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Warning:** Horror, real life, panic, **** delirium ***.*

[Disclaimer: Any names portrayed in this story are completely fictional. Any resemblances with actual people or characters are completely coincidental.]

BEYOND THE DEEP

Sabrina was very excited, she was almost wiggling in the seat of the plane she was travelling in. Next to her was her best friend Sandra who was busy playing games on her phone, but Sabrina couldn't sit still nor focus. Both of them were divers and had spent most of their life diving in and exploring underwater caves and caverns all across the UK. She couldn't exactly explain why and how, but there was something thrilling about the darkness, the danger and the massive stone walls that closed around you. It was especially thrilling in the early spring when the tidal waters could be massive, communication was key and she really had to be at the top of her game. But she had always been, there had never been an issue.

She had met Sandra at the diving classes and they had instantly taken a liking to each other and became good friends. They had both been very attentive, completed all the tests among the top of their class and really trusted each other. If things went well, they both considered taking the last step and become professional divers, preferably rescue divers. Such a high speciality merit was always sought after and they would get well paid for essentially doing their hobby, while helping others, so why not? What laid ahead of them now would be one of the final personal tests for them. If they could handle this, they would surely be able to handle professional diving.

Sandra had a friend in Sweden who had invited them over. He lived near an old abandoned silver mine that was now a tourist attraction, but even better, half of the mine was under water and divers were welcome. Neither she or Sandra had ever dove into an old mine before. They had come to understand that the water was really cold, barely above freezing and that no fishes or other life existed in it. While the mine was explored, much of the old industrial stuff had been left down there untouched while the mine was flooded, and the clear lifeless water had conserved it well. There were tools and ladders from has far back as the 17th century down there, and the place was riddled with artefacts. The only deal the mine had was that you were not supposed to touch and move the larger objects, but if you found something smaller like a tool, you were supposed to bring it up to the museum. They could definitely do that! This would be an adventure like nothing they had ever done before. Diving in old mines was very dangerous; the tiny passages, the complete darkness and more than anything the pressure and the temperature was not to be taken easy.

The rest of the journey went well. They arrived at Sandra's friend'splace, unpacked, had dinner and soon enough it was already a new day, and time to head out to the mine. Sabrina had spent the morning taking a run around the premises, and found that the entire town was riddled with mineshafts and caved in halls. According to Sandra's friend the mine was massive and stretched under the entire town, and parts of it was so dug out that they could fill the caverns with cathedrals. That had caused some great instability with time, and in places parts of the town above had caved in and disappeared into the depths. The mine had been active since the 15thcentury and production hadn't stopped until the 60's. This just made her all the more excited to travel down into the mine, explore it for herself and finally, dive into the dark depths that no normal tourist ever saw. At the briefing they had held last night in the living room while drinking coffee and enjoying some classic Swedish cinnamon rolls, they would climb down to an astonishing 510 ft (155 m) where the water level was at. The deepest part of the mine was over 1000 ft (318 m) and was mind-blowing, but they probably would never reach that deep. That deep inside a mine would mean anincredible pressure and required very special equipment to handle, as well as the temperature.

Soon they were heading down through the mine by the help of elevators and stairs. They had a handful of guides and security personnel with them and the guide took theirtime as they descended to tell them everything about the mine; how it started, the myths, the legends... and more than anything, the many ghosts and spirits that still haunted the deep, subterranean caverns.The very first thing the guide had them do as they entered wasto knock 3 times on the cave wall in order to ask for a blessing from "The Lady of the Mine". She was rumoured to be a protective spirit that dwelled in the depths. If you saw her in a white dress, she was warning you of an upcoming cave-in and you should return to the surface as soon as possible. But if she came to you in a black dress... you would die inside the mine. Sabrina first chuckled at the story, but she noticed that each and everyone of the mine personnel and security workers knocked in the wall with grave faces. She looked at Sandra and they both exchanged a glance. The sudden change of atmosphere felt heavy and thick, and it sure seemed like the guide was not joking. They both reached out and tapped the wall 3 times. When Sabrina brought her hand back, her glove was sparkly and shiny. Silver! There was actual silver on her glove! She brought it up to Sandra to look when the guide broke in.

"You better wash that off later."

Sabrina looked at him questioningly. He gave a mild smile and nodded towards the wall.

"There is more lead and mercury than pure silver in that. That's also why the waters down here are uninhabitable."

Sabrina just stared at him. Mercury? No one had told her about mercury! Nor lead. She shuddered from the thought and was glad that she was wearing a drysuit.

Eventually, they reached the water level at 500 ft and huddled through small and claustrophobic tunnels wielding nothing but flashlights to find their way. Eventually they reached a large cavern with a roofso far up the flashlights wouldn't even reach. But as they looked down... small ladders lead down to a wooden platform with tanks, ropes and wires. The divers platform. And the water was astonishingly beautiful. It was completely crystal clear, she could see every little pebble. Not a single seaweed, clam, fish or any sign of life at all. But it all had a clear tint of green. It almost looked like some radioactive danger zone from a movie. They all climbed down to the platform and the guides as well as the security personnel started their own briefing and security detail. Sabrina and Sandra both listened attentively. It was important to listen to the locals and the experienced divers here as they knew things about this place that probably no one else did, and more than anything, the maps and the safety precautions. If anything serious happened down here, it would take a good 15-20 minutes to get an ambulance to their current location. If assistance was needed under water, those 15-20 minutes could turn into hours. There was so much new equipment to put on, lamps, flares, flashing location lights, ropes... one thing that really hit her at this depth was something that very rarely was experienced elsewhere; namely the complete and utter darkness as well as the almost thickening silence. Normally there was always a source of light, if nothing else you always had moon and stars. But here it was just a blackness that felt rather eerie. Same with the sounds. You always heard traffic or music or signs of people around, if nothing else your mobile notifications. But at 500 ft into the bedrock there was no reception and the silence was deafening. It was as relaxing as it was unnerving. If anything happened down here, the only way they had of communicating with the surface, it was via the guides' radios. They had small comm-stations placed around the tunnels that would relay the signals through the mines and up the shafts to the office. And while the surroundings made her really scared and unnerved, she was also even more curious to dive into the crystal clear green water and see what artefacts they could recover. This was their most challenging and dangerous drive, and if they made it, it would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Soon, everything was ready. Masks were in place, hoods folded up and she and Sandra started to check each other'sequipment from head to toes. All the tubes, valves, meters, equipment, everything had to be in perfect order. Soon, she felt Sandra tap her shoulders 3 times and hold the "OK" hand sign in front of her face. Since verbal communication wasimpossible under water, divers relied on sign language. Sabrina nodded, turned around and started to climb down the ladder. She felt her legs break the surface, and feel the coolness as the water surrounded her suit. Sandra followed and soon they were both in the water, paddling out to the middle of the lake. They both had their maps and the travel plan laid out for them in their arm pockets. They looked up at the team on the platform, gave the OK sign, and dove.

Everything became green. The water hadthe same temperature as the air inside the mine, a mere 35-39 F (2-4 C) and despite the drysuit being completely sealed from the freezing element, she gave a shudder as it started to cool her body still. It was like wearing clothes inside a fridge, a shell of freezing water all around her. She lifted her control pad. All valves were secured and working well, and they had air for a good 2,5 hours. She clicked the timer on her watch and it started spinning, counting down steadily. She saw Sandra do the same and they both dove further into the tunnels.

If she thought the mine had been dark before, it was even worse down here. As they swam through the tunnels it really felt as if the darkness was pressing down on them and she started to feel uneasy. This was a whole different thing than regular cave-diving and she felt her heart beat a little faster as she got nervous.

"No." she thought to herself. " Don't stress, don't panic now. You'll use too much oxygen." She closed her eyes, let herself float onwards and forced her heartbeat down by controlling her breath. When she opened her eyes again, the tunnel opened up into yet another massive cavern where ladders, ropes and even tracks with mine carts still remained. She slowly came to a stop and just looked around, letting her headlight sweep over the cavern. There was so much that had just been left down here... abandoned right where it was, and the water had preserved it all. Probably thanks to the mercury. What astonished her was the complete and utter lack of life. In every cave she had been there had been weed, clams, mussels, even fishes. Even in the deep and dark caves that never saw daylight there was eyeless fishes. Nature always found a way to retake whatever mankind had conquered, even in Chernobyl new trees and plants were growing. But down here there was not a single sign of life exceptthemselves. An ominous feeling suddenly went through her mind and she shuddered. It felt like perhaps it was not meant for anything living to be down here. For a quick moment the lights in their suits dimmed, and she got the feeling that she was closed inside a tomb, that she was something not meant to be. But Sandra was already swimming down to take a closer look at everything and Sabrina shook the feeling and followed. Soon her curiosity took over and she closely inspected everything that had been left behind. One day 200 years ago, the workers had just not came back down here, and no one had bothered to clean up. There were still even rocks with minerals inside the cart.

They continued on, through tunnels, shafts and caverns and it was like slowly travelling back in time, each room taking them back another 10 years in time. It felt like the darkness closed in even more around them and Sabrina felt her head starting to pound. At first she got the feeling again that something was very wrong, but then she realized that they had been going deeper all the time, and the pressure was increasing rapidly as the temperatures grew even colder. In the next big cavern there were no tracks or mine carts, but wooden constructions like scaffolding and ladders. Even the buckets here were made from wood and not steel. They had reached the 17thcentury. Sabrina dove down, closely inspecting the ancient constructions that were so well preserved. It was really and truly a journey through time. The water was so clear that it was no differentthanlooking through the air, except that everything had this sickly green tint. They darted through constructions and tunnels and the pounding inside Sabrina's head slowly got worse, but she found it to still be manageable. She checked her watch. Another good 45 minutes before they needed to head back. Suddenly, something ripped away the oxygen tube from her mask. The mask valve closed instantly, but there was no air to breath. Sabrina twisted around, reaching back but among all the new equipment she was carrying, she couldn't find the extra one. She fumbled around with her belt. Her heart started beating thunderously as she tried to beat back the panic. Finally her hand closed around the replacement tube.Shebrought it up, attached it and opened the valves. Air once more filled the mask and she gasped. She spun around again, got the control board back up and noticed that the oxygen levels were decreasing rapidly. What was going on? Then she remembered that the primary tubing was hanging loose and was spilling out oxygen at full speed. She fumbled around, trying to grab it but it was out of reach. Her heart started pounding again, her head pounded even worse and she screamed into the mask. In the next moment, she was stuck. Her spinning and twirling had gotten the ropes and tubes entangled in the scaffolding. She wiggled furiously, trying to reach the loose tube while the oxygen meter kept lowering so fast that she could see it ticking down. And that's when she saw her.

Out of the darkness and into thebeam of her headlight came the Lady of the Mine. A pale bleak face with black eyes and a long black dress that swivelled behind her in the water. The Lady was reaching for her, screaming a banshee howl. Sabrina screamed too, full panic setting in. She wiggled and writhed, tearing at the tubing to get free, when the Lady folded her cold dead arms around her. She screamed and wrestled. She did not want to die down here, not like this! This was supposed to be her lifetime achievement, not the end of everything! She had felt from the start that something was wrong.Sheshould have listened to her gut. Sabrina fought furiously with the undead woman that had come to claim her, a hopeless struggle against an overwhelming power. She was trapped in the Lady's domain, and the Lady was going to keep her. Sabrina panted as she felt her oxygen runout.As she struggled to get free from the deathly grip, her headlight and flashlight flickered and died. The eternal blackness closed in around her, and she became one with the mine.

1 hour later, the personnel at the platform turned around. Out from the tunnel came one of the divers that had gone down, flashing her lights furiously. The rescue diver at the scene was already flinging himself into the water before a command could be given. Sandra was dragging Sabrina's lifeless body behind her, the tubing from her emergency tank connected to Sabrina's mask. Together they helped bring her out of the water and onto the platform. The emergency response team removed her mask. Sabrina's eyes were rolling wildly and she was screaming in panic about the Lady, that death had come for her, crying and begging not to die. She was completely delirious and she was quickly put on a stretcher and rushed through the narrow tunnels while the guide shouted something in his radio. When they exited the elevator and stepped back out into the sunshine at the surface, an ambulance was waiting for them and rushed Sabrina to the nearest hospital. On the way there, she was still screaming and crying, having completely lost her mind. The paramedic gave her sedatives and she soon slipped into a silent, peaceful sleep.

The next morning, Sabrina was nearly back to normal. She sipped some tea but had only eaten half of the cheese sandwich that a nurse had brought her. Her cheeks were burning red with embarrassment as Sandra sat at her side, holding a hand on her back. Sabrina remembered what had happened, and together with Sandra's story, she realized how it all had went down. The high pressure had already been affecting her negatively as it was, and all that was needed was a tiny spark of panic for her heart to start rushing. She had started to hyperventilate inside the mask and had never actually ran out of oxygen, even though it had felt like it. It had never been the Lady of the Mine who came for her out of the dark, but Sandra who had seen and heard her struggle. Sabrina was ever thankful that her friend had managed to remain level-headed, held her down and untangled her before taking her back, ascending slowly, accounting for the increased pressure. Sabrinahad remained conscious but went delirious from the pressure and the lack of oxygen from hyperventilating. She had made it out alive - but only thanks to her friend who had now saved her life. Sabrinawould make a full recovery in a day or two, but she did not want to go back inside the mine, for she remembered one thing that she had seen when she spun around under the scaffolding, before her panic sat in. In the darkness below, partially hidden behind rocks and cinder, there had been tubes and a mask. Someone had not been as lucky as she was, and she had a feeling there were more of them. So in one way, what she had felt was right. She had been swimming in a tomb, a dark place where the living didn't belong; and she had no inclination whatsoever to return to the pressuring blackness of the toxic bedrock. She would be more than happy to return to the lush caves of the English channel, far away from the cold, and Death's embrace.

[Disclaimer: Any names portrayed in this story are completely fictional. Any resemblances with actual people or characters are completely coincidental.]

Never go diving alone. Even if you think you have control, any circumstance can change that. Don't trust too much in your own ability and always make sure you have a buddy with you when you descend,especially for spelunking which is the most dangerous of all dives.