Thunderstone

by Barbara Pietron

  Convinced she was going to be okay, Jeni rose shakily to her feet, testing her range of movement. She knew she’d feel this tomorrow.

  Crouching down, she covered the cloth with her hand and closed her fist. She groaned out loud.

  Nothing. It was empty.

  She made a quick survey of the rest of the area, hesitantly checking behind the furnace and under the tarp; kicking around in a mound of dirt in case the statue was buried.

  Mission failed.

  Time to get out of here.

  Jeni clenched her light in her teeth and reached up to the opening. She grasped the ledge and attempted to haul herself up. Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. It might have been possible when she was ten and could make it all the way across the monkey bars, but not today.

  Relief that she’d survived the fall had overcome her other fears momentarily, but they returned quickly along with the edge of hysteria.

  Jeni approached the furnace and gave it a shove with both hands. It didn’t budge.

  She couldn’t get out.

  Now she started to freak out.

  She frantically flashed her light around. The only other idea she had was to pile dirt under the opening. Just enough to make her tall enough to climb out. She grabbed the shovel and went to work. The scraping sounds were almost comforting in the muffled stillness of the cellar.

  Jeni froze with a load of dirt on the end of the shovel. She thought she heard something.

  The rustle of leaves.

  Animal?

  Hungry animal?

  Psychopathic serial killer?

  The dirt rained off the end of the shovel and she noticed her arms were shaking.

  As the sound grew closer, Jeni became convinced it was a person walking. Her heart fluttered crazily because she knew who it was.

  It was not a kind stranger who happened to be walking through the woods in the middle of the night and would rescue her.

  The swishing of leaves picked up pace. And grew nearer.

  It was the statue-stealing, tunnel-digging, cellar occupant, and Jeni had to assume the person would not be happy to see her there.

  Without a sound, she bent down to retrieve her light and switched it off while backing away from the open trap door. The shovel remained in her hand. Her back touched the wall and she scooted over to the furnace, attempting to jam herself into the small space behind it.

  A light flickered across the opening overhead.

  The footsteps stopped.

  Jeni pressed her lips together and bit down on them to keep any sound from escaping.

  Light illuminated the inside of the cellar.

  She tried to make herself as small as possible.

  “Jeni?”

  Wait. What?

  Relief flooded over her and she ran from her hiding place.

  A beam of light washed over her, making her squint.

  “What the hell?” Tyler exclaimed, kneeling on the ground.

  “How did you find me? Never mind, just get me out! I can’t get out!”

  He sat back on his heels. “Fortunately I saw your purse up here—that was the only breadcrumb I had,” he replied, exasperated. “I can’t believe you looked me right in the eye and said you weren’t going ghost hunting.”

  “I’m not!” Jeni extended her hands toward him. “Just pull me out and I’ll explain everything.”

  Tyler set his flashlight on the lip of the opening, reached down, and grasped her by the upper arms.

  He leaned back to hoist her up and suddenly he pitched forward. He let her go and she stumbled backwards as he hit the ground in front of her.

  Oh no! She’d pulled him in too!

  Then a black object catapulted through the opening and landed on Tyler’s leg. He scrambled to get back on his feet. “What was that!” he yelled.

  “You must’ve knocked my purse in…” Jeni started, but trailed off when she realized it didn’t make any sense.

  Before either of them could fathom what had just happened; the trap door slammed shut overhead.

  “Hey!” Tyler shouted. “Let us out of here!”

  His flashlight lay on its side, still on. The glow was enough for Jeni to see the shock and confusion on her cousin’s face transform into horror, as he comprehended the noises from above.

  Her heart stopped. “What’s happening?” she whispered.

  It sounded as if something heavy bumped and scraped across the door. “Logs,” Tyler said.

  After two more heavy thumps the forest above went silent.

  They were trapped.

  Imprisoned.

  Already stretched to the breaking point, Jeni’s courage finally shattered. Her eyes darted wildly, taking in the suffocating blackness surrounding the miniscule beam of light.

  “This is all your fault!” It came out like a hiss between her teeth. Anger was better than the panic that threatened to crush her.

  Tyler stopped pounding the door with his fist. He flicked the light in her direction. “My fault?” She could see his eyes narrow. “I followed you here—trying to protect you! You promised if I didn’t tell your parents what’s been going on that you wouldn’t go ghost hunting.”

  “I’m not ghost hunting. I…I thought the statue would be here.”

  “What? The statue!” His face crumpled in disbelief. “Your statue has apparently already caused more trouble than it’s worth.”

  “Exactly. And I never would’ve bought it if you hadn’t badgered me into going for a drive with you!” As much as Jeni wished it were true, words spoken earlier echoed in denial: Destiny finds you. Things happen for a reason.

  Tyler certainly wasn’t buying her rationale. “That’s a bunch of crap.” He’d given up banging on the door and searched the small space for another way out.

  Jeni sank to the ground, knowing her cousin’s search was futile. She wrapped her arms around her legs, chin resting on her knees.

  Tyler grabbed her by the shoulder and she winced under his glowering stare. “What the hell is going on?” he demanded.

  “I don’t know,” Jeni choked out, the anger draining away as her eyes filled with tears. “I had this dream…” she began and swiped at a tear with the back of her finger.

  She blurted it all out. Taking the dream stone from the hospital. Ice’s call telling her the statue had been stolen. Her dream about the cellar.

  Relaying it all to Tyler renewed Jeni’s purpose and helped restore her nerve. She took a deep breath and exhaled in a rush. At least she wasn’t alone down here.

  Tyler squatted down and searched her face with angry eyes. “The only reason I’ll give this dream of yours any merit is because we’ve been trapped down here intentionally. I don’t know if your statue was ever hidden here, but it’s hard to believe some freak just decided it would be fun to shut us in. Although it happens in the movies all the time,” he added with a mirthless smile.

  Tyler rose and reached into his jacket pocket. He handed Jeni his cell phone. “Call Jake.” He trained his light on the collapsed tunnel, and moved to inspect it closely.

  Jeni brought up his contacts list before she realized his phone showed no service. “Ugh! Of course, no service. I can try mine,” she said dubiously.

  She dug through her purse. Twice. Then used her light to see inside and piled most of the contents on her lap. Her phone wasn’t there. She thought back to the last time she’d used it and then it dawned on her.

  She hadn’t used it, just held it in her hand and then changed her mind. On the way here. She’d set it down on the console in the car and was certain it was still there now.

  “I left mine in the car,” she said miserably.

  Tyler rolled his eyes at her. “Perfect.” He held a long hefty branch in one hand. It was bigger than the one Jeni had used to poke the cloth bundl
e. “Let’s see if we can lift the door with this.”

  Jeni held the light while Tyler braced the branch against the door and shoved.

  The door bumped slightly up and then back down. After repeated tries, it was clear that the logs on top were too heavy.

  Tyler dropped the branch and went to the tunnel. “I don’t know if this goes anywhere, but there’s only one way to find out.” He passed the light to Jeni and picked up the shovel to jab at the loose dirt.

  He froze when he heard a noise above them. Scratching.

  Jeni directed the beam of light toward the sound. Fragments of some kind drifted from the crack along the edge of the door. She squatted down to examine the debris. “Wood shavings.”

  They shouted to whoever was up there, pleading to be set free, but bits of wood continued to sift down until they could see the tip of a knife protruding slightly from the rough hole.

  “Look, we don’t know who you are or what you look like. Roll the logs off and go—we’ll never be able to identify you,” Tyler attempted to reason with their jailer.

  The knife was removed from the hole, something else took its place, and then an engine started. The smell of exhaust rushed into the cellar. Tyler’s eyes went wide. “He’s gassing us. Holy shit! Someone’s trying to kill us!”

  He grabbed a handful of dirt and packed it into the hole, but the sandy, loose soil wouldn’t stay and kept raining back to the ground.

  Feeling helpless, Jeni peered frantically around the small area. Her gaze settled on the furnace. She pointed the light in that direction, ignoring Tyler’s muffled protest. He had his arm crossed over his nose in order to breathe through his sleeve. With his attention now on the duct that protruded from the furnace, Jeni moved the beam of light along the conduit to the cellar ceiling.

  “Do you think that goes up to the chimney?” Jeni asked.

  “What chimney?”

  Jeni pointed up. “There’s a stone chimney up there.”

  Tyler rushed over and cranked the lever to open the hatch used to feed the furnace. The shaft fell off in his hand. His attempt to pry the door up with his fingers wasn’t going well, so Jeni grabbed her purse. She carried it over by him. “I have a pocket knife,” she said. She knew exactly where to find it and within seconds it was in his hand.

  Jeni squatted with one hand on the floor to steady herself, her other arm crossed over her face. Her head buzzed. She watched as Tyler pried the steel plate up and snapped the inside of the broken latch. He swung the door open and stuck his face inside.

  When he withdrew his head and turned to her, she could see a glimmer of hope in his eyes. “Take off your jacket,” he said, and motioned her over.

  She slipped out of her jacket and kneeled next to him. “Put your face in, and stuff your jacket around it,” he instructed.

  As soon as her nose reached the opening, she smelled the acrid smoky smell of a fireplace. It was a welcome change from the stifling exhaust. When her face was fully inside, she noticed something else: fresh air.

  Tyler put his head next to hers and they filled the rest of the space with their jackets, in an attempt to seal their faces inside the furnace. The outlet to the chimney above was no doubt clogged with webs, nests and other debris, but it wasn’t completely blocked.

  Jeni sagged as her head swam. Tyler put his arm around her and braced his hand against the furnace, holding her in place. She was too grateful to dwell on how creepy it was to have her cousin’s arm around her.

  “How long will we have to stay like this?” Jeni mumbled.

  “I don’t know. Until whatever it is runs out of gas. The good thing is, it doesn’t sound like a car running. It’s something smaller.”

  Jeni didn’t reply; her spinning head was making her sick to her stomach.

  She concentrated on breathing the fresh air.

  ***

  As Ice stepped from the darkness into a pool of light at the hospital entrance, he approached the door purposefully, hoping he looked distracted and desperate—the latter not far from the truth.

  “My grandpa asked me to come right away,” he blurted at the woman behind the desk without stopping. He didn’t bother with the elevator either, in case the woman came after him. He hit the stairs and climbed them two at a time.

  On the second floor, he waited in the stairwell until the nurse on duty left for her rounds then he silently padded down the hall to Nik’s room. Soft snores rumbled from the bed. Enough light spilled into the room for him to make out the outline of Nik’s prone form.

  Ice shook the medicine man’s shoulder. “Nik,” he whispered.

  Nik stirred, snorted, and then resumed snoring.

  Ice used a little more force, but kept his voice low. “Hey. Nik.”

  The medicine man rolled to his back and opened his eyes. “Ice?” He glanced from side to side. “Am I awake?”

  Unable to suppress a smile, Ice nodded. “I hope so. I have news.” His face went slack. “It’s not good.”

  Nik passed his hand over his face and started to push himself up.

  “Here,” Ice said, pressing the button to lift the top of the bed.

  “Light?” The older man waved his hand toward the small fixture above his head.

  Ice flipped the switch on the reading light. “Hanson called me a little while ago when he couldn’t get you.” He kept his voice low; one ear attuned to the hallway. “His wife heard an incident on her police scanner. A girl disappeared on Lake Itasca—in Lake Itasca,” he clarified.

  Nik frowned and shook his head. “Now it’s more urgent than ever that we act, yet we’re forced to do nothing until search and rescue teams are out of the area.”

  “What are we—” Ice broke off and turned his head toward the doorway. With his finger in front of his lips, he silently backed into the bathroom. Seconds later, the nurse entered.

  “Can’t sleep, hon? Are you having any pain?”

  “No, I’m fine,” Nik answered. “I’m just looking forward to sleeping in my own bed.”

  While she attended Nik, Ice moved behind the bathroom door so he could peer through the crack. He was looking directly at the nightstand, where the nurse shifted things around.

  “I’ll bring you some fresh water.”

  “Thank you,” Nik said.

  Ice remained behind the door hoping she’d return right away, rather than leave him wondering if she was going to walk in at any moment. He waited, listening to the soft hum of equipment and monitors and breathing shallowly to avoid a nose-full of the harsh disinfectant used to clean the bathroom. His eyes travelled idly over the items on the nightstand.

  His heart stopped. Was that—? He smushed his face into the crack of the door, attempting to see better in the dim light. It looked liked the dream stone was on Nik’s nightstand. Did it just return? Had it been there when he walked in? Did Nik know it was there?

  Ice shifted from foot to foot. He opened his mouth to whisper through the crack, then closed it and pressed flat against the wall. Footsteps in the hall.

  “Here you go, sugar.”

  Nik thanked the nurse while she fussed for what seemed an eternity to Ice. He forced himself to wait another thirty seconds after her footfalls had faded, then he stepped back into Nik’s room. He picked up the stone and held his open palm out to Nik. “Did you know it was back?”

  The medicine man’s wide eyes and lifted eyebrows answered Ice’s question before Nik spoke. “No.” Nik reached out and took the stone. His eyes stretched wider and he frowned. “The girl. You said you didn’t give it to her.”

  “Jeni? No. I didn’t. What are you saying? She had it—used it?”

  “She used it,” Nik confirmed, looking thoughtful. “Few have the capability to use medicine stones, even when taught. The first time Jeni dreamed with the stone, I accepted it as a fluke—a coincidental culminatio
n of the right circumstances. But tonight, fully aware of what she had in her possession, she employed the stone intentionally. Apparently her elemental talent is earth-based, and strong; it’s no wonder she woke the manitou with a stone statue in her pocket.”

  Ice had expected Nik to be angry, but his short dissertation was delivered in a worrisome tone that returned the dull ache of dread to Ice’s chest. “What?” he asked, his heart beginning to thump harder as the medicine man threw back his covers and swung his feet to the floor. “What’s wrong?”

  “The stone.” Nik opened his closet and pulled out a duffle bag. “It reeks of trouble. When conveying a warning, the stone’s desire to alter coming events is powerful, especially when fueled with so much elemental energy. The effect on the dreamer can be quite persuasive.”

  A bolt of alarm shot through Ice, all his earlier thoughts rushing back. “Oh God, do you think…Jeni…the girl who—” he couldn’t finish the thought.

  “I don’t know what to think,” Nik snapped. “Throw my other things in here while I change.”

  Ice carried out his task, not seeing what he was doing, picturing instead Jeni’s earlier frustrated expression; the tears gleaming in her eyes. I’m supposed to just let you and Nik go after this…this…creature or whatever it is, and put yourselves in harm’s way when all this is my fault? She’d been so determined to help—if she had the same dream again would she have gone after the monster by herself? No, Ice answered the question with renewed anguish, not alone—she took Tyler with her. And Tyler saw Mishebeshu take her.

  Nik must’ve caught the look on Ice’s face because he put his hand on his apprentice’s shoulder. “Don’t assume the worst,” he said in a soft voice. “We don’t know what the stone showed her, we can’t speculate on Jeni’s reaction. Do you have a way to contact her?”

  Ice frowned at the time display on his phone. “Yeah, I have her number.” He hesitated; thumb hovering over her name, as he considered the cottage full of people. There was a good chance he was overreacting.

  “It’s important, Ice,” Nik prodded.

  Ice’s heart hammered in his chest as he listened to Jeni’s phone ring. He lowered the phone from his ear in disappointment. “I got her voicemail.” Then he left a quick message for Jeni to call back as soon as possible.