Chapter - 10 Spelunking

The cave expanded in Jack's vision. At first it appeared that the cave was only a single room, but the further he went the more he uncovered. The cave was much bigger than originally thought and Jack was excited to call this place his new home.

At the far-right wall by the end of the cave was a dark spot. Another opening that lead to who knows where. Jack had enough room with the current size of his cave, but he didn't want to risk any uninvited guests.

Approaching the new opening, Jack could see that it was around seven feet tall. Sadly, that was all he could see as sunlight couldn't reach this far into the cave the. Deciding it would be too risky to continue the exploration without light, he made his way out of the cave, careful of any hostile creatures and returned to his camp.

Lighting a new fire, Jack let a thick, dry stick sit in the coals for a considerable time to ensure the flames wouldn't go out before seeing the interior of the new opening. He quickly ascended the rocky slope, careful not to let the makeshift torch go out. Upon returning to the new entrance Jack knew that he only had a few minutes as he was sure he couldn't rely on his new vision in such a cold and dark environment.

The new opening descended far into the earth. Jack had already been walking for over a minute down the spiraling tunnel. 'If I had some soap and wasn't afraid of sharp rocks this would make an awesome slide.'

As he descended, the color of the rocks slowly changed from a dark tan color to an even darker gray. Jack was already considering making his way back to the big, cavernous area with the dead bats when he saw something that shouldn't have been possible. He found the end of the tunnel… But the tunnel didn't just end abruptly, there was a large stone door. 'Are you kidding me? Either this must be natures biggest coincidence, or there's a freaking door down here!'

The door was covered in swirling patterns with a small pocket carved out of the right side, a handle of sorts. Jack really wanted to open the door. He knew he shouldn't as it could be another one of the governments damn experiments, but the curiosity outweighed his fear. Reaching for the door, Jack paused as he realized he'd made a mistake when studying the door. He hadn't been paying attention to the flames.

The makeshift torch flickered dangerously, but Jack reassured himself. 'I know how the cave is. It's just a spiral down. Even if the torch goes out, I can still make my way back.' Taking a deep breath, Jack reached for the handle. Gripping the stone tight, Jack pulled.

Nothing happened.

He pulled again with more strength and again nothing happened.

Suddenly, torch in his hand finally sputtered out and Jack was left in pitch darkness.

'Don't freak out, don't freak out.' With ragged breaths Jack tried to calm himself. Every man has a fear of the dark and for good reason. Man doesn't necessarily fear the dark, we fear what's in it. That last part strangely assured him as he could actually "see" whatever monsters might be lurking in the dark. 'Thermal vision is awesome.'

Jack had just regained his bearings when the tunnel began to glow. Looking up, he could see what appeared to be a night sky just over a foot from him. At the bottom of this long tunnel was a swarm of insects the size of a pea scuttling around on the ceiling. They gave off a similar glow to a firefly. Constantly blinking on and off. 'Well, that was convenient.'

'I guess this is a sign to keep moving…' Shrugging with uncertainty and a little anxiety, Jack set down the torch and sword he'd kept wedged between his forearm and side. 'One more time.' *HURGH!!* Jack strained, veins rising, and face flushed in exertion. Suddenly *CRICK*

The door barely budged, but it still moved. Seeing the result, Jack doubled down on his efforts. *GRRIIINNNDDD* The door slid heavily on the floor, open just enough for a person to squeeze through.

Panting heavily, he leaned on the edge of the door to catch his breath. That had to be the hardest thing he'd done since coming here. Peaking inside, he saw nothing but darkness. An endless abyss. 'That's not ominous at all' he thought.

Jack began slowly backing from the door, intending to head back to camp. He'd return when he had a light source that wouldn't burn out so quickly. He turned around to begin his difficulty journey back to the surface, expecting a long hour of stubbed toes and curse words.

*SWISH* *BOOM* Jack was sent flying into the wall of the tunnel hard enough to leave cracks on its surface, immediately relieving him of consciousness. Rock fragments scattered all over the tunnel floor and a thick cloud of rocky dust hung in the air.

While he lay on the tunnel floor, covered in rubble, something amazing happened. In the middle of Jack's spine, a large, black, scale shaped object lay embedded in his skin. Intricate patterns wove themselves through the object, traced with violet light. Slowly, but visible to the naked eye, the object began sinking into his flesh. Soon the object was nowhere to be seen. The only proof of its existence being a hole in the man's jacket.

Normally, Jack would have woken from such an incident in a matter of hours. His enhanced body quickly bringing him back from unconsciousness, but something different happened. Although the damage to his body had already healed, he remained asleep.

Something was occurring in his body, something that not even the best scientists of earth could hope to understand. Glowing violet veins slowly extended themselves from Jack's heart and began to envelop his entire body. Soon he was covered in a network of vein-like patterns, their soft violet glow illuminating the cavern.

When Jack woke, he'd never be the same again.