The Hollow Dead by Darcy Coates

Author:Darcy Coates [Coates, Darcy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Keira kept her second sight up and active as they continued to pace through the abandoned park. The world was growing darker, entering that uncomfortable stretch between twilight and night, but they didn’t dare use their flashlights.

Any kind of light would be like a beacon to the guards outside. They’d have to explore by moonlight alone.

Large stretches of the park had been left bare, ostensibly for rides that had never materialised. They passed by a row of stalls that might have been intended for food, next to a courtyard that had never had its seating installed.

They passed bathrooms and ducked inside to confirm they were empty. They paused underneath the partially fallen rollercoaster. Rusted metal bars jutted out at crooked angles far above their heads, threatening to plunge free and pierce them through at any moment. They moved on quickly.

Two large restaurants had been built in the park. They stopped by the first. Unlike the showroom, its doors had been installed, and they were sealed closed with a chain.

Large windows overlooked a cobblestone square. Strips of blue tape crossed the windows in an X shape, an effort to keep them intact but without fully blocking them. Zoe pressed her flashlight against the glass and clicked it on, and Zoe and Mason squeezed in either side of her to see.

The glass was grimy. It speckled dark spots through the beam, making it harder to see distinct shapes beyond. Keira could make out a dusty, tiled floor, a service counter that had never had its top installed, and a dining room that was empty of seating but filled with two-foot-square metal boxes.

“More storage,” she whispered, her heart sinking. “More remains they wanted to hide.”

Zoe turned her light off again and pulled back. “This might be the case for every large building we go to. We still have the other restaurant and the hotel, plus a handful of midsized buildings.”

“We should check them all at least,” Mason said. “If Keira thinks there’s something more hidden here, I’m inclined to believe her.”

They moved away from the restaurant and pressed deeper into the park. True night had set in. Clouds smothered the moon, and even with her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Keira found it nearly impossible to see.

Mist swirled around her legs. Distant shapes teased at the edges of her vision. The roof of the hotel, hidden at the park’s farthest reaches. The Ferris wheel. And the massive walls that encircled the park, containing them. Trapping them.

They passed through a long street that might have been intended for carnival games. Another bathroom, empty. Plants grew thick and tangled past it, and they had to backtrack to weave around them.

Something kept pulling Keira’s eyes towards the wheel. She couldn’t understand why. At first she’d assumed it was just natural—it dominated the skyline—but when she found herself staring at it for the fourth time, she realised there had to be something more drawing her to it.

“This way,” she said, crossing behind rows of scaffolding that had been left for a partially complete building.

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