Read Online The Believers (The Breeders Series - Book 2) by Katie French - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Katie French
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run around the crevasse wall in a jagged slope like a makeshift spiral staircase. There's no visible bottom. The sulfuric smells waft from its depths so strong it makes my eyes water.
“What're we doing here?” I ask. Part of me wonders if she's going to shove us forward and be done with us. I grip Ethan's hand tighter.
Mage steps closer and the light spills into the hole. Still no bottom.
“This is the Temple of the Spirits. Or the hole as some call it. We aren't supposed to come near here or enter without the Messiah's permission. To do so means banishment. There will be no pardons.” She repeats her memorized warning and then swings the lantern back to look at our faces. “Freaky, huh?” A smile finally breaks out on her face. “Like Alice's rabbit hole.” She leans over. “Down, down, down.”
“Who's Alice?” I ask, edging closer. A sick unease is crawling up my limbs. I don't like this place at all. “Why you showing us this if it's forbidden?”
“Cause no one else will come with me,” she says, peering down, a strange wonder on her face. “I think there's something weird going on down there.”
Goosebumps run up my arms as she says it. I step back and take Ethan's hand. “We should go.”
“Yeah,” she says, dimming the lantern light until its rays die. I stare into the blackness and pray my eyes adjust soon. I don't like being in the dark with my back to that awful pit.
“Well, back to the food court. Stay quiet now.” Mage's voice trails away. Ethan, Clay, and Rayburn follow. I'm about to go when a small noise catches my attention. Some sort of low, humming sound. It's coming from the hole. I can't see the black void anymore, but I stand stock-still and wait. Finally, I hear it again. A low, desperate moaning.
Human moaning.
CHAPTER SEVEN
I stand in the darkness, my heart thudding into my ears.
“Riley?”
It's Clay's voice. I'm about to answer him when a very large shadow appears out of the dark and grabs my arm.
“What're you doing back here?” a man asks, his voice thick with anger. His breath is more rancid than the sulfur smell wafting up from the pit.
I pull back. “I’m lost.”
He shakes me and my head snaps back, a pain twanging in my neck. I pull away, but his hand is a vise.
I recognize him now, even in the dark: the bandaged nose framing two black eyes, the same red lace-up sneakers. Stephen draws me close, heat radiating off his chest. He’s sporting a different tank-top. This one is an American Flag. “You listen to me,” he growls. “If I find you back here again, I'll make things very unpleasant for your family. You want your brother on solar panel duty outside? I hear it's going to be 108 today.”
I can't see his face, but I know he's smiling viciously. He loves this. I say nothing and will myself not to do something crazy. He tugs me forward, down the dark hallway, and into the light trickling in from the food court. Mage and the boys stand at one of the tables with worry on their faces.
Clay strides up, his eyes hardening as he looks at Stephen's hand on my arm. “Riley, you okay?”
“Fine,” I say, glancing at Stephen. “I got lost.”
“Keep this one in your sight at all times,” Stephen says to Mage. Then he points a meaty finger back toward the buzzing food court. Mage leads us in and sits us at a table near the center. The sun bores down from the open ceiling. Glass windows above must have insulated this area from the heat and sun, but that glass is long gone. Tarps and canvas sheets shade the tables from direct light, but it’s still hot. I don't mind it. Anything to get away from that creepy cavern.
Stephen slams a giant container of peas down on the table. “Shell them.” Then he wanders to a booth and begins a conversation with a pretty blond girl.
I take a pea and pinch it between my fingers. Rubbing the crisp green pods between my hands is strangely soothing. I lean in. “We gotta figure out how to get the hell outta
“What're we doing here?” I ask. Part of me wonders if she's going to shove us forward and be done with us. I grip Ethan's hand tighter.
Mage steps closer and the light spills into the hole. Still no bottom.
“This is the Temple of the Spirits. Or the hole as some call it. We aren't supposed to come near here or enter without the Messiah's permission. To do so means banishment. There will be no pardons.” She repeats her memorized warning and then swings the lantern back to look at our faces. “Freaky, huh?” A smile finally breaks out on her face. “Like Alice's rabbit hole.” She leans over. “Down, down, down.”
“Who's Alice?” I ask, edging closer. A sick unease is crawling up my limbs. I don't like this place at all. “Why you showing us this if it's forbidden?”
“Cause no one else will come with me,” she says, peering down, a strange wonder on her face. “I think there's something weird going on down there.”
Goosebumps run up my arms as she says it. I step back and take Ethan's hand. “We should go.”
“Yeah,” she says, dimming the lantern light until its rays die. I stare into the blackness and pray my eyes adjust soon. I don't like being in the dark with my back to that awful pit.
“Well, back to the food court. Stay quiet now.” Mage's voice trails away. Ethan, Clay, and Rayburn follow. I'm about to go when a small noise catches my attention. Some sort of low, humming sound. It's coming from the hole. I can't see the black void anymore, but I stand stock-still and wait. Finally, I hear it again. A low, desperate moaning.
Human moaning.
CHAPTER SEVEN
I stand in the darkness, my heart thudding into my ears.
“Riley?”
It's Clay's voice. I'm about to answer him when a very large shadow appears out of the dark and grabs my arm.
“What're you doing back here?” a man asks, his voice thick with anger. His breath is more rancid than the sulfur smell wafting up from the pit.
I pull back. “I’m lost.”
He shakes me and my head snaps back, a pain twanging in my neck. I pull away, but his hand is a vise.
I recognize him now, even in the dark: the bandaged nose framing two black eyes, the same red lace-up sneakers. Stephen draws me close, heat radiating off his chest. He’s sporting a different tank-top. This one is an American Flag. “You listen to me,” he growls. “If I find you back here again, I'll make things very unpleasant for your family. You want your brother on solar panel duty outside? I hear it's going to be 108 today.”
I can't see his face, but I know he's smiling viciously. He loves this. I say nothing and will myself not to do something crazy. He tugs me forward, down the dark hallway, and into the light trickling in from the food court. Mage and the boys stand at one of the tables with worry on their faces.
Clay strides up, his eyes hardening as he looks at Stephen's hand on my arm. “Riley, you okay?”
“Fine,” I say, glancing at Stephen. “I got lost.”
“Keep this one in your sight at all times,” Stephen says to Mage. Then he points a meaty finger back toward the buzzing food court. Mage leads us in and sits us at a table near the center. The sun bores down from the open ceiling. Glass windows above must have insulated this area from the heat and sun, but that glass is long gone. Tarps and canvas sheets shade the tables from direct light, but it’s still hot. I don't mind it. Anything to get away from that creepy cavern.
Stephen slams a giant container of peas down on the table. “Shell them.” Then he wanders to a booth and begins a conversation with a pretty blond girl.
I take a pea and pinch it between my fingers. Rubbing the crisp green pods between my hands is strangely soothing. I lean in. “We gotta figure out how to get the hell outta
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