Mother Gothel: The Untold Story + Other Short Stories

Caving In

"Mmm, Sam you tried this?"

Sam turned his nose up at the crunchy looking vegetable Rachel had in her hands and waved his hands in front of his face, "na, not for me."

Rachel laughed; her and Sam had been best friends throughout secondary school, becoming close by chance as they were always put next to each other. Rachel was pegged as a good girl – hardworking, happy, got on with things, whereas Sam had a bad boy reputation, the class clown who always got into trouble. Rachel was the only girl he wasn't a bad influence on and their friendship had blossomed over the last decade.

She paused as a girl from their travelling group ran over from another table and flung her arms around Sam's neck, "ooh did you try it? It was such an interesting taste."

Sam caught her eye and looked her up and down in her little denim shorts and strappy top. He turned and took the crunchy vegetable off Rachel and shoved it in his mouth, quickly chewing it and swallowing it. "Argh, that was gross..."

The girl giggled flirtatiously, batting her eyelashes at him.

He turned to face Rachel, "you could have warned me I wouldn't like it!" he snapped.

Rachel looked at him angrily, not saying a word. They had been on a trip of a lifetime after finding a mysterious scavenger hunt online with a different country on the map marked every few days. They had decided to go as one last hurrah before they went their separate ways for the first time. They had been inseparable for so long and Rachel had made the decision a few months before to finally take her dream job 5847 miles away from England, in Japan. Sam had been devastated but convinced her to do the trip with him as a goodbye present.

"Rachel?" he said, looking at her oddly as her mouth opened slightly in pure frustration.

She suddenly got up as the girl perched on the bench next to Sam, splaying her fingers on his leg. She walked towards the mysterious cave the group had hiked to, looking at the magical drawings engraved around the opening. They had been told not to go inside, deeming it unsafe but Rachel was feeling all sorts of feelings she hadn't before and part of her wanted to go inside and discover why it was such a sacred place.

"Rachel!" Sam said, panting as he leant on his knees, "why'd you run off?"

Rachel turned to face him, turning her nose up at him, "where's that girl gone? You seem to always pick up the ditzy ones!"

"Hey, that's not fair. What's wrong with you? You've been acting so odd the last couple of weeks, some days you are really happy and we have the best time and then others, like when we went to that temple in Cambodia, you were a miserable cow."

Rachel felt her blood boil, grabbing the straps of her handbag tightly as she walked into the cave, darkness swallowing her.

Sam couldn't believe his eyes; Rachel was not the daredevil type and even he wouldn't have gone inside without the tour guide, but he had no choice as to follow her, he cared deeply about her and had to make sure she was okay. He creeped inside, feeling his heart rate soar as the darkness engulfed him. "Rachel?" he whispered, scared of who else was in there with them. "Where are you? It's creepy in here!"

All of a sudden she jumped out in front of him, making him throw himself against the wall of the cave in horror. She laughed hysterically as he tried to catch his breath. "Oh, you have turned into such a baby Sam... Honestly!"

She started to walk off, holding her torch out in front of her, looking at the amazing symbols along the cave. Sam grabbed her arm and turned her to face him but found he was speechless. It was like something had switched inside his brain, seeing Rachel in a new light. He knew she was beautiful, he had always seen it, but never had he felt attracted to her as he did right there and then. Her green eyes shone like diamonds and she looked at him inquisitively. Her heart was pumping blood around her body at an exceptional rate, her feelings towards him crystal clear in her mind. She had known it since he had whisked her away, he made her life exciting and scary all at the same time. He had been there for her through everything, her mum battling with cancer and suddenly losing her fight and her dad's dark depressional episodes she'd had to deal with. He had been her rock throughout it all and she had only just realised how important Sam was to her, she didn't want to lose him; she didn't want to be his friend... She realised she wanted him to be more.

She jumped into him as they heard movement next to them. "No! My torch!" she squealed as she dropped it.

They both watched as it rolled down a small ledge and abruptly drop, landing on the ground with a splash!

She felt safe in his arms and felt him turn her round to face him, the darkness making what they both wanted to happen slightly easier to chance. He put his hands up to her face and leant into her lips, brushing her nose against his. She could feel his hot breath on her cheeks and felt an eruption in her stomach, a tingly sensation shoot through her body.

She grabbed his top tightly as she heard an eerie scream further into the cave. She snapped her head round to face the way it came as Sam pulled her in close. He knew whatever was about to happen, he wasn't going to let anyone harm his best friend – the girl he had loved unknowingly for the last decade.