by W. J. May
Radium Halos
Book I
In the Senseless Series
By W.J. May
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2014 W.J. May
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
The Senseless Series:
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Book II – Coming 2014
Chapter 1
Zoe
I hated the mine. Like a crypt across the horizon the place always made me shudder. They had closed it down years ago and boarded up the entrance. The horror-film image still haunted me.
Tonight vehicles littered the overgrown grass field surrounding the shaft. From behind the orange and yellow flames of a bonfire, blue spirits danced about, as if the mine had allowed them to escape. Foreboding lingered in the pit of my stomach. The sound of music, chatter and laughter barely muted the feeling.
I shifted away from the fire and dropped my head against the back of lawn chair. Ominous clouds created large voids in the dotted, glittery sky. To rain or not to rain, that is the question.
Heidi waved a hand back and forth in front of my face. “Earth to Zoey. Earth to Zoey. Come back to Elliot Lake. The school bonfire is missing you.”
Even with my eyes cast toward the sky, I could hear the smile in her voice. I grinned and turned to face my best bud, one last shutter sneaking up my spine. “The mine gives me the creeps.”
Heidi leaned over on her lawn chair and nudged me with her elbow. “I heard that back in the sixties or seventies, half the miners ended up with some toxic disease from the uranium. Most likely cancer”
Rylee, my other best friend, tossed her dark hair over her shoulder and rolled her eyes. “Only you two would come up with the number one way to kill a mood. The big ‘C’.”
“It’s not like we’re going inside.” I stuck my tongue out and tried to keep the corners of my mouth from turning up. Pretending to copy Rylee’s hair toss, I swung my head dramatically and let my recently straightened and blonde strands flip around. Not near as sexy or smooth as Rylee’s. I glanced at Heidi, unable to mimic the action “I still can’t believe you cut your hair so short.”
“I donated it. Totally worth it.”
“Yeah. I’m cool with that, but it’s been long since third grade.”
Rylee stepped over and touched the back of Heidi’s hair. “The shaved part at the back is incredible.”
I lacked the nerve to do something so daring. “It’s awesome.”
“It’s what I wanted ever since I saw it in a mag,” Heidi said.
Our little pixie. The new cut took away some of her innocent look -- making her appear older. I liked it. It represented the change of our final year of high school. We were growing up.
“…but dying it platinum.” Rylee whistled. “I bet your mom had a coronary when you got home.”
Heidi grinned a tiny bit. “She was pretty ticked.” Her tiny fingers flicked the spiked front.
“Soooo…” Rylee straightened in her chair, causing her chest to stick out. Uh oh, prowl pose. Rylee’s on a hot man hunt. Rylee pressed a perfectly manicured hand against her flat belly. “Brent said there’s a new guy in town.”
I got up and moved to Brent, who’d been sitting on a tree stump quietly playing his guitar. The humungous mine silhouetted behind him. It looked like a monster’s mouth trying to swallow him and everything around it up. Stop being such a scaredy-cat. I rolled my eyes heaven-ward to clear my over active imagination and focused on Brent.
He sat with his head down while he strummed along to the music blaring from the speakers. In the fire light, his brown hair appeared sandy-blonde. As if sensing my gaze, he glanced up. A smile touched his lips, and his eyes seemed to twinkle from the reflection of the dancing flames.
“Where’s Seth?” I realized Mr. Clean, our fifth partner in crime hadn’t shown up yet.
“He’s bringing fresh meat.” Brent continued playing while the stereo music blared behind us. He managed to make his composition sound perfectly in tune, and yet totally different than the rock song playing.
“Ohhh… I love hot dogs and burgers!” Heidi sat down by Brent. “Topped off with marshmallows for s’mores, of course.”
“No, silly, not food. Nice hair crop, by the way.” Brent ruffled the back of her head. “There’s a new kid in town. He’s from England or Ireland, somewhere across the pond.”
Rylee, always gorgeous and perky, swept her black hair up in a pony and then dropped it perfectly into place. “Tall, hot, and handsome, I hope.”
“Like me, huh?” Brent laughed.
“How come no one knew he was coming?” Rylee played with her car keys, a little green dot flashing as she tapped a button on them. “This town’s so small. Everyone should’ve been talking about it over the summer holidays.” She started pacing around the fire, scouting the small crowd.
“Guess it was like a last minute decision. I’m sure you’ll find out all the details when you devour him.” Brent laughed and played two loud boom chukka bings punctuated by a clap on his guitar.
Heidi covered a smile with her hand. I faked a cough. We both knew what Rylee’s response would be.
She made her signature baby-pout face. “I don’t eat men. I simply get bored.”
“Put the lip away. It’s not gonna work.” I grinned. Only Rylee could be Rylee. “We always get stuck picking up the pieces after you’ve broken the poor guy’s heart.” I bent forward, pretending to pick up a million invisible pieces of shattered heart off the ground. Rylee had dated every boy in our class, plus a grade or two above, since starting high school. She wasn’t a tramp. Every decent guy in town just wanted to see if he might be Mr. Right. “How ‘bout tonight you give the new guy a chance to breathe? Not make him your next conquest right away?”
“Conquest?” Rylee raised her eyebrows.
“You know,” Heidi said, sarcasm dripping. “What you do all summer long with the vacationers?”
“I get it. You don’t like competing.” Rylee shrugged. “I figured you guys thought it was fun.”
“Not when we lose all the time.” I sighed. “Kinda hard to compete against your midnight black hair and perfect voluptuous body. Makes the boys of summer migrate towards you.” Heidi and I didn’t stand a chance, even when Rylee didn’t try to get them. I’m not jealous. How could you fight nature? Okay, maybe a teeny bit jealous.
A loud boom suddenly rocked the air. I jumped and whirled around to see where the noise came from. Startled at first, everyone around the fire laughed when they realized the noise came from above.
“That didn’t sound good.” Brent set his guitar in its case lying on the ground.
“Maybe it’ll just pass over. There’s no forecast for rain,” Rylee said.
Heidi pointed towards the other side of the bonfire. “Well, if it does start pouring, we’re on the
wrong side. Everyone’s going to make a mad dash for their cars, and we picked the furthest spot. We’re like a kilometre away.”
“Great.” I grimaced. Getting wet meant my straightened hair would turn curly and, worse, the dreaded frizzies.
Brent picked up his guitar case. “No way am I letting this baby get ruined. I bought it in an antique shop in Germany. Had to carry it around with me for the last two weeks in Europe.”
“We’ll be fine. It’s not gonna rain. The skies—” Rylee paused and glanced up. “Whoa, those are freakin’ huge, black clouds!”
As if to mock her, the sky lit up with a zigzag flash of lightning, immediately followed by a sonic boom that shook the ground. Large raindrops splattered down, making the fire hiss in protest. Everyone started to grab chairs and food and belongings. Over the shrieks of the girls, someone hollered to head over to the bowling alley and continue the party there.
Brent grabbed Heidi and Rylee’s arms. “Come on. We can hang out in the mine until the storm blows over. It’s closer than our cars.” He let go of the girls, shrugged his guitar case over his shoulder and took off running towards the mine.
I flinched. The idea of going into the spooky, old, abandoned mine didn’t sound like the best plan. I stood by the sizzling fire, getting drenched.
I could feel my hair curling against my neck. “Might as well join him. You all handed your cell phones into the pot for the game student council planned later on. I’m probably the only one who didn’t.” I held my hand above my eyes to shield some of the rain.
Rylee giggled. “This should be interesting.” She grabbed Heidi’s sleeve and they took off running. I followed slightly behind.
The rain came in torrents and the long grass became slippery. Despite the wetness, I upped my pace--which only made me stumble.
Lightning ripped through the sky again, illuminating the mine opening. The entrance seemed to transform into a gruesome face made of earth, ready to swallow us up. Even the trees surrounding the mine looked like hands trying to grasp and pull the doorway under. I hesitated, even though I knew it was just the shadows and light playing with my mind.
I walked the last twenty yards along the old, half-buried rail tracks and came to a halt behind Rylee and Heidi. Brent must have pried off a large slab of wood, which had boarded up the entrance to the abandoned mine. He’s desperate. He’s always careful with his hands. The missing board created a crawl space just large enough for us to get inside.
Rylee disappeared though the hole, and I caught Heidi hesitating. I looked towards where my car should be parked. Completely hidden by the rain. Noah’s ark could float by and we’d never see it.
“Go on. I’m right behind you,” I said.
She clipped though and vanished into its darkness. Dropping down, I crept through the sinister hole.
Another crackle of thunder rattled the wooden boards and echoed down into the mine. It was darker than dark inside, except for the light cast by the small opening. Through the broken gap, the last remains of the bonfire disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
“Holy crap! Where the heck did that come from?” Brent’s voice sounded further down the tunnel, and lower, as if he was on his knees.
“This place reeks like rotten eggs,” I complained. “Can’t see a thing.”
A small beam of light appeared on a nearby wall and found its way to Brent’s face. “Hey, cut that out.” He blinked and held an arm up. “Who’s doing that?”
“Me.” Rylee giggled. “My key chain’s got one of those tiny flashlights you use to find your ignition in the dark.” She flashed the light onto her scrunched-up face and made a spooky ghost sound, “Oooooooo.”
“You’re not scary.” Brent laughed. “You sound like a little kid. Maybe someone a little more mature should be holding it.”
Rylee shifted the yellow light to Heidi’s face. “It’s not much, but at least we can shine it on any bats that try to bite us. Or maybe there’re spiders and other creepy crawly things.” She moved the light around the dirt walls, zigzagging and making circles.
“Bats? Spiders?” Heidi squealed. “I’m not moving from this spot and keep those vermin away from me.” You couldn’t miss the shudder in her voice. Rylee flashed the light in Heidi’s direction again. We stood on a slope, with Brent at the lowest end.
“We’ll be fine.” Brent wrapped his arm around Heidi. “This thing’s going to blow over in a bit. Wind and rain that fast and heavy can’t last long.”
We followed Rylee’s little light as she made patterns on the dirt covered wall.
I kept quiet and shifted my weight from foot to foot. My sneakers were soaked from the wet grass, making loud sucking sounds as I moved around. My friends grumbled as they moved. Dirt walls, dirt floor and musty stinkin’ dirt roof. I scowled as cold wet filled my shoe and ran over top of it. “Great. If you guys haven’t noticed, this downpour’s created a small mud current running over my shoes. I don’t exactly fancy swimming in a river of mud down through this godforsaken mine.” Definitely not a good idea.
As if the weather mocked our predicament, another bolt of lightning lit the opening and a howl of wind blew more rain inside. The contrast after the shock of brilliant light made the mine opening even blacker. Thunder threatened to shake the dirt ceiling. An iridescent beam flashed across my eyes and then bounced off the frightened faces of my friends and slowly traced down a crack on the side wall. Four pairs of eyes followed Rylee’s little flashlight.
A blast of cold air followed by a stream of water coursed into the opening. It pushed against my calves. “Shit!” escaped from my lips before I could stop it. Freakin’ freezing! As my footing started to slip, I grabbed for whoever was close enough to help keep me from landing on my butt. My fingers found cotton and some kind of strong material. I clenched tightly, then realized I’d managed to grab the top of their jeans and my fingers now pressed against warm, taut abdominal muscles.
Strong hands gripped my arms and helped me upright. “You okay?” Brent’s hot breath brushed against my ear.
“Yup… Th-Thanks.” I swallowed. “You’re lucky I didn’t pull your pants down.”
Brent chuckled. “We’re going to have to move further in.” His hand stayed on my forearm. “Zoe’s about to go water skiing and she’ll take anyone down who’s in front of her.”
“I’m not stepping any further into this pit of darkness!” Heidi screeched. “There is NO way we’re getting lost inside this tomb. What if some rabid animal bites us?”
Lightning erupted again, followed by a loud, thick and deep shattering crack that sounded nothing like thunder. A massive crash shook the ground which made me jump. From the splashing sounds around me, I wasn’t the only one. I pivoted around towards the entrance of the mine. Rylee sloshed her way past me and flashed her little light on the dark opening.
You’ve got to be jokin’!
Instead of a small gap, where we’d crawled through, a humungous fallen tree trunk covered it. Rylee shone the light around the gap again. She paused at the bottom. Water gushed into the mine, creating more of a mud slide around our feet and legs. It ran down the slope leading further into the darkness.
Brent muttered, “Ah, shit.”
Heidi whimpered, but didn’t cry out.
“We’re trapped,” I said, my heart slamming against my ribcage. “W-What the heck are we gonna do?”
A strange howl erupted further inside the mine and echoed off the walls. Rylee dropped her flashlight. Dark turned to pitch black.
Chapter 2
“What the hell was that?” Brent asked.
“Dammit!” Rylee swore, followed by splashing water.
“What’re you doing?” I hated being in the pitch black. I knew coming in here would be a mistake.
“Trying to find my stupid keys. That flashlight better still work.” More splashing and sloshing sounds echoed through the cave. “Got ‘em!” Metal jingling together sounded like a little musical bell.
Thank g
oodness the key light came back on – dim but still beauty to my eyes. We moved closer together.
“Awwwweeeeeeehhheee!” The strange noise from before sounded again--closer this time. Ringing inside my head intensified as my heart thundered against my ribcage.
“I-Is it s-some kinda animal?” Heidi pressed closer, pulling us all into a tighter circle.
Rylee released a nervous laugh. “Probably some old miner’s ghost stuck in the mine. It’s ticked we’re in here.”
“Gimme a break.” I snapped, not meaning to. “Sorry. I don’t want to be here.”
“Awwwee—ow!”
What the—?
Brent straightened and stepped back toward a dirt wall. “No,” his head shook as he spoke, “I’m gonna freakin’ kill him.” He took a step into the sloping mine. “Seth! Get your ass up here NOW!”
There was a moment of silence followed by booming laughter. Rylee turned the light further into the mine.
Seth appeared around the darkened corner two minutes later looking like Mr. Clean in his white short-sleeve tee shirt, faded blue jeans and short cropped hair. At least the top half’s Mr. Clean. His jeans and sneakers were covered in mud.
I skipped over him to the tall, lean, dark-haired guy walking beside him. The complete opposite in dark jeans and black shirt ‘The Beatles’ emblazed with a Union jack design on his chest. Even with Rylee’s small light his eyes matched his hair, their reflection dark against the dim light. His hands were stuffed into his back pockets and as he chuckled at something Seth muttered. I heard my own breath catch.
I couldn’t stop staring. Cute, very cute. My heart sped up a few erratic beats as I wondered how his voice sounded. Then I remembered they’d just scared the crap out of us. “Seth, you’re such a dill-weed. Poor Heidi’s nearly pee-ed her pants.”