Cage knew he was slipping. Seeing shit out of the corner of his eyes, things that weren’t there, and the nightmares kept coming. After jumping ship on Feldstein’s class, he snuck off campus and decided to walk to the old quarry. If there was some square stone that could put an end to this, the mining pit across town seemed like a decent place to start.

He cut through the woods to meet up with the old fire road again. And, making his way further into the forest, eventually came to a tall chain-link fence surrounding the excavated pit. He looked up and down the length of the fence, but didn’t see a way through. He started climbing.

The fence rocked back and forth as he scaled it. About halfway up, a cold breeze broke the heat and shook the leaves overhead. Cage gathered his nerves and continued over the top, feeling the first few drops as he jumped down on the other side.

Starting down the carved-out road spiraling into the quarry, there was a boom of thunder, and the forest began to rock more heavily. Cage walked off the flattened road and cut straight for the bottom of the pit to avoid the rain. At the base, next to a natural pool filled with water, was the entrance to a large, open cavern discovered by miners during the initial excavation. He slid in the loose dirt and rock as the sky emptied itself onto him and turned the earth beneath his feet to grey mud. Slipping, he hit his thigh on a jagged rock, but the cracks of thunder drowned out any initial pain. By the time he reached the cave, he was soaked, his pants torn where the rock had caught him.

Cage sat on a boulder and slumped forward. His leg now pulsed with pain. The rain outside pelted the quarry waters, making a million crackling depressions in the vibrating surface, and thunderclaps reverberated in the stone chamber.

Fuck, he thought. But then he remembered the tin Marten had given him and pulled it from his pocket. He emptied the contents into his mouth.

Eventually, the rain passed and the quarry waters were calm again. Feeling a bit foolish for the trip, but perhaps a bit more vigorous from his discomfort, Cage made his way back up through the pit. Marten’s medicine had worked, and his leg no longer bothered him. The sun was low and angling down on the forest, casting long shadows toward the giant quarry. He made his way back over the fence without much thought, and as he walked, the forest moved and breathed, roots weaving and crawling through the wetted earth; and the trees rocked, their branches buoying in an invisible tide lighted by the bioluminescence of early evening fireflies. Cage experienced an internal quiet until something fluttered past his ear.

Startled, he ducked and batted at the air around him. He thought he had seen something, but who the fuck knows anymore. Something dark zoomed by.

“Watch it!” he heard.

Cage spun around. “Hello? Who’s there?” There was nervousness in his voice. In his periphery, the world skitzed by, frame by frame; tree branches reached for him from the shadows.

“I said Watch out!”

This time it brushed past his face. “What the fuck?” Cage spun and swatted and looked around. “Who’s there? Who are you?”

“Oh, hey,” the voice replied. “I didn’t see you there.”

Cage turned toward the voice. There was nothing there. Just the trees and fireflies waving in the current. I’m losing my fucking mind, he thought.

“You’re not crazy.”

Cage honed in on where the voice was coming from. All he saw was the silhouette of trees in the growing darkness.

“Yep, this way. A little closer…”

And then Cage saw something. Hanging from one of the lower limbs of a nearby tree appeared to be some kind of leathery cocoon. It looked like a large pinecone, but smooth, dangling and swaying with the fabric of the forest.

And suddenly…

“Boo!”

The cocoon spread open and exposed glowing eyes and glittering fangs inside.

“Jesus Christ!” Cage jumped back. He threw his arms up in front of his face.

“Ha, ha, ha. Woo-eee! You should have seen the look on your face!” the hellspawn said. Cage’s heart thumped in his chest. He collected himself and saw it. A bat, no larger than the palm of his hand, hanging upside down from the branch.

“Boo!” it said again, opening its wings wide and baring its tiny fangs. “Boo! Boo! The same flapping motion with each outburst. “Ha ha ha, you people are funny.”

“What people?” asked Cage. I’m talking to a fucking bat.

“People,” the bat replied. “I don’t know why they’re so scared of me, but they are. All I do is fly around and eat bugs for Christ’s sake, but folks need something to be scared of, I guess.” The bat drew a bewildered expression and then looked back at Cage. “Name’s Margie,” she said. “What’s yours?”

Cage’s world was whipping like a sheet on the line. He looked around, and back at Margie, and at the palms of his hands; he felt hot and sick.

“Are you okay?” Margie asked with a puzzled look. “I said What’s your name?”

“Cage. My name’s Cage.”

“Nice to meet you, Cage.”

Cage’s mouth was hanging open. His body swayed with his pulse. “How can you talk?” he said.

“How can you talk?” huffed Margie. She calmed herself and went on in a cooler tone. “Truth be told, I’m not normally so chatty, echo location and all.” She gave a hot exhale on her top thumb claw and polished it on her furry little chest as if to boast. “But I’ve seen you out here, looking around.” She looked him up and down. “What are you looking for, Cage?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Then how will you know when you’ve found it?”

“I don’t know.”

“I see,” she said. “And make no mistake, Cage, I do see. Bats aren’t blind, you know. In fact, we can see pretty well--maybe even better than you in some ways.” She looked at him with an estimating gaze. “Maybe I can help you, Cage. Tomorrow night. Meet me at the playground after dark. And don’t be late.”

“What? Are you serious?”

“Are you serious? C’mon, man, I’m not going to kick your ass, I just want to show you something. Christ almighty, you people. Anyways, I’ll see you then.” Margie let go of the branch, fell toward the earth for a moment, and then flittered off into the trees.

After she had gone, something landed on Cage’s shoulder. He jolted, ”Fuck!” Margie whispered in his ear. “I said don’t be late.” And then she disappeared, this time for good, into the night.

Cage stood on the path and waited until the world steadied its breathing. As the last bit of twilight melted into the outstretched arms of the grasping trees, a cover of stars rolled out across the sky. The glow of fireflies blinked in all directions, and the tree frogs trilled their night song. Cage stayed there a while and eventually walked home.

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