I found myself in a small clearing surrounded by cobwebs and hanging branches with the sound of trickling water in the background. As the sun started setting, it got darker by the second making everything seem more eerie that it should have been. No matter how soothing the waves hitting the shore were, I could not focus on anything else than my rising fear and distress.
"Lewis, I told you this was a bad idea! Who knows what's lurking in the shadows! How are we ever going to find our way back to the shore?! I can't believe you" โ I grumbled. If there was one thing that tipped me off, it was the dark on an uncharted piece of land and the unsettling sounds a forest often produced.
"Relax, Cleo! I know my way around here... I practically live here doing all of that research on sea urchins and ancient moss โ and anyways, this was supposed to be a romantic date, remember? You watch way too much sci-fi on Netflix... there's literally nothing there!" โ proclaimed Lewis. He wanted to go on this date for nearly a month now, but we never actually had the time with all of our uni assignments and obligations constantly on our heels.
Right, so I think it's actually time I told you who we are and what the hell is going on here. I am Cleo Sertori, a 23 year old uni student majoring in linguistics at Griffith University. Lewis, the clown that got me into this mess is my daring boyfriend. You might be already playing a guessing game in your head and probably have guessed what he studies. Drumroll please... marine biology! Wow, such a surprise innit?! He just cannot shut up about jellyfish and red algae, which apparently is essential for a healthy and clean ocean. If you could not tell so far by my degree of enthusiasm, this is not exactly my ideal date night. When I told Lewis I wanted to do something cute and romantic, this is not exactly what I had in mind but Lewis seems to have a different idea. I swear, one of these days, he is going to get stranded on this creepy island with the rate he is visiting it.
"Oh, come on! I got a great setup just behind that set of rocks, trust me it's mind-blowing! Here, take my hand." โ Lewis reached his hand out towards me to grab so he could hoist me up and onto the rocky ground a few levels above me. As I stretched my left hand out to grasp his, I heard a rustling behind me. Now, obviously, I panicked and turned around like my life depended on it, only I didn't really thing about the consequences. All of a sudden, a heavy body landed on mine as we rolled down the small hill-like pathway. I groaned and looked up at the origin of the mass that turned out to be Lewis (thankfully, and not a flesh-ripping fish-human hybrid I ever so wonderfully planted into my vivid memory while climbing further and further into this thick mosquito-filled jungle for the past 20 minutes).
"Cleo! Are you alright, sweet?! What just happened?" โ Lewis burst out yelling in panic. I could tell by the look on his face that he started to feel creeped out as well, which was just dandy considering he was supposed to be my savior, my knight in shining armor... how wonderful. I grunted and just nodded seeing as Lewis was weighting me down and I couldn't produce a comprehensible sentence. We slowly got up and brushed ourselves off from the dirt and leaves.
"I swear this night couldn't get any worse than this, Lewis! What were you even thinking coming he"โ suddenly Lewis cut me off as he exclaimed:
"Oh my God! No freaking way! Cleo look at that light coming from down there, we have to check it out. Come on hurry up!" โ Lewis immediately turned in the direction the light was coming from, however one moment he was standing and the next he disappeared. From what I could tell, it was a cave that seemingly led to another part of this island. All of a sudden, all I could hear was Lewis' screams of horror and the trees around me shook from the heavy gusts of wind that took a direction toward the north. As if something had pushed me, I stumbled forward and tripped a few steps. One step led to another and the next thing I know, I am tumbling down into the same cave Lewis just disappeared to a moment ago.
I look around and the air seems to be glistening, almost as if it was magic. I couldn't believe my eyes and neither could Lewis.
"Woah... I have never seen this before. How could I have missed this"- Lewis trailed off as he admired the cave. Water was trickling down from the ceiling and into a rounded pool of water. Even the water in the pool was shimmering and what seemed like bubbles were flowing upwards to an opening in the cave's ceiling which looked up towards the starry sky. I was mesmerized and scared at the same time. I didn't particularly feel safe nor in danger down here. However, what happened in the next spit second made me question my life choices and beliefs so far.
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