by Sara Clancy
“Well, that’s just perfect.” The moment the words left his lips, he released the button of the microphone and leaned closer to Ruby. “That’s sarcasm.”
“Thank you,” Ruby snipped.
“Hold on,” Nina said. “Let me make a few calls.”
They settled into an uneasy waiting game. Ruby didn’t have to read his face to know that this new information didn’t sit well with him either. She tightened her grip around her legs, wincing as the squeeze provoked another spike of pain from her ankle. Still, he ignored her as he waited for Nina’s reply.
When she finally did get back on the line, it was to let them know that they would have to hang around for a moment longer. As it turned out, Tristan was far worse at exercising patience than Ruby would have expected. He was suddenly unable to sit still and a long trail of huffs left his mouth with increasing volume.
“Sorry,” Nina’s voice crackled down the line. “It took me forever to find someone who knows what’s going on.”
“So, what is going on?” Tristan asked.
“The search crew is still mountain side. Can you guys hang on a little longer?”
“No!” Ruby yelped.
Tristan had cut into the line before she could, so she heaved herself across the table and grabbed his wrist, holding it in place so she could snap over the line.
“You promised me that I would be home by now. I need to get home.”
Tristan leaned back in his chair and knocked her hand away from the device. She growled at him but he didn’t seem to care.
“Do we have an estimated time of arrival for these lovely people?” he asked.
“An hour. Maybe two.”
“We can do another hour,” he said. Ruby lunged across the table again, reaching for his mic. Slapping her hand away, he continued, “But after that, Ruby and I are going to have to go. I’ll set everything up so that they can be comfortable for the night and we’ll get them down the hill in the morning.”
“That’s a good compromise,” Nina said. “I really do appreciate this.”
He put his feet up on the table, crossing them at his ankles. “I also want a free meal.”
“Cook up whatever you’d like,” Nina said.
Still holding the mic, he glanced over at Ruby as he added, “And we’ll need you to keep the radio line open. I don’t want these guys showing up needing medical treatment and we can’t organize anything. Plus, it’s getting kind of weird up here. Have you ever been here at night?”
“No.”
“It’s creepy,” he said.
“I can imagine,” Nina said. “I’ll let you know if anything changes and call in every fifteen minutes or so. Sound good?”
Tristan met Ruby’s gaze. She shook her head until she was dizzy, but he agreed anyway.
Ruby reached for her mic once again. Tristan planted his feet on the floor and tilted his chair back, out of her reach.
“Just an hour, Nina. I have other things I wanted to do tonight,” he said.
Ruby glared at him. “You cannot imagine how bad things can get in one hour.”
Nina thanked them again and the line cut off.
“It’s just sixty minutes,” he said. “If I can endure you and your complete lack of humor for that long, you will certainly be able to tolerate me.”
“You’re not what I’m worried about.”
He blinked at her. “I was making a joke. You know, lightening the mood.”
“I don’t want to lighten the mood. If you had any idea of what could be out there, you’d leave with me right now.”
“But, alas, I’m completely ignorant. Mostly because you continuously fall short of actual communication,” he said.
Ruby sank back into her seat and wrapped her arms around herself. “I told you.”
“Vaguely.” His voice softened as he continued, absently tapping the side of his phone against the tabletop as he spoke, “Look, I’m not entirely without sympathy. I get that this is hard for you. So, this is how our evening is going to go.”
She bristled at hearing him dictate the night, but Tristan didn’t bother waiting to see if she had a comment or objection.
“Everything is locked up and we really have no reason to leave this floor just yet. So, I’m going to have another drink, you can join me if you like, and I’ll cook us up something for dinner. And since Bear’s Run is picking up the tab, I’m in the mood for whatever is the most expensive. By the time we finish and have everything washed up, I’m sure the crew will have arrived. And then it will be a quick trip down the gondola and you’ll be home before you know it. Deal?”
Fear twisted up her insides with large iron spokes as she rolled that thought over in her mind. One by one, she lifted her knees so she could hug them close, her nails driving into her forearms until pain pulsed out from the points of contact.
“What if I say no?” she asked.
“You don’t really have a choice.”
She considered that. “I could leave you behind.”
“True,” he said. “But then you’ll be on your own for the trip from the main building to your car. How do you feel about that?”
Her slight hesitation was enough for him to smack his hand against the tabletop and lurch to his feet.
“It’s settled then. What do you feel like eating?”
“What can you make?” she countered.
His face twisted up as he opened his mouth to respond, but the words faded before they ever made it past his lips. The crackle of the radio line drew both of their attention instantly. Both remained silent, studying the static filled dead air. Steadily, the broken whisper grew into a rumbling growl that rolled within her ear. She looked over to Tristan. She couldn’t read him, but the slight curl of his lips was all she needed to see. The sound wasn’t just a figment of her imagination. He heard it, too. The sound continued to swell until they both winced and cupped their ear pieces.
“Nina?” Tristan said as he clicked the microphone.
There was no response.
He sighed. “Ralph? Are you playing with the line, little man?”
Still, the ghastly noise continued unbroken. Tristan swallowed thickly, his bright blue eyes shifting to meet her own gaze. Ruby’s skin prickled and spiked as the sensation of being watched pressed down against her shoulders. She glanced around the room, one hand reaching down to press the hilt of the knife firmly against her thigh. The solid weight made her feel a little surer, and she looked back to him as he spoke again.
“Ralph, stop hitting the buttons.”
The sound in her ear was playing on her last nerves when blissful silence finally came. But as it cut short, they were thrown into a consuming silence. A heavy, crushing silence that she had only ever heard within the presence of the black-eyed children.
“Hello.”
It was a small whisper. Flat. Lifeless. A voice so completely devoid of emotion that even she could pick up on it. It was a voice that haunted her nightmares.
“Ralph?” Tristan asked.
The voice whispered in response, “Can we come in?”
Tristan’s eyes widened slightly as his fingers went slack and drifted away from his mic. Ruby was quick to snatch up her own and nearly scream down the line.
“No, you can’t!”
Silence.
“Hello, Ruby.”
Her blood thickened to the point where it no longer seemed to flow in her veins.
“How do you know my name?”
“Let us in, Ruby. We won’t take long.”
Her fingers trembled as she pressed down on the mic again. “I won’t let you in. Leave me alone.”
Silence.
Burning tears prickled in the corner of her eyes as they waited. Just as she was able to tell herself that it was over, the small voice came back.
“We’ll be with you soon.”
Chapter 6
Ruby couldn't breathe. She sucked in mouthfuls of air and felt her chest heave, her lungs expanding to pre
ss against her ribs. But she was still getting lightheaded. A fine tremor shook her violently as a crippling chill worked its way into every cell of her being. Trying to stop it, she squeezed her hands into fists. It didn’t help. Vaguely, she was aware of Tristan watching her from across the table. She avoided his gaze as he continued to click his radio at random, trying to get a response. Mercifully, the line stayed dead.
With a huff, he reached one hand towards her, snapping his fingers until she looked at him. “Would you mind telling me what all this is about? That sounded like a child. Is this a prank?”
She swallowed thickly. “You're sure that everything is locked?”
“You can’t imagine how hard it is for me to accurately express just how frustrated I am right now. If you repeat that one more time–” his words cut off into a hiss. “I’m going to need you to come up with a new response, okay?”
She blinked rapidly, hoping that the motion would somehow clear her mind of the haze that was filling it. Tristan watched her with unwavering focus. More than once, she tried to begin. But it didn’t matter what she wanted to say in her head. By the time it got to her mouth, she knew that it would only come out as the same question over and over. So she let the words die on her tongue. His eyes narrowed at her while the corners of his mouth pulled taut with tension.
“Yes,” he said in a sharp tone. “Everything is locked. Now, use full sentences and explain to me who these kids are and why they're talking to you over the work radio?”
Ruby swallowed thickly and lowered her gaze.
“They obviously know you. They called you by name.”
A new wave of fear crashed down upon her, grinding into her bones and flooding her mind. They called me by name. The recognition hit her and she lurched to her feet. Tristan quickly held out his hands, as if he expected to have to catch her at any moment.
“We need to get out of here,” she said.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Those are the people that tried to kill me!” she snapped as she gripped the table for balance. Pain sliced up her ankle with every labored step, but it was manageable.
“Wait, what?” Tristan said. “Are you sure? Because they just sounded like kids to me.”
“They’re not. They look like children, but they’re not.”
Limping to the top of the stairs, Ruby didn’t need to look back to know that Tristan was following her. The hovering silence of the room had little that could smother the sound of his footsteps.
“So you’re really going to do this?” he asked. “Just shoot off and leave people out there to freeze?”
“Nina’s got a radio. They can just call and ask her how to use the machine. Seriously, it’s not overly complicated.”
“The radios aren’t working.”
It only took Tristan three quick strides to close the distance between them. He grabbed her arm, his grip solid but not painful, and pulled her just enough to slow her pace.
“You look ready to fall down that staircase,” he said when she whipped around to glare at him. “At least let me help you down. You can show me how to work the gondola before you go. If it’s as simple as you say, it shouldn’t take you too long.”
“You’re going to stay up here alone?” she asked.
His shoulders jolted. “Look, it’s obvious that you’re scared, but I’m not. You heard some crackly voices over an already malfunctioning radio and I think that conjured up some stuff for you. I’m not going to have the same reaction as you. You’re going to have to make your peace with that.”
“You’re not scared because you have no real idea what’s coming. And you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Probably not,” he said with a flash of teeth.
His grip tightened around her as they slowly began to descend the stairs. Each footstep echoed off the walls, making the darkness before them appear infinite. Still, she could barely hear it over the blood roaring through her ears, driven on by her rampaging heartbeat. They both staggered to a halt after passing the corner in the staircase.
The fog had gathered on the floor, settling into a thick blanket. With only a few of the overhead lights still on, the shadows crowded in to gather within every corner. But the fog remained a ghostly white. As if it contained its own weak source of illumination. In the murky shadows, the fog seemed to emit a weak glow. The thick mass bubbled and twisted, climbing the walls and lapping over the stairs. It was no longer possible to see the floor beneath it.
“Does it normally do this?” she asked in a whisper.
“Not really,” he said slowly, his eyes locked on the display before them. “I mean, we get fog. Cold mountain air meets the heat inside the building and science happens. But nothing like this. This is new.”
Searching for some reassurance, something that could settle her enough to step into it, she asked, “Was it like this when you came down before?”
“Well, it wasn’t this thick. And it wasn’t, you know, glowing. It has to be a trick of the light.” Snapping the fingers of his free hand, he continued. “You know what it is? I bet someone left a hall-runner on. You know, those little lights that people are supposed to follow to get out in emergencies. I probably didn’t notice it before because it wasn’t thick enough.”
Ruby nodded but couldn’t stop herself from asking. “Do we have those?”
Tristan didn’t reply and they both turned back to watch the rolling fog. Each movement was tiny but almost solid. Slight but quick. It was almost as if there were unseen creatures squirming under the surface, waiting for them to venture too close. The bleached air lapped like waves over the bottom stair. It kept the tiles entirely hidden from view. She didn’t want to touch it. Hesitantly, she glanced towards Tristan. She noticed the tension that played around the edge of his mouth and the way his eyes slowly took in the sight. For a moment, she watched him, trying to understand just what was going through his head. It was an impossible task. The harder she struggled against the malfunction of her brain, the more thoroughly she felt the distance between them. It didn’t matter that there was another human being standing less than a foot from her side. She felt utterly alone.
Tristan huffed and began to trot down the last few steps. “No point in waiting around.”
“What?” Ruby said as she reluctantly followed. “You want to walk through that?”
“There’s no back way to the gondola drop-off. We either go through it or stay in the restaurant,” he said. “I guess we can find stilts, but that’s a lot of effort to go to just to avoid some precipitation.”
Ruby glanced between him and the fog.
“It’s glowing!”
“Yes, droplets of water suspended in the air are reflecting light. That’s all. I promise you, we’re not going to run into Dracula.”
“That’s not who I’m worried about,” she muttered, too low for him to hear.
As subtly as she could, she lifted a hand and cupped it over the knife in her pocket. Even through the layers of cheap material, the solid outline of the object helped to calm the rapid pace of her heart. Sucking in a deep breath, she nodded.
Tristan was one step above the fog now and he flung his head back in a way that made his curls swing. “We’re going down a hallway, not venturing into Chernobyl. Turn it down a notch.”
Despite his cavalier words, Tristan’s foot hesitated as they hovered over the top of the fog. She could hear him take a staggered breath and he forced his foot through. A part of her had expected to hear it crack apart like ice, but it didn’t happen. Having one foot inside already seemed to embolden him and he dropped into the hallway with a little bounce in his step. The fog was surprisingly low and was only deep enough to brush against his ankles. Still, the thick white hid even the shadowy outline of his shoes from sight.
He shivered and shifted his weight, but still held up a hand to coax her down. “Come on. It’s fine.”
Hesitantly, she forced herself to the edge of the mist and reached out as
far as she could without touching the cloud. But it wasn’t until the warmth of his hand enclosed hers that she took the final step.
The mist swirled around them as they headed down the hall, thinning as it rolled to allow them the slightest glimpses of the floor. With every step, the light around them dimmed. The effect made it easier to see that the fog itself glowed a waxen silver.
Their footsteps clicked against the tiles as they inched down the empty corridor. Ruby’s skin crawled as they passed the opening to the gift shop. Instantly, the sensation of being watched was back, pressing down on her shoulders like an iron weight and making the back of her neck prickle. She searched the shadows. They had all thickened since the last time she had passed, making each one deep enough to hide a child.
As soon as the wall cut off her view, the feeling of being watched intensified. The mist behind her shifted and pressed against her thighs, like someone was standing right behind her. She snapped her head around. The hallway was empty. It stretched out behind her, a dozen times longer than she remembered it being, the mist a squirming but undisturbed blanket. Then, from the corner of her eye, she noticed Tristan had turned as well. Had he felt it too? As if hearing her thought, Tristan turned his gaze to her.
He was the first one to look away and start walking again. Ruby followed, unable to fight back the feeling that it shouldn’t take so long to get from the gift shop to the gate. Everything was taking too long. Just when she was on the verge of panic, the diamond pattern of the metal gate came into view at the end of the hall. Just as she had left it, the mist was still thick against the bars, pooling like a flood against the pattern of metal. Tristan slowed his pace, edging closer to the gate while Ruby pulled back. Like her, he wasn’t able to resist touching the patches that bulged within the gaps of the bars. With one finger, he pressed against the almost resilient wall of fog. Just like before, it ruptured and oozed out onto their side.
“Logically, I know this is a weird question,” he muttered. “But you are seeing this too, right?”
