Things by Rodman Philbrick

Author:Rodman Philbrick
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781497685420
Publisher: Open Road Media Teen & Tween

22

We ran like the wind, our feet scarcely skimming the cave floor. Our hearts were bursting with the fear of being caught by people we’d known all our lives—people who had been turned into monsters.

My mind flashed with pictures of horror—my parents carrying Jessie through that dark, low tunnel to the aliens, my parents snatching me and Frasier and throwing us into the alien pool where tentacles snapped us up like fish bait.

I was so filled with fear I didn’t notice how far we’d run. But suddenly Frasier stopped and leaned against the side of the cave tunnel to catch his breath.

Only then did I notice that there was no sound except for our own heavy breathing and the low alien hum. Nobody was chasing us.

“Why bother coming after us?” asked Frasier, mopping his brow with the end of his shirt. “We’re already going where they wanted to take us.” He shivered and pulled away from the wall. “I think we’d better go back. We’ll find a way past those adults.”

But I hardly heard him. I was getting a strong feeling that Jessie was close by. And this time I felt that she could sense me, too!

“We have to go on,” I told Frasier. “Jessie’s in here somewhere. And she knows that I’m coming. She’s waiting for me.”

Frasier looked worried. “How do you know?”

“I can feel it.” I shrugged, helpless to explain. “It’s a twin thing. I can’t tell you how I know. I just know.”

Frasier swallowed hard and nodded. I would have understood if he wanted to go back but I was grateful he didn’t.

As we went on, I tried not to wonder if we would ever get out of here alive. The tunnel was round and smooth. The rock walls were swirled with colors—purple and gold and blue. It would have been beautiful if we hadn’t known the kind of creatures that made it.

The hum seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. It crept under our skin and seeped into our blood until it seemed like our insides vibrated. I was afraid it would take over our brains, swallow us, and spit out the human part, like it had with our parents.

But the pull from Jessie was strong. I concentrated on that, trying to shut out the hum that threatened to turn my brain into static.

“Nick,” Frasier said suddenly. “I just had a bad thought.”

“What?”

“Maybe it’s not Jessie in your head,” he said slowly. “What if it’s the aliens, pretending to be Jessie so they can lure us in here?”

A shiver traveled down my spine. “NO,” I said, louder than I meant to. “It is her. I’m sure.”

I might have tried to explain it better but just then we came to a fork in the tunnel. “This wasn’t here before!” I said.

Frasier cautiously looked down the new tunnel. It glowed faintly and was the same smooth rock as the one we were walking in. “So these slimy alien creeps created a new tunnel. That’s an excellent reason not to go down there.

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