Freed (#3 Flamestone Trilogy)

by Holly Hook

  The woman and the girl head into the water, hand in hand. They're silent.

  Shawn pops the mask off his face for a moment. There's sweat forming around his eyes and his hair's plastered to his head. “I need a break,” he says. “The air's safe here.”

  I brush some of the hair out of my face. “So do I.” I watch the woman wade across the river with her daughter in tow. At least, I think it's her daughter. The little girl takes drink after drink of the clear water. They're thirsty. How long were they in there and how often to the Disgraced need to drink? Maybe they need water just as much as we do.

  “We have to go back in,” Travis says after the two of them make it across the river. They hug Les's dark form, barely visible in the lantern light. Yes. They're sane again.

  “Thank you,” Les shouts across the river. “I will tell my people to go gather the workers. We will have them to the surface in several hours.”

  “Are there any more of your people missing?” I shout.

  “Five,” he says. “But I doubt they're alive. They vanished into Demon Cave a month ago.” His words are low and sad. He turns to face some footsteps farther up the chamber, somewhere up the river. I can't see what he's seeing, but he doesn't look too concerned.

  “We still have someone down there,” Shawn shouts. Next to him, Pit laps up water. “Will you have someone wait for us?”

  “I will,” Les says. “Good luck.”

  “Come on,” I say, slipping my mask back on. My breathing comes loud and heavy again. “We have to hurry. We'll let Pit show us the way.”

  Pit bounds forward into the cavern and munches down on another Dweller that's trying to run out of the way. He chews and green slime goes everywhere as I dip my head back into the layer of brain fog. That's a good name for it. Fitting. The ore is called Brainstone. That's a good name, too. It messes with your head. Maybe it slowly eats it away like that amoeba that's found in lakes back home.

  “Hurry.” Shawn says. “Let me run in front, Elaine.”

  He's trying to be the hero. We come to the fork and we stay to the one on the left. There's no reason anyone would go down the right one unless they were that confused. The Flamestone vein is an easy beacon to follow. The fog grows thicker and it's just Pit's chewing and our footfalls on the floor. The stone gets redder and redder. My skin's cast in a demonic glow when I hold my hand up to my mask. I can see how someone can go insane down here even without the fog, if they stay long enough.

  “Hello?” Travis calls into the fog ahead. “We're here to get you out of here.” He huffs beside me, the mask making loud noises as he does. “Hello? Anyone else? Talia?”

  There's another fork in the cave ahead. We slow down. The Flamestone vein plunges into the one on the right.

  “She's got to be down here,” I say. I'm glad the gas doesn't kill, but how far in has she wandered? This is the farthest we've gone so far and the air's redder than ever. My skin tingles all over. My clothes aren't even holding out the gas now. This isn't getting any better. The back of my neck feels wet with the effort of running. Our pores are opening up. That's bad. It'll let in more of this stuff. Sweat forms at the nape of Shawn's neck. Travis's, too. They both look like they've just come back from the worst football practice. I wish we were back there. I'd be waiting after school to meet Shawn and plot ways to stay away from home. We'd go out for ice cream or something. That sounds fantastic right now.

  “You'll never do that again, Elaine.”

  It's Garrett's voice. I stop. “What?”

  I look around the cavern. There's no one but the four of us. Pit bites my pant leg and pulls on me, urging me further into the cavern. What's his deal? He should be trying to guide me out. Unless I'm getting all confused again.

  “Elaine, are you okay? Getting sick?” Shawn asks. His voice sounds too loud, like he's talking underwater and trying to shout through a megaphone at the same time. He takes my arm.

  I'm hearing things. Of course Garrett isn't down here. He can't be. He wouldn't have the guts to go through these caves—would he?

  But he also hates me more than anything else in the world. Except for possibly my father.

  “It's nothing,” I say. If I stop, we make things worse. “Nothing. We should keep going.”

  We take the tunnel on the right.

  There's another fork, and another. Down, down. I can only see ten feet ahead now. We keep running, keeping the vein of Flamestone above us at all times. Stick to the vein. That's all we have to do to navigate out of here. Stick to the vein. Just follow it. I wonder if this cavern leads right to the heart.

  “Is it just me, or is it hot in here?” Travis asks. “And getting hotter?”

  He's right. I feel like I'm walking through a sauna. Pit's even moving a bit slower, trying not to overheat. I hear some kind of strange roar up ahead. The air seems thicker almost. A hot breeze blows against me and I stop. All around us, the red fog moves like it's trying to flee whatever's below.

  Pit won't leave my side now.

  “I don't like this,” I say. “It's almost like there's some inferno ahead. What if the air's getting full of like, sulfuric acid or carbon monoxide?”

  Shawn pulls me close to him. “We have gas masks on.”

  “Good point,” Travis says. “I still don't like this. Les said these wouldn't protect us against the lack of oxygen. Check that lamp.”

  Shawn holds up the safety lamp. The flame still burns. There's still enough oxygen to breathe down here. The place seems ventilated, at least. A breeze will help with that.

  “What about any heat?” I ask. “It's just getting hotter the more we go down.”

  Shawn reaches up towards the Flamestone vein. It's thicker than ever. It's the size of two tree trunks now and it's hanging over our heads. I feel uneasy, like it's going to fall down on us any moment. But it must have grown right through the red ore that's everywhere. I don't even see any traces of the black stone anymore. We're in a whole new layer of the ground. We're far below even the lowest of the Dweller mines.

  “This isn't helping with the heat,” Shawn says. His fingers brush the stone and he recoils. “Ever touch a hot pan on the stove? Heat's just blasting off this.”

  Pit pulls on my leg again. Which way is he telling me to go?

  Away from the hot breeze blowing against us. Yes. He's trying to lead us back out of here after all. He doesn't want to go any further and he's right not to.

  “We can't stay in here long,” I say.

  “Elaine.”

  It's Garrett.

  I whirl around.

  He stands there, leaning against the red wall, unprotected. He wears his suit that he wore to meet his work buddies for dinner the night that I left Earth. The last time I talked to him without hating him. He has one sleeve rolled up a bit. The Flamestone tattoo shines in the red light. It looks bloody. Fitting, I think. And his bandage is gone from his shoulder.

  “What are you doing?” he asks. “If you go any farther, you'll just fail like your father did.”

  “Shut up,” I tell him, backing away and readying my axe. Why isn't he in a gas mask? Why isn't the gas bothering him? “You know nothing about my father.”

  “Elaine, who are you talking to?” Shawn asks.

  I face Shawn and then the wall again. Garrett's gone.

  I'm hallucinating.

  Losing grip on reality.

  “She's seeing things,” Travis says. “This stuff really does get through our skin. We have to go back.”

  Pit pulls on my pant leg again, whimpering. He's the most sane one here. Maybe the smartest one. Our pores are letting this stuff in after all.

  “I think I'm okay now,” I say. I breathe in. The air coming through my filter has to be safe—right? Why aren't Shawn and Travis feeling the effects of this like I am?

  “I think Elaine should go back and we should keep looking for Talia,” Shawn says. “She's smaller than us. Maybe that's why she's being affected faster than we are.”

&nbs
p; “Could be,” Travis says.

  “No!” I shout. “I wanted to come look for her in the first place. We need to do this together.” I look up and down the cavern again. Is the glow getting brighter the farther down we go? It's not just the Brainstone glowing now. There seems to be something else, some other source of light coming from the direction of the breeze. It's faint, but there. Something's going on and I have a feeling I know what. Antoine would love to see this. It's what he's been thinking about for so many years.

  Shawn grabs my hand. “You're going back. You're seeing things.”

  “I'm not now.” I pull against him.

  “You're going back!” Shawn says. “This isn't safe for you.”

  “I haven't been safe since we entered Talia's foster home!” He doesn't know what I've been through. Or he doesn't believe me. I killed the Megapede and helped kill the giant worm. He should realize I'm not that girl he needs to protect anymore. “You know what, Shawn? When I was out there all by myself, it was your voice that told me I could do it, all the way. You helped me stay alive. I need you to be that right now. Not the hero who's going to save the damsel in distress.”

  I can't read his expression. I hate that. It's behind that lifeless mask.

  “Really?” he asks.

  “That's the Shawn I want right now. The one who encourages me. I know you're worried about me and that's great. You should be. But I have a feeling we're almost there and I need to keep going. I'm the one who started all of this and I need to finish this.” In more ways than one, I want to say. The axe hangs heavy in my grip. It's almost become a part of me that I must carry until this is over. It's a constant reminder of what I need to do.

  “She has a point,” Travis says, starting down the tunnel again. Then he stops. Stares at the blank wall in front of him. His arms fall to his sides. “Talia!”

  She's not there. Now he's seeing things, too.

  Travis leans down. Reaches towards thin air. “She's dead!”

  Shawn releases me and pulls at him. “No, she's not. At least, I don't think she is. I don't want to see what you're seeing, man, but she's not there. Come on. We need to go back up for a break—all of us. Pit here will show us the way.”

  Pit whimpers and pulls at Travis's jeans now. Travis stands up and backs away from him. “A snake!” he shouts. “Pull it off! It's biting me!” He shakes his leg. We're losing it down here.

  “Hey, man,” Shawn says, going for him. “Take a deep breath. Or maybe not.”

  “Elaine. You're worthless. You'll never accomplish what your father meant to do.”

  Garrett's there again, leaning against the wall. I face him. He's not real. He can't be. But he's standing here just like he is. Garrett smiles. “If you kill me, just think of what you're going to do to your mother. Will you ever be able to face her again? Knowing that you killed the man she loves?”

  Right next to him, Pit kneels and whimpers, almost like he's agreeing.

  “Elaine,” my mother says. “How could you do such a thing?”

  I whirl around.

  My mother stands there, hair in tatters, makeup running in streaks down her face.

  “You left me,” she says. “Why did you run away? Why did you do what your father did?”

  “My father did the right thing!” I shout. I turn my back on the vision. It's not real. I have to get out of here. Pit stands next to Garrett and whimpers again, this time in agony. His ribs poke out. He looks like he hasn't eaten in weeks. His big orange eyes are dull. Dying. He trembles with the effort of staying upright. What's wrong with him? He just ate a few minutes ago.

  Another hallucination.

  The real Pit's still pulling on Travis. Shawn's trying to wrestle Travis to the wall. The starving Pit is just in my head. Or maybe the one pulling on Travis is in my head.

  Garrett looks in the direction of the orange glow. “Do you really want to destroy an entire species? The Dwellers just want to survive like we do. They need workers. They're not evil, and without them I wouldn't have had the money to get you all those nice things. To get your mother all those nice things and make her happy. That's what I did, Elaine, and now you've shattered it all.”

  “You're disgusting,” I say. “You don't deserve to live! Shut up!” I close my eyes.

  Is Garrett really me talking?

  This is coming from my head, after all.

  “Get it away!” Travis shouts.

  “Dude. Calm down. It's not real!”

  Pit whimpers again. The real one, or the fake one. I don't know.

  “If you kill me, you're going to think about it every day for the rest of your life,” Garrett says. He's right behind me. I breathe slowly through the respirator. How bad would this be without the masks? My bare arms tingle like a million ants are rushing across my skin. It's getting into me regardless. “You think you're doing the right thing, Elaine, but you're wrong. The Society will never go away.”

  “Would you shut up?”

  I swing my fist at Garrett.

  He wavers and snaps back into place. The starving Pit is with him. He stares up at me with those big orange eyes. They're sad. Hopeless. He's thinner than ever. What are you doing? His ears droop and he lies down on the stone as if I've just abandoned him. As if he just found out I once had to kill one of his kind and I'm not the person he thinks I am.

  “You've done nothing but screw up so far,” Garrett says, smiling. “You trapped those workers. You left two of your friends behind to the dark. You're going crazy down here. What makes you think anything's going to be different now?”

  I turn away from him. I can't stand it anymore. “Shawn!” The hot breeze blows against my face. Which way is up? Down? The Flamestone vein still stretches above me and I know it'll lead me out, but where's right and left? This gas has hijacked my brain. We have to get out of it. We're falling apart.

  “Elaine? Is that you?” Shawn asks. He's got Travis by the arm and they both stop, staring at me. The real Pit stands next to them.

  “Yes. It's me!” I don't want Garrett or that sad, dying Pit to come back. I don't think I can stand it.

  “You look... never mind. It's the gas,” he says. He lets go of Travis. “Come on, man!”

  “This way!” If we get in the breeze more, it might blow some of the gas away. We should follow the draft. It's coming from the river—right? That would make sense.

  Pit peels himself from the wall and follows me. I lead the way. It's so light now we don't need the lantern to see. The glow ahead gets brighter. It might be a way out of here. Pit's fur blows back in the growing wind. We're headed towards something big.

  The cave grows lighter. I hug Pit to me and slow to a fast walk. The axe hits me in the side of the shin. Shawn mutters something. I wait for Garrett to reappear in front of me, but he's gone. Maybe I've left him behind. But his words scorch me and mock me.

  What if he's right that there's no way to end this?

  Travis holds up the lamp. The flame sputters a bit and he stops.

  “Um...” he starts.

  But then the flame comes back and burns.

  “It was the breeze,” he says. “I hope. But if this goes out, I don't know about going in any further. We don't have oxygen tanks.”

  “Is it just me, or are we getting more sane again?” Shawn asks.

  I look around. The red ore remains in the walls, but the fog seems to be thinning. We're heading down. Along the Flamestone vein. Talia might still be this way. And better yet, the tingling's going away. “I think we are,” I say.

  “I haven't seen anything weird in thirty seconds,” Travis says.

  “Neither have I,” Shawn adds. “Look. I don't think it's as foggy in this area.”

  He's right. A few wisps of red vapor curl past us, riding on the breeze. The wind's pushing all the gas out of this area. We've gone through the layer of it. The stuff's getting out of my system. This way is down. That way is up. My sense of direction is returning.

  But it's hot. Very
hot. Sweat forms around the rims of my mask as we walk and I want to pull it off. Pit's next to me, sniffing the air. We must have descended hundreds of feet from the river now. The vein of Flamestone above is so thick I'm not sure how the surrounding rock is holding it up. And the rock is different here, too. The lines of Brainstone get thinner, to be replaced with jet black, shiny rock even darker than the stuff back up in the mine. But it looks strange. This stone is cracked all over, and there's a faint orange glow coming from the cracks as if there's lava underneath and this black stone is just the cooling layer on top. But then I catch the sparkle in one of the cracks. There's so much Flamestone here that it's heating the place up and giving off light. It's growing underneath all this stone. Even the floor's got the cracks with the orange light shining through and sparkling. The ore is all around us. We're close to whatever heart Antoine mentioned.

  I wonder if it beats.

  “We shouldn't hang out here long,” Shawn says. He lifts his shoe and scrapes it on the floor. “I don't like this one bit. I don't even know if we can breathe this air. I'm afraid to take my mask off.”

  Pit's fur all stands up on end. His magenta spots shine in the lamplight. He's trying to cool off. The roaring noise is louder now, like we're heading down towards some hub deep in the ground. We must be tens of miles down by now. We can't be able to go down much further—right?

  “Pit looks fine,” Travis says. “He's breathing.”

  “Well, he also breathed fine back there.” Shawn points to the cavern we just left. The red gas makes wisps and fingers as it tries to sink and grab for us, only to get pushed back by the breeze.

  “We got major turned around,” I say. “This stuff really does mess with your sense of direction. We know the Dwellers have brought people down here. We still have to find them.” I drop my backpack and open it. The canteens are still there, filled with water. I'm glad that I refilled them from that trough before we came down here. That mine must be a couple of miles above us by now. Even that place seems like heaven compared to this.

  “Um, we need to take off our masks to drink that,” Shawn says.

  “I think we're good now,” Travis says.

  And removes his.