“Come again?”
She reached into her backpack and pulled out a flare. Lillie made these things herself. She filled them with acetone, diaper-rash cream, and a few secret ingredients she wouldn’t divulge. Lillie is a pyromaniac. I hoped Homeland Security never found out about her little talent. Usually she used the homemade grenades as a smoke screen, but this time I think she had other plans.
She pulled out two more. “I’ll throw these into the crowd while you go after the girl. We’ll meet in those tunnels somewhere, then we’ll escape this clownfest.”
“You think it’ll work?”
“No, but it’s better than sitting here watching those two kill each other.”
“True.”
Gemma stumbled forward. Her feet scraped over the turf. Ashleigh stopped a few feet away from her friend.
“I Shined. Aren’t you happy?” she mocked.
“I’ll kill you.”
“No you won’t.”
What happened to these two that made them become enemies? Had the Xeros tortured them, possibly? The thought made my stomach twist in knots.
Ashleigh extended her arm. Some kind of rippling energy field rushed from her palm and caught Gemma in the stomach. Gemma fell back, tumbling over the turf. Ashleigh let another blast rip from her fingertips. It caught Gemma’s arm and ripped a gash in her flesh. Ashleigh attacked again and again until Gemma screamed with pain.
Ashleigh stood over her. “Had enough?”
Gemma clutched her stomach and didn’t answer.
“You shouldn’t have provoked me.”
Lillie crept away from our hiding place toward the cave’s mouth. She edged along the wall, keeping her eyes on the crowd, though I doubted anyone noticed.
Gemma rose onto her elbows, but slipped and fell back onto the turf.
“Get up,” Ashleigh shouted.
Gemma rolled to the side, her cheek smeared with blood. The hate-filled look in her eyes made me shudder. She spun around and caught the smaller girl’s ankle. She pulled Ashleigh to the ground so fast I barely had time to register it. Gemma wrapped her hands around Ashleigh’s throat. Her knuckles turned white.
Ashleigh struggled. Her eyes bulged as tears the size of golf balls leaked onto her cheeks. Water spouted from her nose, her mouth.
And then I realized what Gemma’s Shine ability must be. She was a human sponge. She could drain the moisture out of whomever she touched. Pretty frightening when you think about it.
Ashleigh gagged as water poured from her nostrils. She looked as if she wanted to scream, but couldn’t with her friend’s hands obstructing her windpipe.
I glanced at Lillie, who edged along the back fence. Hurry, I wanted to shout.
The crowd brimmed with anticipation. No one remained seated. Their shouts turned to howls in their blood lust. It sickened me to watch.
“Kill, kill, kill,” they chanted.
Monsters.
Through the binoculars, I saw Lillie reach the back of the stadium. She pulled a flare from her jacket, then lit it with a flick of her wrist. She looked at me, nodded, and then launched it into the crowd.
A deafening pop erupted in the center of the stands. Bursts of red and orange fire blasted the air. Thick, yellowish smoke billowed out of the broken canister.
The frenzied yells turned to screams of pain. I watched the crowd race from the stands, clutching their ears and faces.
Take that, creeps.
I sprinted toward the field. Gemma moved away from Ashleigh. The smaller girl lay motionless in the grass.
Please God, don’t let us be too late.
Another deafening blast rocked the stadium. I had to hand it to Lillie, she knew how to make explosives. Good thing she was on my side.
The explosion sent several people hurling through the air. The sulfuric smoke billowed as if it raged from a four-alarm fire. Thick fog crept over the field, obscuring my vision.
I saw Gemma limp away, her face panicked. The skin-and-bone girl wasn’t far behind her. I searched the field, but the haze disoriented me. Where was Ashleigh?
A choking sound caught my attention and I ran toward it. Ashleigh huddled in a fetal position near the batting cages. Water soaked her skin and clothing. She looked as if she’d just climbed from a swimming pool.
“Ashleigh Conrad?” I asked.
She stared at me through half-lucid eyes.
“I’m here to help. Your mother sent me.”
“Mom?”
I nodded. “I can take you to her. But you’ll have to come with me now. Can you walk?”
Shouts from the crazed mob reverberated through the dome as I caught her arm as she limped upright.
“How did you know I was down here?”
“I’ve got good connections. How badly are you hurt?”
“I’ll be okay.”
She didn’t look okay. She looked like crap. But she was being brave and I wouldn’t argue.
Smells of sulfur and a hint of diaper-rash cream caught my nostrils as we shuffled toward the cave’s entrance. Ashleigh’s legs buckled after a few steps. I picked her up. She must have weighed all of eighty pounds.
The crowd scattered, but no one took notice of us. We reached the cave’s mouth and I paused by the entrance, not sure where to go.
A long, narrow corridor lit with dull yellow lights stretched before me. Add some fog and creepy music and we’d be square in the middle of a cheap horror flick.
“The doorway on your left,” Ashleigh said.
“What?”
“We can hide in there. No one ever goes in the bunker room.”
“Right.”
A crude wooden door barred our way. I kicked it open, then ducked inside the dark room. A chill seeped into my skin. It must’ve been fifty degrees, if that.
I heard Ashleigh’s teeth chattering. Trampling footsteps rushed past the doorway. I hoped no one decided to take cover in here.
“Ashleigh, is there an exit in these tunnels somewhere?” I whispered.
She barked a wet cough. I wondered why her cough sounded that way if Gemma had drained all her fluids. “No, there’s only one way out. Up that staircase.”
“Figures.”
She coughed again. In the dim light streaming through the edges around the doorway, I saw her hunch over and grab her ribs.
“You all right?” I asked.
She couldn’t answer. I feared her coughing fit would attract attention. I tiptoed to the door and peeked outside.
The enraged mob raced past, choking on the smoke filling the hallway. They disappeared down the hall until only a few stragglers remained. I watched for Lillie, but so far, she didn’t show. Ashleigh’s coughing turned to choking.
She rose onto her hands and knees, and then vomited on the floor. Watery yellow liquid spilled to the ground. She retched more and more, so much I wasn’t sure she’d ever stop.
This didn’t make any sense. Gemma had drained Ashleigh’s fluids, so where was this liquid coming from?
After Ashleigh stopped vomiting, she crouched on the ground and clutched her stomach.
“Are you sick?” I asked.
She shook her head. “It’s Gemma’s Shine. She manipulates bodily fluids. She overloaded my water content trying to drown me. I’ll be okay once my body gets all the fluid out.”
Manipulating bodily fluids. That was a new one.
“Can we go now?” she asked.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
Her face looked ashen in the pale light. “I’m fine.”
I studied her. I couldn’t risk hauling her out if she couldn’t make it.
“I promise,” she said. “I’m all right. Please, I want to go home.”
“No broken bones? No more nausea?”
She shook her head.
“All right, but I need to find my sister first.”
“Is she the one who set off the bombs?”
“Yeah. She’s kind of a pyro.”
“Maybe I c
ould help you find her.”
“Trust me, we’re better off waiting here. She’ll find us.”
“How do you know?”
“She’s good like that.”
She bit her lip. She didn’t believe me. She huddled into a ball and tucked her knees to her chest. “I want to go,” she whimpered.
“I know. We will soon.”
My eardrums hadn’t recovered from the explosions. The people in the stadium must be deaf.
In the darkness, I tried to make sense of the bunker room. Stone walls surrounded us on either side, but I couldn’t make out the back wall. I clicked the screen on my wrist phone. A bluish glow emanated from the display.
I paced toward the back of the room. “You say no one uses this room?” I asked Ashleigh.
“No one comes in here. I don’t know why.”
Crates and barrels blocked my path. I moved a few of the lighter ones, but some were too heavy. I still hadn’t found the back wall. How big was this place?
“What are you looking for?” Ashleigh asked.
“Not sure.” I strained against one of the heavier boxes. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and I’ll find another exit.”
“You won’t. Thexus said there’s only one way out. And no one ever escapes.”
“Thexus?”
“The guy with the scars on his head.”
Ah, so Banana Brains had a name.
“That’s what they want you to think. It’s a mind tactic. They’re trying to scare you by making you feel trapped. There’s got to be another way out of this place.” At least I hoped so.
I made my way deeper into the bowels of the cave. I glanced back at Ashleigh, but could only make out a small silhouette huddled at the door. Poor girl. I had to get her out of here before she completely lost it.
The familiar breeze smelling of sea salt and wood smoke brushed past me. Humidity clung to my skin. I stumbled through the maze of boxes, trying to find the source of the breeze. Was there an exit back here?
Another odor caught my attention. I knew the scent immediately. There’s no mistaking it, no masking it. The scent of death is one you’ll never forget.
I shone my light over the crates. They were made of flimsy plywood. I pulled back the lid on the one closest to me and regretted it.
The smell slammed me in the gut.
I stumbled back, gagging as I stared into the makeshift coffin. A decomposing corpse stared back at me. Milky white eyes rotted in a skeletal face. Meaty flesh sagged from the bones. Maggots fell from the mouth, the nose, what was left of the ears.
I don’t know what happened to the rest of the body, but the torso and legs were missing, perhaps stored in a separate crate. Perhaps there was nothing left to salvage.
I closed the lid with a bang and stumbled back.
When I reached Ashleigh’s side, the smell dissipated, making me wonder why it didn’t stink on this side of the room. With her head still between her legs, her eyes closed, I realized she hadn’t seen what I’d seen. Good thing.
“Ashleigh, what happens to the Shines who don’t make it?”
She looked up. “The ones that get killed?”
I nodded.
“I have no idea. Why?”
“Because I think I found out.”
Her eyes opened wide as she stared behind me. “They’re back there?”
“Don’t freak out. Just listen. I think those boxes might be hiding something. Do you smell that?”
Her eyes stayed fixed on the back of the room.
“Ashleigh?”
She finally focused on me.
“Can you smell that?”
“Smell what?”
“I think someone’s put those bodies there for a reason, possibly to keep them hidden. There’s a breeze sucking the smell away.”
“Like a giant vent or something?”
“Exactly.”
“An exit?”
“I hope so.”
Footsteps echoed from the doorway outside. I bounded to the door, and then pulled out my knife.
In all the commotion, I hadn’t seen Thexus scramble past with the rest of the crowd. Chances are he’d been far enough from the tear gas and explosions for them not to affect him. And he didn’t seem like the kind of guy to let a bomb slow him down.
No, he would still be out there, looking for whoever had ruined his little pool party.
My heart pounded. Sweat slicked my palms. I welcomed the adrenaline rush. The guy outside nudged the door open with his toe. I lunged, positioning my knife inches from his face.
She stood in the same stance as me, knife in the same kill zone.
“May?” she said.
“You moron, I almost stabbed you.”
She glanced from her knife to mine. “I could say the same to you.”
I thrust the door open and pulled her inside. “What took you so long?”
“The usual. Hurling lethal objects into crowds, evading psychopaths, making sure they didn’t follow me, that kind of thing.”
“Were you followed?”
“Of course not. I’m a professional, remember?”
“Sorry,” Ashleigh butted in, “but what’s going on?”
Lillie stared at Ashleigh. “Is this the Shine?”
“Yeah. Ashleigh, this is my sister, Lillie.”
“Sissy’s name.”
“Excuse me?”
“That’s a sissy’s name. Do you always wear skulls on your shirts?”
“You like it?” Lillie asked.
“No. It looks hideous. Freaks wear things like that because they don’t understand death. If you did, you wouldn’t wear it.”
Lillie turned to me. “Adorable, isn’t she?”
“She’s been through a lot.”
Ashleigh sniffed. “Can we get going?”
“The stairs are out,” Lillie told me. “They’ve reorganized. I counted five people with semi-automatics positioned near the stairway. They’re onto us.”
“Of course they are,” Ashleigh mouthed. “You blew a hole through their stadium. You think they didn’t notice?”
Lillie raised an eyebrow. What was up with the attitude change? Five minutes ago Ashleigh was all whimpering and homesick.
“Look,” I said. “There may be an exit through that back wall. I didn’t get far, but I felt a breeze.”
“It’s worth checking out,” Lillie answered.
“They’ll find us, you know,” Ashleigh said. “They always do.”
“You’ve tried to escape before?” I asked.
“No. But others have.”
“What happened to them?”
She stared at the sliver of light drifting through the doorway. “They died.”
“Do you know how they escaped?”
Her voice turned quiet. “Phoebe was the first one who tried. Her parents found her. They would’ve taken all of us but they couldn’t. So they said they would come back for us.
“They got all the way to the tunnel when the Xeros caught them. We didn’t see it happen. But we heard the screams. They killed her parents first. They let Phoebe live, but she was different. In the fights, she was more brutal, more cunning. She made the first kill.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
She shrugged.
“How many girls are left?”
“Only three. Me, Sun, and Gemma.”
I turned to Lillie. “We should go back for the other two. We can’t leave them here.”
“No. You didn’t see what I saw. There’s something not right about those people,” Lillie said.
“You mean that they’re maniac murderers bent on butchering teen girls for amusement?” I asked.
“I mean something else. Can’t quite put my finger on it.” She focused on Ashleigh. I didn’t like the look she gave the girl, as if she were sizing her up.
“Drop it, Lillie. We’re going after them. It’s the humane thing to do.”
“Rescuing those girls will solve nothing,” Lillie snapped
back. “These people won’t stop until we make them.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that there’s only one way to put down a mob. We go after their leader.”
Well, that sounded like a safe, family-friendly way to spend the weekend. “Are you insane? Aren’t you the one who’s too scared to go back?”
“We return after we get the girl to safety. Then we take out the leader, and then we’ll rescue the other girls.”
“If they’re still alive. We can’t wait that long. I say we go after them now.”
“You know we won’t get paid until Ashleigh’s safe,” Lillie reminded me.
“This isn’t about money anymore.”
“Then what is it about? Because the last time I checked, people don’t eat unless they get paid.”
“Do you hear yourself? What’s wrong with you?”
“I’m trying to be reasonable,” my sister said.
“Like hell.”
Ashleigh placed her hands on her hips. “Are you two done yet?”
We stared at her.
“The longer you stand here acting like dog biscuits, the sooner they’ll find us.”
“She’s right,” Lillie told me.
I looked from Ashleigh to my sister. I didn’t want to leave the other girls here, but Ashleigh was right. We couldn’t afford to wait any longer. Our chances for escaping without confrontation were getting slim.
“Fine,” I said. “We’ll leave now. Ashleigh, stay between us. Lillie, take the tail. And try to stay quiet.”
CHAPTER FIVE
I clicked on my light and headed for the back of the cavern. Lillie and Ashleigh followed. Ashleigh’s footsteps made squishing sounds every time she moved, and Lillie’s clunky Doc Martens weren’t made for stealth. They echoed through the cavern as if she were wearing bulldozer treads.
We passed the box with the corpse. I tried to ignore it as best as I could. The faint scent of death clung to the air, but not enough to make me gag. We waded through the sea of boxes until we came to a dead end. Boxes scraped over the floor as I pushed them aside. I stopped, stared at the back wall.
Bingo.
A small tunnel stretched before us. I shone my light inside. We’d fit, but anyone taller than us would have to duck.
“I can’t believe no one knew this was back here,” Ashleigh whispered.
“Chances are someone knows,” I answered. So far, it looked as if we weren’t being followed.
Shine: Season One (Shine Season Book 1) Page 41