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Cassandra trained the penlight on the path ahead of her. Occasionally, when the wind blew, the outside shutters rapped the wall. She swayed the light back and forth, fearful someone or something was in the cellar with her.
Passing the coffins earlier had been unnerving enough, but the added sounds of creaking boards and rapping on the outer walls kept her on edge even more.
Down the narrow hallway, a man moaned. She stopped walking and lowered the light. The thought crossed her mind to head back out. She had no idea how many people were in the hallway.
“Help me,” Mitch said softly.
Cassandra held her breath, waiting for someone to answer him.
“Sheba, please,” he said. “Just let me go.”
Still no one else spoke.
“I know you’re out there. I saw your light. Stop playing your games.”
He was speaking to her. No one else.
Cassandra stepped timidly toward the side door. She washed the light over Mitch’s suspended body. He squinted when the light struck his eyes. The dried blood on his chest outlined his lacerations.
After quickly inspecting the room with the light and seeing no one else around, she hurried to him.
“Is anyone else here?” Cassandra asked.
“No. Just me. Who are you?” he asked weakly.
“I’m here to help you. My name’s Cassandra.”
“I’m Mitch. How’d you find me?”
She tugged at the restraints but they were thick and tied tightly. “That’s not important right now. I have to get you out of here before it’s too late.”
Cassandra studied the deep cuts across his chest. “Are you okay? These look bad. They look like animal scratches.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m more cold and hungry than I am in pain. Something to drink would be nice. My throat’s dry and hurts.”
“We can take care of that after I get you down.”
“I’m glad you found me. But really, you should leave. You don’t have any idea what kind of people you’re dealing with.”
“I know much more than what you imagine.”
Mitch shook his head. “No. They are coming back to kill me. They’ll kill you, too, should they find you.”
Cassandra gave a wry smile. She yanked at the restraints without any success. “I’m way ahead of you on their schedule. Dammit! They secured you well.”
“Their schedule?”
“They want me dead, too.”
“Why?”
“That part I don’t understand yet, but they killed my ex-husband earlier. He was trying to help me. They, or someone associated with them, kidnapped my daughter and another boy’s missing. His mother was killed.”
Mitch frowned. “With all that, why haven’t you just run? Why take the time to rescue me?”
“You’re the last chance I may have at finding Alicia.”
“And how did you arrive at that conclusion?”
“I heard the policemen talking about you and that you knew too much. Of course that was minutes before the one officer killed his partner and is framing me for the murder.” She tugged and then pulled herself up, adding her full weight to the leather straps. Exasperated, she dropped to the floor. “Damn. I need something to cut through the leather.”
“You should leave before they arrive.”
“Not without you. I’ll be right back. I have to find something to get you down.”
“If you can’t find anything, please leave, find a phone, and get help.”
“From who? All my options are gone. I don’t have any other friends in this area. The last person on earth I’d have called was my ex, and now I regret that. But I certainly can’t go to the police.”
“Go to the next town and get help.”
“No. There isn’t time,” Cassandra said, shaking her head. “I will get you down, and afterwards, I need a favor in return.”
“I’ll do whatever I can to help you.”
Cassandra smiled. “That’s all I ask. Now, I’ll be right back. I think there were some garden tools near the cellar entrance.”
“Be careful. The girl who tied me here. She’s . . . she’s very dangerous.”
Cassandra nodded and hurried into the corridor. She hated to leave him. It was great talking to another person. It helped eliminate the insanity of talking to herself and waiting for an answer.
Mitch had warned her about the girl who had restrained him. There had been fear in his voice as he mentioned her. But, she wondered about the girl’s age and what part she played with New Horizons or the police, if any. So much had happened so quickly.
She came to the end of the corridor, turned, and made her way around the fallen boards where the coffins were. She hurried past them because they reminded her of the absolute power of death, and she didn’t want to dwell on dismal thoughts because if she died before she found Alicia . . . She thrust the thought from her mind.
The wind whistled through the cellar door. Rain pelleted the grounds outside. Under normal circumstances these sounds would have been relaxing, as she lay in bed, but not tonight, not in the middle of a cemetery. Bright lightning flickered and illuminated the earthen steps.
She edged nearer to the door where she had seen some garden tools propped against the wall. A shovel, an old rake, and a rusted pair of hedge-trimmers rested beneath layers of dust and cobwebs. She took the hedge-trimmers, dusted them off, and noticed a curved handheld sickle. Picking up the sickle she momentarily debated which would work best to cut Mitch down.
Lightning flashed and struck a tree near the manor. The harsh thwack caused her to turn quickly toward the door. In the flickering light a dark silhouette made her gasp. Glowing golden eyes peered at her. Little metal spikes protruded around its lips and cheeks.
A guttural growl rumbled in its throat as it sprang upward and charged.
Cassandra screamed and in a moment it slashed at her with sharp claws. In a defensive attempt to protect herself, Cassandra swung the sickle. The blade sunk into its chest. It whelped and pulled back, taking the blade with it as it limped up the earthen steps.
She grabbed the rusted hedge-trimmers and in the dim light of the penlight, she sprinted through the cellar, around the coffins, and down the corridor until she reached the room where Mitch was tied.
Panting for air, she pulled the handles to open the blades.
“What’s wrong?” Mitch asked. “You screamed. Are you okay?”
“We have to hurry,” she said, fumbling with the trimmers. “A wolf or creature tried to attack me.”
“No,” Mitch said. “That’s the girl.”
“What?”
“Yeah, she transforms into a wolf. She did all this to me.”
Cassandra positioned the blades against the leather and squeezed. The blades jammed from the rust and their dull edges.
“I don’t need any farfetched stories to go with this nightmarish day.”
“It’s the truth. She is whatever she is.”
“No. It’s not possible,” she said, but then she thought of the catlike creatures. Perhaps it was possible. “It did appear to have facial piercings. And a tattoo of a spider? I thought my mind was playing tricks on me.”
“No,” Mitch said, shaking his head. “She has piercings. A lot of them. And the tattoo.”
Cassandra shook her head and concentrated on the leather restraints. She opened the blades and clamped them shut again, but the leather was too tough. Tears welled in her eyes as her frustration built.
“I wouldn’t have thought she could transform, either. But she lured me here, changed into that wolfish creature and took me captive.”
Cassandra wiped away tears and frowned. “These aren’t working.”
“Just go before she comes back.”
“No,” she said. “We’re safer if we stick together.”
“I’m not so certain about that.”
She gritted her teeth and tried a third time. When the blades shut on the leather, she twisted. The blade didn’t cut it, but it was weakening the leather. She figured if she twisted back and forth enough, she might stretch the restraint enough to untie it at his wrists. But how soon before the wolf came back?
***
Sheba limped out of the cellar and into the rain. Curling on the wet grass, she panted. As a wolf, her paws couldn’t grasp and pull the sickle out, but her pain wasn’t as severe as it would be if she were human. Shifting back into human form to yank the blade out, the pain would be horrendous but she would heal.
Closing her eyes, she relaxed, and slowly, steadily, she left her wolf form and returned to her human self. The night air and cold rain made her shiver. The sickle blade stuck about two inches into her ribcage between her breasts. Blood mixed with rain trickled off her nude body.
She growled and gnashed her teeth as she took the wooden handle in her hands. Breathing hard, she prepared for the pain and gritted her teeth. She pulled the blade out and writhed on the ground. She fought hard not to allow her beast form to take over, but the riveting pain shot through her body and she gave in.
Hair sprouted over her. Her body changed. Her wound slowly knitted together.
Sheba lifted to all fours and returned to the cellar stairs. She sniffed the air and descended. Blood dripped from the closing wound. Panting with her tongue hanging out, she lowered and curled at the edge of the door. She’d let the wound heal before she continued her pursuit.
***
“Any luck?” Mitch asked.
Cassandra twisted and pulled. “Not yet, but at least they’re not as tight.”
Mitch felt the slack in the restraints and it eased the strain in his shoulders. She opened the trimmers and slammed them shut again and again. As the rust scraped loose of the blades, the trimmers operated a bit better.
Sweat poured off Cassandra. She panted and puffed but she continued cutting the leather. Small tears began forming in the strap and blisters rose on her palms.
She lowered the blades to catch her breath.
“I’d pull but I don’t have the strength,” he said.
“Give me a second,” she replied, leaning over to breath. “I’ll see if adding my weight will snap it now.”
“Mitch!” Sheba’s voice echoed through the cellar.
Mitch looked at Cassandra. “Hurry.”
Wide-eyed, she peered toward the corridor. Sheba sounded far away, but Cassandra wasn’t sure how badly Sheba’s injuries were her. She jumped, grabbed the leather strap, and held tightly. For several seconds she hung there, face-to-face with Mitch, and then the strap snapped. They dropped to the floor.
Mitch groaned in pain while she yanked and tugged at the knots around his wrists.
“I’m afraid you’re going have to wear these until after we get out of here. They’re tied too tightly for me to unravel.”
She helped Mitch to his feet.
“I’ve never been into the bondage thing,” he said with a slight grin. “But this whole ordeal has ensured I’ll never consider it.”
Cassandra draped his tied arms around her neck to support him. They walked to the door. “Any idea if there’s another way out?”
“Nope.”
She looked down the corridor that led to the cellar entrance and shook her head. “We’ll have to take our chances and hope there is. I can’t confront her again.”
“She’ll kill us either way.”
“I’d rather it be while we’re running with a slight hope for escape than going head-to-head against her.”
Mitch gave a slight nod. “I’m with you.”
Cassandra headed farther away from the coffins and into another side room door. On a table her light revealed a pile of clothes and a briefcase.
“Those are mine,” he said.
“Anything useful in the briefcase that might cut through the leather?”
“I do keep a Swiss Army knife in there.”
“Good. I’ll see if I can find it.”
“While you’re looking, see if my cellphone is in there, too. If it is, we can get help.”
“It’s here.”
Mitch sighed with relief. “I’m surprised she left that behind.”
“She probably figured you couldn’t get free.”
He nodded. “True. Dial this number.”
***
Kat answered her phone. “Hello? Mitch?”
“Mitch is with me,” Cassandra said.
“Who is this?”
“Cassandra Meeks. Mitch was abducted and I helped him escape. He wanted me to call you. They have my daughter.”
“Is he okay? Can I speak to him?”
“Sure.”
Cassandra placed the phone to Mitch’s ear. With her free hand, she used the Swiss Army saw blade to cut through the leather straps. Purple marks encircled his wrists. He rubbed them for a moment and then took the phone from Cassandra.
“Kat,” Mitch said. “We need help.”
“What’s wrong? Who abducted you?”
“The girl I was talking to last night.”
“The same one that told you she had information?”
“Yes.”
“So she was lying?”
Mitch replied, “No. She knows what has been happening here but for some reason, she baited me and took me hostage.”
“Any idea why she did that?”
“Fear.”
“What’s she afraid of?”
“Whoever is behind these attacks,” Mitch said. “And it turns out that she’s not exactly human.”
“What?”
“Yes. She’s like part wolf or something.”
“Okay. Lucian is on his way home. We’ll be on the next flight out.”
“I don’t know if we’ll survive that long.”
“Are you okay?” Kat asked.
“I have some cuts and bruises. But moving fast isn’t an option.”
“Hang in there and find somewhere to hide.”
“The wolf girl, Sheba, she’s coming after us.”
“Let me talk to Cassandra.”
Mitch handed the phone to Cassandra.
“We’ll be on our way soon. We’re going to help you find your daughter. I promise.”
Tears welled in Cassandra’s eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered.
***
Sheba stood in human form and leaned against the wall. Although the wound had healed, she was still shaken and weak. She pulled on her wet pants that she had left outside the cellar right before taking the sickle to the chest. She believed she had a better chance persuading Mitch if she approached in human form rather than her aggressive wolf form.
Her fingers traced the vanishing scar on her ribcage. She pulled her shirt over her head quickly. Her pain was minimal.
“Mitch?” she said with a sweet, innocent voice. “Did you really mean what you had said? That you will help me?”
No answer. Sheba moved past the coffins and toward the door.
“If you promise to help me, I will lead you out of here. Please? We can help each other.”
***
“Wait,” Mitch said, stopping.
Cassandra braced herself under his weight. “What?”
“I did promise I’d help her.”
“Are you serious? Do you really think she’s going to help you, especially after what I did?”
“It might buy us some time.”
Cassandra shook her head. “Keep dreaming. We have to get out of here and as far from her as possible.”
She shone the light against the wall. Near the end of the hallway, several fallen boards appeared to be covering another door.
“There,” she said, pointing. “I think that we might be able to get out that way.”
“Mitch?” Sheba said. “Talk to me, Mitch. Don’t be like this. I’m sorry for hitting you and tying you up. Please? Help me?”
Mitch turned his head. His eyes softened.
“Come on.” Cassandra tugged him beside her. “I take it you don’t date much.”
“Why do you say that?”
“You don’t seem to understand that she’s trying to prey upon your emotions. She knows you were attracted to her, and it seems that she’s playing you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Mitch said.
Cassandra laughed. “Really? Look at how you’re acting. You’re the victim, but you’re allowing her to make you believe she’s the victim.”
“But, in a sense, she is.”
“Nonsense. She’s already succeeded in slowing us down. Now come on and move your feet a bit faster. We have to get away from here so I can find Alicia.”
When she reached the fallen boards, she helped Mitch lean against the wall. She flashed the light back down the hall. No glowing eyes. Nothing moved toward them.
“We have to move these boards.”
Mitch stepped beside her. Even though his wrists and shoulders ached, he pulled and tugged a couple of the boards out of the way. Cassandra took the light and inspected the other side of the doorway.
“Odd.”
“What?” he asked.
“It’s an underground tunnel.”
“Mitch?” Sheba said, from the room where he had been tied.
The tone of her voice had changed from gentle and sweet to perturbed.
Mitch looked nervous.
“Should we go through the tunnel?” he asked.
“Do we really have a choice?”
“I suppose we don’t.”
Mitch braced himself against the doorframe and took a step through. “The bad part is we don’t know where this tunnel goes or if it’s blocked halfway through.”
“I thought about that myself. Let’s hurry, just in case we have to turn around.”
She took his hand and walked beside him through the tunnel. She walked at a pace he could keep. They nearly stopped dead in their tracks when Sheba growled behind them at the tunnel door.
Cassandra looped her arm around his and pulled him along with her.
“Don’t fall down,” she whispered.
Sheba snarled. Her voice deepened. “You said that you’d help me, and like the others, you’re going to abandon me.”
“Don’t listen to her,” Cassandra said. “She’s trying to slow you down.”
“I realize that now.”
“Then keep moving.”
Mitch’s steps went from stumbling to more surefooted. Apparently fear or determination had set in and he moved steadily down the tunnel. The light Cassandra carried swayed back and forth. The glow washed a narrow path of darkness ahead of them.
Sheba growled and sounded even closer in her pursuit.
Cassandra looked back and shone the light quickly. Sheba was moving fast.
“That doesn’t sound promising,” she said.
She turned back around, and her light reflected off three sets of eyes.
The catlike creatures.
She pulled Mitch’s arm, stopped running, and squeezed against the wall. The creatures’ glowing green eyes narrowed. They bore their teeth and hissed.
Sheba’s footsteps thudded heavily from behind.
Cassandra closed her eyes. They were trapped in between with nowhere else to run.
No escape.