Chapter Eighteen #3
“Hello? Come here,” a different, garbled voice answers me.
I’m frozen in place, not knowing what to do.
I’m confident I can’t outrun the creature.
I glance back toward the hole in the wall, dread filling my stomach as I throw myself inside.
The smell of rot is so strong as it forces its way into my nose and down my throat.
It takes everything in me to not choke on it.
I crawl inside as far as I can, the broken bones scratching and cutting my hands as I pull myself through.
I ignore the stinging and focus on digging myself down into the pile.
As I struggle to bury myself, the backpack is adding weight and awkwardness that makes this task feel impossible.
My fear becomes hard to ignore as I feel myself taking too long. I don’t stop though until I’m almost completely covered and leaning backwards as far as I can. I’m hoping that if I can sink into the shadows, the creature won’t see me.
My eyes are looking down, straining to see the opening in the candlelight.
I watch as the creature slowly walks in front of it and looks inside.
Its shoulders are twitching, and its head is pivoting back and forth until it’s looking right at me with its bright eyes.
I take a deep breath and hold it, not wanting any sound or slight movement to give me away.
One of its arms stretches out, reaching inside.
It's holding a kitchen knife. I can’t know for sure, but I wonder if it’s the one I used.
I feel a strange sense of pride as I see what I hope is the creature's blood.
As the knife drops onto the pile, it makes a light pinging noise, as it skitters down the bones, until it settles wherever it lands.
This must be where it keeps the things it collects, including what it kills.
Like a horrible trophy room. Once again, I feel like I’m going to vomit.
I close my eyes tight, focusing all my willpower on continuing to stay still.
When I open them, the creature is still standing at the opening but with my next blink it’s gone.
It moves so fast; I barely have time to see it turn back the way it came, back toward the cabin.
I wait a few minutes before carefully climbing out, bones falling out around me as I do.
I don’t wait to see if they all tumble out after me, the second my feet hit the ground, I start running.
My feet slam against the dirt, sending echoes bouncing off the tunnel walls.
Just moments after, a shrill scream follows me.
That horrible sound mixed with my thundering steps make it impossible to hear if it’s chasing me.
I have to assume it is, so I don’t stop.
I push myself harder, pumping my arms and legs as hard as I can.
Suddenly, I see a slim outline of light in the distance.
It looks like a door ahead of me. Faintly, I hear another call for help.
It’s so quiet, I wonder if it was ever chasing me at all.
I don’t let that comfort me or stop me as I crash into what I really hope is a door.
Pain shoots up my arm as I burst into the sunlight.
I’m immediately disoriented as I’m blinded by the brightness of being outside.
I look around, trying to get my bearings before coming to my senses.
I turn around and slam the heavy door closed.
There’s a big steel sliding lock across the middle and I cry out in surprise and luck as I lock it.
I slide down the door until I’m sitting on the ground, trying to catch my breath.
A giggle escapes out of me, almost like a hiccup which makes me laugh and then, suddenly, I’m laughing so hard I have a hard time not falling over.
I don’t know how long I’m like this before I get myself back under control.
Once I stop, I realize the creature hasn’t shown up.
There’s been no banging on the door or screaming or asking for help.
I haven’t heard anything. If the creature had been chasing me, wouldn’t it have gotten to the door by now?
I turn my head, so my ear is almost touching the door but it’s silent.
No noise except the birds in the trees and the breeze blowing through the leaves.
It’s quiet enough that I wonder to myself if I should open the door.
If this thing is in the tunnel, it means it’s inside the cabin and I don’t want to give it a reason to run into Luke.
Now that I’ve confirmed that the tunnel does lead outside, I have to wonder if the creature has been coming and going.
If it has, it hasn’t hurt either of us, so maybe it will continue to leave Luke alone.
Maybe if he stays quiet enough, it won’t even realize he’s there.
Even still, should I open this door back up?
At least so Luke has an escape if he needs it?
All I can do is listen to my gut. I press my ear against the door, hoping I’ll be able to hear something that’ll give me a hint on what to do but it’s still silent.
This is a day of risks, so I unlock the door and pry it back open. I don’t tempt fate any more than that as I turn and walk away. I don’t look back.