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Early in the morning of May 4, 2011, I awoke from my sleep screaming in terror. This was a common occurrence and a constant nuisance in my life. My psychiatrist called them night terrors. Nightmares plagued my slumber, and nothing seemed to help. The doctor prescribed me a range of mental health medications, but the night terrors continued. I awoke two or three times a week drenched in sweat and trembling from head to toe.
I never woke with any memories of my dreams, and I was not sure if that was a good or a bad thing. If my dreams were so bad I awoke screaming for my life, I do not think I would want to recall them. On the other hand, if I knew what my dreams were about, I might be able to do something about them.
My doctor made a suggestion he said might help. Per his instructions, I kept a notebook by my bed. Each morning when I awoke, I would immediately write down any details I remembered. Dr. Cooper would go through these with me during our sessions in an attempt to discover the underlying cause of my nightmares.
My sleep disorder began to affect my studies. I had problems focusing in class and concentrating on my homework. I never had any energy, but I was afraid of going to sleep. Coffee helped some, but it gave me the jitters. I did not even have the desire to go out with my friends.
My parents paid for me a small apartment off of campus. They lived with my night terrors for years, and they knew no roommate could live with them. It was something I kept from my friends. It was a secret, a secret I was crazy, and I told none of my college friends or classmates.
Years of medication and psychotherapy failed to provide any positive results. By my junior year in college, I accepted the fact I would deal with this for the rest of my life. Even when I had a girlfriend, I would always go home to sleep. I never let anyone stay overnight at my place, for obvious reasons, and I never stayed over with anyone else. A lot of girls took this as an insult causing me to be something of a sexual outcast.
Only one more week of finals remained, then I had a small break before the summer session began. So long as I could make it through four summer classes, I would graduate one semester early. The only major thing I really had left was my internship. I would take care of that during the fall session.
I was working on my degree in computer science, and I planned to work as an I.T. specialist after graduation. Until I was offered the internship, I never heard of the company making the offer. It was some informational technology corporation called NEMV.
Their office was located in one of the larger buildings in Nashville, Tennessee. Apparently, they were large enough to have their own floor in one of the high-rise buildings. I hoped I would get an office with a window, if I got an office at all.
During my summer sessions, I spent less and less time with others. People I knew since childhood no longer wanted to have anything to do with me. Even those I grew up with since we were babies did their best to avoid contact with me. I became an outcast and an oddity, and the rumors began to circulate about me.
I heard whispers that I joined some kind of satanic cult. Other rumors said I dabbled in witchcraft. Even others said I was going insane. No one ever said anything to my face about my drastic change in personality. Everything being said was said behind closed doors or in hushed whispers of gathered students.
I knew when people talked about me because they would suddenly grow quite whenever I passed by. Even some of my instructions appeared to go out of the way to avoid being alone with me in the same room at the same time. Every time I met one of them for any number of reasons, they always avoided having it take place enclosed office or study room.
Depression set in and I became very paranoid. That was probably from a lack of sleep more than anything. One of my professors even suggested I see one of the school therapists. It was obvious people began to worry about what I might do. I guess they thought I was going to go on a killing spree or something. I was not angry. I did not want anyone to get hurt. All I really wanted was to be left alone.
I never had any energy, and I was sleepy all of the time. I would try to nap during the day in hopes shorter sleeping sessions would lessen the chance for the night terrors. I was wrong. I experienced the nightmares no matter how long or short I slept. This sleep disorder took its toll on every aspect of my life. Even my parents, who lived with my sleeping disorder since I was a toddler, began to worry about me. If I could not do something soon to stop these horrific dreams, I would surely go mad.
Even after years of trying to write my dreams down when I awoke in the morning, there was only one thing I ever remembered. I always remembered a presence, a darkness of sorts, like an ominous sinister presence.
Over time, I came to the belief that this thing that so frequently haunted my dreams was something more than a figment of my imagination. I finally concluded that this thing was something real, something alive that tormented me as I slept.
I did not reveal my deduction to my doctor or to anyone else. Surely, if I tried to convince others that the tormentor of my dreams was a living entity, they would think I went insane. The authorities, if not my family, would have me hospitalized where I would probably spend the rest of my life.
When I was fifteen years of age, I did spend some time in a mental hospital. Knowing what to expect, I could not let myself become a lab rat locked up for the remainder of my days. Doctors and other professionals would study me and publish papers on what they learned about my disorder. No way was I going to let myself become a test subject for a bunch of head shrinkers.
One night I could not get to sleep. I left my apartment and began walking. Buried in my thoughts, I paid no attention to where I went. I walked for several hours, and by the time I paid attention to my surroundings I had no idea where I was.
I found hope, a small glimmer of optimism that my nightmare would someday end when I noticed the entrance to what I assumed was a Buddhist temple. I do not know what compelled me, but I felt somehow these people would be able to help me.
The monks inside seemed to be engaged in some form of meditation as I entered the building. Their chanting brought a peace to my heart like I have never known. I waited, just inside the doorway for more than an hour before their ceremony came to an end. I had no idea what I should do. I was raised a Protestant and knew nothing about this peaceful religion.
An elderly Asian man of some advanced years approached me. I stood nervously as he slowly shuffled his way over to me. His short strides made the short walk across the floor into an epic journey. When he finally reached me, he bowed his bald head to me in respect. I followed suit and reciprocated his humble gesture.
He again stood upright, supporting himself with an intricately carved staff. The details of the engravings were astounding. It had to have been made by someone who dedicated his entire life to that one craft. Something about the wood from which it was made did not seem normal. The rings from the tree ran at an angle rather than horizontally. This meant that someone cut the staff diagonally from a massive tree. The rings were in such close proximity with one another, it was obvious it came from an ancient tree, a tree that did not have to compete for sunlight.
I waited until the wrinkled old man stood upright before I did so myself. Being fully ignorant of the etiquette and customs of these people, I thought the best way to go about things was in the same manner as they. I did not want to come across as being rude, so I tried to be as respectful as possible.
Without saying a word, the venerable monk brushed the back of his soft hand against the side of my head. A smile spread across his face, and I felt like he found joy in my pain. He then turned away from me and bid me to follow him. Everyone else in the temple was in their bare feet, so I removed the shoes from my own feet before proceeding.
It took this old man forever to make his way across the floor, and I grew very impatient. When my patients finally wore out, I opened my mouth to say something. I probably would have said something rude.
As if anticipating my actions, the old man stopped in his tracks. Turning his head back toward me, he pressed his index finger against his lips. He knew I was about to speak and stopped me before I got that far. I knew this was a very wise man, a very wise man indeed.
Trying to calm myself, I followed the man into a chamber in the back of the temple. It was a beautifully adorned room. Silken banners in red and orange hung from the top of the walls, falling a few inches short of the floor. In the center of the room stood an iron candleholder set in layers forming the unmistakable shape of a pyramid. I knew absolutely nothing about the customs and traditions of these monks, but I still felt like this ornament was very out of place.
The venerable man stood quietly with his eyes closed. I was tempted to take a seat on one of the orange silken pillows that littered the floor, then I thought about Mom’s “not for sitting on” furniture. I decided it best that I continued to stand. The old monk must have been testing my patients because we stood there for close to an hour.
I was just about ready to give up and walk out. Like he anticipated my thoughts, a younger monk entered the room. Taking his place by his elder, the new arrival bowed and began to speak.
“The Master greets you to his temple,” the younger man said. It was as if he were speaking the thoughts of the old man.
“You are a very unsettled man,” he stated observantly. “There is a pathway along life’s great journey that can lead you to the solace you seek.”
With these words, the old man smiled and nodded his head toward me.
“Can-can you make my nightmares stop?” I asked in desperation.
The old man put his hand on the shoulder of his younger companion. As he did, the younger man said, “The only way to stop one’s dreams is to stop one’s life.”
I could not believe what I heard. These were supposed to be peaceful, kind, and caring people. If I understood correctly, the monk was telling me to end my life. Did they want me to commit suicide? Like he said, the only way to stop one’s dreams is to stop one’s life.
The old man shook his head as the other said, “You must learn to defeat your dreams, not end them. Your shoulders bear a heavy burden, be it of your own creation or not.”
The old man waved his palm parallel to the floor. Nodding his head yet again, the old man signaled for the young man to continue.
“Your answer will take you on a long journey. You will find what you seek in the land now called Arizona.”
These men were being awful specific in their observations. It was like they already knew everything about me. That was an impossibility as I only entered the temple several hours ago. The old man then shuffled slowly out of the room. With him gone, the younger monk said no more. I tried to get him to clarify these cryptic answers.
“Only the Master knows,” he said. “Study this room and it will give you your answers.”
I became so frustrated, I could scream. I thought I would find peace here, but instead I found only more annoyance. Anger right then only served to stack on top of my fear of sleep. I was only standing in a room with silken banners of red and orange with a scattering of pillows on the floor. The only thing that really seemed to be any kind of a clue was the pyramidal candle stand in the center of the room.
I walked a circle around the dark-iron stand being careful not to disturb any of the pillows on the floor. Nothing especially notable was to be found on the stand of light. I knew that these priests did not bring me in here just to jerk me around. They had a reason. My task now was to figure out what that reason was. I repeated that young monk’s last statement in my head over and over.
With these cryptic words burned into my mind, I once again began to walk around what must have been an altar. This time, I did not pay attention to the candles. Instead, I watched the rest of the room as I moved. The flickering candle light fell on one stack of pillows in such a way it appeared to be the opening of a cave. It occurred to me then that the stand was not the clue. The clues were the images created by the light from that stand.
With each step, I would stop and examine the room for anything else that might have been a sign for me. Instead of stepping over the pillows, I began to move around them. The frustration and anger I felt only minutes prior began to change to joy. As the room revealed more and more of its secrets, hope began to fill my heart. I think I was looking at a map. As I moved around the room, I began to see what looked like landmarks.
I studied the room for hours. The longer I stayed in there, the more obvious the clues became. The sudden realization of how much time passed struck me. Finding my way back to the main chamber, I headed back through the door and into the street. I had finals in about six hours, and I had no sleep at all. I knew the few hours I could sleep would do me more harm than good. It was best I just stayed awake.
Instead, I took a peaceful walk around the campus. I never realized how beautiful the grounds were. It struck me as quite magnificent. Some of the older buildings crawled with ivy, and the newest buildings were architectural works of art. Most of the time I spent at the university, I spent in class. When I was not on campus, I was in my small lonely apartment. I watched the sun rise in the east which illuminated the clouds with the most beautiful oranges and reds I ever saw. Despite my lack of sleep, I felt rested and free.
With my mind free and clear, I did very well on the last of my finals. No demon plagued my dreams for three nights straight. It was not that very often that I had such peace during my slumber. I could not help but believe those monks somehow helped me with my terrorizing nightmares. Perhaps some prayer they raised up was heard by some higher being. Whatever the reason, I could not be more thankful for the rest.
With my finals finished, I had a whole week off before my first summer session began. I sat in my apartment playing a game when the email icon popped up on my smart phone. I started to ignore it, but finally decided to check it. It was a good thing that I did because it was something miraculous.
The email came from the human resources director at the closest NEVM office building. The email offered me the opportunity for a paid summer internship, in Arizona. The company was setting up a new office, and they wanted me to design their computer network system.
I called the number from the email first thing in the morning. If I took the internship, the company offered to set up and pay for the following fall semester. In addition, the internship offered me six credit hours. This was too obvious a sign, so by no means would I turn it down. I would receive another email in a day or two with all of the arrangements.
To my despair, my night terrors returned that very night. I awoke just before sunrise screaming and dripping with my sweat. My eyes darted around the room as if I were going to find something tangible, something unspeakable skulking in my room. As with every other morning like this, I found nothing that did not belong.
I climbed out of bed and shook the dark thoughts from my head. I hit the floor and got dressed in my nicest clothing. I planned to return to the temple to thank the monks for their help. This time, I made sure I put on my whitest socks. I knew I would be removing my shoes when I entered the building.
I wandered around for hours. I was sure I remembered where the place was, but an old run-down house occupied the address. Assuming I must be off by a street or two, I began to look for the temple. I walked all through the area for hours and found nothing like what I sought. I stopped one man out mowing his yard and asked him if he knew where I could find the place.
The man seemed quite offended by my question.
“We aint’ got no devil churches around here boy, just good Christian folk,” the man snapped. “You want to learn karate you better take yer butt to China.”
I withdrew from the man like a frightened child. He seemed to be very serious about his statement. I was not about to argue, and I was not going to correct the cultural mistakes of his statement. I crossed to the other side of the street and quickly walked out of view of the racist old man, although that did not deter me from my search. I continued to walk the sidewalks of the community hoping to again find that peaceful sanctuary. I walked until blisters stung my feet. Finally, I removed the chafing shoes and made the painful walk to my apartment.
The only explanation I could fathom was I simply scoured the area on the wrong side of town. The temple was quite large, and I do not know how I could have missed it unless I was in the wrong place. I so wanted to thank them for their guidance, but when I got home an email awaited me.
NEVM made all the arrangements and I was to leave in two days. A stipend deposited into my account so I could buy luggage and new clothing. The ticket was attached as a PDF document. There was a lot to do and very little time to do it.
I did a bachelor clean-up of my apartment and hit the department store at the mall. I found a set of luggage that looked perfect. It made me think of the business men who worked with my father when I was only a child. I purchased some very nice professional clothing and some lavish travel accessories. I spent the most on a pair of shoes. Father always said you could tell a lot about a business man by the shine of his shoes. I bought the shoes and designed the rest of my new wardrobe around them.
The morning of my flight, I woke covered in sweat and swinging my hands before my face as if fending off an attacker. This was the first time I ever awoke this violently, and unfortunately it would not be my last. I jumped out of the bed and hid behind my dresser. Something terrified me, and its presence was all but tangible. I knew something else was in the room with me.
I remained frozen for several minutes. I grabbed a stick I kept beside my bed and slowly made my way across the room. Although I could not see anything, I could feel something watching me. It was not my imagination. Something was in the room with me.
Then I noticed my shadow. The room was dim and the light came at me from several directions. Regardless my shadow remained perfectly formed. I virtually saw its eyes staring into mine. It was darkness absolute. Nothing hidden by it could be seen. The wall, books, and my bed were cloaked in complete darkness. It remained this way for ten minutes.
A loud truck flew past my apartment building, and the roar jolted me into attention. When I looked back to the darkness, I found everything looked as it should. The inky blackness that stared at me with its demonic eyes was no longer there. For the first time, I got a clear glimpse at the horror that haunted my dreams. I stood there for a while waiting for the thing to return.
Eventually, I came to my senses and rushed to finish packing my belongings. NEVM sent a car to take me to the airport, and I still had packing to do. I quickly threw on some clothes and stuffed everything I could into my luggage and rushed out the door. By the time I left my apartment, the car was already there for thirty minutes. I supposed he was in no hurry since driving was all he did.
I never really looked at my plane ticket until I checked in at the airport. The company paid for me a first-class seat. I never flew first-class before. I could not wait to see what it was like.
My twenty-second birthday passed a few months ago, and I was glad to be able to have a few drinks. The flight attendant offered me some Champaign. When I found out it came free with first-class, I probably drank more than I should. I rarely imbibed alcoholic beverages; I made the journey to intoxication quite rapidly. The attendant must have noticed because she stopped offering me drinks and offered me food instead.
I was not sure what went on next, but before long I reclined in my chair with a pillow and drifted off to sleep. Dear God, why did they let me go to sleep? I cannot say with any kind of certainty how long I slept before my dreams began. In the subconscious world, time made its own rules; the boundaries of the physical universe had no place there.
For the first time, I remained lucid as my nightmare unfolded. I found myself standing atop a massive stone pyramid. It made me think of the pyramids found in Peru, but no stairs led from the bottom to the top. Dense darkness surrounded me and made it impossible for me to see the bottom. The stone appeared freshly cut, not like the eroded stones that comprised the Mayan pyramids. I did not understand how I climbed to the top of the monument, but I suppose in the dream world that did not matter. I was up here and that was all that mattered.
Directly overhead, a full moon beamed down bathing the pyramid with its cool light. The direct angle of the celestial orb created shadows on all sides of the pyramid dropping one tier to the next. Only the very edges of the lower tiers were visible. I thought I could make out the lowest tier of the stone construct, but the ground upon which it rested hid in absolute darkness.
Several hundred yards away, encircling me in all directions stood a single large craggy cliff. The canyon walls rose to stand hundreds of feet above me. From where I stood, I saw no way down and no way out.
I stood there for the boundless time that dreams provide growing evermore fearful as the minutes progressed. The moon remained in the same position as I stood there glowing in all of its glory. The orb, like everything else, obeyed no natural laws. Its size was massive appearing in the sky, as large as the sun.
In time, the moon began to eclipse. This process seemed to be following the flow of normal time. Whatever blackened the moon, it was not the Earth. Something very high in the sky positioned itself between the moon and me. Something not from the natural world, something sinister, choked out the light above me.
My heart raced, and my pulse throbbed in my wrists. The terror I felt this morning intensified tenfold. As the moon became progressively obscured, I began to hear sounds below me. I forced myself to look down to see what created the horrific sounds.
Something crawled up the sides of the pyramid. At the rate they ascended, they would be upon me in minutes. I knew they would reach me as soon as the moon disappeared from sight. My body trembled as I hopelessly searched for an escape. I continued the futile effort as I began to hear the sounds of rock crashing upon rock. The walls of the canyon broke apart and crashed somewhere down in the abysmal darkness.
I lost all hope. If the crumbling cliffs did not crush me, the things climbing the pyramid would. My desperation came to an end. I resigned myself to the fact that I would die and set my soul to ease. Everyone and everything has an end. If this was to be mine, then so be it.
Just then I saw a flicker of pale blue light underneath my feet. Embedded in the surface was a massive sapphire. Out of it a light shone as a heavenly beacon. I knelt down to touch it, but I never made it that far.
The things crawling up from below reached me before my hand touched the stone. I saw them rush upon me, and I realized what I was up against. I recognized the beings enveloping me. The first time that I can recall seeing one was this morning, but I knew it was they who haunted my dreams. That thing of darkness that followed me out of my dream, that thing that posed as my shadow came from this world.
The hellish beings rushed over me with such force, they sent me flying. Clearing the edges of the pyramid, these unknown things grappled me tightly dragging me down into the infinite darkness. All I could do was scream.
Light once again came into view. I opened my eyes to see two flight attendants gently shaking me awake. Swears flowed from my mouth and I screamed at the top of my lungs. I tried to jump out of my seat in an attempt to escape my terror. The two male attendants bore down on me tightly. I screamed. I told them to turn around. Instead, they grappled me to my seat.
Behind the two men, posing as their shadows, were two perfectly formed figures of absolute darkness. I could discern no physical features with the exception of the eyes. Those red eyes with the orange pupils stared directly at me. I could see a smile in those eyes. The next moment, the two forms sank through the floor of the airplane and vanished.
I continued to scream in a desperate attempt to be away from these hitchhikers from the dream world. As far as I knew, these things were still onboard the aircraft. I shouted for someone to search the plane, to make sure those things were gone. The two men holding me would not release their grip. The more I insisted we were not alone on this plane, the tighter their hold on me became.
I knew my claims sounded outrageous and insane, but it was the truth. There was nothing I could do to make these airline employees believe something otherworldly was onboard with us. They would never believe my claims that something demonic followed me out of my dreams. I would not believe it if I did not witness it firsthand. Realizing it was a futile effort to try to make these people understand, I allowed myself to calm down.
After a few minutes, I pushed the panic from my forethoughts and began doing as the two men said. Once they were sure I would not resume my struggles, they released their strong grip on me. I allowed them to explain what I already knew. One of them explained that I was sleeping when I began to scream. When he told me I was having a nightmare, I wondered if he was stupid or if he thought I was. Either way, I allowed him to talk as my eyes slowly scanned about the cabin.
The shadow demons did not reappear again during the remainder of the flight. One female attendant offered me another drink to help me settle my nerves, but I assured her that I was fine now. I think it was the alcohol that made me doze off in the first place. I convinced her that I only experienced a terrible nightmare, but now I was okay. I almost expected there to be a team of orderlies waiting for me with a straight-jacket when we landed and disembarked from the plane.
Instead, I found that NEMV already reserved me a car at one of the better rental places, but I still had too much alcohol in my blood to be driving. I took a cab to the nearest hotel where I spent the night. I went back in the morning to pick up my car if I could only get back to sleep. I did not really want to go to sleep, but my body was literally exhausted. Besides, the thought of going to sleep and encountering these things again terrified me; I had to get some rest. I needed to be clear minded before I drove across the desert tomorrow morning.
The thought of again fighting with these dark entities horrified me so much that it made me sick to my stomach. I was sure the alcohol did not help this any. I could not get the image of their red and orange eyes out of my mind. That devilish gaze burned clearly into my memory. I already ushered at least three of these beings from the nether reaches of the dream world into the physical realm. Who knows how many of the things bridged the gap from one reality to the next over my two decades of night terrors? Every morning I awoke screaming from my unholy nightmares, I probably brought some of these things across with me every time.
I managed to purge these thoughts from my mind long enough to drift off to sleep. Those shadows apparently left me alone, because I woke up the next morning feeling rested and refreshed. After a nice steamy shower, I called the front desk to summon me a taxi. By the time I packed up and made it to the lobby, the car was already waiting for me.
I took my time checking out when the associate suggested I might want to hurry. When the cabs around here waited for five minutes for the passenger to arrive, they turned on the meter and began charging for the time. I did not really care. I still had plenty of travel funds left from my travel stipend. I would not begin this morning in a stressed hurry. I felt calm and at peace, and I would not let something as petty as a running meter ruin that for me. I had a long road ahead of me.
Once I returned to the airport to pick up my rental, I stopped off at a truck stop to get me a Styrofoam cooler, ice, bottled water and some snacks. According to my GPS system, I was looking at a little more than a three-hour drive. My flight half of the way across the country took only a few minutes longer than that. The long lonely drive was not something I looked forward to, but my spirit lifted a little when I learned the vehicle had satellite radio. I knew way out in the middle of nowhere to where I was headed, it would be very difficult to impossible to pick up any broadcast radio stations.
I drove for an hour and only passed another car every ten minutes or so. I passed neither homes nor any other structures, but I occasionally drove by a dirt road leading off of the main. Where those went, I did not care. My directions stated I was to stay on this road until I reached my destination.
The red of the desert became seriously monotonous and began to grate on my nerves. I did find some of the geological formations very interesting. Ten minutes later I spotted a mesa that snapped my thoughts back to that Buddhist temple. The remains of this ancient volcanic rock possessed orange and red stripes that reminded me of the alternating curtains in that pyramid room of the monastery.
Only a few miles further along the road, I saw an odd rock formation that was reminiscent of the first stack of pillows to which I took notice. Immediately after this wondrous formation, a dirt road to my left appeared to lead out that way. I could not say what, but something within me knew I should take this detour and head away from the main highway.
Ignoring all logic, I turned onto the rough, red dirt road. It surprised me how well the car took the off-road drive. I would not think that a luxury car could handle the rough and uneven terrain.
I realized the gas gauge indicated only half a tank remained, and I seriously considered turning around. So that I could determine my precise location, I activated the GPS aspect of my phone. The weather popped up on my phone on its own, and my blood ran cold. According to the weather app on my phone, tonight would be a clear night and a rare lunar eclipse was to take place. Checking my location, I found I was in the perfect area to experience the total eclipse.
The memories of that dream with the step pyramid rushed back into my thoughts like a raging river. The thought of what I might find scared me so much, my body went rather numb. My thoughts were interrupted when I found a cave entrance framed with giant, flat stones. Whatever I was supposed to find, I knew I would find it in there. I grabbed my flashlight and four flares out of the trunk. I decided to take a first aid kit that was in the trunk with the flares. I might hurt myself in the darkness in the crust of the earth, so some supplies may come in handy. The last thing I grabbed were my three remaining bottles of water floating in the melted ice inside the cooler.
When I packed my luggage, I thought to bring the book bag that I normally used for school. I do not know why, but something inside me told me I should take it along with me. Now I was glad that I did. I placed everything, with the exception of the flashlight into the satchel and threw it over my shoulders. With that done, I began the hike up to the mouth of the cave. I could not believe how closely it matched the pillow formations of that strange temple.
I guess I misjudged the size of the rock outcropping encasing the cave opening because the walk took much longer than I expected. By the time I reached it, I saw the cavern yawned open nearly twenty feet in height.
I paused for several minutes contemplating what horrors awaited me within. Perhaps I was to face something much worse than the red-eyed shadow demons that used me as a transport from the dream world to this one. The thought that I may never exit this place once I entered made me vomit. My head swam with the idea that this could very well be the last time I ever looked upon the yellow sun. This could be the last time that I felt the life-giving warmth of its rays.
I swallowed my fear and mustered every bit of courage inside me. Holding my breath, I took my first step into the solid darkness. Twenty feet into the stone corridor, the light from the sun provided me with no more help.
When I turned on the flashlight, I was both grateful and disappointed. The bulb glowed very brightly. This allowed me to see well, but it also meant the batteries were going to burn out that much faster.
Looking at the smooth decline before me, I pressed on deeper into the earth. The cave seemed too straight and too consistent in size to be natural. When I eventually hit a plateau, I knew why. Underneath my feet, I saw the floor of the passageway comprised of tightly fitting red stones. What made it even more unsettling was the fact that the stones were not uniform in shape, yet a slip of tissue paper could not fit between the seams. I brushed my hand over the crimson cobblestones and found the floor to be so smooth I could not feel where one stone ended and the other stone began.
It became obvious I was not in a cave; I was on a road. A long forgotten ancient people, for whatever reason, built this road which continued deeper and deeper into the ground. Once I passed the first landing, I saw more signs this cavern was in fact an ancient road. The road stretched so deep into the ground that the light from the flashlight saw no end.
Occasionally I saw a small grotto carved into the walls. They were probably pull overs for people to rest as they ascended or descended the steep sloping road. When I reached the fourth landing, I made a shocking discovery. Initially I thought the darkness played tricks on my mind. Carved into the walls at each landing was a small grotto. All of them were empty. This one was not.
It contained remnants of what must be a wagon. Metal made up a majority of the drawn vehicle. The wooden wheels rotted to dust as had any ropes or yokes that may have held the beasts to the vehicle. The alloy that made up a majority of the wagon did not resemble any metal I saw before now. It almost appeared to be glass filled with metal flakes or glitter. I tapped my flashlight against it and I did not hear the clink of glass; I heard the ping of metal upon metal.
My skin burned with stinging goose bumps with what happened next. The metal began producing an illumination of its own. It started at the point where I hit the wagon and spread to cover its entire surface. In what must be the front of the wagon, I saw two skeletons I could not identify. By the looks of them, they must have been some form of beasts of burden. Their form was somewhat bovine in nature with several marked differences. The skulls belonged to animals that no longer walked the Earth today. The legs did not end in hooves like most of the beasts of burden of modern times. Instead, four large feet terminated in six long toes closely resembling thick finger bones.
The more I examined the strange skeletons, the less recognizable they became. I never heard of such skeletons having ever been discovered. I think I would remember something as strange as these. I finished my minor in paleontology, but nothing in my studies prepared me for the arrangement of bones in front of me.
The wagon faced toward the downward slope, so I assumed the riders must have been traveling deeper into the cavern rather than heading out. By the looks of the burden animals, I shuddered to think what the driver of the wagon looked like. No real reason existed for me to expect to see the ancient remains of the wagon’s driver, but the thought petrified me none-the-less.
After drinking half a bottle of water, I resumed my hike deeper into the bowels of the earth. By my own estimate, I was at least five or six hundred feet below the level of the opening. I could not tell how much further the road stretched as the level plateaus obscured the section of the tunnel that followed. I traveled every bit of a mile or two and, according to the timepiece on my wrist; I was already close to my third hour underground. I worried my flashlight would not last much longer.
Conserving my batteries became a major concern, so I decided to give it some rest. I popped a cap off of one of the four flares. I threw it as far down the tunnel as I could, and then I walked down behind it. I reached the next level section and tossed the flare further still. Unfortunately, I barely passed the grotto of the fifth level before the flare burned itself out. The problem I now face was whether or not to ignite another flare or to turn back on the bulb of my electric torch.
The sun shining on the surface world would set soon if it did not already. No turns or cross roads presented themselves; I thought the road would never come to an end. The corridor appeared singular and unending.
Another flare and two levels further, I spotted what had to be the remnants of the person who drove the wagon I found earlier. The clothing on the body remained, but even from a distance I could see the flesh long ago turned to dust. At first, fear prevented me from approaching any closer. If the wagon animals were so strange, I could not fathom what their owner would look like. I wanted to avoid approaching anywhere the time bleached bones, but if I was to proceed, I had no other choice than to pass by the remains. Regardless, it terrified me to think of what the bones would reveal.
My batteries continued to drain as I stood there motionless. That thought alone pushed me forward. If a long journey still remained before me, I did not want to be left in absolute darkness. I wanted to flee. I wanted to run back to the surface. I did not want to proceed any further, but I already came this far. I had to know what awaited me at the bottom of the road.
Cautiously, I approached the body as if I expected it to stand to greet me. When I drew close enough, I saw that no skull remained with the rest of the body. I suppose it fell free from the neck of the corpse and long ago rolled further into the earth. All of the remaining bones appeared intact.
The skeleton was much taller than that of a human. It had six fingers on each hand, but only three toes on each foot. With the exception of a few marked differences, the bones appeared relatively human. One of the major differences was that the bones appeared bluish-black in color. I initially thought it was a result of extreme age. Upon closer inspection, I found something infinitely stranger.
The color came from carbon fibers lacing on the inside and outside of the bones. So well were the fibers incorporated, no doubt in my mind existed the fibers were a natural part of this person. Such incredible intertwining could not be done this well after death. Something with a skeletal structure such as this would be difficult to impossible to damage by today’s standards. By the looks of it, this individual died from exhaustion, dehydration, or starvation.
Even more unusual than the skeleton were the clothes holding the bones like a sack. They appeared to be made from a mineral fiber like asbestos or something similar. I moved the beam of the flashlight down the tunnel for a moment, and noticed something very abnormal. The clothing worn by this ancient humanoid proceeded to emit a light of its own. I do not know if the crystalline fabric trapped the rays of my flashlight or if it reacted to the light and now produced its own energy.
I spent more time examining this eons-old corpse than I should. Once I finally went on my way, after drinking the rest of that bottle of water, I turned off my flashlight and sparked up another flare. I placed the empty bottle next to the wall. The burned-out flare lay on the path a mile or so back. In the case I never made it back to the surface, I left some indication of my passage into the earth. Perhaps one day someone will find these artifacts and know I was here.
I tossed the flare further down the road and it moved slightly out of view. The burning flare rolled out of sight, probably because it rolled past another landing. Although it was not directly visible, the red light the flame produced was still in view. My eyes adjusted quickly to the decreased light, and it became much easier to see the walls, ceiling, and floors of the tunnel.
I spotted a cylindrical object shortly after the next landing. From a distance, I could not make out what the object was. I assumed it must have been a container of some sort left by the beings that once used this road. When I drew closer, I realized I was looking at a skull. The skull was obviously not human. Just like the beasts of burden a level prior, the skull did not resemble anything I ever saw or heard of before in my life.
The skull did not display the white bleached appearance of the bones of any normal being. Under the red light of the flare, the carbon fiber laced skull appeared to be solid black. My stomach churned, and I struggled to push the fear that flooded my heart and mind. Fighting my instinct to run, I quickly approached what remained of the head of that long dead being.
Kneeling down, I picked up the skull and used the hissing red flare to illuminate its face. My eyes fell upon a face that was strangely familiar to me. The cylindrical skull with the elongated face was a spitting image of the megaliths of Easter Island. Those giant, timeless stone faces were obviously carved in the image of beings such as this one.
Carefully I sat the skull back on the ground. I stood it up so that the fleshless face stared down the tunnel. I thought about the first flare and that plastic bottle I left behind. If someone did find these in the future, they would know that I was here, but they would have no idea of who I was.
I removed my wallet from my back pocket. Next to the skull, I placed my driver’s license, several green bills of American money, and my wallet. Now, if anyone else did discover this pathway into the depths of the earth, they would know who I was and approximately when I was here.
I took one last look at the time, and then I removed the battery from my watch. The hands of my time piece stopped ticking displaying the exact time I turned it off. By my estimate, the moon would begin to eclipse in another hour or so. Somehow, I knew I must reach the bottom of this road soon or the consequences would be dire.
Quickly, I downed another bottle of water and dropped it to the floor. This third flare burned dimly and would be out within minutes. I struck the fourth flare and threw it down the road before me. I did not know how much longer this road was, so I increased my pace to a jog. I had no idea of how much road I had left in front of me, so I did not want to waste any time finding out.
By this time, I walked every bit of five miles. Keeping in mind the rise over run equation for a slope, I was more than an half a mile underground. That was about the height of the canyon walls that appeared around me in my dreams. I knew I must be close to the bottom.
At my increased pace, I covered much more distance in a shorter period of time. If my dreams were any indicator at all, I should reach the bottom very soon. As I trotted down the sloping tunnel, I picked up that last flare and continued to toss it to illuminate the road before me.
With my flashlight in hand, I ran as fast as I could without falling. Instead of a sense of relief, a sense of accomplishment; when I finally reached the end of the road, I came to an abrupt halt. Petrified with fear, I saw the road opened up into an unsupported stone bridge. I saw no bottom, no ceiling, and no walls. The only thing within range of the beaming flashlight was that single stone bridge.
When I finally approached, I saw the bridge carved from the very same bedrock stone as the subterranean road. It began just inside of the tunnel, one single long piece of stone leading me onward. The stone around the bridge was carved away, leaving only the path before which I stood.
Swallowing my terror and ignoring the churning in my gullet. I ran; I ran two or three hundred feet and the bridge came to an abrupt end. With the span of the bridge to my back, I shined the flashlight over the edge. Tears welled up in my eyes as I observed tier after tier of twenty feet high levels stacked below me. I stood atop a giant stone step pyramid, the same pyramid from my dreams.
I jolted and nearly crumpled to the ground when I began to hear the sound of rock crashing upon rock. I turned to flee, but the bridge was what created the noise. The bridge fell apart and crashed on the consecutive levels of the pyramid. As I watched my escape crumble to the floor, I heard the sound of stone cracking above me. The massive cavern around me was about to collapse and I was stuck at the top of the only structure in sight. If the domed earth above me fell in, I would be crushed under thousands of tons of rock.
My tomb began to fall in on me and I could now see the bright cool light of the moon. The ceiling broke apart and crumbled into nothingness. It seemed whatever force drove me to this location prevented me from being pulverized underneath the collapsing cavern. Stone and dirt fell in directly above me, but before it reached only a hundred feet above me, it faded away like as many puffs of smoke. When the roar of the quaking bedrock above me, all that remained was a singular cliff a half mile high encircling me.
The Earth began to move between the sun and the moon, but there were still a good ten minutes before the eclipse would be complete. Under the bluish light of the full moon, I saw much more of the structure upon which I stood. Level after level progressed into an unending darkness below, the pyramid rising out of a seeming abyss. On the lowest tier visible, I saw movement.
A hoard of the dream shadows climbed out of the inky blackness below. It was exactly as in my dream. I watched that darkness that hitchhiked with me from my sleep climbing the ancient pyramid. Desperately I searched for some way to save myself as the formless red-eyed demons ascended the structure. The moon plunged into darkness as the Earth’s shadow obscured it from the life-giving sun. Panic so intense it made my blood sting whipped me into desperation. I wished I could remember something from my dream that gave me even the slightest glimmer of hope.
A warm sensation washed over me when I saw a blue sapphire beneath my feet begin to glow. I stood baffled for a moment, and then I remembered the gemstone from my prophetic dreams. I reached down to touch the heavenly light, and a small alter rose out of the highest level of the pyramid. The sapphire rose in the small stone pillar until it was nearly even with my ribs. Reaching out with my left hand, I pressed my palm to the gleaming jewel.
Suddenly, the tiers of the pyramid began to glow with an unearthly light. First the lowest level of the pyramid illuminated, and then each consecutive tier ignited with the mystical glow. My hair stood on end from the static now filling the air. With eight levels under me still to activate, I felt an intense heat begin to grow. With each successive tier filling with the holy energy, the static and temperature increased exponentially.
As the levels illuminated, it tore the forms of the climbing demons asunder. The ethereal dream creatures were obviously no match for the energy produced by the pyramid. Unfortunately, the heat became more than I could bear, and I removed my hand from the blue sapphire switch.
The light radiating from each tier of the stone structure instantly ceased. I watched as the red eyes of more of the intangible entities of darkness resumed their rush upward to me. Once again, I pressed the palm of my hand to the clear blue gem. Again, the pyramid started the initiation process. As before, the tiers of the ancient construct filled with energy one by one. Although I could see the lowest level of the pyramid, the ground around it seemed to swim in an inky blackness. Perhaps it stood upon no surface at all. Perhaps it rose through the earth from another world.
As it did previously, the shadow beings were being eradicated by the radiating tiers of the pyramid. I could feel every atom in my body vibrating from the intense energy. With only four levels remaining cold inert stone, I noticed the hair falling from my head. Blisters appeared on my arms and I felt the rest of my skin burning from the heat.
When only two tiers remained, my body was so weak I could barely remain standing. Sparks filled my eyes and my mind grew cloudy as the energy of the structure took its grueling toll on me. The pain was excruciating, and it took everything in me to hold my hand upon the blue stone.
Finally, the tier upon which I stood flared up with the otherworldly energy. The radiation blinded me as fluid seeped from the charring blisters covering every inch of my skin. At my feet lay the hair that once covered my head and the soles of my shoes melted out from under me. My hand now began to show exposed bone and muscle tissue. Never did I imagine pain could ever reach this intensity.
Throughout my life I suffered in terror. These shadow ones tormented me every time I slept, using me as their conduit into this world. It was an invasion, and I stopped it.
My heart stopped and the flow of blood to my brain ceased. I met with my destiny. I saved the world and no one would ever know. I thwarted the invasion, they were coming to take back a world that once belonged to them, and all I had to do was keep my hand on that dead man’s switch.
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