Page 73 of Into The Rabbit Hole
It really was a long drop, for sure, so he’d need to becareful.
“Watch your step, Wade,” Wescautioned.
Wade did. Just like before, he grabbed onto a rock that came through and climbed across thatway.
“How dare you cheatme?”
He suddenly heard Zeek’s voice. Wade wasn’t sure where he was, but his voice echoed around him. “I’ll teach you, WadeVanderville.”
Shit, the first blade pierced his arm. Wade held the flashlight up to see the vague outline of several arrow-like blades raining down on him. One went straight into his hand and made him lose hisbalance.
Before he knew it, he slipped andfell.
* * *
Regina
* * *
“You should have turned back,”Brian argued. He’d been trying to tell her this since they got here, but she wouldn’tlisten.
Originally she just thought they’d come here for Ben, and had said to him that Ben wasn’t his responsibility. But now that she knew both Taylor and Chloe were here, she was besides herself with worry and was determined to get to them the minute she was ableto.
This damn place was like a maze and she got the feeling that they were wandering around incircles.
She also got the feeling that Richard—Aaron—knewthat.
God almighty. She couldn’t believe that Richard was Aaron. When she explained that part to Brian, he wasenraged.
“I’m not turning back, Brian, so stop asking me. We have to keep going together,” she retorted. Regina couldn’t believe he expected her to listen. Then what would she do, go back to the car or something and sitthere?
No way. She stopped abruptly and looked around. He stopped, too. This was insane, where were they? She’d assumed that where Aaron wanted them to go wasn’t that far from where they’d been. But yet, they’d walked around twisted paths that she swore led them down farther into the mines. One section had gone up, but that was the only ascent they’d come across. She just didn’t know if they were going the right way. Thank God they’d had the good sense to bring flashlights. Actually, that was Brian’s idea. He’d taken one look at the address, saw it was literally the mountain, and knew in an instant that they must have been going inside themines.
How was Wade doing? She’d wondered that from the second she’d seen him. In that moment, she saw the essence of this whole trap takefruition.
“I don’t know if we’re going the right way,” she stated, running her hands through her sweaty hair. It was so hot in here and she was hardly dressed for theoccasion.
“It’s the only way we know,” Brian replied. He was hot, too. His hair was wet with sweat and slicked down to the back of his neck. “We have to just keepgoing.”
That was literally all they could do. Keep going. Keep pushing forward. Keepmoving.
So shedid.
Aaron had a bomb. She wondered what they’d do about that. No part of this excursion felt like he was going to allow them to leave alive. She felt that no matter what they did, the end result was for them all to die in the worst waypossible.
Again she wondered how Wade was doing. All by himself on the other side of the mountain, where only God knows what he must be goingthrough.
The earth suddenly gave beneath them and the walls shook. It felt like that time when she went to India and there was anearthquake.
Brian took her hand at the same time she saw the floor behind them crumbling away, as if something was picking itapart.
“Run!” Brian yelled and tugged her into motion. They ran as the floor caught up with them, but then it wasn’t just the floor—the ceiling and wall above them were crumbling away,too.
“There, let’s go down that path,” she directed, pointing down a narrowpassage.
Brian pulled her along as quickly as he could. However, he wasn’t quick enough. A cascade of rocks came tumbling down on them, separating them. She let go of his hand as a rock hit her on her head, and in that moment she lost him. Before her, now, was a solid wall ofrocks.
“Regina!” Brian called to her from the otherside.