Forget the Forgotten

Chapter Twenty

Veronica screamed during the whole fall. Her arms swirled through the air like flails and her brown hair fluttered above her head. She bounced roughly off Nick. He couldn't catch her properly, but he broke her fall. Veronica landed right at Amelia's feet.

She helped them up.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I think so," Nick replied. "Ronnie?"

"Me too," she said.

They stood there for a moment, trying to catch their breath. The torches were still burning faintly - in the places where they had been dropped. Four tiny flickering lights in the darkness.

The remains of the ladder scattered around them. Pieces of useless metal. The next rung, still anchored, hung high above their heads. Inaccessibly high.

*That's it,* Amelia thought. *We're done for.*

"Totally screwed," mumbled Nick.

"You can say that again," Veronica replied, kicking away a hidden piece of metal.

"I meant us, not the ladder," he replied dryly, picking up the torches. "Any brainstorms on what we should do now?"

"We can keep calling for help," Veronica suggested. "Mr. Grey will be looking for us by now, I'm sure."

"Forget it," Nick said. "If he was anywhere near here, he would have heard us by now. He probably thinks we went home. I bet he left a long time ago."

The thought of the empty school above their heads made Amelia very sick. It was Saturday. For the next two days, no one would show up here. And there was no way they could have survived until then. She bent down and picked up a torch. She was a little reassured to be holding it in her hands. Her eyes wandered across the room. Nothing new. Trash. Graffiti on the walls.

"We only have one chance," said Amelia. "We have to look for another exit. We have no other choice."

"We've been down here for hours, searching one tunnel after another," muttered Veronica. "We could spend days on end without finding a way out."

"We don't have hours, let alone days," growled Nick. "Still - if there's another way out, we have to find it, and fast. This thing will be back soon."

For a few moments they remained in a tense silence. Amelia could think of nothing to say.

"Do you believe in evil spirits?" Nick finally asked.

Amelia and Veronica stared at him.

"What's so wrong with that?" Nick said. "That brick wall flew in our faces like a bomb. I thought it would rip my head off. And then this red mist came out of the hole."

"And you think it was an evil spirit?" Veronica asked in a desperate voice.

Nick shrugged. "What else could it be?"

"I don't know what it is," said Amelia. "In any case, it's alive. It can grab you. I felt it with my own body. And I can't stop thinking about the fact that we let this thing loose."

"What are you talking about?" snorted Veronica, annoyed.

"Think about it," replied Amelia. "It was behind the wall. If we had just walked past it, it would still be locked up. It was waiting to come out. The moment we loosened the brick, the thing broke through the wall."