This was not good.
“Come on down, Sonja,” a voice cooed from below.
Turning nervously, Sonja knew she was in big trouble. She was seriously regretting not telling Frank what she was doing. Pulling out her phone again, she saw that she had no reception inside the stone prison. If she wanted help from Frank now, she was out of luck. Carefully taking the steps down into the dampness of the small chamber, Sonja gasped at how accurate her vision had been.
The old table sat in the center of the room with the singular candle burning there and Tina was tied up in the corner, duct tape over her mouth and fireworks strapped to her legs and on the chair.
The only difference was the added person standing near the altar set into the wall. She wore a long black cloak and a witch’s mask. Sonja felt a sickening chill as she remembered falling from that balcony after being pushed by this murderous woman.
“It was right. The radio predicted it exactly,” the woman in the mask giggled quietly.
“I know what you’re up to and you’re not going to get away with it.”
“Of course, I am. I already have. You’re trapped down here, just as I planned. Now I can kill you both and be done with it.”
“Come on, Diana. I know about you and Hoss Trivilli.”
“Do you, now?” she teased, loving every second of this.
“You accidentally left the card in the flowers, the one from Hoss. I saw it. I know you two were secretly seeing each other.”
“Of course, you know about that. What sort of murderer would I be if I accidentally brought you a bunch of flowers with a piece of incriminating evidence in it? I’d basically be asking you to take me to jail.”
“Then why bring them at all?” Sonja asked.
“To help give you a push in the right direction, of course. To get you down here with me, just like the radio predicted.”
“So, you made those radios? Both of them?” Sonja asked, slightly amazed at the strange and paranormal craftmanship.
“Not likely. I just used mine to plan this whole ordeal.”
“To kill Trivilli?”
She nodded, the creepy plastic eyes on the mask staying trained on Sonja. “And his obnoxious wife. I love my wife, he’d tell me. I can’t go on seeing you.” She made gagging noise. “The whole thing makes me ill to my stomach. Why should he still be head over heels for that woman?” she jabbed a finger at the poor victim tied up in the corner. “All she did was order him around and take his money. I really loved him. I gave him passion and excitement. I would have done anything to be with him, but he still chose her.”
“That made you angry.”
“Who wouldn’t be mad?” she snapped.
“This whole affair started a year ago?” Sonja asked, trying to buy some time while she came up with a plan to get her and Tina out of there.
“To the day exactly. I was working for the Famous Farnum Fireworks company as an apprentice pyrotechnician. Hoss saw me and decided he liked me.” She giggled again, like a little schoolgirl. “I decided I liked him back. We spent the night together and the next morning he asked me to come and be his secretary here in Haunted Falls.”
“And you said yes.”
“Of course, I did. I dropped everything, my apprenticeship, my entire life in Denver, to come up here with him. He was a man of confidence and power.”
And overbearing, Sonja thought inwardly.
“But he wasn’t true to me. He didn’t keep his promises. So, he had to die and his stupid wife needed to die,” she spat, her voice growing angry again. Her fluctuations between giggly and giddy to vengeful and angry were almost instantaneous. It was frightening.
“You don’t have to do this,” Sonja told her, trying to calm her down again.
“Of course, I do. Otherwise, I’d be breaking my side of the deal.”
At this, Sonja raised an eyebrow. “What deal?”
“With the Witch of Haunted Falls, of course,” she cackled loudly.
Sonja’s jaw dropped wide open. “But you’re the witch.”
“Hardly,” she waved a hand dismissively.
“Then who is?” Sonja blurted angrily, taking a step forward and holding the pepper spray up toward the masked woman. She was getting tired of these games.
“Even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you. She called me anonymously and told me where she had seen my future and that she could help to solve my problems. At first, I just assumed she was a nutcase, but then I received the radio in the mail. It was marked From the Witch of Haunted Falls. I thought it was a joke, but when the radio started predicting the future, I knew she had been telling the truth. I knew she could help me. It’s just a shame you had to break it.”
“So, you met with her?”
“No. I only ever talked to her on the phone, but she gave me the confidence to do all of this. She told me about this secret room and how to get down here. She even gave me this cloak and mask. The radio helped me know how to do it without getting caught.”
“But I caught you,” Sonja pointed out.
“Only because that was part of the plan, don’t you see?”
Sonja swallowed hard, not liking the way this thing was going. “What did she get out of it? The witch, I mean.”
“I got the help I needed in killing Trivilli and his wife and in return, I promised to kill you, too.”
Sonja felt her hands go cold from fear. “Me?”
“It seems the Witch of Haunted Falls wants you dead.” She reached into her pocket she pulled out a lighter.
“Don’t do that.”
“Why not? It’s time for both of you to die.”
Sonja instinctively pressed down on the pepper spray, but to her horror, nothing happened.
“Oh? I’m so sorry. The radio told me you were going to use that. When you dropped your purse on the balcony before you fell, I took the liberty to switch it out with an empty canister.”
“No,” Sonja whispered. She was in some serious trouble this time.
Striking the lighter, it ignited and Diana dropped it onto the table which suddenly burst into flames. “I covered it in ignition gel,” she noted, taking a step back toward the corner. Pushing her fingers into one of the stones, another secret opened on the other side, revealing a tunnel through the earth.
Sonja could only guess it came out somewhere in the nearby woods.
“Pleasant dreams.” She laughed, dashing out the door and hitting a button. The wall closed with a sickening thud behind her.
“No,” Sonja screamed, running over to the corner and pounding on the stones. She tried pushing the place where she’d seen Diana put her fingers. Nothing happened.
Tina let out a muffled scream as the flames grew bigger, licking closely to the fireworks attached to her body. Sonja dashed over and began untying her.
She had no idea how she was going to get out.
CHAPTER 17
* * *
“Who’s that?” Sam asked in a low whisper before they could finish climbing the back steps of the library building.
Frank paused and looked out toward where Sonja’s father was pointing. He blinked a few times, trying to be sure he was actually seeing what he thought he was seeing. If he didn’t know better, he could have sworn he was watching a cloaked witch run through the trees.
Suddenly he remembered Sonja’s description of the person who had pushed her.
“It’s her,” he exclaimed. “It’s the murderer. Come on.”
“Wait, Frank,” Sam shouted, pointing at one of the open basement windows. Smoke was escaping from underneath the building.
“Call the fire department. I’m going after that witch.”
“Got it,” Sam agreed while Frank dashed off into the woods.
“This is the police, stop where you are,” he shouted after the cloaked woman.
Glancing back, the haggard witch made a squeak of surprise at seeing the sheriff coming toward her.
“Stop,” Frank shouted, pulling out his we
apon and increasing his speed.
The woman ran faster, frantically trying to escape the man pursuing her. The long cloak seemed to be slowing her down and she knew it. Fumbling with something deep in her pocket, she became distracted and unable to watch her footing. Her shoe snagging on the front of the cloak, and the woman took a hard tumble, hitting the ground with a heavy thud. She let out a startled cry plopped face first into a pile of wet leaves.
Frank took his opportunity and dashed over to where she was sprawled out, getting on top and pinning her to the ground.
She fumbled with something in her hand but Frank knocked it away. He realized it was pepper spray, the same type he’d given Sonja to protect herself. His eyes narrowed angrily and a flash of red blinded his vision. Without another second’s hesitation, he handcuffed her and then turned her to face him.
He finally recognized that she was wearing a mask and tore it from her face.
“Diana Courtier,” he exclaimed. “Where is she? Where is Sonja?”
“It’s too late. Your fool of a girlfriend is dead. She’s already being cooked alive,” she spat.
* * *
Sonja had managed to get Tina untied and tossed the fireworks in the corner as far from the fire as possible, but that would only buy them a minute or two. The heat in the room was getting unbearable and she knew if they didn’t get air soon they were going to suffocate and then burn to death.
“We’re going to die,” Tina wailed.
“Don’t give up yet,” she urged, trying to pull her past the burning table toward the stairwell leading up to the basement. It was no use, however. The flames were too big and the fire too hot for them to get past.
They were trapped in the corner of the room, desperately hitting stones in hope of opening the passageway. It wasn’t working. Sliding to the floor and clutching each other, the women prepared to die a horrible agonizing death.
Suddenly, the wall gave out from behind them and they toppled backward into a fresh burst of unexpected air. They felt themselves being pulled backward into the now open passage.
Someone had come to their rescue. Someone had saved them. It was too dark to tell who was there, pulling the two of them by their arms toward fresh outside air. Soon, they emerged out onto the grass of the forest and lay in the cool night air. Gentle raindrops falling upon them from the trees.
Glancing up through blurry eyes, Sonja could swear she saw Belinda standing over them.
Then she passed out.
CHAPTER 18
* * *
Sonja opened her eyes wearily, the fresh fluorescent light of the room around her making her squint uncomfortably. As things become clearer, she saw Frank sitting on the bed next to her, smiling down. “You’re okay,” he exclaimed.
“F-Frank, am I in the hospital again?” Sonja asked, blinking away the last fuzz of sleep and examining the familiar room around her.
“Yes, you are. How are you feeling?”
“Pretty darn lousy.” She glanced toward the window seat and then to the chairs in the corner. There was no one there but them. “Where is the rest of my party?” she joked in a hoarse voice.
“Ally and Alex are out grabbing some coffee. Your mom and dad are in the waiting room.”
“Why are they there?”
He paused and glanced at the door. “I needed some alone time with you.”
“With me?” she coughed.
“Sonja, what you did was incredibly dangerous. I was so scared I was going to lose you.” He patted her hand gently. “I know you always want to jump in and save the day, and I know you don’t always think I’ll make the right decision.”
This hurt Sonja. She knew it was true and knew she hadn’t trusted Frank enough. “I’m sorry.”
“This is about more than just your own safety, Sonj’. It’s about you trusting me,” he admitted.
“I do trust you.”
“Obviously not enough to call me for help when you found out what was going on.”
She slumped low in the bed, regretting what she’d done. She knew she’d been foolish to go it alone and had nearly gotten herself killed. “S-Sorry. I just didn’t know if you would understand, Frank. My supernatural powers are far more complicated than you could ever know.” She paused, looking up with glistening eyes. “I guess, sometimes, I’m afraid I’ll scare you off.”
He shook his head. “Not in a million years. I won’t ever leave you over something like that. It may still be new, frightening, and confusing for me, but it’s no reason to leave someone you love.” He paused, rubbing his lips together nervously. “However, if you can’t learn to trust me, to communicate with me when things are going on—especially dangerous or supernatural things—how can I trust you to be honest in our relationship.”
“I’m sorry, Frank. I really am. I promise a thousand times over that it won’t happen again.”
“But you promised me before, and you broke that promise.”
“I know, I know. But I mean it this time. From now on, I’ll be an open book. No secrets from you.”
Frank raised an eyebrow, examining her to see if he could really trust this to be true. “Okay, I’ll give you another chance. But if this happens again, and I’m left wondering and worrying, I’m not sure this is going to work out.”
“Trust me. It won’t happen again,” she coughed again. Her throat hurt worse than any sore throat and she was having a little trouble breathing.
“You really shouldn’t try to talk. You inhaled a little smoke.”
“Wait a minute, how did we get out?” she asked, looking up into his eyes.
“Luckily, you found a passageway out of the room that Diana locked you in.”
Sonja shook her head. “No, someone let us out. In fact, someone dragged us to safety.”
He paused, his eyebrows coming together in a confused look. “When I found you, you’d just come out of a hole in the ground. Turned out to be a tunnel that led to the sub-basement of the library.”
“The books,” Sonja exclaimed, suddenly sitting upright. Her lungs burned each time she breathed.
“You need to lay back down,” he ordered, pushing her back onto the bed.
“What about the books?”
He let out a quiet breath and shook his head. “While the fireman got the fire out before it hit the building itself, it did burn up a bunch of books in a little storage room down there.”
“No,” Sonja whispered. All those books, the secret occult section of the library, were how she and Belinda figured things out about ghosts. Wait, what about Belinda? Hadn’t she been the one to pull her and Tina to safety? “Where is Belinda?”
“Still on her camping trip, remember?”
Sonja thought over her memory. Had she really seen Belinda or just imagined it?
More confusing than that, if it was Belinda, how did she know about the secret passage to the library? If she knew about it and Diana knew about it, did it mean Belinda knew who the Witch of Haunted Falls was?
Sonja thought of her friend out in the woods on her extended camping trip. She needed to find her and figure out what was going on once and for all.
“Try to get some sleep.” Frank leaned down and kissed her.
“Don’t go,” she pleaded, grabbing his hand.
“All right. I’ll stay here until you fall asleep, okay?”
“Okay.”
He let out a low laugh. “It’s never a dull day with you Sonja.”
She could only shrug sheepishly in reply.
“I love you, Sonja Reed,” he whispered, kissing her again.
Slowly, she let her eyes close and drifted off to sleep.
She dreamed of waffles again.
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Fireworks and Waffles (The Diner of the Dead Series Book 18) Page 8