Deep in the Unknown

“Lilyana, WATCH OUT”! Emiliano yelled out, as he watched the shadowy figure grab and drag her away into the dark. He fell to his knees asking himself the question, “what, what can I possibly do now"? Standing there as though his heart was ripped away.

Ring, ring, ring. Ring, ring, ring, the phone went on. “Hello”, Lilyana answered. “Hey beautiful, what are you up too”, Emiliano asked. “Oh, nothing too much, why, what’s up”? Lilyana replied. “I wanted to know if you would like to take a special hike with me”, Emiliano said in a sweet voice. “What’s the special occasion”, Lilyana said as she giggled in enjoyment of Emiliano’s charmingness. “You’ll see, it's something I’ve been wanting to show you for a while now. And I can’t wait, I really hope you like it though”. Said Emiliano with a not so confident laugh. “Ok, what time would you like me to be ready by”? Lilyana asked. “Get ready now, I’ll be there in twenty, bye”. Emiliano said excitedly. “ Ok, bye babe”. She quickly replayed before he could hang up on her.

As Lilyana hurried up and got ready, Emiliano got a sudden knock at his door. He finished putting on his shoes and grabbed the ring box and made his way to answer the door. By the time Emiliano opened the door, no one was there. In a rush to leave to pick up Lilyana, the girl he was going to ask to marry him, he failed to realize someone with a black hood was staring at his every move. Emiliano made his way to his car and drove straight to Lilyana’s. They’ve been together for three years and Emiliano was finally ready to ask the question. Nervous as Hell, he went up to Lilyana’s door and escorted her all away to the car door. As he opened the car door for her Lilyana kissed him before getting in.

“Thank you, you see after three years of being together, you’re still a gentleman. I'm really glad we found each other, what about you”? Lilyana asked as she smiled and stared, waiting for him to answer. “ What kind of question is that, you know my answer, it’s the same as always”. Emiliano replied as he smiled back at her. “I know but I just want you to say it, please, for me”! Lilyana processed. “I am very blessed and glad that we are together too, baby”. Emiliano scuffed.

As they made their way to the hiking trail, the person who was following Emiliano had beat them there and made their way to the hiking trail first, going to the spot where Emiliano is planning to take Lilyana. Leaving something there for them to find. And hoping for their plan to work.

“Where are you taking me, we’ve been walking for about two hours now”. Lilyana exclaimed in exhaustion. “We are almost there, you’ll see, just a bit more and we’ll be there”. Emiliano said to put Lilyana at ease. “Look, let me help you up. Isn’t it beautiful”. Emiliano said. “It’s breathtaking! The view of the forest, and cave right behind us, it’s all so breathtaking”! Lilyana was blown away with happiness. “Lilyana can you do me the favor and turn around, I want to ask you a life changing question.” Emiliano said with the ring in his hand and kneeling down. “ Yeah of course, what’s… Emiliano!” Lilyana said in shock and in tears. “I wanted to bring you here for a while now and show you this special place so I could ask you to be mine”. Emiliano said so sweet and tenderly. “I don’t know what to say Emiliano”. Lilyana standing there speechless. “Just say yes”! Emiliano said with such excitement and joy. “Yes! I will be yours,yes”! She said with happy tears forming.

Emiliano got up fast and picked up Lilyana, swinging her around in happiness. After hugging Lilyana he put her down and then they decided to walk around, fascinated with the cave, they ventured inside. Using their phones for light, they found a weird object just sitting in the center of the cave, untouched, it seemed. Emiliano went up to it and realized it was a box wrapped in some sort of brown paper with his name written on it. Emiliano, shocked, drops the package. With his reaction, Lilyana gets concerned and goes up to him to ask what’s wrong.

“The package says my name”! Emiliano says in a spooked tone. “Let me see, well it does have your name on it. Maybe it was meant to be! Why don’t you open it, it could be something really valuable or cool”! Lilyana said, ready to open the package. “Ok, it wouldn’t hurt to do it, but I’ll let you, since it seems you really want to”.

As Lilyana unwraps the package they find that it’s just a box. Thinking that there might be something inside, they opened the box. At first they thought it was an empty box that they just couldn’t see the bottom. But as they shined their lights as bright as they could in it, they realized there was no bottom. They tested their theory by dropping rocks in it and waiting to hear them hit the bottom, but all they heard was water droplets falling from the cave. With them astonished by their discovery, they messed around with the box. After a bit of fun and games they walked out of the cave with the box then sat it down so they could sit and take a rest before heading back to their car. In the moment that they took their eyes off the box, it had made its way in the darkness of the cave. Sitting there confused, they looked at each other for reassurance that they weren’t going crazy. But when they looked back the box was gone. While in the cave they could hear what sounded like each other's voices.

“Lilyana, where are you going”? Said Emiliano in a fantic voice. “ I’m going to check it out, what else”? Lilyana said without any worry. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I think we should just leave and forget this box was ever here”. Emiliano said in a concerned voice. “ Calm down, I’m just going to check it out real quick that’s it and then we can leave, ok”? “Lilyana, WATCH OUT”! Emiliano yelled out, as he watched the shadowy figure grab and drag her away into the dark. He fell to his knees asking himself the question, “what, what can I possibly do now"? Standing there as though his heart was ripped away.

Suddenly Emiliano hears something coming from the cave. The sound of something getting closer was making its way to him. Scared out of his mind, Emiliano struggled to crawl backwards. Out of nowhere he hears a woman talk within the cave.

“She’s gone and now you’ll be alone, like I was. The woman said as she came out of the darkness of the cave. The same woman who had followed Emiliano from his apartment.

“Who are you and what do you want from us, give me Lilyana back”! Yelled Emiliano.

The mysterious lady threw something at Emiliano’s feet and waited for him to react.

“Do you remember that day? Do you? Because I never forgot”! The lady yelled in anger. “That’s the day I got in a car crash.” Emiliano said in guilt and confusion. “And for what, all because you couldn’t just walk home and instead have to drive drunk”! The lady said angrily. “Why are you bringing this up, and how do you know my past, and where is Lilyana”! Emiliano said demanding answers. “Don’t you remember me! I was the one in the passenger seat… and my husband...was the driver. What did we ever do to you! We were just trying to get home! And you just had to come along and take my husband away! The love of my life, lifeless, right beside me as I watched, sitting there waiting for help because I couldn’t move! Ever since then I swore, swore to get revenge. And now I’ve done it, you’ll never see Lilyana again! Never!

Emiliano, horrified out of his mind, still desperately yelled out for Lilyana hoping to hear her voice. But all he heard was silence.

“The man who lives within the box grabbed her and took her with him and there is no way of getting her back”. Said the woman. “So enjoy the rest of your life while you still have it, boy. Because you won’t have forever”.