Read Online Ghost Hunters by Sam Witt - Free Book Online Page B

blood running down her throat. Her nose was distorted, a mushy flap of broken meat so swollen and clogged with blood it was useless for breathing. She turned her good eye to Dick and cleared her throat. “I’ll show ya. Don’t hurt me no more.”
    Dick held onto her hair, ready to bash her head against the wall. She’d killed one of his friends, right in front of him, he had to keep reminding himself of that. He was in charge here, the freak had to what he said. He didn’t care that she looked like a filthy teenager with bad genetics, she was a monster.
    She leaned against the wall and pushed with her legs to stand. Dick helped her along by pulling her hair, hoisting her onto her feet and tearing out little chunks of her scalp at the same time. “I’m right behind you,” he said, “and if you fuck with us, I will put a bullet right through the back of your deformed skull.”
    The girl tried to nod, but his grip on her hair stopped her. Dick saw the last of the fight leech out of the girl, she took a shuffling step, shoulders slumped, head bowed. He released her hair and followed her into the darkness.
    Randall kept the light trained on them, but the tunnels were narrower where she led. The girl kept stopping and clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth.
    Clickclickclick.
    The sound brought Troy’s death rushing back and Dick felt his finger closing around the pistol’s trigger. He wanted to put the pistol against the back of her head and pull the trigger.
    Amy’s hand on his shoulder snapped him out of his rage. She leaned in close, a cloud of her bubble gum breath engulfing Dick’s head. “This could be a trap,” she whispered.
    Dick shook his head. He half turned to Amy and said, “She’s too hurt, too scared. She knows if she tries anything, she gets a bullet to the brain.”
    Amy squeezed Dick’s shoulder. “What if she doesn’t care?”
    Dick tried to ignore his co-host’s words and focus on following the girl. She led them through one turn after another, clicking as she went, moving with confidence despite her injury. Randall was huffing and puffing at the rear, struggling to keep the light on the girl. She was at home here, used to moving through the darkness, familiar with every turn and twist in the passages. Where Dick found himself slipping on puddles of seeping water or stubbing his toes on rocky outcroppings, the girl dodged around obstacles without effort. This was her home. Here, he was the intruder.
    Clickclickclick .
    The girl ducked inside a short tunnel, and Dick managed to bang the top of his head against the rock before he could follow. He heard Amy and Randall struggling behind him, grunting and cursing as they tried to get into the tunnel. The light from Randall’s camera was useless here, blocked by Amy and Dick’s body so it shed no light past them at all. Even Dick’s headlamp only shone far enough ahead to show him his next few steps before it, too, was blocked by the body of their captive guide.
    Clickclickclick.
    Tickticktick.
    Dick’s stomach dropped. That sound hadn’t come from the girl ahead of him. Its echoes had come from somewhere behind them.
    Tickticktick.
    The girl dropped into the darkness ahead of Dick, vanishing as if she’d been swallowed by the floor. He slowed, afraid of running into a trap, nervous sweat pouring down his back. He could feel something behind them, hunting them.
    Tickticktick.
    Randall shouted in surprise, and Amy crashed into Dick’s back. He braced himself, trying not to be thrown forward into whatever hole the girl had dropped into. Amy was screaming, shoving at his back even as he screamed back for her to stop, just stop, so he could find out what was ahead of them.
    Tickticktick.
    A heavier impact drove Amy forward, shoving Dick off his feet. The tunnel sloped away at a steep angle, and he rolled down it, elbows and knees smacking off the stony floor as he curled into a ball to avoid a skull-crushing landing. He bounced hard