Marlo approached the cavern entrance and swung the beam of her flashlight back and forth. She saw a glint of something purple in the endless black but when she refocused the beam, it was gone. "This is the place?"
Mister Liddenston, the elderly bald man she'd requested info from in Runswick, nodded.
"Whisper Cave. Only cave near our little town."
She took a step closer and squinted into the mouth of the cave. Something sulfurous wafted under her nose. "Where does this lead?"
Mister Liddenston scratched the top of his dark brown head and his bushy white eyebrows scrunched close together. "Nowhere good."
"And...you're sure she went in there? You're positive?"
He nodded. "Led her here myself."
Marlo gritted her teeth. Of course her sister had wandered inside. Resisting curiosity had never been her strong suit. "Well, thanks I guess. I'll go in and find her."
The old man nodded, hesitated as if about to say something, then shook his head and began shuffling back towards Runswick. Marlo tightened the straps on her pack, tied back her bleach-blond hair, then slowly advanced into the cave.
The first thing she noticed was that although she could see sunlight when she looked over her shoulder spilling just onto the cusp of the cavern entrance, the path before her remained black. In fact, the instant she submerged her whole body into the darkness, the light of her flashlight blinked out.
"Oh, come on!" Marlo banged on the flashlight. Nothing changed and she let out a frustrated growl. "I literally just entered..."
Pushing annoyances aside, Marlo stuck out her hand and felt for the cavern wall. The rock felt wavy and smooth beneath her fingertips. And wet. Marlo wrinkled her nose in disgust then ventured forward, never once allowing her hand to part from the wall.
The wall curved back and forth, sometimes turning so sharply Marlo wondered if she was heading back towards the direction of the entrance. Something howled and she suppressed a shudder.
"Why am I the one rescuing you?" she muttered. Her voice sounded muffled and flat, opposite of the echoey sound she'd been expecting. "Aren't little sisters supposed to be the ones getting into trouble?"
Nothing but the howling and something skittering nearby replied. Marlo sighed and pressed on.
The wall began to straighten and then the smoothness in the rock dipped downward. Marlo stopped and brushed her hand back over the odd texture. The dip was shallow and cut vertically up the rock. She traced the line with a finger, then, feeling a diverging path, followed that onto another line. And another. And another. Marlo froze, realization flooding her head. This was a rune.
"No wonder the darkness felt so unnatural." Marlo stepped past the rune and let out a gasp as suddenly her flashlight blinked on.
Marlo let her hand fall away from the wall and slowly moved the light around her. She'd entered a large cavern split into visible sections by stone columns and other rock formations. When her flashlight reached the tunnel she'd exited, the light stopped right at its edge.
"Freaky." Marlo studied the cavern again. "Syl? You there?"
"M-marlo?" a tentative voice spoke.
"Syl!" Marlo ran around a giant stalagmite toward the voice. "Syl, where are you?"
"Marlo!"
The voice sounded to her right, but when Marlo turned, all she saw was bare rock and the smooth cavern walls. No wait. Was that...?
Marlo crouched down and stared at a boot half-hidden by a bulbous stack of rocks. It looked almost identical to the shoes their father made.
The shoe jumped a step back suddenly. By itself.
Marlo yelped and swung her flashlight at it. The flashlight hit something just above the shoe—hard.
"Ouch! Marlo!"
Marlo blinked. "Sylvie?"
"Obviously." The shoe stomped forward. "Why'd you hit me?"
"I didn't know it was—I mean, I just saw the shoe and—why can't I see you?" Marlo sputtered.
Silence. Then Sylvie said quietly, "You can't see me?"
"No. Just one shoe." Marlo pointed at what was left of Sylvie and attempted a smile. "But hey—I found you!"
"How long..." Marlo heard her sister suck in a shaky breath. "How long have I been gone?"
Marlo's smile faded. "Three weeks."
A few pebbles shifted and the shoe tipped back as though its owner had sat down. "Oh."
Marlo sat down as well. "So...what happened?"
"Well. I heard about a magical cave. I went to check it out. Then couldn't find a way back."
"You couldn't get out? But the tunnel's right there." Marlo pointed at the mouth of the tunnel she'd come from and it's impenetrable darkness.
"I tried. But there are a lot of side tunnels, and I couldn't remember which turns to take and then there were the sounds..." The shoe scooched backwards an inch. "There's something wrong here, Marlo. I keep hearing voices and, and screaming, and it's been getting louder and more frequent. And now apparently I'm fading."
"Or just invisible," Marlo pointed out. She glanced down at the shoe. "Well. Mostly."
Sylvie sucked in a sharp breath. "Did you hear that?"
Marlo shook her head and moved her flashlight around the cavern. The stalactites, stalagmites, and twisting columns of rock cast weird shadows onto the ground.
A whimper sounded from above the shoe. "What's happening to me?"
"Well, they did say it was a magical cave." Marlo felt the invisible person in front of her until she found her sister's hand. She pulled Sylvie to her feet. "Let's get out of here."
Marlo pulled Sylvie over to the tunnel and hesitated before the wall of black. Which side of the wall had she followed?
"We're going to get lost," Sylvie whispered.
"No. No we're not." Marlo frowned and felt the wall on the right just inside the darkness. The deep grooves of the rune met her fingers. "Found it. C'mon."
Keeping close to the wall, the sisters bolted into the darkness. Something cackled as they ran.
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