Light Crawlers

Keir and Mel were both staring intently.

"…"

"…"

"You see this?" Mel asked, flabbergasted at the sight.

"…I can see them. But, what are they?"

Keir's voice was filled with awe and uncertainty.

On the course rock wall in front of them, blue lights flickered and moved slowly, tracing lines and loops along its surface.

The luminescent trails created a mesmerizing display in the darkness of the tunnel, causing strange shadows to seemingly dance along the walls.

Hesitant at first, Mel approached, curiosity taking over the rational part of his mind.

He could see the creatures creating the trails now.

Small wormlike things, emitting a gentle blue glow as they moved along the rocky surface.

"They're glow worms," Mel said softly, marveling at the sight.

"Pffft" Keir tried to suppress his laughter.

Mel whipped around, "What's so funny?"

"Glow worms? Did you name them that because they look like worms and can glow? Very original."

Mel blushed, once again glad for the relative dark surrounding them. He didn't like this feeling, and it had shown up a lot today.

"The name suits them just fine. What would you call them if you're so smart?"

Keir chuckled a bit longer, but eventually his laughter subsided.

"I don't know... light crawlers?"

Mel shook his head, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"That's worse than glow worms, idiot."

They stood there for a moment watching the small creatures with fascination.

The glow worms continuing their slow journey across the wall, seemingly no purpose behind their movements.

"Well, whatever they are, they may be able to help get us out of here," Keir said, his tone more serious now.

"Yeah," Mel agreed, "…do you think they're poisonous?"

***

Keir and Mel carefully collected the glow worms, their gentle blue light causing the boys palms and pockets to …well, glow.

Periodically, they would take a glow worm and press it into the wall, leaving a distinct line of blue light behind.

It was Keir's suggestion, squishing the worms to leave a trail in their wake and Mel had praised the idea.

"It's messy, but worth it." Mel said, wiping his hands across his pants to get the leftover slime off.

We don't want to get lost down here if possible."

'Even though we're already lost' Mel thought darkly to himself.

They continued to make the marks for what felt like forever, the periodic glow stretching back farther than they could see now.

This was mainly due to the minor twists and turns of the tunnel they were in.

Moving forward, things were boring for a while; Mel even took to whistling until something up ahead caught his eye.

There, a faint light could be seen. It was getting brighter with each step too.

The tunnel they were in slowly began to open up before them, revealing a massive cavern, its ceiling adorned with stalactites that shimmered with a soft blue and white glow.

Reaching up, as if forming the jaws of a great beast, stalagmites glistened, covered in a glossy sheen.

Below the ceiling of the cavern, a vast pool of milky water shone with a mysterious light.

"It's beautiful." Keir muttered.

"It may look good, but it smells terrible" Mel plugged his nose, shaking his head in an attempt to throw the nasty scent off him.

He turned to face Keir, finally able to see they boy's face with some clarity.

He was a lot less imposing here, with wonder written along his expression, than when he had seen him last.

Mel noticed the boy had rather thick eyebrows, and a strong chin.

'He looks like a mountain goat' he thought, noticing the way Keir left his mouth open while staring at the pool in front of them.

He turned back to the water.

"Why is it glowing? Does everything down here glow?" he asked, not really expecting an answer.

"Look", Keir pointed, "more worms."

They could be seen covering the walls, and even a few of them traversing the roof of the cavern.

"And I don't know why the water is glowing" Keir shrugged, "But maybe the worms are born in this pool? Maybe this water is actually worm feces? It would explain the smell."

He turned to Mel, excitement entering his voice, "Do you think if we drank the water we would start glowing!?"

"I am not sure I want to drink that stuff, let alone glow." Mel said, disgusted at the thought. "Why, do you?"

Contrary to his words, Mel was already moving forward.

He had to know more about this strange glowing pool of water in front of him.

Curiosity burned within him, his eyes showing excitement and that same childish wonder Keir had displayed.

"Huh?"

Mel looked down, wondering why his feet suddenly felt so heavy.

He could see a semi-transparent mucus-like paste sticking to his shoes, seemingly trying to glue him to the floor.

"I found what stinks so much" he said, looking at the past with disgust.

He continued forward.

The closer Mel got to the pool, the more paste he had to move through.

The more paste he moved through, the harder it was to walk.

Eventually it got to the point that Mel had to stop or risk his shoes coming off with the next step.

"This is some weird stuff. Don't come forward, it's sticky and gross."

'And it's getting in my socks' he shook his head.

Mel could swear he was starting to feel the stuff seep between his toes.

Looking at the mess sticking to his feet, Mel's face paled.

'Cleaning this off is gonna be worse than cleaning out Father Mathias' privy.'

He only had the one pair of shoes, so he couldn't afford to throw them out.

"Let's find another way around," he suggested, trying to step back from the sticky substance.

No sooner had he decided to move away from the pool; a large ripple spread across its surface.

Mel's heart started beating faster.

"Did you see that?" Mel asked, his voice a whisper, eyes wide with apprehension.

"Y-Yeah,"

Keir replied, his voice betraying the anxiety he felt.

"I d-don't think we're alone here."

The boys stared at the pool, watching as the ripples slowly subsided.

The glowing water seemed to pulse gently, the beautiful glow from before now seemed to be an eerie warning of danger.

Just as the water calmed down, giving them a false sense of calm, they noticed something moving beneath the surface.

"What... are those?" Keir whispered, his eyes fixed on the water.

Mel squinted, trying to discern what had caught Keir's attention.

At first, he saw nothing unusual.

Then, he saw them—large, luminescent creatures, resembling huge (and very ugly) slugs, inching toward the boys from the depths of the pool.

Each one was as large, or larger, than Mel himself, their bodies aglow with an eerie, ghostly light that matched the water.

Mel realized these monsters might be the source of the luminescence, or at least they had to be deeply connected to it.

'I would give anything to be cleaning out that privy right about now' Mel thought, trembling in fear.

As the creatures gradually emerged from the water, they left behind a trail of sticky residue, glistening in the dim light.

Recognizing the substance to some degree, Mel's gaze dropped to the sludge beneath his feet, and he noticed something horrifying.

A mass of small bones, partially submerged in the goop, their white fragments intermingling with the sticky paste.

'Why didn't I see these before' Mel despaired, his heart threatening to burst from his chest now.

There were hundreds, perhaps thousands of the bones dissolved into the muck, painting a grim picture of what might await him.

Mel's voice was tense, whispering so as not to draw any more attention from the creatures "... we need to get out of here—now!"

He attempted to step back, minimizing his movements.

Keir mirrored him, eyes locked on the slugs.

Mel's hands trembled slightly, his breaths shallow, while Keir clenched his fists tightly.

Each cautious step felt like an eternity, the sticky ground clinging to their feet. The squelching sound of their shoes ripping the glue with each step sounded like a death sentence.

They exchanged tense glances, silently trying reassure themselves.

Slowly, they retreated toward the narrow passageway they had come from, hoping to avoid further notice.

Fortunately, the creatures moved with agonizing slowness, offering the boys a glimmer of hope for escape.

And after what felt like forever, the boys were able to create some distance between them.

The slugs, no longer sensing their prey, or perhaps simply indifferent, receded back into the pool.

"What were those?" Keir repeated, the wonder from his expression gone, replaced by fear and the now familiar signs of exhaustion.

"I-I don't know".

Mel hesitated, then smiled, "Let's call them glow slugs. It suits them."

Keir nodded, a hint of a grin on his tired face.

"Glow slugs it is."

They continued back down the passage to put more distance between them and the newfound danger behind.

Their minds raced, replaying their recent experience and conjuring strange, bizarre creatures that could be lurking just around the next corner.

"Do you think the glow worms eventually grow to that size?" Keir proposed.

"Or maybe they are a different species? If that's the case it would take forever to get to that size!"

 "What do you think those slugs eat?" Mel asked, recalling the bones scattered in the sludge

"I don't think they could catch a human. We got away easily, and we're just kids."

"I'm not sure, but I don't want to find out." Keir replied. "Maybe they prey on small animals that wander too close? Or maybe they eat bacteria in the water."

"Bacteria?" Mel asked, confused at the foreign term, "What's that?"

Keir hesitated, trying to find the right words.

"Uh, my teacher said they're like tiny living things that are too small for us to see. They're everywhere apparently, even in water."

Mel frowned, trying to picture it. "Like, really tiny bugs that don't bite?"

"Yeah…sort of," Keir replied, struggling to simplify the concept.

"They're not bugs exactly, but they're alive and they do stuff in water and other places."

Mel nodded slowly, still unsure but not wanting to sound uneducated.

"So maybe the glow slugs eat those tiny bugs?"

Keir shrugged. "Could be, but I doubt it. You saw the bones in that sticky stuff, and they also started moving toward us when you got close."

"My guess is they eat rodents or any other creature that gets stuck there."

Mel shuddered. He hadn't seen a mouth on the slugs, so his imagination came up with some pretty horrifying methods of digestion.

"Well, let's avoid pretty glowing pools of water from now on then." He said, ready leave this place as soon as possible.