The Old Mine
Mark was a horror fan, plain and simple. He had a huge collection of horror movies, books and games. He read the scariest and creepiest stories the internet had to offer, but one intrigued him the most out of all of them. It was called 'the tunnels', and it intrigued him because every day on his way to work he passed by an old mine, which was caved in at the entrance just like in the story. Infact everything about this mine matched the one in the story. He asked everyone at his work about how it got caved in and they all gave him the same answer, "I don't know." Knowing he had gotten nowhere in finding out anything, he decided to visit his favorite bookstore to maybe buy a book, but mostly he just wanted to talk to someone who has lived here for a long time.
He walked into the book store. "Lenans bookstore - buy, sell and trade." He walked up to the counter and was expecting to see Mr. Lenan but he was nowhere in sight, which was strange because he always went out of his way to greet anyone who came in. "Hello?...Mr.Lenan?...are you here?"
"Mark?" he heard Mr. Lenan call from the back. A feeling of relief washed over him. "Mark my boy! How are ya?" the old man said with a smile. "I'm well Mr...Lenan...uh Mr. Lenan?...I wanted to know if you knew anything about that old uh...the old mine?". The man's smile faded. "Well...why do you ask?" "Oh no real reason...it's just I always pass by it on my way to work."
"Follow me." The old man motioned for him to come to the back. He followed him into a small storage room. The old man brought two fold-up chairs for them to sit in. "Take a seat." The young man obliged. "Many years ago I knew a young man who worked in those mines...you reminded me of him...he was very polite...very...respectful. well...after working in the mine for a few years he seemed to change. I could tell something wasn't right...but anytime I tried to ask him if everything was alright, he would get really pale and wide eyed. He would tell me everything was okay but I knew it wasn't true. A few weeks later, when he was working in the mine with some other workers, he went to the entrance and used a stick of dynamite to cave it in, they couldn't get them out... no matter how hard they tried." "Is there any way that...I could get inside of the mine?" the young man asked. "Boy have you lost your damn mind! Why in the hell would you wanna go do somethin' like that?"
"I just have to." "There is one way...there's a small hole right on top of the entrance..."
"Could you show me?" Mark asked. "...fine..." the man replied reluctantly.
"I'll take you to the mine tonight, I suggest you get plenty of rest and make sure to bring supplies, you will have to stay in the mine for 24 hours." Mark looked at the man with a look of shock on his face. "Why that long?" "Cause I'm not coming for you till tomorrow".
We pulled up into the driveway, I thanked him and went inside. I was filled with excitement. I ate a huge meal and prepared a back pack filled with everything I would need. A first aid kit, a flashlight, a bag of chips, a few bottles of soda and a cellphone. I waited, teeming with excitement as I waited to hear the sounds of Mr. Lenans car pulling into my driveway. After what seemed like forever he finally showed up. Mark walked to his car with his supplies. The car ride was quiet and uncomfortable. They pulled up to the mine slowly. "Come on" he said, as he shut off the car, climbing out with a crowbar. The clouds covered the moon in a way that gave everything around Mark a menacing tone. Everything seemed so different to him in the moonless night. "It's right up there" the old man said, while pointing to the top of the entrance.
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It was a difficult climb, but the both of them got up to the top pretty quickly. "Here it is" the man patted a rock with his foot. "Okay...how do we-" before he could finish his sentence the old man used his crowbar to lift up the rock. Mark squeezed through the hole. "okay, I'll be back tomorrow. Meet me here at 8'o clock sharp!" "Okay..", Mark yelled back to him as he closed up the hole. Mark looked around slowly. "I guess...I'd better...get going" he said as he pulled out his flashlight and turned it on. With the light on he was able to see the corpses of the workers who had died of the explosion at the entrance.
He was somewhat disturbed, but he slowly walked down the tunnel in front of him as if he hadn't seen anything. "Its so...quiet..." his voice echoed through the tunnel, as well as his footsteps. He walked until he came to a three way intersection. He looked down each tunnel for a few seconds before make his decision. "Left." his voice bounced off the walls. He didn't walk for long before he came to a dead end. He turned around and went to leave until he heard something strange. It sounded like whimpering or crying. Mark stood there frozen for a second until the noises stopped. He just dismissed it as his imagination. He walked till he came to the intersection again. "Right." After hearing the sounds from the other tunnel he was somewhat frightened. He took very slow steps and listened to every little sound, though the only sound he could hear was his heartbeat. At the end of the tunnel he found more corpses, and another tunnel in the right corner of the room.
The tunnel was more like a hallway, as if not made for working in. As he peered in the hallway he thought he heard voices calling his name. "Mmmmaaaaaaaark". The voices sounded distorted...and inhuman. He stepped into the small tunnel and felt chilled to the bone. It was freezing in the tunnel. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as he walked through the tunnel. After walking for what seemed like forever, he came to a small room, with more corpses. He looked around the room inspecting every little detail slowly, until he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. One of the skeletons was holding what looked to be a small booklet. Mark walked over and pried it from the boney fingers.
He opened the first page to read, but most of the writing was smeared. He flipped through till he found writing that he could read. "I always knew I didn't like that fucker Thomas...he was a goddamn nut! He fucking blew himself and about 7 people up! this was his journal...I found it a few minutes ago...he was writing something about "Ancients" and "World eaters" and how he knew what they wanted and how he couldn't allow them to have it or some shit... what a goddamn psycho." Mark looked at the booklet. The words "Sorry" were written all inside the book. He slipped the booklet into his back pocket and left. He walked through the cold tunnel and then back through the other one.
Mark walked like a zombie as he thought about what was going through this Thomas guys head when he was writing in his booklet. He wasn't always crazy, well...according to Mr. Lenan. the words "Ancients" and "World eaters" flashed through marks mind. "What could it mean? ...what are ancients? and...World eaters?! ...why am I thinking about this so hard? The guy was crazy...maybe its all the stories I read...all the games I play." Mark could've sworn that he heard the voices again, "Mmmmaaaaaaaark." Those inhuman voices. It sent a shiver up his spine. Without even thinking he started to sprint., running as fast as he could to get back to the intersection. He finally got to back to where he started. He sat down in front of the middle tunnel. He checked the time on his phone, the clock read "10:00 pm". "I've been here two hours already?..it feels like I've only been here a few minutes...man I'm hungry".
Mark opened the bag of chips and indulged. Once he was finished eating he decided to get some rest. He lied down and as he felt himself drifting asleep, he saw something crawling towards him from the tunnel in front of him, something that looked to be made of shadows. It crawled right to him, looked at him and said something he couldn't hear very well. then it disappeared. He was plagued by nightmares of the thing he saw until he woke up sweating. He breathed in deep and exhaled slowly. "oh my god..." he sighed. Relieved that it was only a dream. But his feeling of relief left him when he saw that the tunnels he had been in last night were now sealed tight. caved in just like the entrance. He pushed and pushed on the wall of stone trying to move it, but to no avail. So he took a sip of soda and checked his phone. "6:00 am" He started walking down the tunnel just like the others. Until he remembered what he saw before he fell asleep.
He stood there waiting ...expecting...for something...anything...to come through the tunnel. "What am I doing?" He walked down the tunnel hiding his fear behind a straight face. The further he walked the more the fear spread through him. Each step seemed to fill his veins with ice. He knew that he was breaking down, though he didn't want to admit it. He walked until his feet ached and still hadn't come to the end of the tunnel. He started to wonder if there even was an ending. He checked his watch. "7:00 am" "I've only been walking an hour and I'm already tired....I need to sleep...must've been those nightmares. I'm drained." He fell asleep just like before but only one thing was different, the nightmares were different than the others. In this dream he saw what happened last night before he fell asleep except this time he understood what that creature said. "Block the other tunnels. We'll get him tomorrow." Knowing this now, Mark jumped from sleep, got to his feet and saw them. Dozens of them, dozens of those shadowy beasts. He ran, he ran as fast as he could. Their roars shook the ground and the walls around him.
It felt like the whole earth was shaking. He ran screaming at the top of his lungs. He looked back to see how far away he had gotten from the things. They were still visible even with their strange bodies. He ran till his feet felt like they were bleeding, His legs ached and his shoulders hurt. "Damn back pack...get the fuck off!" he let the pack fly off his arms. He sighed with relief as he ran faster. Then he remembered what happened the last time he fell asleep. The tunnels were collapsed. He feared that he may be trapped if the tunnel was sealed. He got to the intersection and his prayers were answered. The tunnel wasn't blocked. He sighed with relief. But soon the pressure of the situation was pressing on him again. He rushed to the caved in entrance, and pushed up on the spot in which he came. But it wouldn't budge. He turned around and faced the many abominations that stood before him. "I think I get it now Thomas wasn't insane, was he?..no, no he wasn't insane...he was smart. He sacrificed himself to keep you...you ..things!...in here. Though he had to take the life of a few others, he knew that it was for the greater good." Mark checked his phone. "8:00 am" "If only it was 8 at night".
The beasts stepped forward, but they suddenly stopped and focused their eyes above Mark. The stone above jerked and moved until finally it was lifted up and he saw him, Mr.Lenan. "Grab my hand!". Mark grabbed hold of his hand and the old man pulled him to safety. "Close it now, now, now!" Mark screamed. The rock fell back into place and Mark could hear the screams and roars of the beasts faded until there was nothing but silence. Mark breathed heavily. "I thought you were coming for me at 8?" "I did...its 8 now!" "but you said you would be back in 24 hours." "I must've forgot... guess its good I did though." That day Mark quit his job and left as soon as he could. Every night he is plagued by dreams of the mine and what he saw inside it.
Credited to RaZuRiN
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