A single burning torch lit the chamber. Irons bolted into the stone held it. Smoke rose through small hole in the ceiling. The narrowest of paths lined with jagged rocks dripped with fetid water. Putrid odors wafted from outside. A chilling darkness beckoned into the depths. Alfredo clenched his fist, back twisted.


    “Argggghhh!”


    The fist slammed into stone. Blood spurt from his knuckles.


    “Why couldn’t I stay? Am I that useless!? I can protect somebody! He thinks I’m fat and useless, does he? A fat useless nobody who ain’t got nothin!”


    He lifted the torch from the iron shackle and held it in front of the narrow opening. The only way out smelt of rot.


    “Well, there’s only one way for it.”


    He held the torch to prevent it from getting wet. His sneaker splashed into a puddle. The path slid downward, but rocks jutting from the cave wall prevented him from sliding. Behind him, the starting chamber became dark as Alfredo went lower. There was no purple glow of a return sigil. Pointy rocks threatened to scratch his cheeks or poke his eye out. The air became suffocatingly thick. For ten minutes he trudged downward until a jagged rock tore the jacket of his jump suit and scratched his side. He cursed loudly. What he thought sounded like batwings flapped in the distance.


    Tears streamed down his cheeks. Hands shook so much they threatened to drop the torch. Breathing picked up, heavier at first, soon hyper. He pressed his forehead against a stone and screamed.


    “Let me out!”


    Knees bent but there wasn’t enough space for him to kneel. A drop of water splashed over his hair. A voice echoed through the caverns.


    “Mom! I’ll be good! I won’t belly ache bout the food nomore! Mom! Mom! I can’t see! Moooooom!”


    Alfredo tensed at the sound of his young voice, “I know what yer up tuh an I won’t fall for it!”


    A faint echo from the distance.


    “Please mommy! Moooooommy!”


    The passage narrowed. It squeezed in at both sides to steal his breath. Climbing back up would lead to the dead chamber. The only thing he could do there was wait to die. Forward was the only way for it. Snot ran from his nostrils, so he lifted his jacket and blew his nose. The sound of a crying child assaulted his ears.


    “Shut up! Shut up! I know yuh ain’t real!”


    “Mommy, it’s cold in here. I think I’m dying. Please come back.”


    “I said shut the hell up!”


    Over thirty choices for teleporting and he had to get some cave. A tight lip of rough stone caught him. A leg and an arm stuck out. The torch licked at his hair. He pushed it against stone. Saliva laden grunts slipped through clenched teeth as his large form shimmied through pinching stone columns.


    The left column crumbled.


    Alfredo popped free, slid forward, and hit his head on a low hanging stone. The torch dropped onto the floor and slid forward into the low passage. That was his only light. He got on his hands and knees and followed the scent of smoke as the fire threatened to flicker out.


    Did he even have a disposable lighter on him? He lifted the torch. Fingers fanned the flame until it stabilized. It singed the front of his hair. He pushed it away. Darkness loomed ahead. The fire''s light refused to venture far.


    Dirt fell from the low ceiling. Hissing popped from the torch as slime dripped onto his thumb. A tan appendage wriggled into a barely visible hole above him. A small dollop of slime smacked the slippery floor.


    “I’m gettin’ outta here!”


    Alfredo crawled forward, “I’m gettin’ outta here, gettin’ outta here, gettin’ outta here! I’m not gonna die alone in some stinkin’ cave! I’m gonna die with my boots on. Standing up under the open sky! And not all under the ground like!”


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    The tunnel became tighter. He pushed his torch out another narrow opening and then pulled himself into another narrow chamber. The ceiling, slightly higher. The caverns swirled about him in shadow. He curled up on the floor. The flickering torch raised above his body.


    I said she’s still alive you moron, for now!


    “I know what yuh said, yuh think I don’t know? But I can’t do this no more. I hate caves. Anything but caves. Why’d it haveta be caves? I can barely squeeze through. At least when I was small, I was small, ya know? Why am I talkin’ to myself? I’m scared witless. My teeth are chattering here.”


    The sounds of his voice hit the jagged walls. A series of hisses followed from above. Alfredo stumbled to his feet while grasping loose stone. The torch raised upwards to reveal a pattern of brown, black, and splotchy tans huddling from the ceiling.


    Bats?


    “Great, just what I needed. Well, guess I got somethin'' to eat if I get desperate.”


    His stomach growled. What he wouldn’t give for a New York cheese steak or some original style pizza. He still had a few of those Nutrient Bars and a bottle of water in his jacket pockets though. The torch waved about; the smoke drifted upwards. Alfredo heard shuffling and looked up. One by one, heads tilted down. Glowing feline eyes opened wide. The narrow pupils flickered with the torch light''s glow. Fangs bared.


    “Hissssssssssssss!”


    A creature dropped. It had, ears, nose, brown and tan fur, vertical slitted glowing eyes, and fangs like a cat. Front paws with sharp claws swung for his nose. Alfredo stepped back and swung his torch in defense. It almost went out. The flame flicked away for a short moment. Pitch darkness descended. As the torch flared back to life, the darkness retreated. Tears streamed down Alfredo’s bright red cheeks.


    “GET ME OUTTA OF HERE!”


    The cat creature hissed at him from the floor. He kicked it, punted it against the rocks. A sickening crack followed. The ceiling of the cavern came alive.


    Hissssssssss! Hisss! Hiss! Mrrrooooooooooow! Hissss! Hiss!


    His hand slid along the stone. Another one of those metal shackles was in the wall. It didn’t make no sense. Had somebody been in this cave before? Maybe it did make sense. He put the torch inside so he’d have both hands free. But the critters didn’t attack. He stepped forward and one swooped down. It flew past him. Then another followed. The torch flickered as they bashed into it.


    The creatures scurried across the floor. They had the backside of a slimy worm! Gross! They burrowed rear first into holes between the jagged rocks. Glowing eyes glistened within the walls. Another dropped against his torch, the flame flickered. Darkness encroached.


    “They’re after my torch!”


    They weren’t directly overhead at least. The slick coating of droppings was a few steps further down the narrowing chamber. He pushed at the stone. It felt loose and crumbly, but the rumbling sounds from above froze him. He reached to slide his torch from the shackle.


    A cat side pushed out of a hole and scratched the back of his hand. Alfredo screamed a curse that sent two more creatures shooting at him. One landed on his face. The other shot past and clutched at the handle of the torch.


    Claws pushed from the velvet. They swiped across his forehead to leave a bloody scratch. Slime moistened the collar of his shirt. Alfredo threw the offending cat-worm off against the floor so hard it splattered open. He pressed his palms against his stinging forehead.


    Fingernails extended as steam swirled from his breath. He keenly heard the shuffling of the cat-worm. His fist side-slammed it against the cave wall.


    Rwrooooor!  Splat!


    The worm portion burst from the pressure as the innards of the beast dropped.


    Horns pushed from his head, but he took deep breaths and they slowly pulled back. His hand ran across his forehead. Blood smeared along the underside of his fingers. Slow, deep, controlled breathes like Kunchen recommended sealed the demon within.


    Claws retracted as he retrieved the torch. Wet pops smacked from the ceiling. Bright eyes fell towards him. Wet muzzles snarled with wicked feline growls. Alfredo waved the torch to send a bunch smacking against the stones. Claws sliced the legs of his pants. They cut his jacket and opened his arms. His thighs took slices. His sleves peeled open as he tried to protect his face.


    After attacking, they scurried from his feet to avoid being kicked. One crunched between his sneaker and a rock. Bones pushed from burst worm flesh. Alfredo kicked another, it burst with a sickening pop as a mix of blood and stinky viscera coated his sneaker.


    In between the jagged rocks and loose sand, the creatures burrowed. Their shuffling and muffled growls could be heard behind the walls. They returned to the ceiling, squeezed out, and dropped over him. A claw swiped along the top of his head from ear to ear. Blood dripped down the back of his neck. Scalp burned.


    Alfredo ran forward with his arms barring his face and the torch held high. Cat faces screeched from the walls. His wet sneaker slipped on the droppings. The cave sloped down further as fecal sludge made the floor a slide. His face barely missed low hanging stalactites. Left fist gripped the torch with white knuckles.


    A narrow opening approached. Alfredo pushed up on his left leg to try and slow his descent. His body slammed into the wedge between rocks. Knees felt like they would snap apart. The torch fell from his hand and rolled by his left leg while still burning. The right half stuck out over a short drop into a murky pool below. His left half faced the slippery path back to the cat-worms.


    The torch burned at his ankle. A kick pushed it away, only for it to burn out of reach. The rocky slit embraced him by pinching his rib cage. Alfredo wiggled, but he could barely move one way or the other. The light of the torch faded.


    From the tunnel above, an angry hiss, “Mrrrooooooow!”