“Hey, Gordon! We should probably start to head back.” Called Ben.
“Yeah,” you respond, “it’s getting late. We should make our way out.”
Your name is Gordon Fisher. You are 16 years old. You and you good friend Ben Parks decided to go on a hike into the woods near your house. While you were out there, you came across a cave entrance. Since both you and Ben are adventurous, you decide to do a bit of spelunking in the cave. You found out that it is very deep, and decide to head back.
“How deep down you think we are?” You ask Ben. You shine your flashlight across the cave walls, looking at all of the water droplets in the walls. There is some ice present because of how cold it is down there.
“Judging by the ice, it would have to be pretty deep. I would guess about 125 feet down, 150 feet at the most.” Ben replies.
The two of you begin you assent, climbing up rocks and helping each other at some tricky points. You left some markers to follow so you wouldn’t get lost down in the caves.
All of a sudden, the passage you were climbing heated up. It wasn’t burning hot, but it was enough to melt some of the ice found on the walls of the cavern. You both stop moving. The heat slowly dies down, and the cave returns to its cool state.
“What on earth was that?” Ben asked.
“No idea.” You reply. “ It must have been some sort of passing heat wave. It seems to have passed, though.”
Ben thinks for a few seconds, then begins talking again.
“Must have been some heat wave. We are below ground, and ice began to melt. Just think of how hot it was above ground. It must have been burning.”
“We should hurry back home,” you say, “and figure out what that was.”
You two continue up the passage and eventually make it back to the cave’s entrance. You grab the markers you left, put them in your bag, and make your way back to town.
During your walk home, you and Ben are going back and forth about what could have caused the heat wave. You come up with some ideas, only some of which are plausible.
“You should trust me on this. I’m older.” You say to Ben.
“Hey!” Ben retorts, jokingly punching you in the arm. “You are only older by a few months, anyway. That doesn’t even...”
Ben is cut off. An animal crosses right in front of you, but something is wrong. It looks like a coyote, but it has the head of a deer. It looks at you and runs off.
“What the hell was that!?” You exclaim. You have no idea if what you saw was real or just you getting tired.
“No idea. It was creepy.” Ben says, seeming to be as confused about it as you were.
“We should hurry back to town” You suggest.
“Agreed” Ben replies.
The two of you start moving faster than you were moving. Rather than a walk, it is more of a jog. You reach the edge of the woods and emerge onto a street. You are only a few blocks from your house. The two of you only live a few houses away from each other, so you are going in the same direction. As you make it to your street, you see one of your neighbors walking their dog. Ben starts to approach him, but stops all of a sudden.
“Gordon?” Ben calls over. “ You should see this.”
You turn in the direction he is looking as you respond.
“Why, what’s the prob...”
You stop mid-sentence. The coyote/deer animal was one thing, but this is something else. To start, his dog has two heads, both of which seem to be trying to move in separate directions. What is even weirder is your neighbor. He seems to be stumbling as he walks, which you assume is because he has three legs. Even stranger is the fact he also has four arms and two heads. One of the heads belongs to your neighbor, while the other is a woman you haven’t seen before.
“I don’t now what I am looking at.” Ben says, clearly confused.
“I guess he..she..them..I don’t know, are joined together somehow.” You guess.
“That shouldn’t be possible.” Ben thinks out loud.
“I shouldn’t be, but it is.” You reply.
You neighbor turns a corner and keeps walking. He seems to be going around the block, though he seems very unbalanced as he/she walks. You and Ben walk to the next house and stop. Ben turns towards his house.
“I don’t know what I just saw, but I need to figure this out.” Ben says.
“Same here. See you later.” You say as you leave.
He waves to you and heads inside his house. You quickly jog up to your house and check the garage. It is empty. Both your sister’s car and parent’s car are gone. You go through the front door and call for your family.
“Mom? Dad? Claire?
You run up to your older sister’s room and knock. There is no response, you peek in and see that the room is dark. You head across the hall to you parents room and get the same result.
“They must be out.” You figure.
You check you watch and see that it is 6:30. You head to your room and turn on the light. You put your hiking gear in the corner and close your door. Even though you are alone, it is a habit. You sit on you bead and try to figure out what happened while you were in the cave.