Chapter Eight – Part 1
Allison felt better than usual when the last bell rang on Monday. Despite her preoccupation over the weekend, her obsessive streak had managed to pull some of her classes out of the gutter. Even Mr. Franklin, her physics teacher, smiled at her as she filed out of his class.
She had thought physics was a lost cause.
Physics was the last class of the day. Afterward, she went straight from the science wing to the school courtyard.
The original high school was an H-shaped building and the science wing had been built across the top of the H, turning it into a squared-off A. Flanking the science wing were the south pool and the new gym, giving the top of the A much broader shoulders than the rest of the building.
The courtyard filled the top of the A and now that school was over it, in turn, was filled with students.
Allison came out into the courtyard as usual. And, as usual, she walked past bike-racks and started under one of two short tunnels beneath the science wing. After school she always met Macy at the McDonald's across the street.
She swung her backpack, whistling something to herself. Even the ominous echoes the tunnel threw back at her didn't depress her. She hadn't seen Chuck around all day, and that lifted her spirits more than anything. After what she'd heard about the scene at the library, it was a good thing not to run into Chuck.
She walked along the left wall of the tunnel, whistles echoing around her, running her hand along the brick. Bright sunlight filled both ends of the tunnel, cloaking the interior with shadow. The noise from the courtyard behind, and the traffic-filled street beyond, seemed far away.
She stopped halfway to the street. A kid with a iPod was standing at the head of the tunnel, and seemed to be staring at her. The kid was too young to be in high school. But there was something about the kid's stare that seemed familiar—
Oh Jeez, the library.
The kid had been in the gray van that had nearly run over her. It was the same sandy hair, and the same merciless gaze. Allison almost said something but, just then, someone from behind sped past her on a skateboard.
She nearly dropped her backpack as she flattened herself against the wall.
"Sorry," said the skateboarder without slowing down.
Allison clutched her backpack to her chest and exhaled. Her heart was racing. Little high strung today, aren't we?
As she calmed down she suddenly became aware of two things; the kid with the iPod had vanished, leaving her alone in this dark tunnel; and she was leaning next to a brown-painted fire-door.
The door was open, slightly.
She'd barely had time to notice the door was ajar before Chuck reached out of it and grabbed her. She was so shocked that she didn't even think to scream. Her backpack spilled on the ground as he pulled her inside the door. She was frozen up until the time she heard the door chunk shut behind them.
Then she screamed.
Chuck slammed her against the cinder-block wall and covered her mouth.
The echoes of her aborted cry for help continued forever.
