Page 32 of Vanished in the Mist (A Mystic Lake Mystery #2)

It was so dark, she could barely make out the rock walls around her. The cave dipped down, several feet below ground level. That explained why no one else had ever found it. No one would expect a large cave to be hidden behind a half-rotten tree and a boulder that was about six feet by six feet.

She sensed more than saw him standing beside her.

He moved past her and she heard the sound of…

keys? There was a loud click and the squeak of metal.

A moment later, he was back, his hot breath making her shiver with revulsion as he leaned in close.

The flashlight snapped on, startling her as it painted his face in light and shadow, like a creepy mask in a horror movie.

He laughed and aimed the light down at the sloping floor. “Shanna Hudson, meet Tanya Jericho.”

She swallowed, hard, trying not to gag as he pointed the flashlight at the piles of bones that had apparently been hidden here ever since Tanya had gone missing.

Except that there wasn’t a pile of bones.

There were metal floor-to-ceiling bars secured toward the back of the cave.

And in the middle was a door, open now. That’s probably the sound she’d heard earlier, his jailor’s keys as he’d unlocked it.

But it was what was behind that open door that had Shanna starting to shake again.

Dirty red hair, wide, frightened eyes blinking and turning away from the light. Painfully thin arms lifting to cover her eyes.

Tanya Jericho. She was alive.

Shanna’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. Then, as if the two of them were the best of friends and had known each other for years, she ran to the other girl. They wrapped their arms around each other and held on tight, Tanya’s tears quickly soaking through Shanna’s shirt.

The door clanged shut behind them, startling them apart.

The Phantom turned his key in the lock and chuckled.

“Enjoy each other’s company for a while.

I’ll even leave you a light.” He slid the flashlight through the bars and set it on the ground.

“I don’t want anything to spoil this day.

After all, I have big plans for Jack. Another bully will be taught a valuable lesson before the sun goes down.

And don’t you worry, Tanya. I’ll get the others.

They can’t hide forever. Just ask your new friend, Shanna.

I took care of her bully, too.” He laughed and left the cave.

As soon as he was gone, Shanna pulled the shaking young girl down to sit on the ground. “Tanya, I can’t believe it’s really you. We thought you’d drowned.”

“I almost did. Better if I had.”

Shanna pushed the girl’s hair back from her face. “Don’t say that. Don’t give up now. Somehow, by some miracle, you’ve survived for almost a year since you went missing. We’re going to get out of here.”

Tanya stared at her as if in shock. “A year? I’ve been here a whole…year?”

“You went missing almost a year ago, yes. Has he kept you here this whole time?”

She shook her head, no. “We move around. Go to cabins when it’s cold or he needs to stock up.

Or when he says I stink too bad and need a shower.

” She grimaced. “But I always end up back here.” She hung her head.

“Others have been here too. I’m always happy to see them, because I’m so lonely.

But then I feel guilty.” Her eyes brightened with unshed tears.

“He’ll kill you too. Just like he’s done with all the others. ”

Shanna stared at her in horror. “All the others? How many?”

Tanya ducked her head and shrugged, drawing her knees up and hugging them to her chest.

“Tanya?”

“Hm?”

“He’s not going to kill me. And he’s not going to kill you. We’re going to get out of here.”

Tanya sighed as if she’d heard that dozens of times and lifted her head. “Who—who are you? He made it sound like you’re someone else being bullied. You’re not one of the bullies?”

“I guess that’s all a matter of perspective.

Everyone has probably treated someone else poorly at some time in their life.

Does that make them a bully? In that moment, maybe.

But good people sometimes do bad things.

It doesn’t always mean they’re bad people.

Don’t let that Phantom guy get into your mind, twist you to his way of thinking.

Is that what he told you? That he’s, what, holding you captive for your own good?

That he’s punishing those who hurt you?”

She shrugged. “You know about them? Peyton? Her friends?”

“Some, yes. I’m a private investigator, helping your parents find you.”

Her eyes widened. “My parents? They don’t think I’m dead?”

“They…haven’t given up hope of finding you.”

“I want to go home.” The sudden longing in her voice broke Shanna’s heart.

“Then let’s get you home. Have you tried working any of these bars loose? They’re rusty and corroded.”

“The night he took me, I tried them. And for days afterward. Maybe weeks. But I gave up a long time ago.”

“The night he took you? Was that at the bonfire, when the others found you watching them and got mad?”

She hung her head as if in shame. “I just thought Peyton and I could be friends if she’d give me a chance. I was watching but didn’t know they saw me. They were really upset, said terrible things.”

“And this man, the Phantom, he saw them?”

“He lives in the woods. He watches everyone, knows everything going on around here.”

“No he doesn’t.”

Tanya frowned.

Shanna gave her a sad smile. “He’s big and scary and I’m sure he tells you all kinds of stories to scare you, to control you. But in the end, he’s just a man. We can defeat him if we work together.”

Tanya shrugged noncommittally and looked away.

“Peyton told me they pushed you under the water and you never came back up. She and her friends thought they’d killed you.”

“They almost did. My hair caught on something in the lake. I couldn’t get away. The next thing I knew I woke up here. He—the man—he saved me from them. He got me free and brought me here to—to get justice for me, and for him, too.”

Shanna stared at her, dismayed at the words tumbling out of her mouth.

She’d been brainwashed into believing the lies this Phantom told her, thinking he’d somehow saved her.

But Shanna couldn’t set her straight right now.

All she could do was keep her talking to see whether she knew anything that could help either of them get away.

She turned her attention to the bars and began twisting and pulling at them.

“You said for him too. What did you mean?”

“Those bars won’t come out,” she said. “I’ve tried all of them.”

“It’s not like we have books to read to pass the time, right? Might as well try the bars myself,” Shanna told her.

“Books.” The word was uttered in awe. “I miss books.”

The pain was back in Tanya’s voice. Maybe there was a chance of reaching her after all, of making her realize the man who was keeping her here wasn’t her savior in any way.

Shanna tugged and twisted one of the bars, wincing at the pain that shot through her cut arm. “The man who brought you here was bullied? Is that what you were telling me?”

“He was.” Tanya’s voice gained in strength as she regurgitated what he’d no doubt told her over and over, feeding her what he wanted her to believe. “He was bullied, just like me. They ruined his life. He couldn’t…focus, keep a job.”

“He’s homeless.”

“I guess. But it’s not his fault. The kids who were mean to him in school, they’re the ones who did that to him.

” She drew a shuddering breath. “They can’t bother anyone else again.

That’s what he said. And he wants to do that for me, too.

I told him everything I knew about Jack and the others.

He made plans so they won’t hurt me ever again. He’s very smart.”

“I’m sure he is.” Shanna did her best to hide her shock. The Phantom had apparently killed others, when he was younger. And now he was killing again. How many victims were there? She turned back to the bars, tugging and twisting harder now.

“Only Jack and Peyton are left now,” Tanya said. “I think. I’m not sure about Sam, if he got him yet.”

Shanna stopped and turned around to fully face her. “Got him? Tanya, did he tell you what he was going to do to each of them?”

The young girl’s face twisted with despair and tears started tracking down her face. “He told me…he said he’d teach them a lesson. I said… I said…go ahead. I was angry, upset. I never expected him to actually…do what he did. When he brought Tristan here, I—”

“Tristan? Tristan Cargill?”

She nodded and wiped at her tears. “He brought him here, made him apologize to me. I told him I forgave him. Everything was okay. When he was gone, I thought… I thought the Phantom let him go. But then Jessica was here and told me Tristan…that he’d been found in the lake.

It’s my fault. It’s all my fault.” She broke down, sobbing.

Shanna held her, trying to reassure this terrorized, confused young girl. “It’s not your fault. He’s the one hurting people. But we can stop him, together, before he hurts anyone else. We just have to work together to get out of here. Okay?”

She hiccupped, but wouldn’t meet Shanna’s gaze.

Shanna sighed. She didn’t have time for a therapy session. As much as she empathized with Tanya for whatever horrible things she’d suffered in the months since she’d been abducted, helping her get better was only going to happen if Shanna could get her out of this place to somewhere safe.

“We have to get out of here, Tanya. As quickly as possible.”

“But there isn’t any way out. Not without the keys.”

“Start pulling and twisting the bars. If we can’t bend or break one, we’ll tunnel underneath them. We’re both thin. Two, three bars would be enough. What do you say? Let’s at least try. Girl power.”

Tanya’s lower lip trembled, but she drew a deep breath and something seemed to spark in her eyes lit by the glow of the flashlight.

Hope.

“How will we dig?” Tanya asked.

Shanna picked up the flashlight. “With this. It’s made out of metal. We can use it like a shovel. But first, we have to find the weakest bars, the softest dirt. Come on. Let’s do this. Let’s go home.”