Carpathian 11 - Dark Descent

to curb your antics, the world would be a frightening place." He looked up at the strange, moving mist. "Rather like this place." He sauntered slowly over to examine the surface of the outcrop.
    "We're in the ApuseniMountains, part of the Carpathians, you heathen," Gabriele informed her brother. "If you paid even the slightest attention to anything we said, you'd know that. And you could no more give up your luxury condo and live in the mountains than you could swim the English Channel. And, I might add, we take care of you."
    "Hey! I can swim," Jubal objected. He ran his hand over the rocks, frowning as he did so. "Just because I don't like to swim doesn't mean I can't. I wasn't born with gils like the two of you. She's found something, Gabriele. This is a pattern, but it needs to be…" He trailed off, dug his fingers around several of the smaler rocks, and began to rearrange them.
    "There's a surprise," Gabriele said and rose to her feet also. The cool mountain air fairly vibrated with excitement. "You could always come and research hot viruses with me," she invited, slinging her arm around her brother.
    "Yeah, I'l get right on that, Gabriele, because I'm a crazy man and want to die a miserable, but noble, death," Jubal said, ruffling his sister's dark hair. "I think I'l stick to my stocks and bonds and let you do your wacko research al by yourself. There it goes. Wow, look at that." The crack widened when he placed the last rock in the sequence.
    "This is man-made, not natural. Damn it, Joie, don't go in." He snagged his backpack and puled out a logbook, carefuly entering the time. "We're just doing a cursory exploration, and it's nearly sunset. No one knows where we are." Muttering, he hastily anchored the logbook near the crack where his sister had slipped inside.
    Gabriele shouldered her gear and folowed. "It's extremely tight, Jubal," she cautioned. "Pass me your gear; it's the only way you're going to get through."
    Jubal took one last look at the sky, noting that the clouds that had been floating so lazily overhead were now spinning ominously, a gathering of a great force. His chest scraped as he maneuvered through the jagged crack and into the narrow hal. Behind him the wind rose in a sudden shriek, lashing at the mountain, while strange, haunting cries echoed off the peaks. Mist swirled around the mountaintop, a mini tornado that snatched the logbook and sent it skittering down the hilside to land in one of the many bogs, where it slowly sank beneath the dark waters.
    Joie moved quickly through the narrow hal, wel ahead of her brother and sister. The ceiling dropped with every foot, so she was forced to bend over, eventualy crawling on al fours and then sliding on her stomach. She could feel the cool air coming from a subterranean chamber. Everything inside her demanded she keep going, even when she had to maneuver her body at odd angles to slither through the tunnel.
    "Slow down, Joie," Jubal cautioned. "Stay within sight of us."
    "I don't like the way she's acting," Gabriele whispered. "I've never seen her like this. She always obeys the safety rules, you know that, Jubal. Something is realy wrong."
    She felt sick, her stomach churning, her mind filed with dread. "Something terrible is going to happen if we don't stop her."
    Jubal waited, but Gabriele didn't move; she remained wedged in the narrow hal, blocking him from continuing. "Keep going, Gabriele," he said. "We'l catch up to her and talk sense to her. She's been caving for years. She's not going to forget everything she's ever learned."
    "Ever since she was hurt in Austria, she's been different," Gabriele pointed out. "Distracted. Driven."
    "She's always very focused when she's going into a cave. And this is a big discovery, an unexplored cave. We have no idea what we're going to find. Of course she's excited."
    "You know it isn't just that; she's been different this entire trip. Even before that. She's quieter. Joie isn't quiet. Now she seems to be somewhere else half the time. I feel like we're losing her, Jubal—as if something is puling her into another world where we can't folow."
    Jubal sighed loudly. "I wish I could say I don't know what you mean, but that's why I came on this trip. I've been worried about her too." He reached out and pushed at his sister. "Move it. I can't even hear her now."
    "I can't move, Jubal." Gabriele sounded scared. "I realy can't."
    "Are you stuck?" Jubal was very calm, but inside a dark dread was stealing over