Serlock Pines

Seven

Caleb's arms were starting to get sore from supporting the entirety of his body weight on this rope. The further down he climbed, the colder the well got. After what must have been ten minutes of straight climbing my feet finally touched the rocky ground, the rope coming to an end just before the ground. He saw the discarded bucket it used to be attatched teo throen yo the side.
Someone's used this rope before.

Caleb indeed had the faint hope that he might actually find Adam and Joe down here. He could save them from whatever took them and the three of them could actually leave. A bit wishful perhaps, but he needed the hope to keep himself going.

Almost immediately Caleb noticed that the feeling of dread down here was overwhelming, almost crushing. He looked around but all he could see was darkness. There was however an unmistakable breeze coming from in front of him. This wasn't just some small well, it was a large underground cavern. He took a few steps forward, finding my bearings and grabbing the rocky side wall to support me as he continued down the path. He walked slow and steady, occasionally stepping in gross, liquidy substance that was slightly sticky, leaving a dark residue on my shoes for a moment.

Caleb had to start to breathing more heavily as he proceeded further into the cavern. The air became thicker and the dread became even worse. Finally the small tunnel he was in opened up into a larger area. There was some kind of faint light in here so he looked up. There some cracks in the caves ceiling letting the days light in but it was still largely dark. That's when Caleb heard a kind of whimpering, crying rather. It sounded like... maybe...Adam?

Instinctively, Caleb ducked down and proceeded forward with caution. The whimpering got louder as he neared the caves door across from where he'd entered. Once he was near enough Caleb thought it safe to call out to him.

"Adam... Adam!" Caleb whispered but there was no reply, just more whimpering.

Caleb walked into the opening that revealed a small chamber in the cave, and he was more than horrified at what he saw.

There, standing in front of Caleb, was a large bipedal slender creature, completely hairless, with three black bulbous eyes lined across its upper head. It saw Caleb and made a horrible shrieking sound, opening its mouth to reveal what must have been thousands of sharp tiny teeth layered all the way back down its throat.

As it screamed Caleb heard the familiar pitch Adam's voice emo sting from it before dissipating back into its horrible shriek. Had it known he was here? Did it try to lure him to it? Caleb didn't dwell on it long, he screamed at the top of my lungs and darted out of the chamber.

Racing through the cave and screaming all the way along, Caleb couldn't manage to find my way back where he had come. Instead he ran down a series of interconnected corridors like the one he had entered in.

The horrid thing chased Caleb quickly and violently. It shrieked and thrashed into the walls of the cave as it chased after me. Finally, tired of the chase he ducked under a rock in another small opening in the caverns walls. He closed my eyes and held my breath trying to remain absolutely still.

Caleb heard the thing creek forward wearily. Instead of a shrieking sound it now made a low grumbling noise at it skulked through the tunnels searching for him, and then it walked away. As he heard it's footsteps getting further away a weight was lifted from Caleb that felt almost euphoric. A moment after that the whimpering continued, and Caleb slowly crept away in the other direction.

Caleb breathed heavily just as before. The air and dread not getting any better in the entire time he'd been down here, and now it was beginng to feel like he was actuslly being crushed by some physical overwhelming force. There was a brief moment there when he had actuslly accepted a horrible death at the hands of that creature, whatever it was. Why had the bird led him here? Was it too against him? Was he truly going to die in this damned forest? Was that horrible thing the same figure that had taken Adam and Joe?
"Oh god..." He muttered at the thought of that.

Caleb paused and closed his eyes, letting a few tears stream down his face but didn't dare make a noise for fear of attracting whatever that horrendous thing was back to him. The fear somehow seemed to keep his nerves in check.

After another few minutes of walking Caleb felt a breeze, it was faint but it was there. He followed it further down into the cave. The cavern the breeze came from led me down a path leading to a narrow tunnel that opened up into the outside. He hastily scurried toward through the tunnel and exited the cavern, desperate to be out of it.

The ouside was now bright, the light overhead was welcome. It now must have been midday at least. The air was easier to breath in once again and the crushing dread had thankfully subsided for the moment. The eerie silence of the forest however remained, just as before.

Then Caleb finally noticed the hunger he should have been feeling for awhile now, distracted by the overwhelming dread and fear. His stomach grumbled. He was starving, he hadn't eaten since before the three of them had gotten here. He was also just about out of water he noticed as he drank the last sip from his thermos, trying to satiate his hunger, which of course it didn't. What got Caleb's more immediate attention though, was what was in front of me.

For a long moment Caleb stared in shock, and more so in horror. It was the statue from earlier. Several of them. The cave opened up into a large clearing in the forest. In the middle of which sat what must have been twenty to thirty of the demon statues, all facing the same way, all with the same horrendous angry scowl. Caleb took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment, half hoping the horrible sight was an illusion. Unfortunately as Caleb found out once he opened his eyes, it was not. He let out a long aggravated groan and fell to his knees.
"Fuuuuuck."