“Earlier today, an entire shift of mine workers disappeared. As I’m speaking to you, the private security firm the mine uses to guard the facility is mounting an investigation, going into the caverns to determine what the problem is. I don’t think I need to tell anyone in Lode that mines are dangerous. They are taking precautions against mine gas or other hazards and using the utmost care.
“I will be providing updates as information becomes available. For now, the mayor has decreed that no one should be outside after the sun goes down. My officers will be patrolling to assist anyone who is stranded after dark. That is all for now.”
I turned to Sam. “What do you think of that?”
“I think the chief almost looks professional in his uniform. He’s normally in plain clothes.”
“Small town,” I said. “What ya gonna do? But I meant about what he said, silly.”
“I know. Just trying to lighten the mood. It’s crazy. No bear could be doing this. A whole shift of mine workers? Maybe it’s terrorists or something.”
“Right,” I said. “Terrorists would target a town of eight thousand people. And to start, they snatch pets and a few random citizens. Sounds logical to me.”
“Okay, okay,” she said, putting her hands up in surrender. “It’s a little scary, isn’t it? I mean, it sounds like a horror movie. Some kind of creatures from outer space or something came and are taking over the town a few people at a time. Why aren’t the police doing anything about it?”
I look at her, incredulous. “Our police? We have four cops and a chief. What do you think they could do against someone or something that took out a whole shift of miners?”
“We don’t know what happened with the miners. There could have been a collapse or something. It could be coincidence.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Anyway,” Sam said, “I think I’m going to head home before it gets dark. I don’t want to be hassled by one of Lode’s four cops because I’m walking down the street.”
“Good idea. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Yep,” she said, heading out the door. “See you later.”
I sat there on the couch, not paying attention to the TV though I was staring blankly right at it, wondering what could cause the problems we were having. I looked around, ice traveling up my back for some reason, like when you feel like someone is watching you. Whatever it was, the mine security or our police would figure it out. I’d just have to stay inside when it was dark in the meantime. That would be no problem. I didn’t like to be outside when it was dark. Where was I going to go, anyway?
Bobby came home an hour later. He was hanging out at his friend’s house, two doors down. My mother came through the door just after he did.
“Did you hear there was some kind of trouble at the mine?” she asked us as she went to the kitchen to start dinner.
I took a good look at her. She was not as tall as me—something that really bothered her—but I didn’t think being short was a big deal for a woman. Her hair was the color of mine, dark brown, though she liked to put highlights in it to make it look lighter. It wasn’t quite as long as mine, either, only going down a couple inches past her shoulders. I thought she was pretty, but others seemed to think she was gorgeous. Men hit on her everywhere we went. It was sickening. They liked her shape, too. I could see them scanning her body, which would probably be considered curvy rather than athletic. A smaller, curvy, Hispanic woman. The guys ate it up. I wondered how it would feel to be the center of attention like that all the time.
“I saw something about it on the TV,” I said.
“What happened?” Bobby asked. My mom told him basically the same thing the chief said in his announcement.
“Cool,” he said. “Do you think it’s some kind of monster? Maybe it’s been sleeping for a thousand years and they woke it up with all the mining noise, and now it’s hungry. Hungry for human flesh.”
I whacked him on top of the head. “What is wrong with you?”
He tilted his head and eyed me as he rubbed his scalp. “You don’t know. It could be. Or it could be aliens from outer space coming to steal bodies or something.”
“Enough, Bobby,” my mom said. “This is serious. I know all those miners. They could be trapped down there. All radio contact was cut off. Everything went silent. Even the remote cameras went out.”
Now, that part wasn’t mentioned by the police chief.
We ate the lasagna my mom made for us. We sat around the table in the kitchen but, as always, the TV was still on in the living room. When the emergency sound came over the speaker again, we all looked at each other. There was a moment’s pause and then all three of us got up and scrambled to the living room.
Chief Fretz’s face took up the screen again. He looked like he was sweating.
“I…there have been more developments with the case of the missing miners. As I mentioned in my earlier announcement, the private security firm used by the mine sent in a group of their personnel to investigate the situation. Safety specialists, members of the mine’s emergency response team, went with them. Altogether, fourteen people went in: two safety specialists and twelve armed security guards.” The chief swallowed hard. “We have, um, lost contact with them. As before, the radios, ah, they went silent and the body cameras failed to show anything conclusive.
“The mayor’s office and the police department are working to determine what is happening. Until we have resolved the issue, we cannot stress enough that no one should be outside after dark until further notice. We have contacted the county seat and are trying to get aid from those who specialize in…uh, this type of situation. That is all for now.”
The screen abruptly went back to the show that had been playing before the announcement.
I looked to my mother. I couldn’t really place her expression. Was it fear or just general concern? Her mouth was set in a tight line but her eyes held a kind of wild look, wider than normal and darting from me to Bobby.
“Mom,” I said. “Are you all right?”
She shook her head and met my eyes. They seemed a little more normal than they did a moment ago. “Yes. Yes, I’m fine. Why don’t you two clean up the dishes? Have you done your homework already?”
The rest of the evening was like any other day, except that my mom and Bobby stared out the window to the darkness every once in a while. To be honest, I did so myself. What was out there, and would it stay in the mines? I also wondered what the other members of my family thought, my mother with her concerned looks and Bobby with a more anxious, even excited, expression.
The next morning, Sam and I talked about it on the way to school. There had been no further word on the miners or the security detail. As we made our way through the quad, it became clear we weren’t the only ones speculating.
“I heard they found the bodies. They were all headless and drained of blood,” one voice said.
“I heard it was a cult that takes people and eats them alive,” another said.
“It’s a conspiracy,” a third voice claimed. “It’s some kind of plan to steal money from the town.”
“No, no, no,” yet another student claimed. “They’re mutants who live underground. We got too close to their hive, and now they’ve developed a taste for human flesh. They’ll take us all if they can.”
I looked at Sam and raised an eyebrow. Honestly, where did people get these ideas? We arrived at our normal meeting place. Emily was there, talking softly with Zach. He had seen better days. As we approached, he lifted his head from his hands to look at us. His eyes were red and puffy and his lower lip quivered.
“Oh, no,” I said, realizing what it meant. “Was your dad on shift yesterday?”
His red-rimmed eyes filled with liquid again and he emitted a noise, a soft whimper.
“I’m sorry, Zach.” I stepped up behind him where he was sitting on the bench and hugged him. “I’m sure they’ll find out what happened and find him safe and sound.”
�
�Yeah,” Sam said, seeming at a loss about what to do. “There has to be a logical explanation.”
“I was just telling him,” Emily said, “that my father explained to me the way the rock is structured around here.”
“That’s right,” Sam said. “He’s a geologist with the mining company. What did he say?” Her concern for Zach showed through. She hardly ever stated the obvious like that. We all knew what Em’s dad did.
“He said there are natural caves in the area, maybe the same cave system as the Colossal Cave thirty or so miles away, but maybe they’re still growing. The Colossal Cave is dry; the water source that carved it and made its features all dried up, but there may be other systems nearby. Maybe the miners broke into one of those.”
“That wouldn’t explain why all those people disappeared,” Zach said.
“Maybe,” Emily continued, “they came across something very valuable, a vein of gold or something. Maybe they’re busy trying to mine it or something.”
Zach looked at the English girl blankly. “Seriously? That’s the best you got? They found some gold and are being greedy and going AWOL so they can scoop it all up? Come on, Em. Give me some credit here.”
Emily’s pale skin flushed red. “Sorry. It’s all I could think of on such short notice,” she said, attempting a smile but not quite managing it. Instead she hugged Zach. “I’m sure he’s fine, whatever the reason.”
“Thanks, Em,” the boy said. “I’m sorry to snap at you. I’m sort of stressed about it.”
“Any other news?” I asked. “The last thing I heard was last night when the security team went missing.”
“That’s the last thing anyone knows,” Zach said, sniffling. “They seem to have stopped talking about it after last night’s awkward announcement by the chief.”
“We’ll probably have another assembly today,” Sam said. “They’re going to want to make sure no one is stupid enough to go trying to explore the mine.”
“Who would do that?” Emily asked.
Sam nodded toward the other end of the courtyard. A group of about ten kids were over there smoking, some of them pushing others or play fighting.
“Oh, right,” Emily said. “I could see them trying to prove how tough they were by taking on whatever is down there.” The rest of us nodded.
As expected, there was another assembly, and Ms. Tonner told us to take the curfew seriously and not make more trouble for the overworked police force.
During her speech, and afterwards, I scanned the faces of the other students. I saw everything from sadness—like with Zachary—to humor, to thoughtful concern. Some kids would see a joke in anything, but most of the faces I saw had serious expressions, eyes that showed worry or were just unfocused. Conversation was muted, as if people were afraid to speak openly about what was happening. I’d never seen anything like it.
“So,” Mr. Reynolds said in class the next day, “who has something to say about our reading in Inferno?” No one raised their hand. Did he really believe anyone would?
“Samantha?” he said, causing Sam to jump. “What are your thoughts? I know you’ve done the reading.”
“I…uh…well, Mr. Reynolds, with everything that’s going on right now, I find it difficult not to think of the mine situation when I read Inferno.”
“Really?” He settled his lanky frame on the front of his desk and stroked his chin. He tried for the rugged, unshaven look, but the facial hair he grew was spotty and mostly gray, peppered with darker hair. “What specifically are you thinking about?”
Sam was too smart and too competent to be thrown for long. “It seems to me that there are parallels. Dante traveled through hell, concentric rings within caverns in the earth. Each of them was reserved for specific types of sinners, the most serious crimes being in the center. It makes me wonder which circle of hell the things in the mines came from, and if there are worse things than what we have seen already.”
As she said it, I shivered. I had thought much the same thing, even though we didn’t talk about it. I looked over at her. She was looking confidently at Mr. Reynolds. How was she always so in control? Smart, pretty, always seeming to know what to say or do, she was fantastic. I smiled at my friend. She saw it and raised her eyebrows, then turned her eyes back to our teacher.
“I see,” Mr. Reynolds said. “I’m not sure if I would see it the same way, but your opinion is duly noted. Is there a specific thing in our reading that makes you think of our situation right now?”
“We’re barely halfway through his account,” Sam said, “but it’s like the ones who go into the mine are crossing Acheron, the river of the dead.” She looked around at the others in class, all of them paying attention for a change. “Anyone who has crossed over into the mine has not returned, as surely as if they crossed into the land of the dead.” She started, her eyes going wide as she looked around the classroom. “Not that I mean I think they’re dead or anything. I’m talking about symbolism.”
She darted her eyes over to a girl on the left side of the classroom, Raquel Nefferman. Her father was one of the miners on the same shift as Zach’s dad. Her eyes glimmered with unshed tears, as they had every time I had seen her that day. They met Sam’s, and Sam gritted her teeth and drew her lips back at her inadvertently painful statement. Raquel forced a smile at her and nodded. I could hear Sam release a breath. I’d never heard my friend say anything mean to anyone, even teasing; it just wasn’t in her. I was glad the other girl didn’t take offense.
Mr. Reynolds had watched the exchange and nodded. “Good, Samantha. I can see the depiction you’re pointing out there. Anyone else have any thoughts? How about on the specific punishments for the crimes the souls committed in life?”
The class dragged on. I don’t really remember what we talked about. I was thinking about what Sam said. What did happen to those people? Were they dead? I hoped the police cracked the mystery soon. It was hard enough thinking about Dante and his journey without worrying about other things in the dark trying to get me.
Saturday morning was usually a time for chores. Bobby and I pulled some weeds and mowed the lawn. We washed the windows and cleaned our rooms. Mom had been “letting” me do my own laundry lately, so I had that to do as well. By the time we finished, it was just after noon.
“Okay,” Mom said, “you can go.”
Bobby didn’t wait another second. He ran off toward his friend’s house; he and Timmy Snodgrass were inseparable. I just stood there.
“What, nothing exciting for you to do?” she asked.
“Nah. I’m kind of tired. I think I may just chill around the house.”
“Okay, suit yourself.” She started walking back into the house and stopped. “Dani, are you all right?”
“Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know. Just all this stuff about dangers in the dark. I know you leave the lights on all the time. Are you…is everything okay?”
“It is weird,” I said, scrambling for a way to change the subject. “I hope they figure out what’s going on soon. I don’t like thinking there is some kind of bogeyman out there in the dark waiting to snatch us up.” I laughed, but I didn’t think it was convincing.
“I know. Well, if you’re sure there’s nothing wrong?”
“I’m fine,” I said. “I think I’ll go lie down and listen to some music.”
I could feel her eyes on my back as I passed her and headed down the hall.
Chapter 6
“Bobby!”
It was my mother’s voice. What time was it and why was she yelling? I looked at my phone. It was 7:06 am. Ugh.
Footsteps padded quickly down the hall. My door opened.
“Dani,” she said, “where is your brother?”
“Wha?” I rubbed my eyes and blinked against the light coming from the hallway. “How should I know? He’s probably asleep.”
“He’s not in his room. You know he wouldn’t get up this early on a weekend.”
She was right
about that. He normally slept until almost ten o’clock on the weekends. The situation finally hit me. Where was he?
“The last time I saw him,” I said, “was last night when I passed by his room to go to bed. He was still up, talking on his phone with one of his friends. I think it was a girl, by the way he was talking.”
My eyes adjusted, I got a good look at her. Her hair was a frizzy mess and her brown eyes were frantic. She turned her head toward his room and then back to me. “Get up. We need to go look for him.”
I didn’t argue. I’d seen her like this before. It was her mama bear look, and I knew better than to argue. I’d seen the results. It took me a few minutes to throw some clothes on and pull my hair, as frizzy as hers, through a scrunchy into a pony tail.
Mom wasn’t thinking straight, but I followed along faithfully as she went to Bobby’s best friend’s house a couple doors down. It was kind of early to be knocking on someone’s door, but that didn’t stop her. I wondered why she didn’t call them to ask if Bobby was over there, but like I said, I don’t think she was thinking clearly.
“Mom, did you call his phone?” I asked.
“Of course I called his phone. And texted him. There was no answer.”
The neighbors hadn’t seen him either, not since the afternoon of the day before. I racked my brain trying to figure out where he might be.
We searched for two hours, driving around town to places we thought he might be. We saw a few of his friends—they hadn’t seen him—but saw no sign of him.
“Where are you going now?” I asked as she set her jaw and started accelerating after leaving the last place we thought he might be, the local pizza joint.
“Police station,” she said.
Myths & Magic: A Science Fiction and Fantasy Collection Page 304
