Manuscript Found - Parts 1-6

Manuscript Found at the edge of Nowhere.

     The following is a reprint of a mysterious journal found in the middle of the Mohave Desert in 1974. The author and others, although identified within the journal, remain unknown. There are no records of their lives and none of the expedition described herein.
     What does remain is a mystery; where did this journal originate? Is it a hoax? Is it fiction? We may never know...

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     August 2nd, 1884

     We have arrived at the starting point of our journey. The cave opening isn't very large at all (much smaller than the Indian had described, perhaps he was speaking in metaphor as the Indian often do). Why we are here is not only for the wonder of exploration of this wild western part of the continent, but to this cave we have been led because of a legend. Our Indian guide had told us of a monster that lives here, a God. And what a wondrous notion we thought to explore not only a hidden crack into the earth, but also a cave in which a monster supposedly lives! Our guide would not come near this place and had left us one day ago, only leaving further directions to our destination, and here we are. The surrounding scenery is very barren. Nothing but dirty sand and desert brush for miles around us. Even though it may sound desolate, it is very pretty. For someone like me who comes from the lush wilderness of the Northeast, this desert here is quite a vision.
     We will set up camp here for the night and begin our exploration of the cave depths in the morning...


     August 2nd, 1884 11:52 pm

     We have all been awoken by a strange sound coming from inside the cave. Thomas was the first to hear it. He awoke the rest of us; his face was pale and drained of blood... His eyes were wide. He awoke me first, saying "Randolph, Randolph... wake up. There is something calling us from inside that cave! Randolph, do you hear it?"
     As I awoke, shaking my head of sleep, I heard Thomas' frantic words... I listened deep, hearing only at first the steady desert wind as it hummed around us... for about a minute I listened and only heard that wind. I then began to say, "Thomas, what am I supposed to be hearing?", I put my hand on his shoulder, "You have had a nightmare, my friend, go back to sleep. In the morning everything will be all right..."
That was when I heard it...
     A ghostly yet familiar sound of a voice... but this voice didn't seem human! It came from the cave, deep within the cave! I heard it as plain as I heard Thomas' voice. It sounded like it was a hundred miles deep in that hole, yet carried on some black wind to our camp just outside. It sounded like words...
     Specifically, the words 'Enter Not. Beware.' And then soft and steady moaning.
     "Wake the others," I told Thomas...


     August 3rd, 1884 2:26 am

     The ghostly voice has subsided from within the cave. After I had told Thomas to awake the rest of our party, we all sat and listened, hearing that dreadful moaning come from the cave. Only once more, after we had all been awakened, did that moan become what sounded like words.
     And again, issued forth was the warning,
     'Enter Not. Beware.'
     We all looked at each other in deadly silence... Only after a minute did James break the silence with a stuttering laugh... "What the hell was that!?" he shakily exclaimed, "The damned wind through that hole is playing us for some fools!" he said and we all laughed nervously, looking from one to the other, then collectively let out a sigh of relief.
     "Hehe," I said, "Ok boys, He's right. The wind is playing tricks on us. Its time to get back to sleep so we can be rested and start our exploration tomorrow morning; I mean this morning. C'mon men, we need to start at sunrise, so get some shuteye."
     And we all looked at the cave, wind blowing across this desert, across that hole, making a sound like ghostly moaning. Then with an unsure smile, we all bid each other a goodnight...
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     part 2



     August 3rd, 1884 4:00 am

     Thomas woke me up again. He was quite in voice yet hysterical in demeanor. "Randolph, Randolph! I saw something! Something!"
     Still half asleep, I told him to calm down, "Ok, son, get a hold of yourself," I said, sleep still heavy in my head, "What are you talking about? What did you see?"
    He was shaking uncontrollably, his eyes moving from me to the cave, back and forth slowly, "I saw a monster!" he said.
     "What do you mean?" I asked, my head clearing.
     "Eyes! I saw eyes... they were like fire! from that cave!" he said, breaking into sobs,"They came right after my NAME!!!", he became quiet for a moment, his arms wrapping around himself, his face blank and pale, "My name! it said my NAME!" IT SAID MY NAME!"
     The rest of the men stirred in their sleep, moved uneasily, then settled back into rest...
     My consciousness, still half between sleep and awake, took in his words like some bizarre dream. More awake than not I grabbed Thomas and shook him, "Get a hold of yourself, Man! You've been dreaming! Nothing is in that cave except maybe some water and stalagmites!, Nothing is saying your name. No Eyes, No Monster!"
     Thomas recoiled from me and my hands released him. He became small onto himself, folding into an upright fetal position, crying.
     "I'm sorry, Thomas," I said, angry at his childish behavior, yet in pity for his  fear. What kind of nightmare did he have to make him act this way?
     Through his sobs he said, "Those eyes... They looked right at me! Oh, Randolph, am I going mad! My name... My name in that horrible voice, Randolph! Those eyes fixed on me and that voice, as if it was thundering inside my head! That VOICE.... 'BEWARE THOMAS! ENTER NOT!!!'" He began to cry and convulse in terror.
     Then, I tell you, a nightmare began. I cannot tell you if I was awake or still dreaming when this happened, but I will tell you all the same! As Thomas sat curled up like a child, over our heads, above us, in the sky... the sky of a myriad stars, a light exploded! We both looked up and saw what appeared to be a star, in supernova. It expanded and blew outward... Becoming a hideous EYE!
     Thomas whimpered and shook. I was stunned into petrified stillness... And Then Thomas spoke. He spoke the last words I, or anyone would ever hear from him. We looked at each other and he said... "My name... I can hear it calling me." Horror shining in his face like nothing I've ever seen on a man before, " Good-bye," he said... "Good-bye Randol...."
     And then, what I can only describe as a terrifying nightmare, as he said those words and was cut off at the last moment, I saw my friend, Thomas, suddenly stiffen as if his body was being grabbed by a monstrous and godly force, some unworldly and unseen hand, his entire being held prone and helpless... And I saw his body fly upward and into the sky above us, toward that ghastly and explosive eye of a star! He shot straight into the sky and was never seen or heard from again!!!

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     Part 3

     August 3rd, 1884 6:30 am


     I awoke from some terrible dream, only to find that a part of it was true...
     I dreamt that my friend, Thomas, has disappeared! Had told me of some terrible warning and then just vanished... into the sky! The residue of the nightmare still hung heavy as I awoke... awoke to find that Thomas must have run off into the night as we all slept! I awoke early, around 6:15 am, and looked at the sleeping men. The faint remembrance of a nightmare in my mind. I looked around and saw that Thomas was gone! He must have run off during the night, he had to of run off, no other explanation. I dreamt he told me of some horrific nightmare then had vanished into the sky; So unreal... so very unreal... it was a nightmare. Nothing else! He went mad while we all slept and just ran into the night...
     We had to continue on. Less one partner, we had to go on. We had come this far; All the way from the East.
     With all the men awake, we cooked a simple breakfast over a fire. All of us eager to enter the cave, yet all of us aware of our missing companion. We sat and ate, the slight feeling of unease over us all. We remember that evil wind, how it sounded like a hideous voice at one point; and we all had on our minds the thought of Thomas; having must have gone insane over the night and ran off. I was in particular tension because of what I must have seen in a dream. Yes... It was only a dream...


      August 3rd, 1884 7:00 am


     It was time to enter the cave. We gathered our equipment; hemp rope (strong rope) and hooks made of metal. We had been told by our long gone Indian guide that the passage down into the cave was easy at first. It became treacherous after about a mile inward. Then we would need to use our skills of spelunking, to explore deeper the mystery of this crevice in the deep earth.
     We gathered our equipment, preparing for the beginning of our real journey. And as we strapped the rope and hooks to our backs there came a howling wind, not from over the landscape of brush and sand, but from the cave itself... And the howling echoed forth with a terrible voice. A voice that was a trick of the wind upon the cave's opening. The voice of terrible warning, of a dream long dissolved in our minds... A Voice. and it said, "BEWARE!".
     We gathered our equipment and I was the first man to step foot inside the mouth of the cave.
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     Part 4

     August 3rd, 1884 10: 47 am

     We have made it through the first mile of our exploration. It was not as easy as the Indian guide had led us to believe. About 100 ft in we had to ignite our lanterns as the daylight disappeared around some turns and drops and left us in near blackness. The cave tunnel in which we had traveled down in was approximately a ten foot wide ragged circle; about 15 drops, maybe about five feet deep led us down and down into the earth every 50 or less feet. The first 50 ft or so of the cave had been webbed by spiders of unusual size. The scurried along their spun silk traps as we tore through them to make passage. One had bitten Coren as he swept aside the web with his hand. We had paused for maybe 5 minutes or so to see if the sting carried venom of any dangerous nature. Coren said that he only felt a slight sense of nausea and a pain where the bite had occurred but nothing else, so we continued on. As I had said, we had lit our lanterns to make it to the one mile point. Along the way, we had felt, in pulses, a strange wind arise from the dark depths. Very strange indeed... A wind from out a cave must mean that there is an opening on the other side. But still, the wind coming in pulses caused me more to think of the breath of something deep within, exhaled with gigantic force. But that was only my exaggerated imagination obviously.
     So here we stand now, the six of us, James, Coren, Denney, Calen, Jonathan and myself, at the one mile point, and this part the Indian did not mislead us on. We stood at the edge of a terrible precipice, deep and black as blackness could be, dropping downward in a literal vertical into nothingness. Coren had taken up a stone and dropped it over the edge... It fell, for what seemed forever, before the echo of it landing sounded toward us. We looked at each other, and with a smile, the smile we explorers get when we are about to embark on the sweetness of a journey, we began to unfurl the hooks and rope from our backsacks... Now the real exploration was to begin.

     August 3rd, 1884 11: 30 am
     
     As we were about to descend into the pit, Coren's nausea has taken a turn. As he helped with the spiking for the rope, he suddenly broke into an intense sweat and vomited over the side of the precipice. Holding his belly in pain, he collapsed in agony. The spider venom must have caught up with him (Coren is a large man full of muscle and vigor). His bodily strength has been fighting the poison, but it appears it has caught up. Right now he is laying prone on the edge of the drop, his eyes are staring straight up, but he is awake. He has begun to shake uncontrollably... I am fearful for his life. Denney is holding his hand, trying to ease Coren, but...
     Wait, something is happening...
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    Part 5

     August 3rd, 1884 11:52 am

     Coren has died. As he laid there, convulsing from the spider venom, Denney trying to hold his hand as still as possible, Coren died...
     Moments before his eyes rolled back into his head Coren had looked at us all, his body shaking, he said, "Tell my wife that I love her... My children, my darling Sarah and Michael, I love them... Oh, why God, Why!?"
     Coren tried to lift his head, sweat pouring from his body, he mumbled, barely audible, "Its waiting...." then he began to pray, the Lords Prayer, "Yea, though I walk in the shadow...." And then He died.
     May God give him deliverance...
    

     August 3rd, 1884 12:30 pm
    
     We have decided to leave Coren's body at the edge of the precipice, to retrieve on our way back. With heavy hearts we set about our task and spiked the edge and tied our ropes. The five of us remaining, James, Denney, Calen, Jonathan and myself, rappelled down the cave cliff, coming to end about 100 feet below. Our lanterns alit the surrounding and we found ourselves at the opening to a gigantic underground cavern. Stalagtites and stalagmites stretched off into the darkness and the sound of water in its slow drip echoed from within. Several bats, disturbed by our presence flew up and away towards the cavern opening above. The scent of ammonia was heavy (bat droppings obviously).
     As we shined our lanterns around us we found some primitive cave drawings marking the front of this cavern. I can only describe them to you as etchings made to ward off any intruders; something resembling a gigantic beast, the body of a man, the head appearing to be that of an animal with tentacles, reaching out and grabbing figures like tiny men, drawing them towards a horrid mouth filled with sharp teeth, other man small man like figures bent down as if in worship. Calen is trying his best to reproduce the cave drawings in his notebook. When our expedition is completed, these images will appear in our final book about or journey. We will rest here for a moment and continue on once Calen is done...
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     Part 6

     August 3rd, 1884 1:14 pm

     Calen finished his reproductions of the cave drawings into his notebook and we began our journey into the great cavern. With our lanterns lit bright, we made our way through the beginning maze of stalagmites and stalagmites. This maze stretch for quite some time, our path uneventful. Then, we entered a place of absolute darkness, no obstacles ahead of us. We shone our lanterns around this great opening and saw something unbelievable. Above us, hanging in silent sleep, were thousands, maybe millions, of bats. They clung to the cave ceiling, stirring and emitting light squeaks at out intrusion. But, they remanned in their sentient state, unmoved by our presence, awaiting the darkness in the outside world so that they may awaken and fly forth, out of the cave, a myriad of repulsive beasts, to cloud the night sky in search of food..
     We made our way through the bat chamber and found ourselves at the edge of another precipice. An eerie wing blew from the gorge, sounding like a constant moan (a trick of the wind through the deep hole, like a player blowing upon an empty jug in some obscene band).. We set our spikes and laid more rope and began our descent even deeper into the terrible cave...

     August 3rd, 1884 2:07 pm

     We have reached the bottom of this last incredible drop into the earth's depths. We will now rest a moment and when I return I will describe in this journal the miraculous sight we have come upon as we reached this lower chamber...