Song of the chapter – Stone by Alice In Chains

Waking into darkness, a sense of strange familiarity washed over Eliana. She could tell her body was still, the movement had stopped. But she very distinctly remembered the feeling of falling, much the same as a drop on a huge rollercoaster would feel, but without the sensation coming to an end. In fact, Eliana couldn't remember it ending at all. In the moments after she tripped, the feeling had been endless. Then the darkness had washed over her, mind and body, and now there she lay, on some type of cave floor in the pitch black.

With no sound or light around her, Eliana fumbled around for her phone, curious about the time and how long they had been laying in the darkness, searching her pockets. Suddenly she groaned in frustration, remembering that she had left it plugged in back at Aine's house. So she continued to reach out blindly, feeling for something, anything, recognizable. The only thing her hand came into contact with was Harper.

"Ouch!"

Whoops. Eliana had squeezed Harper's arm more vigorously than she realized.

"Sorry. Are you okay?" Eliana asked with concern.

"Yeah. Sure. I'm in a freaking cave, in complete darkness. With no way out...apparently. I'm perfect." Harper replied, voice laced with sarcasm.

"I don't want to remind you, but I will. This was your idea, remember?" Eliana said, now clearly irritated by the entire situation. How the hell had they gotten themselves into this mess?

"Sure, throw that in my face, while I'm lying on it." Harper shot back. "What happened? One minute we were walking along, and the next we were falling, like forever. And this place doesn't seem like it's the same part of the cave..."

"I'm not sure. I remember the falling, and then just nothing. Check the time on your phone. How long have we been... I don't know asleep or something." Eliana instructed.

"Hang on." Harper called. Eliana could hear fabric shuffling and things being moved. "Dang it! It must have fallen out when we fell."

"Let's feel around for our packs." She told her friend, suddenly noticing that she didn't have it secured to her back. How in the world had that happened? It was as if all of their belongings had disappeared when they fell.

Both girls got on hands and knees, crawling in small circles around their position in the cave, searching for their supplies. Neither could find anything, however, and both huffed in frustration.

"Now what?" Harper asked pointedly.

"How should I know? You read that brochure a few times, what did it say about situations like this?" Eliana put back on Harper.

"Nothing. Nowhere did it mention what to do if you fall into a freaking cave black hole. I mean, really, what even is this! Ahhh!" Harper had lost control of her composure and spent the next few minutes freaking out. Eliana wasn't far behind, but pulled from an inner strength to try to remain calm. Someone needed to be level headed.

"Okay, here's what we'll do. We'll stay really close, maybe you can grab on to my sweatshirt or something, and then we walk right up against the wall, like feeling our way out of here." Eliana explained.

"One problem. We don't know which.way.is.out." Harper drew out the last few words for emphasis.

"What choice do we have, Harper? No light, no supplies, no phone...we have to try." Eliana was determined. "I'll lead, you stick to me like glue. I don't want us getting separated.

"Fine," was Harper's only response. She crawled dutifully behind Eliana's position, then both girls felt for the wall. The ground was smooth, the dirt of the cave no longer riddled with stones or pebbles. If Eliana had a guess, she would have said it was paved, as smooth as it felt. It was also warm to the touch. When they first entered, the cave had felt cold, Eliana remembered but kept moving anyway. Once they were right beside the wall of the cave, both girls slowly stood up, remembering that the ceiling had been lower right before they fell.

"Um, this doesn't seem right." Harper spoke aloud. "I can stand straight up. I should be hunched over."

"That's what I thought, too," Eliana said. She took her free hand, the one not gripping Harper's, and ran her hand up the side of the cave. Her arm went straight up above her head and still felt nothing.

"The ceiling is out of my reach. That's higher than it was when we walked in. We must be in a different part of this cave." She declared. "Stay really quiet for a minute."

"Kay." Harper responded, then went silent. For the first time since waking up, Eliana listened, really listened, to her surroundings. Since their sight was of no use, she felt like the other senses needed to come into play. Eliana listened carefully. Was there a breeze she could follow? A noise?

At first she heard nothing. But then, just as she was about to give up, she finally made out a small whisper of a sound. It actually did sound like a whisper, but without words.

"Do you hear that?" Eliana asked, turning back to her friend.

"What?" Harper asked, confusion in her voice.

"Listen carefully." She instructed her friend.

The girls were silent for a minute or two. Then Eliana heard it again, the whisper of a sound, unintelligible but sounding as if a word was being spoken.

"There, did you hear it now?" Eliana asked enthusiastically. Maybe someone else was in the cave, or a search party was looking for them. After all, their car was parked by the cave entrance, and they had no idea how long they had been in the cave. Someone might have realized they were missing. Like... well, Eliana couldn't think of anyone in the area who would notice.

"You're already hearing things. I didn't hear anything at all except our breathing," Harper said. "Nothing important."

Eliana kept her thoughts to herself, but she knew it wasn't their breathing. And she also knew it was important. She could feel it in her bones. "Just shhh, one more time."

Harper complied and remained silent. Sure enough, Eliana heard the sound yet again. This time she put all of her concentration on listening to it; what direction it came from, if there were syllables or letter sounds she could understand. Then it occurred to her that perhaps it wasn't in English.

Of course! She thought, another language would make sense if she couldn't understand it. But her patience and clear thinking paid off, Eliana could tell the sound was coming from in front of them. Well, in the direction they were facing. She made the decision to continue in that direction, the sound spurring her forward. Harper stayed in tow, holding on to the back of Eliana's sweatshirt.

Every few feet, Eliana stopped to listen for the whisper. Each time she was rewarded with the sound, which she felt was a sign to continue in the direction she was going. If Harper had asked her what the heck was going on, Eliana wasn't sure she could explain. There was just something in the pit of her stomach that told her to keep going. The sense of familiarity she had been feeling since arriving in Wolf Creek, and even stronger at Aine's home, grew stronger now with each step she took. Suddenly, Eliana gasped, the stone! She had put the stone and the letter in her pack as they left the house. But after her first fall on the way to the cave, she had pulled them out of the pack and put them in the pocket of her pants. They were cargo pants with zippered pockets in several places. Eliana had the urge to keep the stone close, for reasons unknown to even her, so she went along with her gut and placed the stone in one pocket and the letter in another.

Now that the pack had just vanished, she was glad she'd had that urge, and followed through with it. The feeling of home that had washed over her as she held the stone was almost identical to the way the strange cave had made her feel. Each step forward, that feeling increased, which reminded her of the stone in the first place. Eliana bent over to the pocket she had placed the stone within, unzipped it and reached inside. Sure enough, she pulled the stone out from its hiding place. The warmth she had felt back at the house was nothing compared to how the stone felt there in the cave. It was twice as warm as it had been!

"What are you doing?" Harper asked, "Did you find something?"

"Sort of." Eliana turned back to her friend, holding the stone out for her to see. "Look."

The stone had a slight glow to it, something she either didn't notice or it didn't have before. Eliana's open palm was illuminated as the stone continued to display a small glowing quality.

"Is that the freaky rock?" Harper asked. "Why in heck is it glowing? What doesthat?"

"Yeah, it's Aine's stone, and I'm not sure why, it might contain phosphorescence." Eliana theorized. Although it's glow was very different than a neon sign, made from the natural material that glowed in the dark. The stone's glow was more like a sparkle, or a firelight, than a true glow.

"This just went from strange to Twilight zone. I'd say 'I'm out' if I could actually get out. But obviously I'm stuck here. This is a dream right? Or maybe we're dead." Harper waited a beat, starting to lose it. "Yeah, that's it. We're dead. But let's keep trying to get out of here. Which we won't. Cause we're dead."

Eliana took a deep breath, realizing she'd need to continue to be the level headed one. "We aren't dead, Harper." She grabbed Harper's hand once again, gripping it tightly. "We just need to keep moving."

"Yeah, yeah." Harper dismissed Eliana's insistence on their living status.

The pair continued to move forward. At first it seemed like the darkness had swallowed them, Eliana noticing that her eyes refused to adjust. But the further they went, continuously stopping for Eliana to listen intently, trying to hear the whisper, the thinner the darkness appeared to her. She had the sense that they were climbing out of it, but climbing into whatshe had no clue.

Little by little, it seemed to Eliana that there was the hint of light up ahead of them. "Look, can you see that?" she asked Harper.

"See? Are you kidding? Nah, if we're not dead, we must be blind."

"Harper!" Eliana called out, "You have to get a hold of yourself!" She had turned and put her hands on Harper's shoulders. "If we are going to find our way out, you have to work with me! Now, let's start heading towards that light!" Eliana had lost all patience. They needed out of that cave soon or both of them would be losing their minds.

"Ha! See? Go towards the light. I told you we're dead." Harper insisted.

Eliana rolled her eyes, just about done with the hysterics, and continued forward without another word. Harper would just have to keep up with her if she wanted to see the actual light soon.

More time passed, they followed the curves of the cave walls and the light did indeed increase. It was strong enough at that point to give Eliana hope, they were nearing the end of their blind journey. Sure enough, a few minutes later they could see an opening in the cave, Eliana gave a little cheer and turned back to see Harper's reaction.

"Yeah, okay. I see the light," was all she said.

The girls finally emerged from the cave, having to bend down to fit through the exit. It was quite obviously a different opening than the one they had entered through. Eliana stood up first and took a look around them. She sucked in a breath and gasped.

This was not even the same area. She had no idea where they were. Even the sky was different. When they entered it had been gloomy, threatening to rain. This sky was blue and crystal clear, with only the most picturesque clouds above. It looked like a painting. The surrounding landscape was nothing like they had seen before. The lush grasses and wild flowers were replaced with tall trees, shrubs and large bolders. It seemed more like a forest.

The joy of finally making it out of the dark cave was immediately replaced with horror at the knowledge that they were lost. Completely and utterly lost. Neither girl had any clue where they were or how to get back to where they started. And returning to the cave was not an option.

"What now?" Harper asked, clearly understanding that they were in a foreign part of Montana.

"You tell me, Ms. Adventurer. For someone who was all gung ho this morning, you sure have changed your tune. Try helping for a change, then maybe your sour negativity will improve." Eliana was done with Harper's tone. It was time to woman-up, whether she liked it or not.

"Fine, fine. But this is all probably a dream anyway. I'm sure we are both still out cold somewhere inside that cave. I mean, this doesn't even happen in real life, right?" Harper replied, not quite ready to admit their predicament was real.

"Right. Come on, let's start walking down the hill. Maybe we'll find a trailhead or a marker, or a ranger. Something."

"Whatever. Let's go."

They walked in silence, weaving their way down among the boulders and trees. The ground was covered in some type of pine needle, but it was nothing like they had ever seen before. Eliana's sense of energy and belonging seemed to be stronger than ever as they continued further down the mountainside. It practically called her name, bringing her heart rate up. For the first time since their strange fall into nothingness, Eliana was nervous.

True to form, Eliana slipped on the pine-like droppings and fell right on a rock. As she stood up, blood trickled down her leg from the scrape she received.

"Hmmm. Blood. Guess we're not dead yet." Harper commented.

"Funny." Eliana replied dryly, wiping the dirt and blood as best she could, considering they didn't have any first aid supplies anymore. Everything had been in their backpacks.

They rounded a curve, passing a clump of the odd trees and seemed to finally come to a level pathway. Eliana took a few more steps, then halted suddenly, causing Harper to crash right into her back.

"Hey!" Harper exclaimed, rubbing her head from the collision.

Eliana whispered, "Look."

A few feet away stood a man, looking right at them, clothed in strange attire and carrying a sword. Without taking a step towards them, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Welcome to The Ferlands, Eliana. I'm glad you've finally arrived."

Eliana promptly fainted〰🖤〰

Thanks so much for reading! I love your comments and connecting with you ❤️

The next chapter may be posted early, and the following chapter late. I'm so sorry in advance but I don't know what my WiFi situation will be because I'm going on the trip of a lifetime to Paris!!! I will do my best 😉

When I listen to Stone, I hear frustration, and a sense of being lost. That may not have anything to do with the meaning of the song, but I also picked it for the concept of "stone" as in the walls of that cave...

https://youtu.be/9KmYFY5oOvM