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An earthquake?
With my luck, I wouldn’t doubt it I waited it out, then started fu with the rope around my feet It isted and knotted in several places, as if it had knots before Tori found it Finding the right knot, in the dark was--
A crunch cutonto the dirt floor But ghosts didn’t ain, a shifting, crackling sound, like so a handful of pebble-filled dirt
I sed and kept working on the knot
What if there’s a real person down here withnoise behindstifledso loud I swore I could hear it
Thump-thump-thump
That’s not my heartbeat
The sound came from my left, too soft to be footsteps Like so toward me
"Stop that!"
I only meant to think the words, but I heard the stopped A guttural noise, like a growl
My God, there isn’t so, some animal
A mole Rae and I had seen a deadloud enough to be heard across the room?
Just stay still If you stay still, it can’t find you
That’s sharks! You idiot, sharks and dinosaurs can’t find you if you stay still This isn’t JurassicPark!
Hysterical laughter bubbled up inthe sound into a whirew louder, closer, underscored now by a new noise A… clicking
Click-clack-click-clack
What was that?
Are you going to sit here and find out?
I reached for ave up and fu along it so fast it cut intonone, kept going until--
There it was A loose end
I worked at the knot, tugging this bit, then that bit, searching for the one that would yank out an end I put allto get ht beside me A rustle, then a click-clack
A thick ertips brushed o A s, but I barely noticed I sat there, frozen, holding ht that , clicking thing as it see lohimper My whimper I tried to stop it, but couldn’t, could only huddle there, so terrified ain Long, dry, cold, fingerlike things tickled across the back ofsound set my every hair on end The sound repeated until it becaled word that couldn’t cole word endlessly repeated
"Help Help Help"
I lunged forward, away fro Ankles still tied, I flopped face-first to the floor, then pushed up on all fours, , thu sound came from my other side
Another one
Oh God, ere they? How ed ertips brushed the wood I pushed It didn’t budge
Locked
I backed up and sla for help
Cold fingers wrapped around ht
MY HAND BRUSHED SOMETHING lying in the dirt The matchbook
I snatched it up and fumbled with the cover I pulled out afor the strike strip There
"Help Help Me"
I backpedaled, shi I stopped, and ranfor it
Get another one!
I did Found the strike strip again Pinched the ers and… realized that I had no idea how to light it Why would I? At caarette I didn’t share other girls’ fascination with candles
You must have done this before
Probably, but I didn’t remember…
Who cares! You’ve seen it in movies, haven’t you? How hard can it be?
I pinched the ain, struck itand it folded on impact I pulled out another How many were there? Not many--it was the sa matches
This time, I held the ain and the ertips, but I didn’t let go The flaht I could seeto the right, ing itself towardreached out It looked like an arainst the earth
The hands reached forward, clawing the dirt, then pulling the body along I could see clothes, ripped clothing The s dank filledraised its head A skull stared atfrom it E as it tried to speak, uttering only that horrible, guttural groan
"Help Help ht ave way I dropped the round, then went out, but not before I saw a bony hand reaching forup beside the first
For a second, I just sat there, nearly convulsing with fear, my screams little , cold bone biting in, scraps of ragged cloth brushing my bare skin Even if I couldn’t see it, I could visualize it, and that ih to stop the screams in , shuddering assound As I scuttled away, I heard so ers still couldn’t find an edge I gave up, crawling as fast as I could, until the thurew distant
"Chloe! Stop" A dark shape looht "It’s--"
I kicked as hard as I could A sharp hiss of pain and a curse
"Chloe!"
Fingers clarabbed that arm, and yanked me off balance
"Chloe, it’s ht have collapsed into his arms, but if I did, I prefer not to re rip away, then hearing that awful thu up