Deena fell.
The cold radiance of the street above failed to light the sides of the hole, so she fell blind, just as if she had into the night sky. Time vanished, and her sense of motion failed as well, so she felt as though she hung suspended in the column of limited light. She might have fallen for a matter of seconds, but it seemed like hours.
Strangely calm, she kept her feet below her and stretched her arms to the side, one hand clenching the flashlight she had grabbed before coming down. Air rushing past her ears was the only sound, and it faded into a dull roar.
Slowly a shape took form below her—the only feature she could make out in the limited light. A mouth gaped wide to receive her, like the jaws of a huge shark waiting to engulf her when she reached the end of her fall. The shape grew larger, though she couldn’t tell whether she fell toward it or it surged up to meet her.
The Master?
Then it was upon her: the face of a great monster carved into the floor of the basement.
You are now mine. I will feast upon your flesh and soul. The creature spoke to her mind, bypassing both ears and language, but carrying the same pulsating tone she had sensed when she first entered the house. Anyone who would enter my lair must be prepared for what lies beyond.
Deena peered into the darkness for a sign of the beast, cursing the lack of light her flashlight afforded her. She felt blinded; her eyes were unable to disseminate the gloom of the shadows around her. Deena had a vague sense of the ceiling arching overhead and smooth, round tunnels under the concrete floor leading off into shade.
A wail filled Deena’s mind, different from the torrent of thoughts with which the monster had assaulted her mind. That attack had called her own mind up against her, but this was an intrusion, a blast of psychic force so great that her vision began to cloud over. She clamped her hands to her ears but could not block the sound, and squeezed her eyes shut to no avail. She dropped to one knee, searching for the still point she had found in her mind before, when Joseph was beating her, the focus that would enable her to shrug off the psychic attack again.
Her mind reeled, and though she rose once more to her feet and opened her eyes to search for the source of the assault, she could do nothing more than stumble half blind along the nearest tunnel, careening of the smooth dirt walls seeking escape from this nightmare.
The entire surface of the tunnel, top, sides and bottom, is lined with calcite crystals, so closely packed together as to form a continuous sheet and most of them of great size, and well formed faces.
Planes or crystal ghosts, sometimes with pyrite crystals, marking stages of growth in the calcite crystals, are often distinguishable. The entire absence of anything like stalactites was noticeable, and together with the presence of the crystals, show that the cave was completely filled with water during their growth.
The cave had a wide and elevated entrance; passing into it a hundred yards or more, the passage narrows, and in order to go further a stream of water has frequently to be waded through; this passage she made her way through without finding any object of interest; but a few hundred yards from the entrance, by diverging to the right, she entered a large chamber, studded with stalactites and stalagmites, many uniting and forming solid columns of support. Many of these are very beautiful, and often as white as alabaster. There are other large rooms, but they possessed no peculiar interest. Found large deposits of earth on the floor having a saline taste.
A natural opening in one side by which it may be entered, but the space within is too limited to invite a lengthy stay. That portion of the outside which is nearest the wall was formed with sufficient irregularity of outline to admit of an ascent to the top, and the view obtained is well worth the difficult scramble up and the apprehensive slide down. Being raised so high above all objects that divide attention or in some degree obstruct the view, permitted a limited freedom of outlook that sensibly increases the appreciation of the vastness of the enclosed chamber and its enclosing walls.
* * * *
Carrying a cup of coffee, Sheriff Lindsey Hill walked into the task force room, where those on duty were gathering.
The notes that Detective Sergeant Patrick Townsend left with them appeared to be authentic. Sheriff Hill had checked, double-checked, and tried to call Gary Chapel, but to no avail—the best detective she had on the force, including herself—she noted silently—would not answer her phone calls.
She set her cup of coffee on the table already littered with half-full cups and notepads as others took seats, the sound of chair legs screeching across the floor accompanied by muted conversation.
Detective Sergeant Townsend entered the room and stood near the desk where Sheriff Hill was. The meeting was informal, just a means to update as many as possible who were working the disappearances and with the newly formed sinkholes.
Sheriff Hill said, “I’ll make this quick as we’re all busy. At last count the number of people missing has reached twelve. Most of the town has evacuated and there was no progress in locating the missing. We have a list of the missing. But as we all are aware of that is not our only problem right now. The sinkholes keep opening up all around town. We have not had any reports of injuries as a result of them and I would like keep it that way. We have enough on our plate already.”
There was a moment of silence as they were all lost in their own thoughts and ideas. Then Townsend said, “We could use all the help we have available including those sent home.”
Sheriff Hill understood the remark. “I agree, unfortunately I have not been able to reach those officers who are not on call. I assure you that we will not give up and I just want to thank each and every one of you for all of your hard work and the long hours. Now everyone has their assignments and we need to make sure to communicate with each other. We are to work in pairs and teams only. I do not want anyone alone. Now get to work and be safe.”
As they bustled out, Sheriff Hill saw the worry in their eyes. They all believed that somewhere out there around the town, in the snow, among sinkholes, were twelve missing women. Perhaps they were already dead, their bodies blue and frozen. But they needed to be found nonetheless.