“What the hell?” Caroline frowned.
She tapped the gas to continue in reverse, but the car would not budge. She switched gears and tried to roll forward. Nothing.
Now they could see the garage door suspended above them.
Caroline got out, careful to duck her head. Stella did the same. The roof of the red Corolla was pinned beneath the garage door, the mechanical gate now making a sickly whirring sound.
Their eyes met over the dented aluminum roof. Caroline looked fraught for a minute, and then a snort escaped her nose. It was followed by gushing laughter. One thing her mom could do was laugh. Loud. Hard. Embarrassing.
Stella glanced down the street to see if anyone heard, but even though the houses on this lane were built on top of each other, miraculously no one was out and about.
Looking up at the vise that clutched the Corolla like a mouse in an eagle’s talons, Stella heard her mother claim, “Well, this sucks.”
Stella burst into loud, hard, embarrassing laughter too.
Grounding her palms into her eyes, Stella tried to quell the burning inside them. She crawled over to where Jill lie sleeping, worried about the shadows ringing her friend’s closed eyelids. Seeing Jill like this strengthened Stella’s resolve. She rose quietly and approached the window, gazing out on the empty walkways of the Underworld. No sign of Colin, but that was not surprising. He wasn’t likely to stand in the middle of the café, blaring on a trumpet.
From this perspective she could not see Etienne and Sarah’s shack. The infirmary was dark. No sign of the nurse there. Stella crouched and crept out into the eternal night.
Colin emerged from the shadows, startling her.
“Is she okay?” he asked quietly.
Stella nodded, glancing back towards the wheelhouse. “She was exhausted. How about you? I didn’t get to say it to you yet, but Col, I’m so sorry.”
His dark gaze fled to the ground. “I haven’t really come to terms with it yet. It’s all still surreal.”
Encouraging words were on the edge of her tongue when Colin’s head snapped up.
“Someone is out here,” he warned in a low tone.
Stella’s skin prickled. She strained to see any movement. There was a faint scuff of shoe on dirt nearby.
Colin bent to whisper near her ear. “It’s okay. I see who it is.”
Who?
The question remained mute as she saw a slim shadow approach. Long black hair perpetuated the mystique.
“Colin,” Loren’s voice was quiet as she advanced. She gave Stella a brief nod. “Stella.”
Stella dipped her head in acknowledgement, but worried that this intrusion would ruin their search plans for the night. Not to mention the rogue pang of jealousy the young woman stirred.
“Colin,” Loren kept her tone low, “I need to see you for a moment.”
Colin looked startled. “Okay. What’s up?”
Running a pale hand up into her inky hair, Loren looked up at him from under her bangs. “I mean, when you have a minute alone.”
He glanced sideways at Stella.
Stella raised her hands and started backing up. “No worries,” she whispered and hooked her thumb behind her. “I’m just going to head back–”
Loren watched her with dark almond eyes, but said nothing.
“Stel, don’t–,” Colin stopped himself. “I’ll be over shortly.”
“Yeah, cool.” She waved him off, turning back towards her wheelhouse.
She could feel his eyes on her back, but she had her pride. She didn’t look back. Let him have his chat with Felicia–oh, Loren.
When she reached her bungalow, Stella finally peered over her shoulder. Colin and Loren were retreating in the other direction.
Ducking into the wheelhouse, confirming that Jill was still fast asleep, Stella stood with her hands fisted at her sides and sighed.
Now what?
Where were they going? Did she wait for him? Would there be enough time to explore before the bell rang?
Pacing in a tight circle, she poked her head out the door, but could no longer see the couple. Her gaze swung in the opposite direction–the trail leading towards the waterfall. It was empty. Everything was quiet. To waste this opportunity would be a shame, and an exercise of patience that she would fail.
Stella checked on Jill one more time and then headed outside, dodging into shadows to keep from view. They were running out of time. She was sure of it. They had lost one person today. A woman who Stella had come to love. There was no time to wait until another was gone. She had to find a way out of the Underworld. And it looked like she had to do it alone.
If there was any advantage to the time they had spent down here, it was her growing experience with the snaking caverns. Each foray past the waterfall inspired more confidence. The fact that she had no more encounters with freaky shadow figures was beginning to convince her that maybe she had suffered from a bit of CO2 acclimation.
According to the calendar that Frederic maintained, they had been down here for over three weeks. That same calendar marked the Underworld’s new year as only a week away.
Well, there would be no midnight kisses for her. There would never be any kisses if she was damned to this eternity.
Anger motivated her. Her steps became more nimble as she ventured beyond the point she and Colin had last travelled. Her agility was short-lived once the trail grew rugged. If she lost her balance on the slick surface, any attempt to right herself would meet with a sharp rock or serrated slab. Already she had drawn blood when she tripped over a rut in the path. It could hardly be considered a path now. Only instinct guided her in this direction, following the natural channel and the increasing heat.
Somewhere around here was the fishing pool. She was fascinated by the pools as they seemed the only viable source of escape. To keep the darkness at bay and her sanity intact, she began to recite them.
There was the grotto that she had first surfaced in. Further down that same tunnel was a smaller pool, which Anne Wexler had washed up in. There was the fishing pool, which she was supposedly very close to. Conversations with Etienne and Frederic indicated there was an additional pool or pools responsible for providing oxygen throughout this cave system, but were in areas too hot to be reached.
A loud clatter sounded to her right.
Stella swung the torch in that direction to find a collapsed stalactite, its column broken into pieces on the dirt floor. She tipped her head back and located the severed post on the low ceiling. The circumference of the channel narrowed in this wing of the caves. The stalactites dangled precariously close over her head. If she had been standing one foot to the right–
Brushing aside that disturbing thought, she shifted the torch again to confirm her path. Debris now riddled much of the ground. The trail she thought she was following all but disappeared. She inched forward with the flames casting rippling sparks across a moon-like terrain. Although the ground she stood on was level, she seemed to be barricaded on all sides by large boulders.
The first twinge of panic clutched her lungs. Towards her left there was no defined avenue. She pivoted completely around and was unsure which way she had come. Spotting the only viable gap in the stones, she aimed for it and tread gingerly through the narrow breach. Abrasions stung her toes. Sandals weren’t the type of gear for trekking like this.
Continuing towards the cave wall, she felt it would act as a constant–a guide to get back. The River Styx would have been the best escort, but she lost sight of it a while ago. Trailing her fingertips along the mottled limestone, she felt the warm mist that clung to it. When her fingers met air, she halted. Disoriented, she didn’t know if this gap represented a new corridor, or if it was the way back.
Thrusting the torch into the black chasm she knew she had not been here before. The ceiling was conical, almost like a pyramid. It was void of any limestone daggers, and the floor, what she could see of it, seemed clear–just packed earth. It wasn’t a large chambe
r. The alcove had about a twenty-foot circumference. From what she could tell there was no alternative exit. One way in. One way out.
Something rested against the wall in the near corner. With a hasty glimpse over her shoulder, Stella swung the torch forward and took a few cautious steps inside the chamber. A long shadow sliced through the center of the alcove–a pit or a hole that she circled to avoid. Approaching the pile of rocks she saw stacked against the wall, she stooped to get a closer look and choked on fear.
On the ground, propped against the wall was nearly a complete human skeleton. The skull was missing and one leg, but the ribcage was clearly defined, as well as the hip bones and a rather long femur. Stumbling back from the carcass, her right foot caught the edge of the pit behind her. In an attempt to regain her balance, she dropped the torch and flailed her arms, falling backwards into the hole.
It wasn’t deep, thank God. Even now she was sitting up, her eyes even with the torch abandoned on the floor. Her fall was cushioned by gravel, or twigs.
Twigs?
Stella scrambled onto her knees and reached for the torch. She held it above her and squealed in terror.
They weren’t twigs.
She had fallen into a pit of bones.
CHAPTER 14
In a frenzy, Stella clawed at the rim of the tomb. She struggled to get stable footing so that she could climb out, but the splintered sound beneath each attempt was a rattle that would forever haunt her soul. A keening wail bubbled from her lips as she stepped on an exceptionally tough bone and used her elbows to hike up onto the cave floor. She crab-walked a few feet and grabbed the torch again.
Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. Wasn’t that the mantra they always taught you?
She was far enough away now that the deep shadows cloaked the contents of the pit. That didn’t help with the headless skeleton sitting next to her. There was a tiny shard of cloth stuck to a shoulder, but she didn’t stick around to analyze it any further. She climbed to her feet and prepared to bolt.
A glow outside the tight chamber halted her. It bobbed in approach.
Stella searched frantically for a weapon, and tossed aside the notion of grabbing a bone. Instead she held the torch like a baseball bat and assumed a battle stance.
When Colin’s familiar frame filled the entrance she nearly sobbed with relief.
“Stel, why didn’t you–?”
Colin jerked to a halt. He saw the skeleton sitting on the floor.
“What the hell?”
Stella shook her head. “Oh, that’s nothing.” She swept the end of the torch towards the ground to reveal the quarry of bones.
Colin staggered a step, but he didn’t say anything. His lips parted, and deep shadows rooted across his face. Curling his free hand into a fist he stepped forward and surveyed the hole that appeared to be man-made based on its rectangular shape.
“The ground cannot be dug here for an adequate burial,” he quoted. “Isn’t that what Dad was told?”
Stella jerked her head up and down, unable to speak. The grim finality of what she was looking at was finally settling in.
“Who are they?” she whispered.
Colin dragged in a deep breath. “Others like my mother? The survivors who didn’t make it. Maybe the ones who succumbed to carbon dioxide poisoning.”
The morbid thought that she could easily end up in this pile tortured Stella.
“What do we do?” she probed hoarsely.
Colin looked angry. “We’ll mention it, but I doubt there is any great mystery to what we have here.” His eyes met hers and she saw the flames dancing there. “The truth is that people are going to die down here. Maybe they don’t want to release them all to the ocean. Maybe it will encourage too many sharks.” He shrugged. “I just–”
As if he was going to be ill, Colin stooped over, his hand on his knee for support.
“Col!” She came to his side immediately.
He raised his hand to keep her away.
“I just–” he whispered, “–am glad that we didn’t find her here. I’m glad for that one small favor.”
This time Stella ignored his protest and went to him, resting her palm on his hunched shoulder. He accepted the touch for a moment and then slowly rose until her hand slid down his arm and finally off.
“Let’s not tell Dad or Jill about this,” he suggested huskily. “Not today. Maybe someday, but not today.”
“No,” she agreed.
“Come on.” This time he touched her, his fingers cupping gently around her arm.
Under that proximity he caught a glimpse of her soiled clothes. “Are you okay?”
Concerned, his hand roamed up her arm as he reached to turn her for an inspection.
“I’m okay, Col.”
“You, you’re filthy. What happened?”
Stella glanced down into the pit and her body trembled.
“I–I fell in there.”
Shock registered on his face There was no vocal outburst–no hollow words of solace. He crouched and set the torch on the ground and took her into his arms.
Stella stiffened at first, but the comfort of his embrace was what she needed the most. Her torch slipped from her hand and landed beside his. Pressing her cheek against his collarbone she sagged until she felt him support her. Adrenaline had kept her going, but this one act of kindness tore down her defenses. Tears welled in her eyes and she didn’t bother to hold them back. She sobbed openly against his chest and he just held her tighter.
It was all too much. The loss of Mrs. Wexler. The sight of these poor souls who had survived death in the ocean only to end up in this common grave. No respect. No sorrow.
What scared her the most was having little fear of joining them. Their sentence in the Underworld, or Hell, was over.
Amidst her whimpering she swore she felt Colin kiss the top of her head. She tried to tilt her chin back to look up at him, but his thumbs brushed at her tears, and with a long look he finally set her back, holding her upper arms.
“Can you walk?” he asked thickly.
She nodded.
“Let’s get away from here,” he uttered. “Let’s get back.”
Back to civilization.
“Yes,” she murmured.
They traveled in silence, Colin’s hand linked with hers no matter the obstacle. When they reached the dark side of the waterfall, he stopped.
“Why did you go back there on your own? Why didn’t you wait for me?”
There was little fight left in her at the moment. She sighed and replied honestly. “Because you were busy.”
Dark eyes studied her for a long time.
“Because I was with Loren?”
She avoided his stare and nodded.
“She wanted to give her condolences,” he stated. “She felt uncomfortable doing that in front of you.”
Stella kept her gaze locked on the ground. Her toes were all scraped up.
“I was about five minutes behind you. You could have waited five minutes,” he reprimanded, but the soft concern took the edge from his voice.
“I was fine. I was on my way back,” she mumbled. “You don’t have to be the big brother all the time.”
“Dammit.” His hand clenched. “Is that what you think I am? Your big brother?”
Something in his tone caused her eyes to swing up. What she saw there stole her breath.
Colin closed in, his hand weaving into her hair as his mouth descended on hers. He kissed her. At first it was intense, but his lips softened and the kisses lingered until Stella felt weightless.
He drew back enough that only his breath caressed her lips.
“I am not your big brother.”
“But–”
“Stella,” he kissed her again and she whimpered deep in her throat at how good it felt.
“I always thought you looked at me like the big brother type,” his deep voice mingled with the chimes of water falling. “And I admit, I felt that way–until–”
“Until?”
“Until that time you landed on top of me on the boat. I touched you. I had my hands all over you, and you didn’t feel like my little sister’s friend anymore. You didn’t feel young. I wanted to kiss the hell out of you right there in the dark.”
Stella swallowed.
“But–but–Loren. I thought maybe you liked her–” she murmured, still confused–still excited.
Colin’s eyebrow inched up. “I like it when you’re jealous.”
His smile tantalized her, but it disappeared all too soon. “I am worried about Loren. Something is not right with her. I can’t tell you exactly what, but maybe you’ll catch it next time we see her. She wants to show us something.”
“Us?”
Colin chuckled. “Yeah, believe it or not she’s not interested in me.”
His teasing elicited a quick grin from her. “No, I don’t believe it,” she kidded.
And I don’t believe you wanted to touch me.
As if he read her mind his hand slid down behind her neck and he kissed her softly. “I wanted to do that for a long time, Gullaksen,” he whispered against her lips. “If you think I’m out of line–if you’re not interested–you better tell me.”
Stella reached out and fisted her hand in his t-shirt. “I’m interested,” she smiled and tucked her head, folding against his chest.
With both of them holding torches it was an awkward embrace, but she cherished every second, knowing that they were about to go back and face their grim reality.
The bell rang in the distance. Stella jerked back.
“They’ll see us.”
Colin glanced at the waterfall. “Do you think I care? Hey,” he added softly. “It might get intense, but we’ve got a few things we need to accomplish.”
She frowned and cocked her head.
“Such as?”
“Ask about the pit. Check on Dad and Jill. Find out what it was Loren wanted to show us.”
“Why didn’t she just show you?” Stella interrupted.
Colin’s lips quirked. “Because I told her I needed to find you.”
“Oh.” She hesitated. “Those are all important tasks.” She searched his face. “Was there more?”
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