The Mine

"I don't know Earl, we were hearing some weird noises as we walked up here to the mine, maybe we shouldn't go into it," says Marshall Withers, a slender short fourteen year old to Earl Williams a fifteen year old who was nearly double the size of Marshall.

"Now don't be like that Marshall, the town closed Prospect mine in 1876. It's been four years, I don't know why they shut the mine down but what's the worst that could happen?" says Earl with a sarcastic tone.

Marshall sighs and reluctantly says ,"Fine! Let's go!"

The two boys make their way into the abandoned mine. They see old footprints and tracks as they enter, the wooden beams supporting the mine squeak as the wind pushes against them. It quickly gets too dark for Earl and Marshall to even see their hand in front of their face. Thankfully though Earl made sure to bring two lanterns. He lights them up. They are just bright enough to see only about four feet in front of them. They continue working their way down into the mine walking past rusted pickaxes, shovels, gloves, and mining helmets.

"Y'know Earl, it's almost as if none of the miners never even packed up their stuff. It's like they just left," says Marshall with a nervous tone.

"Yeah I don't know what even happened to 'em, I just know this place was abandoned four years ago." Marshall notices a dark red, almost black, streak on the wall of the mine as he puts his lantern up to it Earl continues on. Marshall begins to say, "hey is this bloo-"

Earl's screaming and running interrupts Marshall. Earl is about twenty feet away from Marshall when suddenly claws burst out of Earl's stomach and lift him into the air. The claw then throws him down with such force Marshall hears Earl's bones crunch under his skin, along with the gurgling sound of his throat filling with blood as he hits the ground. Marshall doesn't have time to react to what just happened before his eyes because he can already hear this thing walking toward him. Marshall takes off running for the entrance of the mine, his vision blurry from running so fast. He makes it to the entrance of the mine, but he doesn't hear anything coming after him. It's as if nothing were even chasing him in the first place. With his adrenaline still pumping, he rushes back down the mountain trail where the town of Prospect sits at the base of the mountain to get Sheriff Louis.

"Please Sheriff Louis! Please, I need your help. My buddy Earl just got killed up in the mine!" yells Marshall.

"Woah, woah now son take it easy, so your buddy Earl just got killed in the mine?"

"Yes I watched this claw come out of the darkness and stab him!" Marshall's adrenaline had worn off by now, but he continues shaking. Louis curiously asks, "You said a claw? It was probably a bear. I will go up to the mine and take care of it."

Sheriff Louis gets up and grabs his carbine rifle and starts heading up to the mine. He has an uneasy, almost nauseous, feeling in his stomach. Upon arriving to the entrance of the mine Louis hears a demonic screech, "rrrreeeeeaaahh". Louis lights his lantern, straps it to his belt and heads in. He hears nothing but pure silence as he walks through the pitch black mine. Until he starts to hear a noise similar to a dog eating meat. The noise gets louder and louder the more Louis progresses through the mine. Louis hears this until it sounds like it is above him. He doesn't see anything so he lifts up his lantern to see what's above him. As he does this, he begins to feel droplets of liquid drop down onto his shoulders. He sees it, the thing has the body and legs of a spider, and a human head and arms. The razor sharp claw that killed Earl. Louis notices Earl's body being held by this spider creature on the ceiling of the mine. Earl's head is half eaten, with only half of his face left.

In the meantime, Marshall makes his way back up the mountain trail to the mine to check on Sheriff Louis.

He calls to Louis, "Hey! You okay in there?"

Louis hears this, but so does the creature. It turns it's head to the entrance of the mine and lets out an ear bleeding screech. The monster jumps from the ceiling, landing on Louis, impaling him with its claw. It then quickly tears its claw out of Louis and drags him by the head deeper into the mine.

The screeching noise scared Marshall, making him take a few steps back. He calls again,

"Louis! Answer me!" Marshall waits for a response, expecting Louis to quickly respond. Marshall yells again, but to no avail. It is as if the silence of the mine eats his words as he yells into it, not giving any sound back.

Dylan Kapustka is from Lincoln, Nebraska, he has written a multitude of short and long stories for his many classes that he has taken over the years. He hopes to bring his writing career to new heights by starting to submit stories to publishers.

Find more by Dylan Kapustka in the Author Index.

Comment on this story in the Aphelion Forum

Return to Aphelion's Index page.