One Simple Lie

Jake dropped his baseball bat by the fence and grabbed my hand as we walked.

“Hey, we might need that to protect us,” I said jokingly, feeling a little awkward that he was holding my clammy hand.

“All we need to protect us is a condom.”

I wasn’t sure what to say, so I stayed silent. Was he flirting or being a dick? I couldn't tell with him sometimes.

He gave me a sideways glance. “I’m kidding,” he said, “remind me to get my bat before we head back to the car.”

Up ahead I could see the cave as he led me towards it. My insides squirmed at his touch. The butterflies in my stomach made me feel like a teen and I wondered if Jake felt the same way. Though we’d never talked about it, his actions definitely made me think that perhaps he was interested in me but was it more than just a physical attraction? Did he want me the way I wanted him?

As we came closer to the cave it all seemed that much creepier.

“Why are we doing this again?” I asked, feeling very self-conscious of my sweaty hand in his.

“I’ve heard stories about this cave. I thought it would be fascinating to explore it,” Jake said.

There was a sign by the entrance of the cave that read:

Speak truth and honesty, for lies feed the darkness within this cave.

“What’s all that about?” I said, pointing to the sign.

Jake looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “The tale goes that ancient spirits reside here, so you have to be honest at all times or they’ll curse you… I think.”

I pulled my hand away and wiped it on my pants. “I don’t want to go in there, it looks creepy.”

“Don’t be nervous, it’s fine.”

“Well, you go first.”

He shook his head and went a few feet into the cave.

“Now you can’t lie,” I said.

“Okay, ask me anything,” his voice echoed as he spoke.

“What’s your name?”

“Jake. Now ask me something that isn’t boring,”

“Okay, do you believe in the ancient spirits of the cave?”

“Yes. Ask me something better than that, maybe ask how I feel about you?”

“Wait, what?”

“Ask me.”

Was this really happening? Did he want to admit his feelings for me or was he joking like usual? “Is this going to be one of those mean jokes where I ask you and then you shut me down?”

His laughter bounced off the cave walls. “No, I promise it’s nothing bad.”

“Okay…” I could feel my heart bubbling up with excitement as the words formed. “How do you feel about me?” I said.

“Well Ange, the first day I met you I knew you were going to be someone special to me. And when I got to know you I felt a connection growing between us.”

My body erupted in a nervous sweat with each word he spoke. My heart felt as if it would break free from my chest any second.

“And ever since then, I’ve been falling for you.” He fell silent for a moment.

Was I meant to say something? I was too speechless to think of something.

“So, there you go, that’s the truth, I’m in love with you.”

My face grew hot and I was unsure how to respond, so I used humor. “And now you’re cursed. Let’s get out of here.” I began to walk away.

He caught up to me and grabbed my hand gently. I turned to face him. “Now it’s your turn to tell me.”

“Jake, I-”

He pulled me in close and kissed me. He was everything I wanted but it was all happening too quickly. Did he really love me? Or was he lying? I closed my eyes and gave in.

He pulled back. “What was that?”

I felt in a daze, did we really just kiss? “What?”

“I swear I just heard-” Jake turned and looked back at the cave. “What the fuck?” he whispered.

I looked into the cave, for a moment life became still when I saw it staring back at us. It looked like a mutated wolf. It stood tall on its hind legs, baring its teeth as it edged towards us.

Jake stepped back and yanked at my hand. “Run,” he said before darting off into the forest.

I followed as quickly as I could.

“Don’t look back,” he yelled.

He was too fast. “Jake, I can’t keep up.”

“Don’t stop!” he shouted. He was way ahead of me now.

Fear coursed through my body and made my legs weak. The car was too far to run to, there was no way I could make it. Behind me I could hear it catching up to us, it snarled and gasped as it chased us.

Jake stood by the fence and in his hands, I could see he was clutching his bat.

“Run faster Ange!”

I wanted to give up, to be done with it all but my body wouldn’t let me give in to the fear.

I finally reached the fence and Jake swung the bat behind his head. I rolled and tumbled onto the grass and watched as the large wolf-like creature came at Jake. He swung the bat with full force. The clash of the bat against the creature's skull burned into my mind. The creature fell back with a thud, it’s head oozed blood as it lay lifeless by Jakes's feet. Blood splattered on him as he hit the creature one last time in the head.

“What-” I couldn’t get the words out, my chest was tight, I could barely catch my breath.

“Let’s go,” Jake whispered, his hands were shaking as he reached out to help me up.

Paranoia followed me as we walked back to the car. Every sound, any movement and I jumped. I looked at Jake, the blood had dried on his face and clothes and hadn’t said a word the whole time we were walking.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

He nodded. “You?”

“I’m fine, just shaken up,” I said. The image of the creature wouldn’t fade from my mind. “What was it?”

“I don’t know, a wolf maybe,” he said. I noticed he tightened his grip around the bat.

“It looked like a werewolf or some sort of demon wolf.”

“Yeah, it definitely had evil intentions,” Jake said.

That’s when I remembered the sign by the cave. “Which was the lie?” I asked.

Jake looked at me and frowned. “Huh?”

“The cave, you obviously told a lie. Was it about loving me?”

“No, I didn’t lie about that.”

It was a little hard to believe him considering a demonic wolf had just chased and tried to kill us.

“Don’t lie to me. You literally just put our lives at risk with your lies, have you not learned your lesson?”

Jake dropped the bat and grabbed my hand. “I promise you I didn’t lie about that,” he said, bringing my hand to his lips. “I do love you. I honestly didn’t even believe the stories about the cave. I thought it was an old wife's tale. I’m sorry that I put your life at risk.”

Originally posted on Medium