Boys' Night (Way) Out: A Novella in the Alastair Stone Chronicles by R. L. King

Author:R. L. King [King, R. L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Magespace Press
Published: 2020-01-13T00:00:00+00:00

9

It was hard to tell from the whisper, but it might have been the male bartender. “What’s found us?”

“I knew it would, if we didn’t hurry. You guys are moving too slow! It’s already gotten in. It’s in the last car. We might still have time, but we have to move.”

“What’s gotten in?” I yelled.

“Hurry!”

“Turn on the lights!”

“Can’t. It will find us. Come on—I’m serious, you don’t have much time left at all. Come to my voice.”

I looked around, but couldn’t see anything through the pitch-blackness. “Connor? You still here?”

“Yeah.” He sounded freaked out again. “Let’s do what he says. I hear something—don’t you? And I can smell it getting closer.”

I couldn’t hear a damn thing, and I sure as hell couldn’t smell anything except the wine, but I trusted Connor’s senses. “Yeah. Okay.” And louder: “Talk to me so I can find you!”

“I’m up here. By the door. Hurry!”

I stumbled forward, expecting to trip over one of the tables, but I couldn’t feel them anymore. Where there had been thick carpet under my feet, it now felt like hard floor. How could that be? I hadn’t even moved yet.

“Hurry!” the whispered voice urged again. It sounded even more stressed. I heard heavy breathing ahead of me.

I reached out a hand, flailing around, trying to touch either the source of the voice or the wall, but didn’t encounter either. Suddenly, the feeling ripped through me again that I was alone. “Connor?”

“Right behind you. Keep moving.” He touched my shoulder—or at least something did. Outside, I thought I heard a low growling, but it might just have been my mind playing tricks on me.

“This way,” whispered the voice. It seemed farther away now, like whoever it was had stepped back.

“Stay still! I’m trying to find you!”

“I’m right here. You’re doing fine. Just keep moving.”

Surely I must have reached the front of the car by now. I’d been standing about halfway back when the lights had gone out, and I was certain I’d moved at least that far, even as slowly as I was stumbling. I glanced sideways, trying to see anything out the windows, but the darkness was total.

“Keep going,” said the voice. It sounded even farther away than before.

I staggered forward, hands out in front of me, but still I didn’t touch the wall, the door, or another person. “Where the hell are we?” I yelled.

“Almost there. Just through here. Be careful and duck your head.”

I didn’t even bother asking, even though I’d seen the door leading to the next car and it wasn’t any lower than the other one. With Connor’s hand on my shoulder, I dropped into a crouch and stepped forward.

Something slammed shut behind me—it sounded like the kind of heavy metal hatch you’d find on a submarine, not the one on the train—and then something else hit it hard from the other side. I jerked upright again, but still couldn’t see anything around me.

Ahead, someone let out a loud whoosh of air. “There. Thank goodness—we made it.

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