Escape from Grimstone Manor (Monsterious, Book 1) by Matt McMann

Author:Matt McMann [McMann, Matt]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2023-05-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

After making sure there were no creatures lurking nearby, they slipped into the dark corridor. To the left, they could see the distant torchlight of the mummy chamber. Taylor led them in the opposite direction, back to the wide passageway, then around a corner heading toward the coffin chamber. Down the sloping passage ahead of them, candles flickered, casting grim shadows on one of the skull columns.

When they drew close to the column, Taylor stopped to check the passageway ahead for movement. As Zari shifted to look past Mateo, her shoulder bumped into the wall. Except it didn’t feel like stone. It was softer.

A hand dropped heavily on her shoulder. A hand wrapped in thick bandages. She shrieked and tried to jerk away, but its grip was too strong. The movement revealed a blue gem glowing softly in the darkness. Mateo froze, gaping up at the mummy, his knife trembling in his hand.

Taylor pushed past him and swung her hooked blade at the mummy’s outstretched arm. The sharp metal sliced completely through the withered wrist. With a wavering groan, the mummy pulled back its dry stump, leaving the severed hand still clinging to Zari’s shoulder.

“Urgh, gross!” Zari cried. She plucked it off and threw it to the ground.

As they rushed forward into the candlelight, a skeleton jumped out from behind the skull column with its sword raised.

“Duck!” Zari yelled, then dove to the ground, followed by Mateo. The skeleton swept the weapon in a wide arc, clipping Taylor’s ponytail as she threw herself to the floor.

The skeleton stepped toward her and lifted its sword for another strike. Taylor kicked out and caught the bony warrior in the back of the knee. Its leg buckled, and the skeleton collapsed. Scrambling to her feet, she snarled, “Nobody touches my ponytail.”

They bolted around the skull column and down the sloping passageway toward Hezekiah’s chamber.

When they reached the end of the passage, they cautiously peered around the corner into the vast coffin room. The torches Zari had lit earlier shone brightly. Standing near the doorway, as if they’d been waiting for the trio, were a pair of mummies. With a wail, the monsters lurched forward, arms outstretched.

“Go back!” cried Mateo.

They retreated up the passage with Mateo in the lead. The blue gems on the mummies’ chests glowed as they shuffled after them.

Mateo clicked on his flashlight, then came to an abrupt halt. Zari and Taylor slid to a stop behind him.

The skeleton raced toward them down the passageway.

They were trapped.

“What do we do?” asked Mateo with an edge of hysteria in his voice.

“Fight!” Taylor yelled. Brandishing her hooked blade, she leaped past him to take on the skeleton.

Trying to draw courage from Taylor, Zari held out her knife toward the advancing mummies. Mateo’s panicked breathing accelerated, and soon he began hyperventilating. With his back against the rough wall, he slid slowly to the ground between his friends.

The air filled with the clank of metal on metal from Taylor’s duel with the skeleton. The nearest mummy stepped into the wavering beam of Mateo’s flashlight.

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