Amy Benson was sitting in a big leather armchair with her chin resting on her knees. Denis was flicking through a holiday brochure while rocking the baby in its cot.
“Well we could go to Ireland, I suppose,” he said, “but all the flights are in the middle of the “ Amy, am I talking to myself?
“What? Um, no…sorry, what were you saying?” Amy asked distractedly.
Denis flicked a page. “I was saying we could go to Ireland…oh, wait, how about the seaside, there’s a “ oh Amy, I’m so sorry!”
Amy’s dark brown eyes had filled with tears.
“Amy, I’m really sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned the seasi “ listen, we could go to Wales instead!”
Amy shook her head and ran upstairs.
Denis kicked the chair in frustration as he heard the bedroom door slam. What an idiot he had been! He sat down again, it would be best to leave Amy to calm down a bit.
The baby giggled in her cot, kicking her legs, unaware of what had just happened.
*~*
Denis knocked on the bedroom door.
No reply came, he’d been expecting that.
He pushed the door open gently.
Amy was lying face down on the bed with a handkerchief clutched in her fist.
“I brought you some tea,” Denis said softly and put the cup down beside her.
“I want to go there, Denis,” Amy mumbled.
“What!?”
“I need to go back, Denis, please,” she pleaded. “You don’t understand. It’s like a part of me needs to go back and it won’t rest until I do.”
“Amy, you’ll just upset yourself,” he said firmly. “I’m sorry, but there is absolutely no way we are going back there.”
*~*
Denis leaned over the balcony railing and stared out at the sea. The sun was setting and it cast pink and orange and yellow lights onto the water. He really should learn to say no, but at least Amy was happy…happier than usual anyway.
Amy was tucking the baby, Gloria, into her crib and selecting a bedtime story.
There was hardly anything to do here at night, so Denis quickly changed into his pyjamas and lay down in bed. The only sounds were the crashes of the waves on the rocks and Amy’s soft voice telling the story of Snow White.
“Snow White became fairer as she grew up and when she was eight, she had become the most beautiful girl anyone had ever seen.”
Denis yawned. Perhaps he had done the right thing after all.
“And so, she cooked and cleaned for all the dwarves and they let her stay at the cottage.”
It was so nice, just lying here, listening to Amy. Denis’s vision had started to blur at the edges.
“And when they returned, they found Snow White lying on the floor, dead.”
Those were the last words Denis could remember, and then he fell asleep.
*~*
Amy grabbed an oil lamp and closed the door softly. She stepped out onto the dewy grass and shivered, wishing she’d brought her coat, but she couldn’t go back, she might wake Denis.
“How horrible I am,” she thought. “I’m lying to my own husband.”
She walked and walked until she came to a familiar, rocky cliff. Amy attached the oil lamp to her belt and gently lowered herself onto the cliff face. She kicked out for a foothold and began to climb down. The wind howled in her ears and her muscles began to ache when she had gone a quarter of the way.
It grew darker and darker as Amy climbed down. Every time she grabbed a rock she cried out in pain. Once she was almost thrown from the cliff face into the sea by the strong wind.
At last she reached the ground, breathing heavily. She sat the oil lamp on a rock and then screamed. Amy’s hands were raw and completely covered in blood. Blood sloshed around in her shoes from when she had kicked out to get her footing.
She picked up the lamp and felt blood trickle sickeningly down her sleeve. She walked to the cave entrance and found it filled with water. Amy swore, but it was no use, she had to keep going, she needed to. Amy pinched her nose and jumped into the freezing cold water and swam. She swam quickly, forcing her aching arms to work. Suddenly “ her hands closed onto the rock. She dragged herself to the surface, coughing and spluttering.
Amy groaned. She was now faced with a stone wall, which certainly hadn’t been there before.
Amy pushed against the wall in desperation. Her hands had left a splatter of blood on the rock.
Suddenly, the shape of an arch glowed white on the rock. The rock seemed to open, revealing a dark room emitting an eerie green light. Amy staggered through the arch and she saw a gigantic black lake, as smooth as a mirror. In the centre of the lake was a small marble island with a basin, the contents of which, Amy could not see.
Amy cried out in desperation. She turned around “ the arch had sealed itself.
She was trapped.
“Help me,” Amy sobbed. “I don’t know what to do, please, help me.”
There was a loud rattle of chains, and a boat rose out of the water.
“That was a coincidence,” Amy told herself as she clambered into the boat. “It had nothing, absolutely nothing to do with what you said.”
Amy picked up the oars and began to row. After about five minutes her arms felt as if they were about to fall off. The oars seemed to get heavier and heavier as she rowed along and the island seemed to get further away.
Until there was a loud clunk.
The second Amy had stepped out of the boat it sank to the bottom of the lake, leaving Amy stranded on the marble island.
“Oh, fantastic,” Amy thought. “I’m even more trapped than I was twenty minutes ago.”
Peering down into the small basin, Amy saw it was filled to the brim with a thick, greenish substance emitting a glowing light. Amy sniffed the contents of the marble bowl, it didn’t appear to have a scent. Amy bent over the basin and touched the liquid.
A small, blurry picture appeared on the surface of the liquid. A small boy nibbling his lip nervously, another one with his eyes closed chanting something over and over and…. a young, blonde haired girl twisting and writhing on the floor…it was Amy.
She screamed and stepped back, one of her shoes brushed the surface of the lake behind her.
A grey, rotting hand rose out of the water, and started to drag Amy down into the depths.
The Cave by Ellie4Harry
Chapter Notes: Here it is at last! I am so so so sorry for the horribly long wait but I'll blame it on a certain friend of mine who enjoys ripping my fanfiction drafts into little pieces!
Also a few people have made me banners (see my author page to check them out)
And one of the reasons this was so slow is that I have a few other fics in the works! Keep your eyes peeled :D