Candle Lit (A Jarod Story)

“Only I can see in the dark,” the voice said, echoing against the rigid cave walls.

He lifted his face slowly up, trying to rise from his flat on his belly position. His hands rested on a hard, rough surface. As he moved them slightly, he could feel sharp pains in his arms, and could feel the dirt creeping through the slashes in his hands. He could barely see, but he could hear the faint dripping of water, the clicking of the bats resting above his head, and the little feet of scurrying critters. He felt a tickling sensation on his back left calf, and quickly tried to kick off the intruder. What he quickly realized to be a spider, clung tightly onto the desperate men’s leg. By this point, he jumped up onto his feet, and stumbled backwards from the sudden movement. His head came down hard, it took him a second to recover, and realize the spider has clamored off of him before the fall, or possibly flung off from the immense force. Either way, the man was grateful for the spider to be gone.

He winced as he sat back up, feeling the sting of every one of the cuts on his body. The pain was harsh, but he could put it behind him as he now tried to figure out where he was. His eyes had adjusted, yet it was still hard to see anything in the dark cave. He could hear the critters creeping around him, he could feel the rocks on the ground, and he could see jagged edges (possible boulders and rocked) jetting out of the walls. He peered ahead, and he realized the cave went on for a ways in front and behind him.

His brows furrowed as he wondered where exactly he was. More importantly, how did he get there? Without second thought, his fingers began to curl around his hands and crack his knuckles. Often when he ventured into deep thought, he would fidget around by cracking his knuckles, neck, and grasping random objects next to him to toss around from hand to hand.

He sat there for a few minutes, trying to remember what he was doing last. He didn’t remember much, but he could make out a picture of the lady place he was at.

The Memory:

“That’s probably not the best idea, hun,” his mother had said to him. Jarod was holding old leftovers in his hands and he tried to shove down as much as he could. “Cause, like that’s way over a week old, you really shouldn’t be eating that.”

“I mean it still tastes good, mom,” he responded with a noodle dangling from his lower lip.

“No you still shouldn’t eat that,” she said while raising her hand slightly, wanting to grab the rest from him and toss it in the trash. He took a step back, shoving yet another handful down.

“Bro that’s not really smart,” Jarod turned around to see his brother looking up from his phone towards him.

“Nate, mind your own business please,” their mom said. “Jarod give that to me.” Jarod reluctantly handed over the rest of the nasty noodles.

…

Jarod ended up being even more confused, why would that be the last thing he membered? Why can’t he remember anything after that? Does his family know where he is? Thoughts swirled around in his mind, and he sat there for what seemed like hours. Yet, nothing made sense, nothing added up.

To how demise, he found no other solution than to find a way out. He didn’t have his phone, and he had no other way of communication with anyone outside of the cave. But that caused him to wonder, was anyone in here with him? Again, the only escape he could figure, was to get up, and search the area.

Because of the resting for a while that he was able to acquire, Jarod stood up slowly, and looked around at the new angle. After a few more looks, he found that all he could do, was walk forward.

Walking that lasted for hours, he only could see a few feet in front of him. Then he turned yet another corner, but this time a glow burned the walls, and made Jarod flinch. A candle on the floor, light flickering, lit recently. Dark, seemingly moving shadows, edgy sharp rocks, and a candle sitting in the middle of it all.

All the while he was staring at the unusual candle, a monster behind him crept up towards him….

That was when, the light flickered, the sun went dark, and Jarod was never found, never seen, never heard again.

Poor Jarod