Mammoth Cave

          There once was a cave, a haunted cave.  Two people, one named Jackie Carly and the other named Gabriel Lothy, went to it and explored it.  They got lost, but they never came back.

          Thirty seniors at Dumont High School were going on a field trip to Mammoth Cave.  Four of them, Casey Flemington, Bonnie Montav, Raquel Flemington, and Sophia Laureno have been there before.  The rest of them haven’t.  The seniors’ teacher’s name was Mrs. Grechell.  She was going with them.

          “Class, did you all remember to bring your flashlights?” she asked, waving her big, yellow flashlight in the air.

                   “Yes,” they said in unison.  Casey pulled at her auburn ponytail.  Her skin was light and golden.  Her sister, Raquel, had bronzish skin and black hair.  Their friends, Sophia and Bonnie, both had pale, brown skin and light brown hair.  They weren’t twins.  People often mistook them for twins.  All the students were sitting in their desks in a large classroom.

          “All right!  We’ll be boarding bus 458.  Be on the bus on time.  If any of you are late, we’re going to leave without you.”

          “Oooohhh!  I’m scared to be left behind!”  Said Chris Harvey, shaking like a three-year-old.

          “Mr. Harvey!  This is not a laughing matter!”  Shouted Mrs. Grechell, putting her hands on her blue-jeaned hips. 

          “Sorry,” apologized Chris, turning and laughing to his friends, Brian Richards and Holt Barry.

          “They are so immature,” whispered Raquel to Sophia.

          “Yeah.  They need to be more mature.”  Sophia said.  Mrs. Grechell picked up her hunter green jacket.

          “Class, get your jackets from your lockers and meet me at bus 458 in the front parking lot.”  They obeyed and they walked out into the hall.  Sophia and Bonnie walked over to their lockers on the right side of the hall.  Raquel and Casey walked over to their lockers on the left side.  Their lockers were right next to each other.  They turned their combinations and their lockers clicked open. 

          “I can’t wait to get to Mammoth Cave.”  Casey said, grabbing her multicolored coat.

          “Me neither.” Raquel said, doing the same.  She flipped her hair over her shoulders.  They closed their lockers and walked down the hallway.  As they walked down the hallway, Chris and his cronies ran up and gave them a little shove from behind.

          “Hey!  Don’t ever do that again!”  Raquel shouted, kicking his shin.  He laughed.  Holt and Brian didn’t laugh.  Chris winced as he walked down the hall ahead of them.

          “That bozo!  He gets on my nerves!”  Raquel exclaimed, pulling on her coat.

          “Oh I know!”  Casey said, putting on her coat, too.  Finally arriving at the bus parking lot, Casey and Raquel boarded bus 458 first.  They sat in the front on the left side.  Chris and his cronies got on second.  Chris and Holt sat right behind them.  Brian sat on the right side beside the two girls.  Brian had light brown hair, a goldish complexion, and light brown eyes.  Chris and Holt both had dark brown skin.  But Chris had gray eyes and Holt had gold eyes.  Chris had black hair and Holt had brown hair.

          “Hey Casey and Raquel.  Y’all goodie-goodies, aren’t you?”  Chris asked, pulling Casey’s auburn ponytail.

          “No we’re not goodie-goodies!  We just know how to act!”  She exclaimed, pulling her hair from his hand.  Chris shot back:

          “Dang!  I’m sorry Casey!”  Bonnie and Sophia got on after more seniors got on.  They sat in the middle of the bus.  Mrs. Grechell got on last, standing at the front of the luxurious bus.  It was a double decker bus.

          “All right!  Is everyone here?”

          “Yes!”

          “Good!  The teachers will be on the top floor of this bus.  If you need help, just come up, okay?”

          “Okay!”  Mrs. Grechell ran to the back of the bus and ran up the stairs to the top floor.  Everyone was ready.  The busdriver, Mr. Jarvis, a heavyset, balding man, started the bus and drove out of the school parking lot.  Casey was dozing off, her head leaning on Raquel’s shoulder.  Raquel didn’t mind; Casey did that when they were kids riding to elementary school.

          Arriving at Mammoth Cave, Casey awoke, yawning.  Mrs. Grechell came down and strolled to the front of the bus as it stopped. 

          “Okay kids.  Follow me to the entrance of the registration center.  I’ll register us in and we’ll be ready to go!”  Everybody followed her off the bus and they were standing outside.  Chris, Holt and Brian always got off last.  Casey, Raquel, Sophia, and Bonnie were in the very front, chatting about being at Mammoth Cave.  Bonnie lifted her black eyes to the pink, baby blue, and purple sky.

          “It’s beautiful here.  Don’t you think so, Sophia?”  Bonnie said, looking at her, smiling.  Sophia replied:

          “Oh yes!  It’s gorgeous out here!  So peaceful and calm!”  Walking up behind her, Chris mocked her:

          “ ‘So peaceful and calm!’  You’re stupid to say that!  This place is a dump!”  Sophia spun around, shouting at him:

          “You’re mean!  I hate you for saying that!  I never should’ve went out with you in the first place you creep!”  Chris was stunned, wide-eyed.  Holt and Brian were laughing at him.  Chris said in a small voice:

          “I am so sorry, Sophia!  I didn’t mean to---”

          “Yes you did,” Sophia cut in, tears flowing down her pretty face, “you wanted to make me cry!”  Everybody was amazed at Sophia shouting at him.  She used to be quiet and she never got this mad before!  Raquel gave Sophia a small, comforting hug.  Mrs. Grechell didn’t know what was going on as she walked to the registration center and came back.

          “What happened?  Is everything all right?”  Casey told her that Chris said something mean to Sophia and she got mad at him.

          “Oh my! Where’s Chris?  I need to speak to him right now!”

          “He’s over there, behind Bonnie.”  Casey said, pointing.  Mrs. Grechell raced over to Chris, dragging him by his arm.  He struggled in her grip.  She was fumed!  She dragged him on the bus.  She thrust him in the seat at the front.  She towered over him.

          “Why did you hurt Sophia’s feelings about this place?  Huh?  Answer me!”  He answered, stuttering.

          “I-I w-was ju-ju-just jo-jo-joking with her, ma’am!  I was!  Honest!  I’m so very so--" She cut him off.

          “No you’re not!  I’m making you stay on this bus until we’re done exploring the cave.”

          “No!  You can’t make me stay here!  I paid good money to go on this field trip!”  She was already off the bus, directing the rest of the kids to the registration center.  The busdriver stayed on the bus with him.

          “Tough break, kid,” the busdriver, Mr. Jarvis, said.  He was the only one left on the bus.  He started to cry.

          With everyone inside, two tour guides, one male, the other female, came out to greet them.

          “Welcome to Mammoth Cave!  We’ll be guiding you through the bowels of the cave.  Be prepared!”  The female tour guide, Maxine said.  She had long black hair, brown eyes, and a honey-brown complexion.  The male tour guide, Jackie, had black hair, blue eyes, and a honey-brown complexion.  They were brother and sister.  Jackie spoke up, smiling:

          “We’ve been in this business for five years.  We know all about this cave.  We also know what happened two years before.  Ask us.”  A boy raised his hand.  Maxine called on him:  “Yes sir?”

          “Is it true that two people disappeared in this cave?”  Maxine answered, smiling:

          “Yes.  That is correct.  Any more questions?”  No one raised his or her hands. 

          “Good.  Now everyone grab a helmet and follow us.”  Everyone grabbed a helmet off a rack near the big registration desk.  There had to be at least a hundred helmets on that rack.  Everyone strapped on his or her helmets.

          Maxine and Jackie led them to the cave entrance.  It was pitch black in there.  Everyone gasped.  Maxine and Jackie turned around to face them. 

          “Welcome to Mammoth Cave!”  Jackie said in a low voice.  Maxine spoke up:

          “This is the longest cave in America.  Approximately ten miles long.  There are some very narrow spaces where you have to go single file.”  Raquel gasped.  She was claustrophobic but she didn’t let anyone know.  Maxine and Jackie turned back around and led them through the dark entrance.  Jackie spoke up:

          “Turn on your lights, guys.  It’ll get darker as we go further in.”  Everyone turned on his or her lights.  The entrance was suddenly illuminated with thirty-five bright lights.  Slowly, they started walking through the entrance.  Suddenly, there was a loud screeching and a flap of wings.  Raquel, Sophia, Casey, and Bonnie started screaming.  Others started to laugh.  Maxine spoke up:

          “Don’t worry girls.  These bats won’t harm you.  They’re just fruit bats.”  Everybody else kept on going.

          “I doubt that.”  Casey whispered to Bonnie, who was shaking.

          “Are you all right Bonnie?  Bonnie?”  Bonnie collapsed.  Casey gasped.  Raquel and Sophia rushed over from the crowd.  Raquel started crying.

          “Is sh-she going to be okay?”  She said in a shaky voice.  Casey felt for a pulse.  It was faint.

          “She has a faint pulse.” Casey said.  Sophia spoke up, playing with the end of her light brown ponytail.

          “I remember she told me she had this severe fear of bats.  She would start to shake, she would sweat, and she’d collapse.  She told me a name for it.  What was it?  Oh yeah!  It was batophobia.”

          “Batophobia?  Weird!”  Raquel said.  She was calm now.  Casey looked up and saw faint lights disappearing behind a rock.  They’re leaving us!  They didn’t even stop to see what was going on! She thought to herself.  She looked at Bonnie lying crumpled on the ground.  She remembered Chris on the bus.  She didn’t tell anybody that she had telepathic powers.  She closed her eyes and pictured Chris.  She tapped into his mind: Chris!   We need your help!  Bonnie’s collapsed!  Hurry!   Chris had his head against the back of a seat.  He suddenly heard a faint voice in his mind.

          “Casey!” He whispered and ran off the bus.  He threw open the doors to the registration center and ran in.  The desk clerk stopped him.  She asked him what group he was in.  He told her and she approved.  He grabbed a helmet and sped to the cave entrance.  Chris clicked on the light.  He slowly walked in, being cautious.  Then, he heard Casey’s voice in his mind again.  He ran. 

          Meanwhile, back to where the four girls were, Casey opened her eyes as she heard thudding footsteps running towards them.  He stopped just behind Raquel, breathless.

          “How’d you find us?” She questioned, eyeing him.  Casey answered for him, sighing because she didn’t want to tell them.

          “We have telepathic powers.  That’s how I contacted him.”  Raquel and Sophia nearly fainted.

          “Whoa!  I didn’t know that!” Sophia said.  Chris walked over and picked up Bonnie.  She was limp.  Suddenly, Bonnie sighed.  Casey gasped. 

          “Bonnie?  Are you okay?” Casey asked, touching her face.  Raquel and Sophia walked up behind Casey.  Sophia touched her shoulder, lightly.  Casey almost jumped.  Sophia asked if Bonnie was okay.

          “Is Bonnie okay?”

          “I think so.  I heard her sigh.”  Chris still held her.  He started to walk to the front of them.

          “Come on.  We gotta find the others.”  The girls followed him.  They walked slowly, cautiously.  Suddenly, Sophia’s light went out.  She stopped.

          “Oh no!  My light went out!  Wait you guys!”  She fumbled with the switch on her helmet.  It didn’t work.  She started to feel around for a wall.  She couldn’t find one.  The others were already ahead of her.  She was in the dark and she was scared.  Sophia started to sob.  Suddenly, a shadow moved beside her.  She turned her head that way only to see darkness.  She started to run.  As she was running, she didn’t see a wide hole open up in front of her.  She fell, screaming all the way.

          Meanwhile, Casey, Raquel, Chris, and Bonnie were rounding a corner when they heard a scream.  Raquel spun around.

          “Where’s Sophia?  I thought she was with us?” She said, tapping Casey’s shoulder.

           "Yeah, I thought so, too."  Casey said.  Casey went to Chris and felt for a pulse on Bonnie.  It was getting stronger but she was still unconscious.  She the told Chris and Raquel.

          "Her pulse is stronger.  She's still knocked out though."  She started to walk off when she heard a loud howl.

          "Did you guys her that?  It sounded like a howl!"  Raquel and Chris shook their heads no.  Bonnie suddenly moved.  Her hand shot up and fastened around Chris' throat.  He dropped her but she stood right up.  She opened her eyes.  They glowed an eerie yellow.  Chris stepped back.  Casey stepped in front of Bonnie.  She saw her eyes.

          "Bonnie?  It's me, Casey.  Say something!"  Bonnie answered in a booming voice:

          "Why are you here?  This is my cave!  Leave at once!"  Raquel spoke up.

          "Bonnie!  Why are you talking like that?  Are you possessed or something?"  Raquel stepped up to her.  Bonnie's hand shot outward.  Her hand glowed a bright yellow.

             "DIE!"  A yellow beam shot from her hand and hit Raquel in the chest.  Raquel staggered and fell.  The beam pulsated as it hit her.  Suddenly, the beam stopped.  Bonnie's hand fell to her side.  Raquel breathed in a sharp breath.  She sat up slowly, rubbing her chest.  Bonnie looked up at a jagged rock on the ceiling right behind Raquel's head.  Her eyes were still yellow.  She squinted and the rock shook.  Casey and Chris looked at the shaking rock.  They wanted to run but they were frozen with fear.

          Suddenly, the rock cracked off the ceiling and started to fall.  Raquel was still rubbing her chest, unaware of the falling rock.  It scraped the back of her head off.  Raquel fell backward.  Bright red blood gushed from her wound.  Casey screamed and ran over to her dead sister.

          "AAAAAAAAAAAAGGHH!  YOU KILLED HER, BONNIE!"  Tears streamed down Casey's golden face.  Bonnie collapsed on the rock floor beside Chris.  He knelt down and felt for a pulse.  There was no pulse.  He told Casey that Bonnie was dead.  She cried even more.  She was kneeling beside her sister, hands holding her head up.  She let Raquel's head fall to the floor as she looked at her bloody hands.  Chris wrapped his arms around her and held her.

          Sophia fell for a long time before landing on something hard.  She lay sprawled on her back.  She was laying on a smooth, flat rock.  As she slowly sat up, she felt dizzy.

          " Man that smarts!  What'd I land on? "  She turned around and looked behind her.  There was a big rock.  Sophia gasped.  Red blood was running down it.  She touched the back of her head.  The helmet was split and blood dripped out of it.  As she brought her hand back in front of her face, she saw her blood on it.  Suddenly, she fell back and closed her eyes.  She never woke up again.

          Chris was still holding Casey.  Casey shook his hands off her.  She stood up and wiped her bloody hands on her pants.  Chris stood up, too.

          " Chris? "

          " What? "

          " How do we get out of here? "

          " I don't know.  We're a long way from the entrance.  Come on.  Follow me. "  He held out his hand.  She grasped it and they walked on.  They walked deeper into the cave, their lights still shining.  It suddenly got darker.  Their beams were almost swallowed up by the darkness.  As they were walking, Casey gripped Chris's hand harder.  He did the same.  Something brushed against Casey's cheek.  She stopped.  Chris stopped, too.

          " Something just brushed my cheek, Chris! " She said in a loud whisper.  He didn't answer.  She stepped in front of him.

          " Chris? "  She screamed when she saw his face.  It was rotting away.  His flesh was falling on her.  She tried to let go of his hand but he wouldn't let go.  She looked down and saw claws digging into her hand.  Her hand was bleeding profusely.  She kept on screaming.

          " AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! "

          Suddenly, she woke up sweating.  She looked around her room.  She realized she was at home, in bed, not at Mammoth Cave.  Casey sighed then swung her legs over the edge of her bed.

" It was just a dream. " She said to herself.  She got up and walked over to her door.  She grabbed the knob and turned it.  The door clicked open and she walked across the hall to the bathroom.  Casey stepped in and flipped on the light.  She walked over to the mirror and stared at her pale reflection.  She noticed her tank top and shorts were soaked with sweat.  Casey turned on the faucet, let the cool water run over her hands, then splashed water on her face. 

          As she looked up, she saw a person standing there.  She gasped.  A hand shot out and grabbed her neck.  It spoke:

          " Come with me, Casey.  I'll show you my cave because I'm the keeper of it. "  She realized it was Chris.  She struggled to scream.  Suddenly, she was pulled through the mirror into a dark cave.  From then on, she never was seen again.