Seizure(48)

Ben stilled. “What did you say?”

“Weakness,” Hi mused. “Inferior races might lack the genetics for flaring.”

Ben grabbed Hi by the shirt, pulled his face close.

“You wanna see an inferior race, you—”

Ben shuddered as the power scorched through him. Hi scooted backward, just in case.

“God, you’re easy!” Hi chuckled.

Ben’s eyes burned a deep amber-gold. “You’re getting a little too good at pushing my buttons, Stolowitski.”

Hi bowed. “Practice makes perfect.”

“Ben!” I called out. “Move this fricking rock, already!”

Ben’s eyes swiveled to me. Without a word, he charged across the dungeon, dropped to his back, and slammed his boots into the stone.

A ghastly creaking filled the dank chamber. Fragments of mortar cascaded to the floor. Slowly the stone moved backward from the rest of the wall.

Ben paused, panting. Then he slammed again, legs driving. Two more thrusts drove the stone into open space.

“You did it!” Hi said.

Ben’s efforts had created an opening just large enough to wriggle through. Heads close, we peered through it. Nothing but darkness. A chilly breeze caressed the skin on our faces.

I pointed my flashlight. The beam probed the blackness beyond, revealing a narrow tunnel approximately three feet in diameter.

Shelton spoke first. “No way I’m going in there.”

“This must be how Bonny escaped,” I said. “The treasure could be—”

“Look at that!” Near hysteria coated Shelton’s words. “We have no idea where this pit leads! We could get trapped and never get out!”

Ben squared Shelton’s shoulders and looked him in the eye.

“I’ll be with you the whole way,” he promised. “You can do this. Any problems, we turn around.”

Shelton let out a strangled cry. Wiped his glasses. Nodded.

“Ready?” I asked.

“We’re ready,” Ben said.

Dropping to all fours, I crawled into the hole.





SILENCE FILLED THE dungeon in the ruins of Half-Moon Battery.

Deathly. Foreboding.

Dust particles danced in the air oozing from the fresh wound in the rear wall.

Absolute blackness blanketed the chamber.

Then, a noise.

Overhead, wood creaked.

A faint glow appeared at the top of the stairs, slowly worked its way downward.

Moving shadows shot the walls at sharp angles.

The glow reached ground level.

Gravel crunched.

The flickering light crossed toward the back of the chamber. Paused.

Seconds ticked by.

Shadows spun the walls.

The light reversed and bobbed back up the steps.

Darkness returned.

Moments later, footsteps again broke the silence. Descending with purpose.

This time, the light was stronger, white and penetrating.

Without hesitation, the radiance moved into the exposed gap and was gone.





CLAUSTROPHOBIA THREATENED TO overwhelm me.

The tunnel was rough-edged, low, and seemingly endless. My flashlight beam dissolved into darkness two yards out.

As I inched forward, the walls tightened like a fist. Within twenty feet I couldn’t rise to my knees. I dropped and dragged myself with my elbows.

My body scraped over gravel, sharp rocks, and things I tried not to imagine. Progress was agonizingly slow. In my mind’s eye I saw us—a line of ants creeping through a narrow straw.

Shelton’s whimpers told me he was barely holding it together. Without Ben’s prodding, I’m not sure he would’ve kept going.

At one point I glanced back. Hi’s glowing eyes were right behind me. And looking petrified.

“You okay?”

He gave a shaky thumbs-up. “Just keep moving. And please yell if you see an exit sign. I feel like I’m crawling down a monster’s throat.”

Swallowing hard, I dragged myself another few yards. The skin on my elbows was growing raw.

Hi was right. Things got worse if you stopped. The walls closed in. My brain reminded me of the crushing weight hanging over my head.

“You see anything?” Shelton yelled from down the line. “Tell me this leads somewhere! I’m buggin’ out!”

I aimed my flashlight dead ahead. Still the blackness ate the beam. Even flaring, I couldn’t see more than six feet.

“Not yet,” I said. “But the air is still moving. It has to come from somewhere!”

“Don’t stop!” Shelton pleaded. “It’s not like we can turn around.”

He was right. The passage was way too tight for a U-turn. If we hit a dead end, we’d have to back our way out.

My mind shied from that terrifying possibility.

Reach. Drag. Pull.

Reach. Drag. Pull.

The passing minutes seemed like hours. Without my extra flare strength, I’d have collapsed.

Questions hounded me. Did this hole lead anywhere? Was it tilting downward? How far below ground were we? Was I dragging myself to hell?

It was then that my flashlight died.

Nightmare.

Heart hammering, I snaked ahead faster, yanking forward with ragged, frantic lunges. The rough ground tore at my skin. I felt blood on my elbows and knees.