Chapter 1 (no title)

Cammie Dawson grinned excitedly as she hiked up the long trail with her best friend, Chloe Sanders. The two of them loved to go hiking together, and this time they were in a beautiful forest they hadn’t yet explored, five miles away from home. They were laughing and giggling together, playfully shoving each other from time to time. Birds sang in the trees, and they saw a lot of wild life such as foxes, rabbits, and deer. The day was perfect, warm enough to wear shorts in but with a cooling breeze shifting through the tree branches. It was relaxing, and Cammie had needed a bit of a get away. She’d been feeling heavy pressure over her exams at college.1

“Look, there’s the bottom of the mountain just up ahead. It seems we’re almost to the end of the trail,” Chloe said, pointing up ahead. Cammie could see the rocky formation about a half mile ahead of them and felt a chill of excitement. Supposedly, from what Chloe had heard, there was a large cave up there at the bottom of the mountain. Cammie loved to explore.2

Cammie grinned over at her friend. Chloe was a leggy blonde with a gorgeous body, thick hair, and big green eyes. She had a peaches and cream skin complexion that seemed absolutely flawless. Cammie was often jealous of her friend. She thought that she looked fine, maybe even pretty, but when comparing herself to her model like friend, she often felt inferior. Cammie had short black hair that barely reached her shoulders, which she kept styled with layers and often wore in a simple pony tail with loose strands hanging about her face. She was much shorter then her friend, and pale, with big blue eyes and freckles that crossed over her high cheekbones and over her nose.3

Cammie shifted the pack on her back to a more comfortable position. Both girls carried travel packs with them. Most of their stuff was left behind at their campsite, but they always brought the travel packs with them in case of emergencies. It had things like extra pairs of clothes and a jacket, a blanket, food, and first aid materials. Though it wasn’t really much, it tended to start feeling heavy after a seven mile hike.4

Up ahead, Cammie spotted the cave entrance, only a short climb up some rocks at the bottom of the mountain. It was definitely intriguing. It was a massive, gaping hole of darkness. Anything could be in there. The two of them smiled at each other, and without having to say anything, they both darted up the trail, each trying to reach the rocks first. Though Chloe had the longer legs, Cammie was the more athletic one and reached the rocks first. She wasted no time in climbing up, and was already staring inside the cave entrance in awe when Chloe caught up.5

“This is so exciting!” Chloe exclaimed, her beautiful smile lighting up her face.6

“This thing could go on forever,” Cammie replied. She pulled out her big flash light, which was large and bright enough to light up a lot of the cave.7

“Well, no point wasting time. Let’s get going,” said Chloe, who eagerly stepped inside. The cave didn’t seem to hold any of the heat from outside, and a cool breeze brushed against them. Cammie shivered, as much from the cold as excitement.8

A few minutes later Chloe gasped and reached out. Cammie caught her hand just in time. They were so interested in looking around at the cave, they hadn’t noticed that the cave bottom dropped off. They got in to their hands and knees and peered down together. Cammie shined the light into the hole, but the darkness swallowed the light up. They stood again, and Cammie directed the light across the hole. It was a massive thing, perhaps as large as half a football field. Across it were two caves, each smaller and just as dark and foreboding.9

Chloe stepped back from the hole, hugging her arms and looking like she’d seen a ghost. She had a sickly look about her as she stared at the chasm before her, which Cammie took to be from her near fall. Ignoring her friend for a moment, she stepped to the side of the cave to see if there was a way around. Unfortunately, the hole seemed to stretch around all sides, with only a thin piece of ledge reaching across to the other side. Without climbing equipment, she wasn’t willing to risk it. She stared across at the other caves longingly.10

“I’m sorry I’m doing this, Cammie. I love you, you must know that. But if it weren’t for you, I really think Rob would want to be with me,” came Chloe’s sickened voice in the darkness. Rob was Cammie’s boyfriend. Cammie turned around to face her friend with a questioning look, but before she could ask what Chloe was talking about, her friend shoved her hard against the chest.11

Cammie gasped and spun around. She was falling down into the darkness of the chasm. She expected to hit the ground at any moment, but the impact didn’t come. She started to lose track of time, and she thought that this was probably what falling in space felt like. She knew that with this long of a fall, there was no chance of survival. She started to cry as despair and then anger washed over her. How could Chloe do this to her? They had been close friends since the fourth grade. They’d only known Rob for two years.12

Suddenly the air felt different, and Cammie could see the hard rocky ground rushing up to her. She flailed her arms and legs in a vain effort to ease her fall, then hit the ground hard. She cracked her knee hard on a rock and tried to cry out, but all of the air rushed from her lungs as she landed face down on the rocky surface. She gasped for air and rolled over onto her back. After she’d had a moment to catch her breath, she realized that though she was in agonizing pain, the impact of the fall hadn’t felt as far as it should have. She moved her hand around until she found her flashlight, and much to her relief, it still worked. She pointed it up to where she had fallen from, and to her surprise saw the ceiling of a cave.13

Sitting up carefully, Cammie pointed the flashlight to the back of the cave. It didn’t go back very far. With anger and determination filling her, Cammie pushed herself to her feet, and clenched her teeth together as more pain shot through her leg. She would just have to go outside and find a way up. Chloe was not going to get away with this. She had a few questions to answer, and Cammie certainly couldn’t allow the little wretch to get to Rob. Putting her flashlight away, she limped towards the entrance, which luckily wasn’t too far away.14

Cammie was so angry and lost in thought that she didn’t notice the dramatic change in the weather. She stormed out of the cave, and then let out a cry as her foot slipped on an icy patch of rock and she went sliding a short ways down the mountain. That was when she noticed the biting cold and the snow covering the ground, and the fact that though she had fallen a long ways down, somehow she was not at the bottom of the mountain anymore, though certainly not high up enough to have reached snow in the middle of summer.15

Anger flooded away and was quickly replaced by fear as the feeling that something was very wrong over came her.16