Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 222(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 222(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
But that wasn’t allowed.
“Please,” she begged a final time before I disappeared around the corner.
Her wails of sorrow followed me through the tight uneven path. I held the lantern out in front of me, focusing on what would come next, hoping it would distract from what I’d just done.
The ceiling got lower, forcing me to stoop in the narrowing passage as it snaked through the uneven rock, and the lantern banged against the wall with a loud clang. I squeezed around a bend, only to find a small dark hole at the base of the wall with chalk-drawn arrows pointing to it.
Leave the lantern, a torn piece of carboard taped to the wall said. The final word was bigger, scribbled in an urgent hand. Hurry.
I stared at the hole with trepidation.
If I didn’t do this, I’d have limited options. Either I’d write a short review, announcing I’d chickened out, or I’d write no review at all. Neither would help the magazine’s sales, and wasting this opportunity wasn’t going help my career.
Or my coworker’s jobs.
Chelsea had told me I could do this, and maybe it was stupid, but I wanted to prove her right.
I set the lantern down and took a deep breath.
The rock tunnel was cold and slimy, and I had to crawl through it on my stomach like a goddamn spelunker. Only I wasn’t wearing a helmet or a headlamp, so I had to do the whole thing blind. It got dark quickly.
Tense wasn’t a strong enough word to describe how I felt.
Was the floor going to give out on me again? Or would someone materialize from nowhere and grab me? I wanted every foot I crawled to feel like a victory, but instead I worried I was only pulling myself deeper into chaos.
I paused, clenching my jaw.
I’d never experienced claustrophobia before, but the tight space combined with total darkness and silence made the air compress around me until I couldn’t breathe. What if this was it?
What if I couldn’t go any farther?
My hands shook as I reached out, feeling for the shape of the walls.
“You can do this,” I whispered to myself in a voice that was an even mixture of encouragement and irritation.
There was a turn ahead, and once I rounded it, I saw an orange glow. Firelight. I slid across on my stomach, feeling like toothpaste being squeezed from a tube. I had to be filthy, and once again, I was grateful they’d provided me with alternate clothes.
Once I’d successfully climbed out of the tunnel and brushed myself off, I took stock of the room. It was large and open. The arched ceiling was made of brick, and torches mounted to the wall on each side lit the space. I hadn’t read anything about the castle having a crypt, but that was what this place looked like, especially since there were stone coffins and statues.
A soft sound came from behind a sarcophagus. Crying?
I braced myself and went to investigate. Since I’d survived the claustrophobic tunnel, I was riding a wave of relief, and it brought some courage along with it.
Whoa.
I discovered the source of the crying to be a man. He sat on the ground, tucked in the corner of the wall, and was hidden behind the large stone coffin. He didn’t appear to be wearing a shirt, but he had a gray blanket pulled up tight to his chest, leaving his shoulders bare but covering the rest of him.
He peered up at me with watery eyes. “I need your help. You’ll help me, won’t you?”
It was uncomfortable seeing anyone cry but especially a stranger. My answer was immediate. “Yeah, of course.”
The blanket dropped to his waist, revealing his hands were locked inside metal mitts like some sort of ancient torture device. A padlock dangled from each of his wrists.
“They threw the key in the tomb over there.” He sat up straighter and pointed one of his mitts across the room. “The open one.”
It was clear which one he was talking about, so I strode quickly to it. After taking the lantern away from the girl, I was glad to have a task that would help. I reached the side of the tomb and peered inside.
Seriously?
The gooey-looking skeleton was crawling with cockroaches. It didn’t bother me; I’d never been afraid of bugs. But wasn’t this cheap scare a little—I don’t know—beneath Void? I watched the black insects as they wriggled over the skeleton’s rib cage and noticed a glint of metal beneath them.
A silver ring with a small key attached.
I reached into the tomb, moving slowly to give the cockroaches time to scurry out of my way, and fished the key ring out. When I straightened and turned back to the guy who’d been crying, I discovered he’d climbed to his feet. My gaze zeroed in on one of the padlocks.