spoke. “Rule number one. Leave no trace. Does anyone know what this means?”

  “It means anything you bring into the cave has to come back out, bro. Have to respect nature and all that jazz,” a kid said. He looked around nineteen, had scraggly hair, and the scent of a skunk wafted off of him.

  “Exactly,” Marcus said. “That means anything. I would suggest using the restroom before we continue. Chad, can you get the gear set up while they take care of business?”

  A line of portable toilets sat against the wall near the cave's entrance. Groans and cries of disgust resounded from the group, but they all made their way to the toilets despite the protests.

  Chad laid out the expedition gear in neat rows. Each person needed a cave helmet with an affixed flashlight, a handheld flashlight as a backup, sturdy gloves, and, if you didn’t bring your own, hiking boots. Now it made sense why Alex needed to fill out his shoe size on the pre-registration form.

  A woman broke off from the group and made her way over to where Alex sat. “Do you mind if I join you?” She rubbed the back of her neck and shuffled her feet, awkwardly waiting for a response.

  The woman had shoulder-length brown hair and looked to be in her mid-twenties. She was pretty by usual standards, which just made him more nervous, of course.

  “Sure,” Alex said, mirroring her nervous ticks. He understood video games, not people. People were hard.

  “Thanks. I’m not great in small spaces. The company helps.” She sat next to him and hugged her arms, rubbing them to calm her nerves. “I thought facing my fear would help me overcome it, but the anticipation is worse. I wish we could just get on with it.”

  “You could always ask the kid if he has something to calm your nerves,” Alex offered, pointing to the scraggly-haired boy who had responded to Marcus’s question. Huddled conspiratorially next to the row of toilets, the kid passed a baggie filled with something to another expedition attendee—weed, most likely.

  She gave a nervous giggle. “That would be a bad idea. Terrified and high, I would end up screaming for my life and running for the entrance at the first sign of bats.”

  “Oh god. I forgot about bats. Do you think there will be bats?”

  “Definitely.”

  Alex shuddered.

  “Okay, people!” Marcus walked to the front of the group that had reformed around the gear Chad had laid out. “Just to remind everyone, this is a beginner’s group. Therefore, the cave will be easy to navigate. Don’t expect rappelling, swimming, or difficult pathways. It should be fun and relaxing, while still exciting. Get geared up. Once you're ready, please follow me over to the entrance, and we can get this started. If you need help, come see me or Chad.”

  “I’m Sarah,” the woman sitting next to him whispered. She stuck out her hand.

  He shook it. “Alex. It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Shall we get going before they leave us behind? The only thing worse than being in the cave with a trained group is being in there alone.”

  “This is a beginner's tour, remember? I’m sure it's nothing but wide open space and safety rails inside.” Reassurance was not one of Alex’s strong suits.

  Yes, Alex, tell the girl that her irrational fear is nothing to worry about. Good job.

  His own fear surfaced, fingers slipping from his grasp. The hollow scream of a life ended too soon. Years of coping and therapy helped, but trauma never healed. Containment was the best he could hope for.

  Pushing the fear away, he stood and put on a brave face. He turned and reached back for Sarah, offering to help her up. “Shall we?”

  “Sure.” She took his hand, and they walked toward the rest of the group, now gathered around the mouth of the cave. Alex noticed Chad leering in their direction. As they approached, an older man straight out of a U.S. Marine recruitment commercial coughed and elbowed Chad in the side. He grunted, and his gaze shifted back to Marcus.

  The military man approached and shook Alex’s hand. “Sorry about that. I hate when stuck-up pissants like that can’t take a hint. I’m Derek.”

  Alex nodded and gestured to Sarah. “I’m Alex, and this is Sarah. It’s nice to meet you. Chad wasn’t really bothering us, though; I think he might have a resting dick face.”

  Derek chuckled. “Well, you two are clearly together. Leering like a jackass doesn’t do anyone any good. How long have you been a couple?”

  Alex blushed and turned away as Sarah choked in surprise, “A…a couple? Oh, no. You have the wrong idea, sir. We just met.”

  Derek waved him off. “Apologies. Y’all just had the look, that's all.”

  “Thank you for the help, regardless. Chad gives me the creeps,” Sarah said, shuddering. “Let’s get this over with.”

  “Just like ripping off a Band-Aid,” Alex added. “It’s better to just jump in and get it over with.”

  Derek tilted his head.

  “I don’t like small spaces,” Sarah said. “Exposure therapy and all that.”

  “Ah, well then, after y’all.” Derek bowed, motioning for them to go first.

  The crowd finally cleared, leaving the cave entrance exposed. All three walked forward, stopping at the threshold. Someone had mounted a plaque in the ground at the entryway. It read:

  All hope abandon, ye who enter here.

  Alex shuddered, and Derek shook his head. “Comparing a cavern to the entrance to Hell, huh?”

  “You know Dante?” Alex asked.

  “Of course. Used to dive into hell on the regular when I was deployed, it was a good study guide!”

  “What branch?” Sarah asked.

  “Semper Fi!” Derek pumped his fist.

  Alex shook his head. “Let’s hope it’s just metaphorical today.”

  Stalactites hung high overhead, occasionally dripping moisture onto the rock below. The rhythmic drops helped to calm Alex’s racing heart. It took an hour of wandering through open tunnels and slightly descending stone stairs to reach the yawning cavern they currently stood in. Ahead, the path split.

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  To the left, a hazardous-looking path spiraled around an open pit. To the right, a narrow tunnel just wide enough for a single person to squeeze through. Marcus stopped the group where the path split and yelled to get their attention.

  “Alright, listen up!” He paused for a moment, letting his voice echo through the open expanse. “Ahead, we have a choice. I’ll leave it up to a vote because all of you signed waivers prior to coming. The left path is a bit more dangerous, and we wouldn't normally offer it, but the earthquake a while back made the right tunnel smaller than before. Some people don't like tight spaces. We'll need to shimmy along the wall to the other side, where there is an easy tunnel we can walk. The right is a tight squeeze, but beyond the twists and turns is a beautiful underground river. Take a few minutes to rest and discuss among yourselves."

  As they stood in the tunnel, waiting to see which direction they were going, Alex asked, “So, how does a retired Marine find himself on a beginner's caving expedition?” He already knew which direction he would vote. Despite knowing her only briefly, he felt empathy for Sarah’s situation.

  Derek laughed. “The beginners' group was the only one in the area ?today, and my family is out of town. I was hoping to relive my youth a bit. I used to be quite the rebel, you know? Always exploring, ending up where I didn’t belong. That’s how I eventually landed in the corps.”

  “By exploring?” Sarah asked from beside Alex.

  “Nah. By ending up where I didn’t belong. Got caught with my hand in the metaphorical cookie jar. The judge made me choose between prison and the military. I was a pretty dumb kid, but smart enough to choose the military.”

  “Seems like you turned out alright, all things considered.”

  “Tell that to my knees and back. I’m about ready to head back and watch the game.” He sighed. “Maybe I can still make kickoff.”

  “So we want to go left, right?” Alex asked.

  Sarah glanced at the tunnel on the right and shivered. “Sounds good to me.”

  “Me too,” Derek added. “The right path looks too tight and damaged. There are cracks all along the base of the wall. It’s probably fine, but I don’t want to chance it.”

  Chad wandered over a few minutes later. “You guys vote?”

  “Yeah, we would like to go left,” Sarah said.

  “Alright, I’ll let Marcus know.” His gaze never left Sarah. “How are you enjoying yourself so far?” The man's eyes were aimed directly into her chest; he hadn’t yet made eye contact.

  Sarah snapped her fingers in front of his face. “Hey. My eyes are up here.”

  Trying to diffuse the tension, Derek cut in. “So, Chad, what’s up with all the cracks on the right side?”

  Tearing his eyes away from Sarah’s chest, the large man sneered. “There was an earthquake a few weeks back. Some hairline fractures run through the tour now.”

  “Isn’t that dangerous?” Alex asked.

  “Nah. They closed the tour for a few weeks and checked everything over. Not even a single cave-in.” He scowled. “I need to get the rest of the votes. If there’s nothing else?” The man walked away towards another group, roughly pushing through the men, so he could speak with the women.

  Ten minutes later, Marcus called out to the group again. “Alright, guys! We are going left. If you want to look over the edge, now’s your chance, but don't get too close and make sure to stay against the wall! Please do not look down as you circle the edge. We don’t need anybody panicking.”

  A few people broke off from the group to check out the drop, Alex included. Neither Sarah nor Derek elected to join him, but the kid who’d answered the question about ‘leave no trace’ did. He had introduced himself as Sam to everyone earlier.

  Alex approached the edge of the pit carefully. The cliff was sheer, at least fifty feet straight down. Darkness cloaked the bottom, so the exact depth could have been far more. Sam, their resident pothead, wandered over to a wall and grabbed a rock as large as his head.

  "What's down there?" Alex asked Marcus.

  "Nothing, from what rappelers have seen. But the bottom of the drop is an unstable flat surface, full of crevices. So they couldn't stand on it or explore deeper. This whole cave doesn't go much deeper than where we are now, most of these tunnels just go up and down the same elevation."

  “Yoooooo! This thing is huge!” Sam said, walking up to the edge.

  “Careful!” Marcus called, running over to stop the teen.

  Sam swung the rock between his knees and lobbed the stone out and over the edge. Alex watched as it fell, mesmerized. When it finally hit bottom, the crash echoed out through the cave for at least ten seconds.

  Marcus tackled the teen moments later, pulling him back away from the edge. “Idiot! What if you fell?”

  “Chill, man. I just wanted to see how far down it went.”

  Chittering shrieks rose from the pit. The gentle flapping of wings rose to a roar as hundreds of bats filled the cavern. They swarmed, circling the ceiling and diving occasionally. The woman next to Alex screamed and bolted for the exit, pushing him out of the way as she passed.

  His balance failed, and he stumbled toward the pit, slipping over the edge.

  Marcus lunged.

  His hand found Alex’s.

  “Don’t let go!” Marcus shouted.

  “Why the hell would I let go?! Pull me up!” Alex shouted, but panic had already set in. This was too familiar for him. His breath quickened, and his heart raced. The hand holding onto Marcus’s was slick with sweat as memories flooded back, memories he didn't want to remember. The cave disappeared as the past slammed into the forefront of his mind. It played before his eyes like a movie.

  Adam, his younger brother, appeared before him. It was the moment his young sibling fell, grasp slipping from his fingers. The moment his brother died.

  “Alex!” Sarah’s shout pulled him out of the memory.

  Sweat fell from Marcus's chin, dripping down onto their clasped hands. “Swing your other hand up. I can’t hold your weight with only one hand. Chad! Get over here!”

  Alex shifted his weight, swinging his left side up and extending his hand. Chad appeared over the lip and reached down. “I’ve got you.”

  Marcus let go, and Chad took all the weight himself. Alex hung limp for a second. He needed rest before trying again.

  As Marcus turned away to grab some rope, Chad grunted, causing Alex looked up at him. A ghost of a smile touched his lips. Alex's eyes went wide in panic, then quickly reached up with his free hand to grab Chad.

  But Chad let go, and Alex fell.

  Suspended in midair and falling to certain doom, he heard people scream his name.

  Alex awoke to a world of pain. He screamed out and groaned as it raged through his nerves like an inferno.

  “I’m... alive…?” he choked out. “The last thing I remember was hanging on the edge, Chad letting me go… and the falling. So much falling.”

  Chad. That piece of shit waste of space let me fall. I saw him smile. He definitely did it on purpose. I didn’t think I would ever meet someone like him… a god damn psychopath. I hope he doesn’t hurt anyone else. But I can’t think about this now… I’ll just push it down and add it to my trauma pile. I’ll need a more expensive therapist later.

  He lay there on the ground, breathing slowly through the pain, and moved his head slightly, trying to see where he was. He knew he was still underground, but the area was strangely bright, colors of all kinds winding through it.

  “How did I survive?” he wondered aloud, looking up from where he fell. He didn’t see any lights or a hole in the ceiling, but he did see something else that was weird.

  “The rocks… are floating?”

  He could see rocks of all shapes and sizes. They floated in the air, high above him and spread over a large area, almost in the shape of a dome. As if something were protecting the area he was in.

  Is that why I’m alive? Some sort of bubble thing slowed my fall? Where the hell am I? Are those… buildings around me? They’re pretty decayed, but I can definitely see structures here.

  He tried to sit up, but the pain rampaged through him again. “FUCKKK,” he cried in agony. Slowly, he moved himself into a sitting position, clenching his jaw at the pain.

  The area around him came into focus when he sat up. He could clearly see the structures and buildings, and the lights that wound through the cavern's walls and floor.

  Alex was in awe of the beauty he saw, feelings of pain momentarily forgotten. Veins of light traveled through the walls like a spider's web, radiant silvers, brilliant topaz, dazzling rubies, and vibrant sapphires—colors of all kinds, ingrained in the cavern walls.

  A twinge of pain brought him back into focus.

  “How bad am I messed up right now…,” he mumbled.

  He spent the next twenty minutes patting himself down, searching for broken bones, open wounds, or anything he needed to worry about.

  Mostly bruises. A few cuts. Nothing too bad except for the large gash on my leg. I need to stop the bleeding somehow.

  With no bandages or extra cloth, Alex ripped a strip from the hem of his pants and tied it tightly around his leg. It hurt, sending a shock of pain through his leg, making him suck in a breath between his teeth.

  How in the hell am I still alive? I should definitely be dead from that fall. That bubble thing must be magic! Alex chuckled at the absurdity, since magic definitely, 100%, wasn’t real.

  Right?

  I don't see how I'm alive. Marcus said the bottom was some kind of crevice or a flat unstable area. Did that earthquake recently open it up more? It makes no damn sense. And what is all this stuff? These ruins shouldn’t be down here.

  He had slowly stood up and was hobbling around the area. “I’ve never heard of any old civilizations being anywhere near this place, and if they were that old, they would definitely be more decayed,” he continued talking to himself. It felt more natural for him than just walking around alone, thinking. Being alone was something he wasn't fond of right now.

  “The ruins are weird too... They seem way too advanced. I’m not exactly an expert, but I don’t recognize any of the metals or stone. It's ridiculous. Wait… shit... Are these from aliens?!” Alex’s inner geek came out, thinking that he had stumbled upon some ancient alien ruins and would become world famous. "And rich… I love money and loot.”

  While limping around the ruins, he saw a lot of strange rocks, metals, and buildings—some of the pieces he picked up and put into his backpack. “Maybe I can sell some of this shit and make this whole caving disaster worth it. Assuming I don't die down here anyway…” He tried not to laugh at his morbid joke.

  In the middle of the ruins stood a pedestal. Bumbling his way over to it like a drunken idiot, he saw there was a book on it.

  “A book? Why the hell is a book sitting in the middle of ancient ruins, deep underground? Not sketchy at all.”

  The book was black, with silver stars all over it. Edges lined with gold, and on the front of it was an image. The shapes looked like people standing in a circle, surrounding what appeared to be more stars or planets.

  As he reached out to touch the book, his fingers began to tingle. The feeling was similar to being near something electrical, or static electricity, making your hair stand on end. Hesitantly, he kept reaching for it, and when he touched it… nothing.

  “Really thought something crazy was going to happen, or I’d get shocked.”

  He picked up the book; it felt warm, almost hot, but it felt comforting. His left hand slid across the cover, fingers grabbing the end of it, and he pulled.

  It didn’t open.

  He pulled again, but nothing changed. It refused to budge. Using both hands to get some leverage, he tried to pry the cover up, but once again, it didn’t.

  “What the hell? What kind of book doesn’t open? It looks brand new. Even if it were old, it still should.”

  He shook his head at the damn thing and decided to put it in his backpack. When he had time later and wasn’t in such a dire situation, he’d try again.

  Huffing and tired as he moved around the area, Alex looked for a place to take a short nap. He picked a random spot, lying down against a wall, using his backpack for a pillow, and quickly fell asleep.

  A loud ding startled Alex awake. The sound was familiar to him.

  “Huh? Was that a microwave? Because I could definitely go for a pizza hot pocket,” he said sleepily. “Not those ham and cheese ones, though, they suck.”

  He continued wiping his eyes, thinking he was just half asleep, because he could see words in front of him.

  Words he could read.

  ---Welcome to the Universal System---

  How was my first chapter?

  This is the first chapter of the first story I've ever written, so please keep that in mind. But I sincerely hope everyone enjoys it! I have many more chapters come!