by Melissa Frey
The Four continued their seemingly endless hike to the foot of the mountain. Slowly but steadily, more sun was coming through the trees overhead and their trek through the forest was becoming easier, with less foliage underfoot to trip them up. But the thinning forest had Kayla on edge. And suddenly an errant thought ran through her mind: if there was danger lurking out there in the trees, they would be easy targets.
One rifle was trained on each of the four Americans. The camouflaged men stared at their targets through the long-range scope, waiting for the precise moment to take their shot. The Americans continued their trek, seemingly unaware of the very real threat concealed in the foliage. The Leader smiled ruthlessly as he surveyed the Americans through the scope of his rifle, one he shouldn’t need if everything went as planned. This will almost be too easy, he thought as he started to raise his hand to issue the order to fire.
Then, suddenly, he couldn’t see a thing.
The Four, oblivious to what was happening in the nearby forest, reached the base of the mountain. The foliage was still thin, but somehow heading up the mountain made Kayla feel a little bit better. Maybe it was because they were that much closer to their goal.
Or maybe it was because they were finally out of that unfamiliar and ominous forest.
The Leader squeezed his eyes shut, wincing. Where on earth had that light come from? Blinking furiously, he tried to assess the location of the rest of the team. Had they seen it too?
It took a few minutes for his sight to return; he quickly located the other members of his team. Every man was wincing, some were moaning, others were rubbing their eyes. After several moments their Leader could sense the question they all wanted to ask but were afraid to: what went wrong?
The Four headed up the mountain, Kayla at the helm, keeping in a roughly straight line to its peak. With any luck—and judging from where she thought the beacon might have been—Kayla thought they might not have to climb all the way to the top.
Apparently, luck was on their side. After a little over twenty minutes walking—and another five or six actually climbing—Kayla saw something come into focus in the midday sun, eerily materializing out of thin air.
A cave, nestled in the mountainside, was cleverly disguised by a carefully arranged outcropping of rocks. The mouth of the cave was small and only visible from their specific vantage point—the rock faces surrounding it created an ingenious optical illusion, effectively concealing the entrance from almost every angle except one.
This had to be it.
Justin rushed past Kayla, reaching the opening first. Apparently she wasn’t the only one who’d noticed the cave.
“Hey! Hurry up!” He called down to the rest of the group as he began to explore the opening of the cave from the outside. As Kayla reached the entrance, she was grateful he’d had the foresight to check the entrance before blindly going in. There may be hope for him yet.
Grady was right behind her, and Mandy right behind him. Grady stepped in front of Justin to the mouth of the cave and clicked on his flashlight, glancing pointedly at Justin before entering. Justin took a giant step backward, raising his hands as if surrendering, then, with a flourish, swung his arms around as if he were presenting the opening to Grady.
Grady rolled his eyes, but headed into the blackness, ducking to avoid hitting his head on the top of the opening. Kayla hoped it would open up once they got inside.
She got her wish. Grady’d entered the mouth of the cave hunched over, but had gone only a few yards before the cave’s ceiling disappeared, transforming the tiny cave into a massive cavern. Kayla was amazed that this cave had remained hidden for centuries despite its enormity, a large cavern just a few yards from the outside world. Perhaps the right people just hadn’t found it yet, she thought with a smile as she followed Grady into the black abyss, her eyes—and flashlight—never leaving the back of his shirt.
Mandy followed behind Kayla while Justin brought up the rear. Easily the quickest of the four, Justin would be best able to keep them safe, to alert them of any danger before it got too close. Kayla was certain that if someone tried to sneak up behind them, they would never be able to get past Justin.
Grady agreed. She didn’t know how she knew; she just did.
Which pleased her very much.
The light was gone, as quickly as it had come. The Leader began to wonder if he’d imagined it. And, judging by the looks on their faces, his men did, too.
Once the disorientation wore off, the Leader began a frantic search for their prey, swiftly snatching up his rifle and using the scope once again to scan the forest in front of him. He anxiously searched the face of the mountain only after thoroughly scrutinizing the forest before it.
But the Americans were nowhere to be found.
Grady slowly made his way through the pitch black cave. He pointed his flashlight in every direction, but was not finding much other than more darkness, from what Kayla could see. The other three followed suit, but even their combined light did little to dispel the pervasive blackness. Kayla fought the urge to hyperventilate as the ground started to lead them downward—the cavern’s sheer enormity was becoming almost oppressive.
The sound of their footsteps echoed off the far-away walls of the cave, reaching Kayla’s ears much later than she supposed it should have. Anything could be out there in the blackness. She shivered, though the air was quite warm, and moved just a little bit closer to Grady as they descended further into the ground.
“WHERE DID THEY GO?” The small contingent’s Leader growled. How could they just vanish into thin air?
But none of his men had any response. They just stared at him blankly, then four sets of nervous eyes darted accusingly around the group.
The Leader reached for his rifle a second time, searching the area again, more thoroughly this time. When he didn’t find them on his second scan of the mountainside—third, actually, since he’d already been through this twice before—he squeezed his eyes shut, hoping against hope that when he opened them again, the Americans would be right in front of him. Slowly, breathing a prayer to the gods, he opened the eye peering through the scope.
Nothing.
The Leader growled wordlessly, shoving the rifle back against the tree. He spun around, turning his back to his soldiers. He couldn’t deal with them right now; he needed to think. No, there’s no time to think, he thought. I need to give my report.
He cringed. The Commander wouldn’t be happy.
He turned back to his soldiers. “Pack up; we’re heading back to camp. I will return shortly.” With that, he turned and stalked off into the forest to give the Commander the bad news.
Kayla drew a deep, wet breath with much more difficulty than she should have had. This underground hike seemed to be taking forever, and the air was getting thicker by the minute. She reached a free hand down to the leg of her shorts and pulled the sopping material away from her thigh. Gross.
And now the walls and ceiling of the cave seemed to be closing in on them; their lights had started hitting the top and sides of the tunnel they were traveling down. She should have found this comforting, given the oppressive blackness they’d been in since they’d entered this cave, but the ever-diminishing corridor was just adding to her claustrophobia. Her breathing became slightly labored as she tried to find unsaturated oxygen in the saturated air.
Then Grady froze. Kayla tried to stop, but the slippery incline of the sandy floor coupled with the distraction of her growing anxiety caused her to run right into his back before she could stop herself. Mandy and Justin, a little farther behind, came up behind them slowly, flanking Grady and Kayla on either side. Kayla came around to Grady’s side and the four of them stood in a line—a small feat given the shrinking size of this cave—to see what had brought Grady to a standstill.
CHAPTER 31
Trust
Kayla was the first to break the silence. “A dead end?” Her voice sounded less discouraged than she felt.
Grady rea
ched out and touched the wall in front of them with his fingertips. “Looks like it. I was so sure . . .” A grating sound interrupted him just as his palm flattened on the rock face. Kayla suddenly felt a bewildering sense of vertigo. What was happening?
She looked over at Grady, whose hand was no longer on the wall. He was holding both hands out in front of him, and looked like he was about to lose his balance. Mandy was standing next to Grady; she too was rocking, as though she could fall over at any moment. Her eyes were wide, and Kayla didn’t like the petrified terror she saw in them. Justin, standing on Kayla’s other side, was nearly toppling over, his arms flailing frantically in an attempt to keep himself upright. In that moment, Kayla realized what was happening.
They were falling.
The floor beneath their feet shattered into a million pieces as Kayla, Grady, Mandy, and Justin crashed to the ground below. Somehow the floor lying in pieces beneath them—the one that had only seconds ago been holding them more than fifteen feet above where they now lay—had given way and cascaded into the cave they now found themselves in.
Kayla heard Mandy groan from across the blackness. Then she yelped, and sucked in her breath. Kayla then heard shuffling, which she could only hope was one of the four of them moving in the utter darkness. Where was that flashlight?
“Ugh . . . I think my wrist’s broken.” From Mandy.
Kayla heard a more hurried scramble, toward where Mandy’s voice had echoed, and assumed Justin was coming to her rescue. She hoped so, anyway. Half a second later, Mandy squealed again. “Be careful!”
Kayla found her misplaced flashlight, and, once her eyes adjusted and the beam of light found her friends, she noticed Justin at Mandy’s side, wrapping her injured wrist with some gauze. Resourceful.
Justin deftly wrapped the wrist, then constructed a simple sling with the remaining gauze, gently placing it around Mandy’s neck to secure her wrist. “I guess spelunking’s not your thing.” Kayla could hear the smirk in Justin’s voice—she didn’t need her flashlight for that.
Mandy slapped him with her good arm, and Kayla lifted her hand to cover her mouth, fighting a smile. He definitely deserved that.
Kayla heard a noise to her left, just out of the beam of the flashlight, and she jumped, whipping the light around. Then she sighed. Grady. Thank God.
He was already on his feet—there certainly was enough headspace in here—and reached out a hand to help her up.
Kayla gladly took it, brushing herself off once she was on her feet again. She mentally took stock of her body, noting a few bumps and bruises, maybe a few scrapes, but nothing warranting a second thought. She thought of Mandy, thinking that it could’ve been worse.
Grady had been looking her over and nodded at her in the light, and she somehow knew he’d heard her personal assessment. Then she heard him doing the same thing.
This was going to take a lot of getting used to.
Kayla started scanning their new prison—er, surroundings—hoping to find a way out. So far, nothing seemed promising. Grady was at her side, and had started scanning the room with his own light as soon as he’d heard her think about finding an exit. Mandy and Justin joined them, talking amongst themselves, looking a little worse for wear than their slightly older counterparts. Justin had a little limp and Mandy’s makeshift sling made Kayla worry that they couldn’t continue. She opened her mouth to ask if they were okay, but no sound ever made it out.
“Shhh!” Grady exclaimed in a hoarse whisper, effectively cutting Kayla off without really realizing he did so. A short break in Mandy and Justin’s conversation had called something to his attention. “Do you hear that?” He asked no one in particular.
The room was silent for a moment as everyone else strained to listen. Grady could hear Kayla wondering what was wrong, and her concern for him was so endearing that for half a second he forgot everything and only wanted to take her across the room and kiss her for a very long time.
Then he remembered that their telepathy went both ways. And blushed. Thankfully, it was still very dark in here.
Kayla graciously seemed to ignore anything she’d heard, leaving Grady wondering exactly what she had heard in his head. “What do you hear?” Her voice was barely a whisper, but it carried in this nearly silent tomb.
Grady was back to listening, and his brow furrowed in the darkness. What was that?
Kayla came up to his side and took his hand. “What is it?” Again, a whisper.
Grady pointed into the blackness. “There. That’s where we need to go.” He took a step in that direction, pulling Kayla with him. She didn’t pull back. Grady considered that a step in the right direction in the trust department. And that he didn’t care if she heard.
Grady led the way out of the small, roughly circular room and into a small tunnel hidden almost completely from view, even with all of their lights shining on it. Kayla followed obediently, not saying a word, though she wanted to. She was fighting the urge to take over the whole time, but she let Grady lead. She’d realized that this was his book, his discovery, and it seemed only he would know exactly where to look. She would just have to trust that.
So she trudged forward, through the muddy dirt caking in and around the soles of her shoes, and kept her mouth shut. Even when they seemed to hit another dead end.
But then it wasn’t a dead end. Grady took a sharp right and headed down another long hallway. Kayla’s mouth dropped open slightly. He really did know where he was going, didn’t he?
Did you ever have any doubt? came Grady’s voice in her head.
Oh, shush, she shot back.
Grady could still hear that noise, the one that had called him down these hallways, growing louder with every step. The sound reverberated in the rock-encased tunnel and beckoned him further.
Now Kayla heard it, too. What in the world is that . . . ?
Grady smiled. He could get used to having her in his head.
Grady led the way further into the darkness and toward that sound, gingerly stepping on the wet rocky surface that was now under his feet. The floor was starting to angle downward, the ceiling with it, and now Grady had to stare at the ground to make sure he didn’t slip. To make matters worse, the slick decline was slowing their descent, which Grady didn’t care for at all.
After a few minutes, the floor sloped more sharply. The ceiling sloped with the floor, but was closing the distance between them ever so gradually. Soon they would be hunched over. Grady had to holster his flashlight to brace himself against the cave walls. The others followed suit, and soon their only light was shining in haphazardly swinging circles on the floor beneath them.
“Is that a river?” Justin asked no one in particular.
Grady just smiled again, though he knew no one would be able to see it. They were close.
Their slow progress made the journey seem infinitely longer than it actually was. After a short yet very long time, the floor sloped drastically, and Grady had to catch himself before he went tumbling headlong into the emptiness before him. Instinctively he reached back for Kayla, grabbing her elbow before she could fall and helping her regain her balance. She smiled at him in the ambient light of their downward facing flashlights and the smile warmed his insides. He’d never tire of her smile.
As Mandy and Justin came to a stop just behind Kayla, Grady turned his attention to the floor under him, bracing himself against the walls to free a hand and pull out his flashlight.
Now the floor wasn’t sloping at all—it was just completely gone. The cave floor had opened into a massive hole. The sound of rushing water coming from it was loud enough that they had to raise their voices to be heard.
“Now what do we do?” Kayla queried.
Grady just grinned as he struggled against the wall and now constricting ceiling to find a better foothold, pressing his back against the smooth rock surface. He held his flashlight in one hand as he leaned carefully over the edge and pointed it down into the dark water. “Who’s up for a swim
?”
“Are you completely insane?” Mandy’s voice reverberated off the suffocatingly close walls, and Kayla winced. Even the sound of the rushing tide below them did little to deaden the shrill outburst.
Kayla knew Grady had never been more certain of anything—she’d heard as much in his thoughts—but when she opened her mouth to defend him, Justin cut her off. “Grady, we don’t know where this thing ends up. It could go underground for miles and we may never resurface! We don’t have oxygen tanks or anything. This is not a good idea.” If Kayla hadn’t been so sure of Grady, seeing the lines creasing Justin’s forehead would’ve made her stomach knot up. But it didn’t, because she just knew.
“Stop.” Kayla’s command carried above the noise of the flood beneath their feet. She closed her eyes for a second, then opened them to find three pairs of eyes on her. “This is the way.”
Justin leaned forward slightly. “Are you sure?”
Kayla smiled and looked over at Grady, who caught and held her gaze. “Positive.”
But Justin didn’t seem to be entirely convinced. He looked at Grady. As if to answer Justin’s unvoiced question, Grady straddled the hole in the ground, drew a deep breath, then stepped off the side and disappeared.
Everything in Kayla’s head told her Grady was crazy, and that she was crazy for trusting him, but her heart told her a different story. She could still hear the resolve in his thoughts, knew how certain he’d been—certain enough to jump into rushing water without any idea where it would lead—but her head still fought her, screamed at her, implored her to stop, to wait, to analyze, then make an informed decision.
