49. Cú Sidhe
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Cú SIDHE
T he bang of the pistol is deafening in the small space.
On instinct, I duck, covering my head as the bullet tings around wildly in the shaft before it lodges into one of the support beams.
The bullet may have stopped flying about, but my ears are still ringing, and my heart is going a million miles a minute.
Jesus fucking Mary Joseph!
The bitch tried to shoot me. Tried and failed.
Standing on unsteady legs, I pause, waiting for Leslie and her men to return to finish me. After a few seconds with no one arriving, I relax. A relieved laugh bubbles from my throat, bringing blood with it. I spit to clear my mouth, dislodging an incisor tooth.
It pains me to admit it, but the bodyguard got me good.
Still, I remain mostly in one piece.
My right hand is missing two fingers where the bullet went through my hand. My teeth may be a dentist’s worst nightmare. And my jaw may need to be wired shut, but I’ll survive.
I’m alive.
Reassured I can still escape, I turn to walk into the darkness of the tunnel. My feet trip over rocks and other debris in the darkness in my pursuit. I grip the walls for support with my good hand, while I cradle my injured one close to my chest.
In less than two hundred meters, I’ll be on the other side of the mountain, where a helicopter is hovering, waiting to take me to freedom.
Once I’ve had proper medical care, I will return for Leslie, make her suffer for disobeying me. I will chain her boy toy to the wall, let him watch in horror as I violate her a thousand ways before ending the both of them.
My quench for vengeance has me putting one foot in front of the other, fueling me to reach the exit on the other side.
I haven’t been walking long, nor have I moved very far in my damaged state when the tunnel groans.
Holding my breath, I strain my ears to hear more.
The tunnel goes quiet.
Too quiet.
It’s perfectly normal for mine shafts to make noise, especially one as old as this. Setting my nerves aside, I focus on getting out. Freedom is calling.
As I take a tentative step forward, the tunnel again comes to life with creaks and pops , louder and closer than before.
Worry creeps deep into my insides, setting my fight-or-flight response into overdrive. If I go back the way I came, Candy’s guards will surely finish me.
Quickening my steps, I continue deeper into the mine.
A loud snap has my stomach dropping to my feet at what these sounds mean.
The tunnel is going to cave in.
Leslie wasn’t aiming her gun at me. She was aiming for the support beams.
“Why, you little?—”
The words die in my mouth as the tunnel walls rumble. I could have as long as minutes and as short as seconds before the exits are blocked.
Panicked, I look toward the entrance I came in. It’s the closer of the two exits, and my only sure bet for survival. If I live to see another day, only to be captured, there’s always tomorrow to escape.
Spinning back around, I move as fast as I can toward the entrance. My body can’t keep up with my will. I stumble more than once, bouncing back on my feet and ignoring the screaming pain in my head.
The vibrations in the walls grow louder and more volatile. Dust and pebbles rain down on me. The ground quakes beneath my feet, making my escape more difficult in my discombobulated state.
My vision may not be the greatest as I strain to see through swollen eyelids in a dark tunnel. Though I swear I can see the wall shake and twist, fissures running skyward.
With my life on the line, I pray to a god I don’t believe in, pleading for mercy.
I can make out the light from the evening sky at the entrance. Safety is in sight.
Falling and stumbling, I move toward the light, only for the ceiling to collapse above the entrance as I arrive.
Choking on dust and sputtering on my tears, I retreat further into the mine. The tunnel mocks me as it continues to fill in, following me on my heels. It’s pitch black. I move my hand along the quaking walls, following it like a lifeline to the outside, praying, hoping.
Another loud snap echoes ahead of me.
Heaven help me.
Sobbing, I crouch on the floor of the tunnel and cover my head with my good hand.
A series of pops echoes through the shaft, the sound of rocks tumbling in their wake. It’s so loud, it sounds like the whole damn mountain is coming down around me.
Rocks of all sizes tumble on top of me. I shut my eyes and mouth tight to stop the dust from entering my body, holding my breath .
It seems like an eternity before the cavern settles when, in reality, it may have been less than a minute.
I’m hesitant to move, afraid I may cause another collapse in the shaft. Slowly, I dig into my coat pocket with my good hand, pulling out my cell phone. I turn on my flashlight. Holding up my phone, I squint through the dust to see my surroundings.
I’m in a tight space, no more than an arm stretch in each direction.
The more I note my environment, the more dread I’m filled with. There is no visible opening to crawl out of and not enough space to move rocks and debris aside to dig myself out.
A feminine voice whispers in my ear, “Look how the tables have turned.”
I turn behind me, finding no one there.
My nerves are making me hear things. I need to pull myself together, figure a way out of this mess.
The voice whispers in my other ear, “Before, I was the trapped one.”
Biting back a scream, I spin around in the space. “Who’s there?”
No answer.
The space goes still before I hear the voice again. “Now it’s your turn to be trapped.”
Those words...Candy said these things to me right before she fired the gun.
It takes a moment for my new reality to sink in. To my utter horror, I realize I’m entombed.
All common sense pisses out of me. I spin on my heels frantically, holding up my phone in the shoebox space. There’s no way out. No escape. No freedom.
I’m stuck. Either I’ll bleed out, starve, or run out of oxygen—all options leading to certain death.
Wishing for a quick death, I holler into the tiny cavern, hoping the ceiling will fall in and finish me.
It doesn’t budge. Nothing does.
The light on my cell phone goes out. I try to turn it back on, but it seems my battery has died.
Candy’s salacious giggle echoes around the darkness, reminding me of who sentenced me to this fate. I grab at my head, sinking to my knees as I scream.