Chapter Twenty-Seven

Piper dreamed again of the gloomy cabin in the burned forest, a repeated dream even though she had sketched and painted it thinking this would prevent its recurrence. But this time, the dream continued and changed scenes without any transition or spooky prelude music like movies used to indicate something horrifying was about to happen. It was her worst nightmare, the one she had not told her mom or Zach about—another situation she had sketched hurriedly after dreaming it, hoping to ward off a repeat.

She was no longer looking at the drab cabin in the burned-out forest but found she was underground, feeling her way along a dark cave or tunnel. She trembled in terror but could not shake herself out of the nightmare. A small beam of light appeared as if lighting her way, intentionally coaxing her down a different path. But after she started down the new tunnel, the light disappeared, leaving her in blackness again. She stopped and closed her eyes tightly, trying to get her eyes adjusted to the dark. When she started walking again, Piper heard a girl moaning just ahead.

She hastened her step, heading toward the sound and walking faster than she should in the dark. She heard the moan again, softer but closer, and hurried forward, barely touching the wall as she moved. The moaning stopped, but the urgency to reach the girl and help her had not.

A few more feet and I’ll reach her, whoever she is. I have to help her!

Suddenly, the ground dropped from beneath her! She plummeted, landing with a thud and knocking the breath from her lungs. She landed on something softer than the ground. Pain raced through her body. Piper panted, waiting until she got her breath back, and then felt under her, moving her aching body quickly to the side. It was a body—a small person, a girl, and she lay on her stomach. Piper felt all over the girl’s body until she found her hand. She put her own hand around the girl’s wrist, feeling for a pulse.

No pulse!

Piper felt for the girl’s head and put her ear to her mouth.

She’s not breathing!

The girl’s body was still pliable, so there might be a chance to save her. Piper needed to turn the girl over and apply CPR. As she turned her over, something fell to the ground. She grasped it, something small. A Maglite!

She twisted the end of the flashlight, and it cast a beam of light around the deep hole she and the girl now shared.

Piper screamed; her voice echoed off the rock walls of the tight enclosure, bouncing back into her terror-filled subconscious.