Prologue #2
I pressed myself against the wood-paneled walls, fingers trailing along the grooves, as I tiptoed down the long hallway. Every creak of the floorboards beneath my feet made my heart leap, but no adults emerged from any rooms, demanding to know what I was doing.
At the top of the staircase, I hesitated.
The wide spiral of the banister curled down to the ground level, which would be dark if all the adults were in bed, but I could see a faint warm glow down there.
I knew some people forgot to turn lights off before they went to bed, though, so I decided to go down and check if the coast was clear anyway.
If I didn’t, the others would think I was a total scaredy-cat. Totally uncool.
I swallowed, forcing my trembling hand to grip the polished wood, and took my first step. As I slowly descended, I strained to hear over the thudding in my chest—no movement, no voices. That was a good sign.
Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed when I reached the three-quarter point. I could see the ground floor now, and my father and Jake’s father were visible to my left, sitting at a coffee table with their heads bent over a bunch of paperwork.
“I think we can make these additions and adjustments easily enough,” my father said, moving one piece of paper to look at another. “Especially if we get the team working on it as soon as possible. That won’t be a problem, will it?”
Jake’s father shook his head. “Not at all. We’ve got a solid team of workers. All of them have signed iron-clad NDAs, too, so there’s no concerns there.”
“All right. I think we could safely assume a finish date of mid-October. How does that sound?”
“Perfect. This year’s game is starting on October 31st.”
Dad chuckled, but it sounded a bit forced and awkward. “You don’t think that’s a little on-the-nose?”
“On-the-nose and dramatic is exactly what our audience expects.” Jake’s dad grinned as he spoke. “That makes Halloween the perfect start date. The only reason it was a little later last year was because of some complications with the applicants.”
“Ah. I see.”
I let out a tiny sigh as the conversation went on, figuring they weren’t going to bed anytime soon. I’d have to let the others know we weren’t safe to sneak downstairs. At least not yet.
I turned and took a step upward. The stairs groaned under my feet, and I winced. Why did floorboards always have to creak at the worst moments?
I quickly turned my head over my shoulder to see if I’d been caught. Dad and Jake’s father were looking around and upward. “Ev, is that you?” Dad asked, frowning as he caught sight of me. “What are you doing out of bed?”
“Um… I woke up and felt thirsty. Can I please have some water?”
“Of course. Come down here, honey. I’ll grab it for you.” Dad turned back to the table. “Sorry, I’ll just be a minute.”
Jake’s father smiled and rose to his feet. “No, it’s all right,” he said. “I just realized how late it is. I actually have a meeting to go to now.”
A meeting at night? I thought to myself as I descended. That seemed weird. I didn’t like to question adults, though, so I said nothing.
“All right.” My dad nodded and gestured to the paperwork. “We’ll finish this up tomorrow.”
“Yes, we will.” Jake’s father smiled at me. “For now… goodnight and sweet dreams, Everly.”
“Goodnight,” I said timidly. As much as I liked Jake, his father had always frightened me. He was just so tall and intimidating.
Once I’d gulped down my water, I fled back to Merritt’s room and burst in, heart racing. “Sorry I took so long,” I said as the others stared at me with wide eyes. “I got caught.”
“So we can’t go?” Jake asked. He looked slightly relieved.
“We can. We just have to wait a few minutes,” I said. “My dad and your dad were downstairs, but they’ve finished talking now, because your dad has to go somewhere else. I didn’t see any of the other adults, so they must be asleep already.”
“What about your dad?” Merritt asked.
“He said he’s going to bed soon, so we just have to wait a few minutes. Then we can go outside without anyone seeing us.”
“He wasn’t suspicious at all?”
I shook my head. “I did what you said and told him I just wanted a drink. I even faked a yawn so it looked like I just woke up.”
“Awesome!” She smiled at me. “I can’t wait! This is going to be so much fun.”
“Thanks for taking one for the team, Everly,” Ari said, snatching up a cookie. “My dad totally would’ve known I was lying.”
The other kids looked and sounded giddy with excitement. Even the always-grumpy Rhett had cracked a tiny smile.
I was excited too. Not just for sneaking out, but for gaining everyone else’s approval by being the spy, even if I technically got caught.
Once we’d successfully sneaked downstairs and outside, we followed Jake to the farthest part of the estate grounds. The moonlight bathed everything in an eerie silver glow, and the cool night air made goosebumps rise on my skin.
I glanced nervously at Jake as we made our way across the shadowed lawn. “Who built the tunnels?” I asked. “And why?”
“Good point,” Merritt said. “It’s kinda weird, right?”
“Dad said it was something to do with bootleggers,” Jake replied.
“What’s a bootlegger?” Samantha asked. “Something to do with pirates?”
Another shrug from Jake. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
Rhett snorted but didn’t add anything to the conversation.
When we reached the hedge-lined fence near the forest, Jake slowed his pace, eyes scanning the dark. “This is the closest tunnel,” he said. “There’s actually three of them.”
At first, I couldn’t see anything. But when I squinted and lowered my gaze, I spotted a dark hole in the bottom of the hedge.
I crept closer and saw a stone archway lying just behind the opening, nearly swallowed by the creeping plants and moss that clung to its surface.
Beyond the archway, I could see nothing but yawning blackness stretching downward.
“It looks so small,” Merritt said, wrinkling her nose.
“My dad said it’s big once you’re inside. These are just the steps leading down to it,” Jake replied. “But… I don’t think we should go in this one. There might be people in it.”
“Huh?” Ari said, frowning. “Why would there be anyone inside it? Especially in the middle of the night.”
“I don’t know,” Jake said. “Dad just told me that people still use it sometimes. So I think we should go to one of the others.”
“Fine. Whatever.” Samantha rolled her eyes. “Just hurry up. I’m getting kind of cold.”
Jake led us to another overgrown archway about a hundred yards away. Then he crouched, pushing aside the surrounding branches and thorns with his hands. “This is it.”
Rhett went first, followed by Merritt. I dropped to my knees and went after her, and the others followed suit.
Brambles and sharp branches scraped against my skin as we all crawled through the entryway and slowly made our way down the stone steps beyond. The tunnel finally loomed ahead, dark and foreboding.
“This is so cool,” Benji whispered as we trudged through the darkness. “It’s like a movie.”
“Yeah, a horror movie. Boo,” Merritt said right next to him, making him startle.
When we finally reached the end of the tunnel, we stepped out and found ourselves in the forest that lay beyond the Wildercliff estate. The air was thick with the scent of pine and a hint of woodsmoke.
Merritt tilted her head upward, frowning as she sniffed the air. “Do you guys smell smoke?”
“Yup. It’s gross.” Samantha grimaced. “Where’s it coming from?”
“That way, I think. Let’s check it out,” Rhett said, pointing to the right.
The forest was alive with the sounds of rustling leaves and distant night animals, and as we drew closer to the source of the smoke, faint voices began to drift through the air too.
“What’s going on?” Samantha asked in a low whisper. “Are there, like, witches out here?”
“Of course not,” Jake said. “It’s probably a party.”
“In the woods?”
“My older brother goes to bonfire parties in the woods all the time,” Merritt said. “It’s not that weird.”
“We should stay quiet,” Ari said. “If these people catch us, they’ll probably call our parents, and then we’ll get in trouble.”
We slowed our paces and stopped all conversation as we crept closer and closer to the noise and smoke. Every snap of a twig underfoot made me wince, and my heart was racing so fast it felt like it might explode.
“I can see a light,” Samantha whispered a moment later, lifting a shaky hand. Through the dense trees, I could see it too—a faint orange glow.
We kept going until we saw exactly where the light was coming from. Ahead, there was an enormous clearing in the woods with flaming torches planted in the ground along the edges.
Rhett suddenly dropped to his knees, pulling me down with him behind a thicket of bushes. The others did the same.