My lungs are desperate for air.

The salt in the water chafes my body.

My eyes sting from the combination of blood, salt, and gasoline.
Metal and gold litter the waters around me.
Everything is so peaceful so quiet.
From the back of my head I hear a soft voice.
Rest with me...

In a rush of mad energy, I swim towards the shore with only half a breath. I push aside
debris along the way as I crawl towards the white sands. A wave catches me and sends me
deep in the water before crashing me on the shore. I crawl backwards trying to avoid the
monstrous power of the ocean.
All of my existence is pain. My lungs burn from the lack of air. My stomach aches of the
pollutants in the water that I swallowed in my panic. My skin is cracked and scratched behind
the tattered remains of my once luscious attire. Blood trickles from my forehead flooding the
bridge of my nose. I cough in breaths trying to cope with the injuries staining my body, but every
breath is a knife, every twitch tears my muscle, every tilt breaks my bones.
I lay there fearful to even move
WHAT HAPPENED! My head screams. As the events of the past hour swarm my mind.
I was on a cruise ship, my cruise ship, the Gulf of Mexico. I had invited over 2000 of the
world's greatest entrepreneurs to sail across the Atlantic to the unveiling of my new factory in
Veracruz
All was fine and we were enjoying an extravagant party all on my behalf, the trip had
been spectacular
I was in the main deck telling the story of my prized golden pocket watch and drinking glasses of
Uva Exprimitur when an explBOOOM Roars in my ears as I turn to see my sinking cruise ship explode once more, sending
debris flying towards me
Ah Give me a break you ATROCITY OF A BOAT I yell at the top of my damaged lungs.
I push as hard as I can against the floor and nearly break my arm in the process.
Everything hurts so much, I stumble to my feet as bits of steel fall beside me. My body is oozing
pain, but in spite I run, run as fast as I can, deeper into the island. I turn back to see a massive
support beam hovering over me, falling at an alarming rate, in an odd mix of rage and
adrenaline,I dodge to my right tripping over myself. I crash to the floor in unison with the support
beam, the sound rings in my ears. My head aches from the fall.

My heart bleeds sadness now that you did not join me.
And you will bleed along with it.
I stumble to my feet again. My senses are disoriented by the sound, pain, and the sand in my
eyes.
Bleed.
I run, my whole body breaking apart on me as more shards of debris fall around me.
BLEED.
My lungs are rattling, my vision is failing on me. Up ahead I can faintly see a jungle growing in
the distance.
BLEED
I am reaching the edges of the vegetation, the grass is a welcomed sensation on my
aching legs, my pain numbs and I run faster deep into the jungle I'm sprinting although my
body is yelling for me to stop...I'm so close I just need to run for a litt-AGH.

I wake up to the rumbling in my ears and the feeling of damp soil underneath my cheek.
I'm surrounded by dense vegetation, there are bits of rubble around me but in whole I appear to
be unaffected by them. I touch my forehead to see that the blood has dried How long was I
unconscious for? My body feels sore but rested. I get on my knees in one shaky movement, I tilt
my face towards the sky to see the pitch black clouds above me, the winds around me blow
leaves of several palm trees like flags, in my awe a single drop of water hits my ear It's going
to storm.
I slowly get up to my feet but crash down once more when I feel a knife like pain pierce my left
ankle. I turn to look at it swollen to twice its original size.
Great I sigh under my panting breath and stand up even slower than before Ow. My
surroundings are all grassy and green. No place to hide from the coming storm Further
forward I notice an opening on the side of a mountain, I stumble forward and see the mouth of a
cave. The sky rumbles with lightning above me. The only place with a solid roof over it is several
feet away.
Come to me.
And I stumble towards it.

The ground is hard and partly wet, the cave is a lot larger than I thought, with enough
space to stand upright in it. My left foot is throbbing from the walk but I managed to climb into
the mouth of the cave. Inside the light fades until it reaches black. Rain drops start dropping as I
settle in a spot.
Good timing, what luck. I say sarcastically. Nothing about today has been lucky, and a
suspicion led me to believe this would not as well. I lay down as slowly as possible, sliding my
hands across the cave floor beside me. I take a moment to inspect myself as the sprinkles of
water turn into a light stream. Every strand of clothes on me is torn to shreds, my ankle has
swollen to an unnatural size, I can feel several burning gashes and cuts across the whole of my
body, my feet feel the specs of water falling from the storm looming over me, I release a breath
as my wounds whine against the hard floor, my hand feels the smooth stone of the cave floor
before being followed by a thick liquid? I sit up partially carefully observing the black
molasses that has covered my hand. With a very subtle sense of caution, I press it to my nose
and take a weak sniff at itOil.
I get up as fast as I possibly can (which is equivalent to a tax return), and look at the
cave floor. There is a tiny keg of oil that has been spilled over. I continue to observe the pool of
oil that sends a stream of ebony leading towards the deep dark of the cave.. As I take a step
forward to pick up the oil keg I noticed several specks of red littering the pool. I take a step back
as I realize the origin of the specks There only three feet in front of me, lies the corpse of a
man I inch closer trying to identify his features but immediately push myself backwards
partially falling into the water that was rising from the jungle floor and hurting my left ankle
terribly. AHH I yell as swollen ankle pulses with pain.
The feeling distracts me from the terror that lies further into the cave. But nevertheless
the pain quickly numbs. My heart is racing along with the rain pounding on the now flooded
jungle floor. I slowly stumble upwards and walk towards the corpse, his mouth was gaping, his
skin grey with clusters of dark maroon, his eyes were a crimson bloodshot. All of this was
expected from a dead man but the thing that made me leap back in terror was his torso It was
cut into thick ribbons with massive pieces of flesh missing, as if he was thrown into a wood
chipper. I gag a little as I continue to observe the body. What could have done this?! Then I
notice a bright glimmer in the center of his right hand A lighter. I pick it up as gingerly as
possible and feel something rough around his hand Rope? I desperate idea is made in my
head as I quickly take off my shirt and grab a handful of wet sticks. It would take a while, but if
possible I can make a torch And light up this coffin of a cave.
This cave is huge, a lot bigger than I can feel comfortable in as the flame from my crude
torch enlightens the dark and reveals a long cave hall. The flame warms my hand as its flickers
dance at the top of my stick bundle. I ignore the corpse as I walk forward, deeper into the cave,
my feet echoing against the stone walls. The cave is very desolate with little real points of
interest. The orange flame contrasts the pale brown of the cave. The ground becomes smoother
the further I shuffle into the cave, a much accepted relief to my sore feet and swollen ankle. As I
keep walking the walls become less of a rocky formation and more of smooth carved walls. I
feel chills down my spine as the cave im walking in becomes more of a long abandoned
hallway. I stop with a hard breath as the floor I am walking on now has tribal looking carvings
covering the entire whole of the floor. The floor tiles each have the same pattern at their border,
a blocky snake dragging its way around the corners of the tile with a mask of a wolf at the

center. The mask has two massive tusks, multiple scratch marks littering it, in its mouth there
appears to be some human bone and it boasts a pair of primal eyes. The eyes shine with an
unnatural glow, as I continue to walk behind my racing heart, I swear I hear faint whispers
flowing lazily into my ears. I continue walking trying to avoid the carved walls and floor tiles, the
glowing of the wolfs eyes and the whines of pain from my body. My mind drifts until I come to
an open room, the light of my torch has dimmed slightly from the start of this expedition, but it
can still reveal enough of the room to terrify me.
The wall in front of boasted a bright red cave drawing of my birth in an aged man
lies a baby with nothing significant about him, however the father carries a scar across his face,
that scar belongs to my father after his expedition to the Gulf of Mexico I gulp hard The
mothers face is perfectly drawn to match my own, even down to the small wrinkle on the bridge
of her nose, her eyes soft like they were always before her death. I step closer and find a small
object in the babies.. my fist resembling a small circle like a pocket watch that I was given
since I could possibly remember. My body trembles and wants to back away as much as
possible but I cant help but edge closer laying my hand on the tiny cylinder to my surprise,
the ink stained my hands I stare at it under the faint orange light ever growing smaller as my
small exploration goes to a full blown expedition it seems eerily familiar. I slowly touch my
forehead with a free finger and draw a small amount of blood. The paintings ink matches the
color and texture This is fresh.. someone else is in this cave!
My agent will reap those who disobey
My heart starts racing, my hand shakes causing the light to dance against the wall. My
body feels frozen, all the pain I have ever experienced seems so insignificant compared to this
new grand fear I turn around and start racing towards the hallway I came in, only to hit my
forehead and nearly drop my torch. The hallway vanished! Everything just vanished!! My heart
is pounding against my chest. Suddenly I hear scratches behind me, and turn to see the faint
red of the painting now boasting three mighty scars one for each neck in the family My
father, my mother and me. In my panic I run around the open room looking for the hallway
and discover another path even further into the cave.. I just want to get out! As I sprint across
the deathtrap hallway I take in quick glimpses at several paintings littering the walls, each a
moment of my life: The first time I was taken to my father's work, the opening of the rival
manufacturing company that forced my father's bankruptcy, my first day in college, the last time
I saw my father before he died, the opening of my own company, the financial success of it
leading to becoming a brand name, the organization of the cruise to my new factory and
and
I abruptly come to a halt as the hallway reaches a dead end revealing the few paintings,
on the left wall there is the explosion of the cruise, on the front my journey to the cave and on
my right, in very rough and recent strokes me viewing the paintings.... My heart is pounding
so hard I can feel it attempting to climb out of my chest!
Dont be afraid

The flame of my makeshift torch is growing smaller by the second. I hear terrifying
scratches scrape across the walls of the cave. I turn around only to find nothing. My body is
shaking as I turn my in every direction trying to figure the origin of the terrifying sound.
After all, meeting me runs in your family
I take deep breaths as my torchlight shrinks until I can no longer see anything but the
small orange light surrounding the point of it.
Now finally we can
I feel tears swell up in my eyes as I am overwhelmed by my emotions of fear. I suddenly
yearn for my mother and father to comfort me as they did when I was a child. I curl down into a
ball, despite the cuts opening up on my back, despite the pain in my left ankle and I cry
holding the tiny light leftover close to my eyes
...Embrace.
There only remains a tiny fire, and I am left mostly in the dark. My cries echo across the
cave. I'm so afraid, I want to go home I whisper softly to myself the promises my mother
would make to me as a terrified child... I hug the quickly fading warmth of my extinguishing
torch, my body is trembling to in inhumane standard The back of my neck feels strong scratch
breaths alien to my own lungs, I tremble even more letting tears flow out like rain. Behind me a
growl grows, as I claws grinding downwards against the stone walls.
The light of my torch dies And I am left in the dark.