The dread was building ever faster within my mind as I slowly came to the horrifying realization that I had become wholly and hopelessly lost within the expansive labyrinth of twists, turns, and climbs. I had memorized the path I took fairly well, but there were many repetitive patterns and turns that could easily pass for any other of them. Although even with this, perhaps I could have found my way, were my torch not to flicker and die almost thirty minutes ago. I decided to stay in place rather than continue to become more lost and decrease my odds of being found. I leaned against a wall and waited for a while, but as I waited, my inexplicable feeling of dread continued to climb. I'd never felt like this before, afraid of nothing. It felt like a premonition more than vague panic, similar to how a heart attack victim often reports a feeling of impending doom. Yes, that was it, impending doom. I felt it growing within me, its roots wiggling through my flesh to go from a faint tightening in my chest to a deep terror, the roots of dread worming into my lungs, quickening my breath and sending vague tingles through my spine.
The cave I had entered was a common tourist attraction in western Oregon commonly referred to as 'The Abyss' because very little of its full depths had been explored, despite many having explored for miles upon miles in almost every direction. Understandably, there were many conspiracies and superstitions about this cave, some believing it a gate to hell, others believing it to be a hideout for an intelligent species that abducts creatures from the surface and experiments on them, for some (unexplained) reason. However, conspiracy theories such as these rarely had any evidence or valid logic to lend them weight, so I found them implausible at best. More likely theories included cults meeting there and continuously excavating, an old volcano draining thousands of years ago, and prehistoric giant ants (still more plausible than aliens). As an archaeological professor, I was most interested in studying the cave's famous "crystal rooms," massive rooms covered mostly in crystal, from quartz to diamonds, with some of the crystals growing to up to 60 cubic feet, from what I heard it was quite a majestic sight.
Because it was a major landmark, none of the precious gems had been allowed to be removed by anyone. Strangely, this strictly enforced law was most championed by large diamond and gemstone companies...
I had gone into the cave with a small tour group, led by an experienced guide. While we were originally going to simply travel down a developed and well-traveled path without straying at all, my bladder had other plans. I decided to slip away while the group was ahead of me at one point to relieve myself, but "out of earshot" meant something wildly different in a cave. I'd gone a notable distance away before feeling fully safe to "answer the call of nature" if you will. Upon attempting to return, a small trickle of water fell onto my torch, which caused it to eventually sputter and die, completely eliminating my sense of direction and orientation, for a while I screamed for help, but my voice became hoarse quickly, as I was not accustomed to speaking loudly. My occupation as an archaeologist and a professor not bringing me any skill for yelling or shouting whatsoever.