This story is based on the prompt "June 2022 | Devil's Den" published in the book Creepypasta Contests as posted on WattpadCreepypasta 's profile.

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I wanted to feel bad. I really did but I just didn't care. I had told them this was a bad idea. I had told them we should have just gone home. Now I was standing in their blood. Not just standing in it but I was covered in it.

*~*~*

"Hey Lexi, we're going to explore the village and those caves we found. Do you want to join?"

I smiled a bit and nodded my head. I was a mythology major and I was quite surprised there were a lot of us. I never actually made friends with anyone from my class but we planned a lot of trips to visit places. I never made friends with them because I found out pretty quickly that I tended to get a lot darker than them.

"This is going to be epic! They say these caves were the birthplace of count Dracula. Where he made a deal with the devil."

"In the Greek myth they are a direct link to Hades himself in the underworld. Like if you wander too far you will end up in Hades' bedroom." Everyone laughed.

"I heard that the caves actually belonged to Satan himself. Like a bunch of Satanists cursed them or something."

"Wickens believe that evil is rooted in the air and ground around the caves."

I leaned forward a little just to include myself in the conversation. We all studied mythology but each of us were interested in different fields. This single cave system was the only connection they could find between all of our passions.

"It was recorded in an ancient document that there was a king who believed the ground was holy. He disappeared for 7 days and nights in the caves. When he finally returned his eyes had been clawed out and his tongue ripped from his head. On his deathbed he wrote one clue about what happened. Seek the devil in his home and he will show you the truth. Since then the locals guard the caves and no one has been allowed inside." I shrugged and leaned back.

Everyone frowned at me. "No way."

"The locals call the caves the Devil's Den." I stated.

"Okay fine. I dare you to prove it." One of the guys smirked.

"That's not a good idea."

"Chicken shit."

"We might as well go home if your intentions were to actually enter the caves." I shrugged. "The locals won't allow it."

"Lexi is scared. Wow, that's a first."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not scared. I'll go into the cave. But just so you all know I gave you a fair warning."

Where their research was based mostly on hearsay, mine was based on more factual grounds. I found data that supported my theories. My research had lead me to this cave months ago. I hadn't gone in and it wasn't because I was scared.

Call it intuition if you want but something told me it was a bad idea. Since I was curious and they weren't going to listen I decided that it would be fine to go along with it. That's why I agreed to the dare.

Not even a full day in the village and we were already sneaking our way to the cave. We set up camp just outside the entrance. That was the first thing that made me realise they didn't want to be here.

"Okay here's the deal. Lexi will go in while we wait at the entrance. If any of the stories we believe are true she has to bring us something to prove it."

I sighed and shrugged. "Or we can just leave."

"Don't chicken out."

"I'm being practical." I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, why don't all of you go to the village then?"

"So you can buy something and pretend? No way."

I shrugged and picked up a torch. I tried and honestly if they weren't going to listen then whatever happened wasn't going to be my fault. I made my way to the opening and took a few things with me. Everyone watched me and I noticed the surprise on their faces. That was my second que that they didn't want to be there.

"See you guys." I turned and walked into the cave.

I heard my name being called as I continued walking. I guess you could say that was the third indicator. It was also the moment I realised just how superstitious all my classmates were. If they believed in all that garbage then why dare me to do it? I opted to ignore the lot of them.

It hardly felt long until I realised that I couldn't go further. I looked around and the only path was the one I had come from. I sighed as I tried to think about how I got there. My mind was hazy as I dug through it.

"I must say. I've never come across someone so organised."

I spun around and came face to face with someone and a door. I frowned and looked around the person at the door. Then I looked around the cave again. I knew what I had seen. I was certain of it. This was a dead end.

"What the hell?"

"Yes indeed. But I know you were probably wondering about the door." The person grinned at me.

"Can you slow down for just a second here." I pinched my nose suddenly feeling a major headache.

"I suppose we could. Like I said I've never quite met someone as organised as you."

I closed my eyes to hold back the growing headache. I used the opportunity to also try and figure out what was happening. A funny thought occurred to me and I smiled.

"What's amusing?"

"Oh just wondering if you're Hades and this is your room." I shrugged it off.

"Are people still telling those silly stories?"

I shrugged and looked over at the person. He was beautiful, like a painful beauty. I imagined people lining up in front of him and being so entranced that they'd just impale themselves. Or maybe their eyes burt out because they couldn't look at him. He was also very tall. Like if we still lived in the old days he would be considered a giant because he was about 7 feet. Maybe 6'8.

"Are you done?" He frowned.

"If those are silly stories then what's the truth?"

"I think you know." He smirked.

"I'm a mythologist. I probably don't know."

He thought about it for a minute. "In your case I would be the devil and this is hell. Or the devil's den if you will."

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to tell me the truth?"

He smirked. "The truth is relative. For instance if I told you that your friends outside are hoping you get lost and don't come back would you believe me?"

I shrugged. "They're not my friends. And I really don't care."

"What if I said that I was your father?" He ginned.

"You watch too many movies." I rolled my eyes.

"Okay fine. No more games." He leaned forward. "I have been going through your mind. This is how I know these things. This is why I said you were organised. It's like walking through a library or museum. You, my dear, are going to murder your classmates."

"Really?" I rolled my eyes.

"Yes. Do you know why you are going to do that?" I shook my head. "It's the same reason you came here. You wanted me to do it for you. Sure you tried to warn them. All futile attempts."

I rolled my eyes at him again. The only way out was the door. The cave behind me had disappeared. The headache I had was pretty intense. He was still smiling at me.

"You can leave. But if you come back I expect you to keep to your idea." He tilted his head and I shrugged.

I walked past him. As soon as I exited the place the headache was gone. I sighed relieved and stretched. The camp was still set up outside and it was still dark. Everyone was staring at me with a mixture of confusion and relief. I raised an eyebrow and stretched again before sitting down.

"We thought you were really going to go all the way."

"What?" I frowned.

"When we started calling for you you came back but..."

"Wait." I held my hand up and pinched my nose. "You mean to say I just left? Like a few minutes ago?"

They looked at each other and then me. "Yeah."

I grinned and shook my head. "Wicked."

"Lexi?" One of the girls touched my shoulder.

"You guys have to go in. I didn't turn back, I just kept walking even when you were calling. I was just walking and I met this guy there too. And then I was here. You have to see it to believe it." I grinned. "Or we could all just leave."

As expected the majority of the guys frowned at me. They started calling me a liar and a chicken. Eventually they said that they would go in but the girls still refused. I wasn't too worried. I knew that once all the guys were gone they would follow.

We left all our camping gear and took a few touches. The guys lead the group and I couldn't stop smiling. They were all idiots. It was so easy to play them. I probably shouldn't have enticed them. Maybe I should have been more serious. Or perhaps I should have been frightened but the devil was right.

I was intrigued by these caves from the moment I heard about them. Yes, I heard. My mom always told me about the village she was from. The ghost stories about the caves. That was why I went into mythology. It was what I lived my life for.

I was the reason my classmates stumbled across the cave. Sure I was warning them to stay away. My mom was always terrified and her stories were always cautionary. On the other hand, I wanted so much more. I wanted to see it, feel it for myself.

I watched as the cave changed around us. The others hadn't noticed it and I smiled. I slipped the knife out of my sleeve and watched my hand drive it into one of the guy's skulls... Wait, knife? I was taken back for a minute as I watched myself kill my classmates. The cave was growing smaller around us.

I wanted to feel bad. I really did but I just didn't care. I had told them this was a bad idea. I looked up from their bloody bodies. The man was standing in front of me and grinning. He sat down and a chair appeared under him.

"That was fun." He laughed. "Don't you think that was fun?”

"I didn't do that." I said.

"Well of course not silly." He shook his head. "I did. I mean it was really fun having such a controlled puppet. Usually they fight and cry and carry on blaming me. It's not very pleasant."

I frowned. "It wasn't me who went back either was it?"

His smile grew. "My my you catch on fast. No it wasn't. You would have definitely gotten them away from here. You my dear are an anomaly. An enigma if you would."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Normally people who think like you would end up in my domain. But you would not. You wouldn't have even crossed my path if it weren't for this. Your obsession for the dark and twisted is unique and a tad bit scary for normal standards." He leaned forward. "Tell me. How does it feel knowing that this was your fault?"

"It wasn't." I shrugged. "Technically this was you. As you said. I would have gotten them away. None of this would have happened."

"Your hands are covered in their blood." He frowned. "Do you not feel the slightest bit of regret?"

I shrugged. How could I regret something I didn't do? I didn't kill them even if it looks like I did. I even told them we should leave. I frowned a bit. Time wasn't a factor here either. How could I have walked out two minutes after walking in.

"This didn't really happen did it?" I asked.

The man leaned back and started laughing. "No, it didn't. How did you know?"

"It would be more likely if it was light outside when I walked out." I frowned, my head was throbbing.

"Clever. Fine I'll let you go for real then. On one condition." His smile grew and I knew then this was going to be something bad.

"Whatever you say." I heard myself say.

*~*~*

The devil's den was no myth. The man that lived there was no demon. He was more godlike in his appearance and had wings like an angel. He goes by many names but his favourite is Leviathan. I should have never gone there for any reason.

I had been missing for 3 days. Even after showing up unharmed most of my classmates didn't believe me. A few went in and never returned. I knew that they were dead. I knew that even the ones who didn't go would end up dead too.

"Lexi are you okay?"

I looked up at one of my female classmates. I frowned and went back to vomiting in the bin. It had been a month since we got back and nothing was the same. Life seemed so much more dull and boring. My classmates had been dying one by one.

"Lexi?"

"I'm pregnant so what do you think?" I rolled my eyes.

I didn't need a doctor to tell me that. I could feel the thing growing inside of me. My classmates stopped and turned to look at me. They all knew that I was a virgin. I smiled at the irony and shook my head.

"Who's the guy?"

"You didn't tell us you were seeing someone."

"What's so funny?"

They wouldn't understand. Even if I spelled it out for them. I was gone for 3 days because I had agreed to do anything. Turned out Leviathan wanted to be a father. I had never regretted agreeing to something in my life. Now I did.

I regretted taking the dare. I regretted taking mythology as a major. I regretted the majority of things that led me to that cave. Surprisingly enough I didn't regret letting Leviathan use my body as much as I should have.

"You're all going to die anyway." I shrugged. "What's funny is that you seem to think I got a boyfriend in three weeks and got pregnant."

They all froze and stared at me in surprise. There were 12 people in the initial group including me. 6 of them had died in the cave. Since returning home 2 more have died. There were 3 left. 3 more bodies that I was supposed to have killed in that cave.

(2510 Words)