by Sophia Sharp
Eve picked her way through the undergrowth with more ease than I did. Maybe it was because she was more used to the terrain than I. I had generally shied away from the woods after the incident with Chris.
Without warning, Eve stopped, knelt down in front of a bush, and pulled out a small black plastic bag.
“Here,” she said, tossing the bag to me. “There’s a flashlight inside.”
I fished one out and handed it to her, then got another one for myself. They both had an odd handle that protruded from the body. “You have to crank it to make it work,” Eve explained when she saw my confusion. “Battery-powered ones can be unreliable. These will stay on forever, as long as you put in the work.”
“I see,” I said.
“Don’t worry,” she reassured me. “We probably won’t even need them.”
“How come?” I asked.
“This cave isn’t very deep underground. There are cracks in the rock that let some light through.”
“Ah,” I said. “So where’s the cave?”
“Right here.” Eve pointed to a small space between two tree trunks. “Follow me.”
Eve knelt on hands and knees and crawled through the opening. I watched her disappear from sight, and then bent down and followed.
The two trunks made it a tight squeeze, and the bark scraped against my jacket. A rock formation came up above me, casting the passage in darkness. It was hard to tell how far the narrow tunnel extended.
Without warning, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped back, only to realize that it was Eve. It took a second for my eyes to get used to the dark. Once they did, I saw that she had hopped down from a ledge just in front of me and was standing at full height.
“Careful here,” she said as she helped me down. I managed it without falling.
Eve was right about the inside of the cave. Even with the clouds blocking the sun outside, enough light came through the cracks in the ceiling to see without the flashlights. As best as I could tell, the roof seemed to be only a foot or two beneath the forest floor.
“Do we have far to go?” I asked her anxiously.
“Not really,” she told me. “A few hundred yards at most.”
“And Rob’s still here?” I asked, and felt my cheeks color at the quaver in my voice.
“As far as I know,” she replied.
She took the lead again, and I followed her. The entrance sloped gently, but the rest of the cave was pretty much level. There were, however, an unusual number of turns we had to take before rounding a corner to find a small lantern illuminating the space.
“Who’s there?” a rough voice demanded. My heart jumped to my throat. It took a split second to realize that it was Rob’s voice. He sounded haggard, though. Tired.
“Don’t get your panties in a bunch,” Eve said sarcastically. However, her tone carried an unexpected degree of mirth. “It’s just me and Tracy.”
“Tracy’s here?” Rob asked. I was taken aback at how eager he sounded. I mean, we were nothing more than friends. Although, admittedly, I felt like last night’s events had brought us closer together. But I definitely wasn’t about to fall for him all over again. So, why did I feel butterflies in my stomach?
“I’m right here,” I managed, and felt proud at how steady my voice remained.
“I can’t see either of you against the light,” Rob said. We came closer, and he came into view. He was sitting on a folded blanket, leaning against one wall. He had dark circles under his eyes that were emphasized by the shadows cast by the lantern. His hair was a mess. His usually proud shoulders were slumped forward tiredly. He was also wearing the same clothes as last night, which meant he hadn’t taken the time to shower or change today.
“Have you talked to our prisoner?” Eve asked.
“No,” Rob said. He nodded at me. “It’s good to see you. The guy’s awake, but he hasn’t said anything. There’s no danger of him escaping, though. The bonds I tied are still tight. Even if he managed to wiggle out of them there’s no way he’ll get out of the cell.”
“Where is he?” I asked. Looking around, I could see nothing but the rock walls.
“Not far from here,” Eve answered. She turned her head in one direction. “That way, I think. Around the next corner.”
“Can he… hear us?” I asked. I thought I was ready for this. But as the words left my mouth I felt an unexpected surge of fear. Even if the man was bound and behind bars, I was not particularly comfortable about being underground in the same vicinity as him – despite having Eve and Rob with me.
“Voices carry easily down here,” Eve said, “but his cell is far enough that he shouldn’t be able to make out what we say.”
“You never know,” Rob cautioned. Eve gave him a hard look, and he spread his hands. “I’m just saying, we’d better be careful about how much we say.”
“We’re not stupid,” Eve countered, but again the sarcasm was undermined by an affectionate warmth.
“How long has he been up?” I asked Rob.
“It’s hard to say,” he replied. “He could have awakened any time after we brought him here. I first heard him moving around a few hours ago. He didn’t say anything. I went to check on him, and he had… a defeated look in his eyes. As if his pride were wounded.”
“I’d bet,” Eve said. “He was caught by a bunch of kids. He failed at what he was sent here to do.”
“So have you girls decided what to do with him yet?” Rob asked.
“We don’t know,” I said. “Eve and I came down here to ask him some questions.”
“I’ll come with you—” Rob began, pushing himself up, but I shook my head quickly and interjected.
“No,” I said, slightly more harshly than I meant. I saw Rob flinch. Hastily, I softened my tone. “No, we need to do it alone.” Truth be told, I would have welcomed having Rob there. But the blasted oath I had sworn on the crystals prevented that from being possible.
“Alright,” Rob said after a moment. “I can give you your privacy.”
“We’ll only be a minute,” I said gently. Eve nodded, and started forward. I began to follow her, but Rob caught my sleeve. He waited a few moments for Eve to walk farther away.
“Listen,” he hissed at me, “I know you have your secrets. I’m not stupid. But you girls can trust me. Really. All of you need to stick together, and I can be a part of that. Whether you like it or not, I know about what happened. I don’t know why the man came after you, but I know it happened for a reason. You can trust me, Tracy.” I met his eyes. They seemed to glow against the dim lantern light. For a moment, I found myself transfixed by that gaze. Looking up at him, I could see that his cheeks were lined with dark scruff. Every time I’d seen him before, he was clean shaven. “But,” he continued, “I won’t ask you to tell me unless you’re ready. Like I said before.”
I closed my eyes just to get away from that gaze. How could I not tell him everything when he was so genuine, so honest? Every word he spoke was so sincere. It dug at my heart that I couldn’t tell him what was going on. He risked everything for me – for us – and I rewarded him by keeping him in the dark. He could have no idea of the dangers we were facing, and yet here he was, valiantly standing guard and ready to protect me from anything that might come.
I couldn’t answer him directly, so I said the first thing that came to my mind. “Why did you come here?”
Rob frowned as if I had just told him frogs can fly. “I couldn’t stay away. This man attacked you, Tracy, and if I let him slip away, he would do it again. I was not about to let that happen.”
“He’s not your responsibility,” I whispered. I couldn’t see Eve, but I could feel her eyes on me.
“Not my responsibility?” he repeated. He sounded shocked. “Who else’s responsibility could he be? I came here because I wanted personal charge of keeping him here—of keeping him away from you. But if you don’t even understand that—”
“No, I do!” I said quickly. “Of course, I do.” The co
nviction in his voice was unmistakable. The hurt in his voice was even clearer. “And, I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate it. Thank you. I know it’s not much, but thank you.”
Rob smiled, and gently squeezed my shoulder. “I’ll be close by if you need me,” he said simply, and slipped around me to walk away.
I heard a disapproving click of the tongue from Eve, but didn’t let it bother me. Rob had said he wanted personal charge of keeping me safe. That simple statement endeared him to me in an unusually powerful way.
Hurrying toward Eve, I found her waiting with arms crossed. “Have a good heart-to-heart?” she asked sarcastically, but I ignored the jab.
“Come on,” I told her. “We have to see what the man can tell us.”
Eve nodded, quickly regaining her focus. “This way.”
I followed her into the deeper reaches of the cave. A small amount of light still penetrated through the cracks in the ceiling, but we had to turn our flashlights on to see better.
About two hundred yards farther on, Eve stopped and shone her light to the side. For the first time, I noticed the heavy black iron bars that surrounded us. This place really was how Rob had described it to me: A prison carved into the walls.
I shone my light around to get a better look. There was a whole row of cells lining the walls. They extended down as far as my light could reach. Some of the entrance doors were missing, while others stood crooked in their frames. Only one of the doors was closed. I shone my light there, and found the man – my attacker – crouched in a far corner.
To my immense relief, I saw that his arms and legs were still bound. But his eyes were open. They reflected the light like a cat’s.
He watched, not moving, as Eve and I arranged ourselves in front of the cell. The bike lock that held the gate in place was still there, creating a barrier between us and the man. I felt my courage rise again. There was a space of maybe three inches between each of the bars. There was no way he could slip out. And he was bound, anyway. No matter what he had done before, he couldn’t harm me now. But, the way his eyes pierced through the dark was uncanny.
“Who are you?” Eve demanded suddenly. There was heat in her voice. “Why did you come here?”
The man blinked, but didn’t move. Or answer. He just regarded us like a big cat might regard its prey.
Eve stepped forward. “Don’t make me repeat myself,” she warned. “How you answer now will determine what we do with you.”
The man simply continued to watch us. I could feel his gaze alternate between Eve and me. Even with him behind bars, I could feel a dangerous vibe from him. He was too calm for somebody who was being held prisoner.
“Who sent you?” I asked. “What did you come here to do?” There was no way he could see our faces with the way we shone the lights, but for an anxious moment I was worried he would recognize my voice. That moment passed once I realized he had never heard me speak.
“Are there others?” Eve demanded. “More like you?”
Again, he didn’t answer. He seemed to be strangely accepting of the situation. There was not a shred of panic in him. It made my nerves stand on edge.
“What did you find in Paul Rosenberg’s office?” I demanded. “What were you after?”
He crooked his head to one side, but didn’t say anything. For a long moment, we just stood there, waiting.
“This is stupid!” Eve exclaimed suddenly, and took my arm to bring me aside. When we were out of earshot of the man, she whispered, “He has no incentive to talk! We’re not going to get anything from him like this.” Her voice grated with frustration. “I say we bring him out and show him we’re not something he can just shrug aside. There’s a… table… at the end of the cells. Along with certain instruments. They were used on some of the inmates down here long ago. Some of them have rusted, but they’re still usable. He might be more amenable to speaking after he’s had his turn with those.”
“What are you talking abou—” I began, but my eyes widened as the realization hit. Eve was talking about torture! “No! We can’t do that,” I said hastily. Was this entire stretch of caves a torture chamber? I shivered. It did not feel right being down here anymore.
“You don’t have to be there,” Eve said. “Get Rob to help bring the man out, and give me a few minutes with him. He’ll talk once I’m done.”
I balked. Eve was talking about this as easily as she might about a picnic.
“No,” I reiterated. “We can’t do that. We’re not animals!”
“It’s no worse than what he tried to do to you!” Eve said.
“We’re not going to do that!” I said. “I’m not going to let us sink to his level.”
“Suit yourself!” Eve snorted, and there was clear bitterness in her voice. “But he’s not going to talk to us any other way.” She brushed by me and started back toward the entrance of the caves.
“Eve, wait!” I said, running after her. She turned back to frown. “I know you want to help. And I know we have to find out what’s going on. But torture isn’t the answer!”
Eve regarded me silently, and then let out a small sigh. “I know,” she said in a tight voice. “It’s just… all this is making me anxious. The man down there is the only one who can give answers, but if he won’t talk…”
“We’ll find what we need,” I promised. “He’s been here for less than a day. Once he realizes there’s no getting out, he’ll get desperate. We just need to outwait him. That’s all. And we can easily do that. We have food, water, and our beds. He has nothing here.”
“I guess,” Eve agreed reluctantly. She sighed again. “If we’re not going to get anything out of him now, we might as well go see what the others found.”
I nodded, and we started for the cave entrance. We found Rob waiting a short way away from the lantern light.
“How’d it go?” he asked.
“He won’t talk,” Eve answered.
“Have you eaten?” I asked suddenly.
Rob gave a curt chuckle. “Don’t worry about me. The girls brought me breakfast this morning.”
“Oh, that’s good,” I said. “We’re going to meet the others now. You should probably come. You can get out of this dank cave.”
Rob shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not about to leave that man alone down here.”
Eve looked at me and shrugged, then continued forward. I went after her. When I passed Rob, I touched his arm gently and whispered, “Thank you.” He nodded and gave a tight smile.
The journey above ground seemed to take less time than the trip into the caves. When we emerged into the forest, heavy clouds covered the sky and there was a light drizzle of rain falling.
“I’ll text Ashley,” I told Eve. “They went to the library, right? Maybe we can meet them there.”
“Yeah,” Eve agreed. I took my phone and typed out a quick message.
“Might as well get going while we wait for a reply,” I said, starting in what I thought was the right direction. Eve grabbed my shoulder with a laugh and turned me the other way. “It’s over here,” she told me.
Chapter Seven – Into the Night
When we reached the edge of the woods, I saw that the path from the main yard to the dorms was full of students. The rain had started picked up. Everyone on the path was hurrying in one direction or the other trying to get shelter.
“We should get an umbrella,” I suggested.
Eve shrugged. “I don’t mind the weather. And I don’t have one anyway.”
“I think I have one in my room,” I said. We could see the dorms from where we were. “Ashley said they’d wait in the library for us. It’s a long walk there, and the weather doesn’t look like it’ll be getting any better.”
“Alright,” Eve agreed. “But let’s be quick.”
Nobody gave us a second glance as we stepped into the flow of people. The jacket I had on provided only minimal cover from the rain. I could feel the shirt beneath getting damp. I glanced at Eve
. She really didn’t seem to mind getting wet.
There was an influx of people heading into the junior dorm when we arrived. A few intrepid souls ventured to kick a soccer ball around in the courtyard. Almost everyone else was headed indoors. When we walked through the main doors, I saw that the foyer of the building was unusually busy. Every seat on the couches was taken. I recognized a fair number of people – I lived here with them, after all. But I had too much on my mind to say hi to anybody.
“I’ll wait down here,” Eve said, cutting away from me. I glanced after her, but couldn’t tell where she was going. I assumed she had seen somebody she knew.
I bounded up the stairs to the third floor. The sound of conversation from the foyer echoed throughout the whole building. Oddly, there was no one on my floor. I frowned, but didn’t think much of it. I was hoping that Liz and the others had been more successful in their venture than Eve and I had been.
I stepped quickly to my door, eager to change into something drier. I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I barely noticed passing Chris’s old room. I pulled the lanyard from my pocket, but just as I was about to place the key in the lock I dropped it to the floor. Tsking irritably, I bent down to pick it up – and froze. For a split second, I thought I heard voices from inside my room.
I rose slowly. Voices? It was just my mind playing tricks on me. I held my breath, and… heard them again! They were very clearly coming from behind my door.
I pressed myself against the wall and felt my pulse quicken. Somebody was inside my room again. I felt for the crystal at my chest, and finding it there, breathed a sigh of relief. I wasn’t helpless this time.
The presence of the crystal restored my courage. I looked around, and saw that I was still the only one on this floor. I peeked at my door, and realized with a start that it was slightly ajar. I had been in such a hurry earlier that I didn’t notice it.
I took a deep breath. Maybe I was just imaging things… But maybe not. With extreme care, I pushed the door open just a crack and looked inside.
