I thought for sure that my eyes were playing tricks on me, but just to be sure I walked further into the cave. That’s when I started hearing the noises. It sort of sounded like gurgling but then it turned into a growling.

Despite all the warning bells going off in my mind, I ventured further into the cave. There were puddles all over the floor of the cave and the walls felt moist. Somewhere to the left of me there was the sound of water dripping. Since I entered, I haven’t heard the growling noises. That only made this adventure even more eerie.

The cave seemed to go on forever until I came to a series of tunnels. There were three in total and I had no idea which one to go in. I guess I should have turned around and gone back the way I came, but instead I took the tunnel in the middle and kept on walking.

This tunnel was no different than the rest of the cave except that in the tunnel it was a bit more claustrophobic and there was a breeze. I also noticed a smell I hadn’t noticed before. It was sort of a damp moldy smell, and warm. Almost like an ocean breeze but not pleasant. I just ignored it and kept walking.

I started to think that the growling I had heard earlier had just been my imagination, but then I heard it again, this time louder. I quickened my pace and just as quickly came to a stop. I had almost run into the wall right in front of me. I turned right down another tunnel and continued my speed-walk. Now the growling was coming from behind me, and further away.

There was another series of tunnels in front of me again and this time I chose the one on the left. I think I only walked for about ten minutes when I realized I had made my way back to the main part of the cave. This time I used my common sense and left.

When I got home I took a shower and grabbed a snack from the kitchen. My parents were out of town so I had the house to myself. I could have ordered pizza or made something myself, but I was too tired. So I took my snack and went to my room. Then I got my laptop, lied down on my bed, and checked my e-mail. The only thing in my inbox was some old urban legend. It was something about my town, Flint Rock, so I read it.

The story said that 100 years ago on Halloween—today—some kids decided to freak each other out, and go up to the old cave outside of town—the very same one I was in tonight. Anyway, the kids had all planned to scare one boy in particular, Sean. Sean supposedly didn’t believe in anything supernatural, didn’t get scared by anything. So the night before Halloween, they all told Sean the legend of the cave. It had been said that one day a family had a son, and he was a worshiper of the devil. Well one day the family couldn’t take it anymore so they took the boy to the cave and told him that they were all going to explore it together. Well the son was all into it, so he went ahead of his family, and when the family thought that he was far enough into the cave, they all ran back to the car and left. The son never came home and nobody ever heard from him again. Some say that he found some part of the cave that had a spring of fresh water and some berry shrubs, so he just stayed there and worshiped the devil. Others say that the boy got lost somewhere deep within the tunnels and died there, forced to wander around forever, seeking revenge on anyone to cross him.

Well the group of friends thought this was pretty cool, so they all agreed to go on the hundredth anniversary of the incident, hoping that the boy’s spirit would show up. So after they had all told their parents that they were going to the movies, they headed out to the cave. They took water, flashlights, and warm clothes, ready for the adventure that awaited them—or so they thought.

The sun had been down for only a half hour when they arrived at the cave. Sean, the leader of the group, had no problem guiding them through the cave. It was when they reached the first series of tunnels that they ran into problems. They couldn’t decide on one tunnel so they broke up into three groups: Sean and a boy named Cody went to the left, Jade and another girl Anasi went in the middle, and Aidan and a girl named Nessa went to the right. They had all agreed to meet up back at the cave entrance in an hour, and then they went their separate ways. They walked and walked for what seemed like hours, when they finally met up in a larger cavern. Sure enough there was a spring running through it, but no boy. That’s when they heard a growling noise and saw glowing red eyes at the far end of the cavern. No one even bothered to stay together; they just ran and never looked back. When Sean finally reached the cave entrance, the others were nowhere to be found. Sean didn’t have the keys to the car since it was Aidan’s but that didn’t matter to him now. What mattered to him was getting far away from that cave. He ended up running the entire six miles from the cave back into town, and then all the way to his house, never looking back.

They say that the other five kids were never found, only Aidan’s car still parked at the mouth of the cave, waiting for the group that would never come back. That night is still in Sean’s memory, it messed him up so bad that his parents had him committed to the mental institution. In fear of hurting himself, the doctors and nurses all agreed that it was best to keep him in a strait jacket and locked in solitary confinement where he couldn’t harm others. These days he just mumbles to himself, talking about how it all must have been a trick, that someone else was in the cave before them, that his friends put the guy up to it. How they got him to put on a mask and growl, and that all his friends were just hiding out, and that any moment, someone would come tell him it was all a joke. Well something was in that cave, Sean, but that thing was not of this world, and your friends, well, they aren’t coming back to get you.

That was where the story ended. It all supposedly happened five years ago, and tonight, well, I was lucky to get out alive. And I sure was smart to not go deeper into that cave, that I didn’t find the cavern, and that I didn’t find those five people…..dead or alive. Someday I will look up Sean and his story, someday, but not now. I’m not even sure I believe that story…haha…ha……..