Page 20 (1/2)

But it was too late Trying to shake the feeling that I was stepping into a grave, I grabbed the ladder and started to climb down

CHAPTER 21

There are probably a few things worse than cli into a hole that is actually underneath a creepy basement, but at that moment, it was hard to think of any of them

I was only a few steps down the ladder before I was plunged into darkness The diloom I was also pretty sure that the tunnel was narrower now, and as I took another step down, both my shoulders brushed the walls

The metal ic taste of fear flooded s

"Mercer?" Archer called from above me "You okay?"

I rested my forehead on the back of my hands, and tried to keep the panic out of my voice as I replied, "Yeah, fine Why do you ask?"

"Because you're gasping"

Oh Now that he s pretty quickly I made an effort to slow it down as he asked, "Is it the dark, or-" He grunted a little and shifted Dirt rained down on me, and I shut my eyes

"Both," I choked out "Apparently I'm claustrophobic now That's, uh, new Probably a side effect of fleeing a burning building through an underground tunnel" I took another shaky breath "Yay for psychological trauma"

"Come back up," Archer said automatically, and I kind of loved hito save the world here, Cross No ti at a ti, too I wasn't sure how long it took us to make our way down It felt like hours, and my heart was in my mouth the whole time as the earth itself seean to widen, and a diloom When my feet finally hit the dirt floor, I turned and foundanother, shorter tunnel This one was at least six feet high and about four feet wide Whatever the light was, it was coer tunnel I turned to see Archer standing behindgood glows," he said

"That's not true," I answered, slipping ood things glow Glow sticks Gloorlow-in-the-dark shirts"

He snorted with laughter, but his fingers tightened oncold and wet dripped on hter Archer and I turned a corner, and as soon as we did, a low moan filled the air It took me a second to realize that it had coe, brick-lined roole bare bulb on a cord, just like the one upstairs in the cell ar

Standing in the chamber, shoulder-to-shoulder, were about a dozen kids Or at least, they'd once been kids

They gazed sightlessly ahead, ar for so, but I couldn't really hear him A wave of nausea swept overinto his blank eyes Daisy stood next to hihtly open, as if she'd been in thewhen she was frozen Behind thelamour they'd used to one now, so they looked a lot plainer than I reer, and pain shot through arden at Thorne, using ic to dress each other in stupid clothes And how he used to look at Daisy

The way she'd unconsciously curl into hiether

"She's keeping people down here in storage," I said, s Archer This isLook, I knehatever was down here would be bad It's not like Lara Casnoff would use a powerful blood spell to guard her chocolate chip cookie recipe But this?"

"Yeah," Archer said softly "This goes beyond bad, and straight into nightmarish" He rested his hand on the back of ht?" He nodded at Nick

"Yeah They ht him somehow" I reached out and touched Nick's hand It was cold and waxy

"What do you think happened to all of the spell Or it ic on top of that" There was sooff these kids that I knew they were all dele one of them Between that and et a sense of just howon in this horrible little cavern

Archer blew out a long breath "I never thought I'd feel sorry for someone who tried to disembowel me"

"It wasn't him I mean, it was, but it wasn't The Casnoffs made him into a monster Since they raised him, theyI don't know, sicced him on you They made all of the there in this little holding cell "And if the Casnoffs have their e'll all end up down here"

Pullingto let that happen"

"How?" I cried out, the word bouncing around the rooic We can't leave this place" I flungon in the rest of the world All we can do is-is play Scooby-Doo in the cell ar"