Voices – Page 50
“How far do you think this thing runs?” Jen asked.
They had been following the subway tracks for what seemed like miles, with no end in sight. The tracks were rusty and covered in dust, obviously unused, but with the exception of an occasional dark patch, old fluorescent lights still glowed beneath their cracked and yellowed casings. Many had failed, many more flickered, but there was still enough light to follow the tracks by.
Brian shrugged. “We’ve walked at least a mile. Gotta be. Who knows how far it goes? John, this is like an expressway. You see all the branches? I bet you can get into all kinds of places from this tunnel.”
John was walking slightly behind, head down, concentrating. He looked up at Brian and said, “They told us to come this way for a reason. One of these tunnels leads to him.”
The ‘they’ in question had been a group of homeless people who were none too happy about having their space invaded. Ignoring the grimaces, John had asked them if they had seen anyone or anything strange in the tunnels. No response had been forthcoming until he pulled out a twenty. That had earned a grudging “go that way” and a couple of pointing fingers.
“How do you know?” Jen asked. “How do you know that Dr. Jackal’s ever been here?”
“Call it a hunch,” John said. “I’m not hearing specific voices, but I can feel… something.”
“The tone of your voice doesn’t fill me with overwhelming confidence, John,” Brian said. “Not that I don’t believe you, but you don’t sound happy.”
John shook his head. “It’s bad,” he said. “It’s bad, and it’s getting worse. We’re almost there.”
“Where?” asked Jen.
“There.” John pointed. Up ahead, perhaps a quarter of a mile, they could see a tunnel branching off to the left, a black hole leading to the unknown.
“Looks cozy,” Brian said.
“We have to go in there?” Jen asked.
“We do.” John had caught up with them while they were talking, and now took the lead. They followed him in silence. Brian glanced at Jen, questioning, and she returned the look, shrugging. John was the leader, whether he liked it or not. This was his party, and neither of them could do much more than follow along.
The tunnel’s darkness required them to bring out the lighters again. John’s Zippo was guttering, running low on fuel. Jen’s disposable lighter threw off less of a glow, but seemed to still be going strong.
“I hope this doesn’t go too far. John, do you know how far this goes?”
John turned to look back at her, and Jen was startled by how pale and haggard he looked. “No,” he said. “Sorry.”
“Jesus, John, are you okay?”
John trudged forward, holding his lighter out. His hand was shaking. “The girl,” he said. “The one from Jersey. She’s… I can hear her. Screaming. Her mouth is bound, and he’s dragging her by her feet, but in her head she’s screaming and praying to God.”
Neither Jen nor Brian had anything to say to this, so they walked in silence again for a time. The tunnel opened out into a cylindrical area, several stories tall. A faint glow from lights near the top allowed enough visibility to make out a spiral staircase leading around the edge of the room, up two stories to a door.
“God didn’t answer her,” John said. He closed his lighter with a snap and turned to face Jen and Brian.
“There’s someone else here.”
