We lowered the duffle bags into the dark, narrow hole. Dad figured if something waited for us it would attack the first thing that appeared.
When nothing happened, Dad went down, his flashlight beam a beacon, and a guide for each of us as we climbed the metal ladder. Jake insisted on going last, to cover our backs. Not exactly someone I wanted behind me, where I couldn’t see him if he—
I stopped that thought before it finished. There was no point. Not now, when we needed him to find our way to the nest.
We agreed before we got here to talk as little as possible once underground, since our voices would carry, and take away the one advantage we had—surprise.
I managed to get down the ladder without taking a header, my ankle screaming at me by the time I reached the bottom. Misty touched my hand, pressing the straps of my duffle against my fingers. I slung it over my shoulder, waited in the darkness, every nerve twitching.
The main valve for the gaslights didn’t work. Dad pulled me in, whispered against my ear. “I’m going next door. It’s the mayor’s office, and there should be a secondary, at least for this street. Pass the message.”
I didn’t want him going anywhere alone, but I wanted to walk down here in complete darkness even less. Nodding, I stepped back, whispered to Misty. She nodded against my lips, and I felt her move away from me.
Relief flooded out the rising panic when a low, flickering glow spread across the main street. Dad came back, gestured to Sam to put his hand on Dad’s shoulder. I got what he wanted, and had Misty move in front of me, since she could see more than short me. The single line chain kept us together, and left one hand free for—whatever. Another thought I didn’t want to finish.
Because I was looking down, to keep from tripping on anything, I was the first person to see the lump in the middle of the main street. A lump that looked human.
My fingers dug into Misty’s shoulder. Dad halted, obviously seeing it now. He whispered to Sam, flashed me a smile, and headed for the lump. My heart jumped when he started running. He dropped to his knees, lowered both the shotgun and his duffle, and carefully turned the lump over.
“Oh, God,” Candace whispered. She pushed past me and ran to Dad, the first aid kit in her hand.
When he reached up to take it from her, I saw what Candace must have guessed. The lump was a little boy.
We all moved forward, crowding around the still figure. I covered my mouth when I recognized the blood splattered face. It was the boy from the photo on Mrs. Swiller’s computer.
Candace worked over him, revealing a series of long gashes on his chest. “They’re shallow,” she whispered, taking the gauze Dad held out for her.
Dad laid a hand on her shoulder. “How long before we have to move him?”
She checked his pulse, then the wounds again, her hands skimming over him, probably to see if there were other injuries. “He’s good for the next few minutes. But not any longer than that.” She looked at Dad, waited until he nodded. “I’ll stay with him.”
“I’m staying, too.” Jake crouched down next to her. She started to object, and he just pressed his finger against her lips. “You need someone to watch your back while you take care of him.” He pulled the sewer map out of his pocket, handed it to Dad. “The nest is big enough that you’ll trip on it. I have to stay.”
Dad met Jake’s eyes, and nodded. “We’ll be as fast as we can. Give us ten minutes, then get the boy out of here.”
The whispered conversation took about a minute, but it felt like ten times that, out here in the middle of a ghost town, with no idea where the monster was.
Dad stood, taking my hand. Misty latched on to my free arm, and I saw Sam do the same to her. We moved to the edge of the boardwalk, staying in the dirt street. I remembered how much those old boards creaked from our last time down here.
We had to go around the next building, and into the dark alley to get to the sewer entrance. Dad turned on his flashlight, tightened his grip on my hand, and moved into the alley. The entrance to the sewer finally appeared in the single beam, like a gaping mouth in the ground.
Letting me go, Dad turned around, leaned in to whisper against Misty’s ear. I was next. “Give me your duffle. You’ll go after Misty. Nod.” I did, feeling him take the heavy bag. He reached for Sam.
We moved to the edge, and Dad knelt, tying our duffles together. He attached the other end of the rope to his belt, and pointed to his flashlight, motioning that he was going to turn it off. Misty grabbed my hand again, and I saw her take Sam’s just before Dad switched off the light. It snapped in the silence, seemed to echo off the low ceiling, and the dark surrounded us.
With my ability to see gone, every noise around us felt like an approaching threat. Misty’s fingers tightened around mine, let me know I wasn’t alone. I identified the quiet shuffling as Dad, making his way to the sewer entrance, dragging the duffle bags after him. I remembered the ugly yellow glow coming off the monster; going in dark would make it easier to spot. Dad would fire up the flashlight again once he checked around the bottom of the ladder.
Until then, I had to stomp down my fear and deal.
His shoes tapped against the steel rungs, getting quieter as he climbed down. Misty squeezed my hand and let go. I felt more than heard her move to the entrance. For someone so tall she could be mighty quiet. Her shoes sounded different on the rungs—a soft scrape, like she was feeling her way along each one.
I was next.
Swallowing, I got down on my hands and knees, half afraid I’d trip and fling myself head first into the hole. My fingers found the edge, and I carefully turned around, easing my right leg back until my foot found the rung.
I shifted my weight to that foot, slid my left hand along the ground, and brailled my way to the side of the ladder. Closing my fingers around it, I took in a breath, gripped the ladder, and put all my weight on my right side. My left foot had trouble finding the next rung—my ankle throbbed so much I couldn’t feel anything beyond that. When I was pretty sure I had my foot on the next rung down, I shifted my weight.
And met with air.
I scrambled to hold on to the ladder, breath lodged in my throat, when strong fingers caught my left wrist. Warm breath brushed over my skin, and when I lifted my head, loose strands of hair tickled my cheek.
“Hold still,” Sam whispered, his voice more breath than sound. “I’m going to help you down.”
I felt him slide down the side of the ladder, his bare arm pressed against my ribs, his muscles quivering with the effort. I heard his foot on the rung below mine, and felt him swing around until he was right behind me. If I weren’t so scared I would have been breathless.
Then he wrapped his arm around my waist. I jerked, stilled when I felt my fingers slip. “One rung at a time,” he whispered, his lips against my ear. “I won’t let you fall.”
I nodded, trying not to hyperventilate. My left foot finally connected, and we both eased down to the next rung. After a couple more, I started to actually enjoy having him hold me like this. I felt safe, for the first time in a while, and the trust I thought I had lost came roaring back.
By the time we reached the bottom I was more sure of my footing, and Sam let me go, only to grab me around the waist with both hands and guide me to the ground.
“Good job.” His low voice sent a shiver through me. Then he let me go, for good this time. We turned around, bright yellow light greeting us from the bare bulbs strung along the curving wall of the tunnel.
Dad gathered us into a huddle, handing out the duffle bags. “I found the nest. No sign of it, or the other two kids. I did find blood. Not a lot,” he reached out to Misty when she gasped. “But enough to make me think one of the kids might be injured. Follow me—I think I know where they went.”
He refused to elaborate, hushing me before I could ask. We headed into a tunnel on the left, like a black hole compared to the lit one we stood in. Dad switched on his flashlight and led the way. I smelled the nest before his beam caught it. And it didn’t reek, like I expected. Instead, it smelled—sweet, with another scent underneath, one I recognized, but couldn’t identify. A few yards past the nest we hit water. Stagnant, algae covered water.
So much for a quiet approach.
Dad consulted the map, pointing out the two tunnels just ahead. “The one to the right curves back around. The left tunnel runs parallel to the town, and dead ends at another exit leading to the surface.”
“Where?” Sam’s choked whisper had me looking at him.
“The basement under the school. That’s where I think they grabbed the kids. There was a Halloween party today for the elementary schools.”
Sam swallowed, didn’t say anymore. We kept moving forward, and Misty took my hand again. I wanted the connection as much as she did.
I thanked myself for wearing my stomping motorcycle boots—until the floor sloped down and the water hit my knees. That slimy, cold water poured inside my boots and soaked me from the knees down. Which felt good on my throbbing ankle, but not so much for walking.
Sam came forward and grabbed my duffle, taking my free arm when I started to struggle against the water. Between my saturated boots and my ankle, I was making far too much noise. Dad turned around, heading for me.
And I saw the yellow glow splash across the water next to him.
“Dad! Behind you!” My shout bounced off the tunnel walls. I yanked free and lurched forward just as the monster peeled itself off the wall and launched itself at him. “Dad!”
He whirled, ducking under the slashing claws. The creature came after him again and he used the shotgun as a club, bashing the heavy stock into the evil teddy bear face.
A horrible scream threatened to pierce my eardrums. Sam jerked me backward, stepping between me and the recovering monster. The fast recovering monster.
“Dad—no!” I pushed past Sam as Dad stood. Right in the path of the sweeping claws. He jumped sideways. The claws slashed his left leg. “No!”
His raw cry echoed mine and he went down. I probably would have joined him, but Misty appeared out of the darkness, waving a flare. The monster shrieked, and splashed out of sight.
She kept going, helped Dad stand, holding the flare up. I slogged over to them, covered my mouth. The sparking light revealed the ugly gashes on Dad’s left leg. Gashes that ran all the way down his thigh.
Sam turned on his flashlight, took Dad from Misty and leaned him against the wall. “How bad?”
Dad tried to smile, failed miserably. “Bad enough. You need to go after—” He let out a gasp, clutching his thigh.
“Dad—”
“I want you to—go back, Alex. Wait with Candace and Jake.” He lowered his head, water dripping off his hair. “Misty goes as well.”
“I’m not—”
“I’ll stay with him, Alex.” Misty dropped the dying flare in the water, turned on her flashlight. “Get him back to the surface. We already lost the element of surprise, so the fewer going after that thing the easier it will be to hide. Besides, you’re too short to get him up the ladder.” She flashed a smile at me, then draped Dad’s arm across her shoulders, wrapping her arm around his waist. “Come on, Mr. Finch. Sam will take good care of Alex. Not that she needs it—I’ve seen her in action.”
“Alex.” Dad reached out his free hand. I gripped it, and he pulled me in. “Come back, sweetheart. Promise me.”
“I promise.”
He leaned in, kissed my forehead. “Take care of my daughter, Sam.”
“Yes, sir.”
Misty moved forward. “Let’s get you out of here, Mr. Finch, while that jacked-up teddy bear is licking its wounds. Seriously, a monster teddy bear? That is so wrong.”
I stared after them, the knot in my stomach tightening every time Dad let out a moan. How much more would we pay to stop this thing? I rubbed my face. We would find out soon enough.
“Alex?” Sam’s quiet voice calmed me. I looked up at him, saw the blame reflected in his eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
“He’ll be fine.” I had to hold on to that, believe it. “Let’s just get this done.”