27 - A Night in Terror Tower (3 page)

“Which one? Which one?” Eddie repeated.

“I don’t think it matters,” I told him. “I mean, they both lead
down
—right?”

I motioned for him to follow me. “Come on. I think this is the one we took
when we were climbing up.”

I took one step down.

Then stopped.

I heard footsteps. Heavy footsteps. Coming
up
the stairs.

Eddie grabbed my hand. “Who’s that?” he whispered.

“Probably Mr. Starkes,” I told him. “He must be coming back up to get us.”

Eddie breathed a long sigh of relief.

“Mr. Starkes—is that you?” I called down.

Silence. Except for the approaching footsteps.

“Mr. Starkes?” I called in a tiny voice.

When the dark figure appeared on the stairway below, I could see at once that
it wasn’t our tour guide.

“Oh!” I uttered a startled cry as the huge man in the black cape stepped into
view.

His face was still hidden in darkness. But his eyes glowed like burning coals
as he glared up at Eddie and me from under the black, wide-brimmed hat.

“Is—is this the way down?” I stammered.

He didn’t reply.

He didn’t move. His eyes burned into mine.

I struggled to see his face. But he kept it hidden in the shadow of the hat,
pulled low over his forehead.

I took a deep breath and tried again. “We got separated from our group,” I
said. “They must be waiting for us. Is—is this the way down?”

Again, he didn’t reply. He glared up at us menacingly.

He’s so big, I realized. He blocks the entire stairway.

“Sir—?” I started. “My brother and I—”

He raised a hand. A huge hand, covered in a black glove.

He pointed up at us.

“You will come with me now,” he growled.

I just stared at him. I didn’t understand.

“You will come now,” he repeated. “I do not want to hurt you. But if you try
to escape, I will have no choice.”

Eddie let out a sharp gasp.

My mouth dropped open as the man edged closer.

And then I realized who he was. “You’re a guard here—right?” I asked.

He didn’t reply.

“You—you scared me,” I said, letting out a shrill laugh. “I mean, that
costume and everything. You work here—right?”

He stepped forward, bringing his black-gloved hands up in front of him,
moving the fingers.

“I’m sorry we’re here so late,” I continued. “We lost our group. I guess you
want to close up so you can go home.”

He took another step closer. His eyes flared darkly. “You know why I am
here,” he snarled.

“No. I don’t. I—” My words were cut off as he grabbed me by the shoulder.

“Hey—let
go
of her!” Eddie cried.

But the caped man grabbed my brother, too.

His gloved fingers dug sharply into my shoulder. “Hey—!” I cried out in
pain.

He backed us against the cold stone wall.

I caught a glimpse of his face, a hard, angry face. A long, sharp nose, thin
lips twisted in a snarl. And the eyes. The cold, glowing eyes.

“Let us go!” Eddie demanded bravely.

“We have to meet our group!” I told the man shrilly. “We’re leaving now. You
can’t keep us here!”

He ignored our pleas. “Do not move,” he uttered in a low growl. “Stand there.
Do not try to escape.”

“Listen, sir—if we’ve done something wrong…” My voice trailed off.

I watched him reach into the folds of his black cape. He struggled for a
moment, then pulled something out.

At first I thought they were rubber balls. Three of them.

But as he clicked them together, I realized he was holding smooth, white
stones.

What is going on here?
I asked myself.

Is he crazy?

Crazy and dangerous?

“Listen, sir—” Eddie started. “We have to go now.”

“Don’t move!” the caped man screamed. He shoved his cape violently behind him. “Don’t move—and don’t make a sound.
You have my final warning!”

Eddie and I exchanged frightened glances. My back against the stone wall, I
tried edging slowly toward the nearest stairway.

Mumbling to himself, the man concentrated on the three smooth white stones.
He piled one on top of the other.

He let out an angry cry as one of the stones fell to the floor. It bounced
once and slid across the smooth floor.

This is our chance! I thought.

I shoved Eddie toward the other stairwell. “Run!” I screamed.

“Do not move!” the man bellowed, grabbing up the stone. He had a booming
voice that thundered off the stone walls. “I warned you. You cannot escape me!”

My brother’s eyes were bugging out of his head. But he didn’t have to be told
twice to run!

“Stop!” the caped man bellowed. The booming voice followed us as we scrambled
down, stumbling on the twisting, curving stairs, our hands trailing against the
cold stone of the tower wall.

Down, down.

Turning so fast, my head spun. But I squinted into the dim light and forced
myself not to be dizzy, not to fall, not to give in to the terror that rose up
over me.

My camera fell out of my coat pocket. It clattered down the stairs. I didn’t
stop to pick it up. It was broken, anyway.

“Keep going,” I urged Eddie. “Keep going! We’re almost out of here!”

Or were we?

The climb down seemed so much longer.

Our sneakers slapped against the stone steps. But even louder were the heavy
footsteps of the caped man behind us. His bellowed cries boomed down the narrow
tower, echoed all around us—as if we were being chased by a
hundred
frightening men instead of one.

Who is he?

Why is he chasing us?

Why is he so angry?

The questions bounced through my mind as I scrambled frantically down,
following the twisting stairs.

No time for answers.

The big, gray door rose up in front of us before we could stop.

Eddie and I both ran right into it.

“The exit! We—we’re here!” I stammered. I could hear the rumble of the
man’s footsteps above us on the stairway. Coming closer. Closer.

We’re out!
I thought.
We’re safe!

Eddie shoved the door hard with his shoulder. Shoved it again.

He turned to me, his chin quivering in fright. “It’s locked. We’re locked
in!”

“No!” I screamed. “Push!”

We both lowered our shoulders and pushed with all our strength.

No.

The door didn’t budge.

The man lumbered closer. So close, we could hear his muttered words.

We’re trapped, I realized.

He’s caught us.

Why does he want us? What is he going to do?

“One more try,” I managed to choke out.

Eddie and I turned back to the door.

“Stay there!” the caped man commanded.

But Eddie and I gave the door one more desperate shove.

And it finally moved, scraping the stone floor as it slid open partway.

Eddie sucked in his breath and pushed through the opening first. Then I
squeezed through.

Panting hard, we shoved the door shut behind us. The door had a long metal
bar on the outside. I slid it all the way, bolting it. Locking the caped man
inside.

“We’re safe!” I cried, spinning away from the door.

But we weren’t outside. We were in a huge, dark room.

And a cruel voice—in the room with us—a man’s voice, laughing softly—told me that we weren’t out of trouble.

The laughter rose up in front of us, making us both gasp.

“You have entered the king’s dungeon. Abandon all hope,” the man declared.

“Who—who are you?” I cried.

But more laughter was the only reply.

A single beam of pale green light from the low ceiling broke the darkness.
Huddled close to Eddie, I squinted in the eerie glow, desperate to find a way to
escape.

“Over there! Look!” Eddie whispered, pointing.

Across the room, I could see a barred cell against the wall.

We crept forward a few steps. Then we saw it.

A bony hand reaching out from between the bars.

“No!” I gasped.

Eddie and I jumped back.

The pounding on the door behind us made us both jump again. “You cannot escape!” the caped man raged from the other side
of the door.

Eddie grabbed my hand as the man furiously pounded on the door. The sound
boomed louder than thunder.

Would the bolt hold?

Ahead of us, two bony hands reached out from another dungeon cell.

“This can’t be happening!” Eddie choked out. “There aren’t any dungeons
today!”

“Another doorway!” I whispered, trembling with fright as I stared at the
hands poking out from the dark cells. “Find another doorway.”

My eyes frantically searched the darkness. Off in a distant corner, I
glimpsed a slender crack of light.

I started to run toward it—and tripped over something. Something chained to
the floor.

It was a body. A body of a man sprawled on the floor. And I landed on his
chest with a sickening
thud.

The chains rattled loudly as my foot tangled in them.

My knees and elbows hit the stone floor hard. Pain shot through my entire
body.

The old man didn’t move.

I scrambled up. Stared down at him.

And realized he was a dummy.

Not real. Just a dummy, chained to the floor.

“Eddie—it’s not real!” I cried.

“Huh?” He stared at me, his face twisted in confusion, in fright.

“It’s not real! None of it!” I repeated. “Look! The hands in the dungeon
cells—they’re not moving! It’s all a display, Eddie. Just a display!”

Eddie started to reply. But the cruel laughter interrupted him.

“You have entered the king’s dungeon. Abandon all hope,” the voice repeated.
Then more evil laughter.

Just a tape. Just a recording.

There wasn’t anyone in the room with us. No dungeon keeper.

I let out a long sigh. My heart was still pounding like a bass drum. But I
felt a little better knowing that we weren’t trapped in a real dungeon.

“We’re okay,” I assured Eddie.

And then the door burst open with a loud
crack.
And the big man roared
into the room, his cape fluttering behind him, his dark eyes glowing in victory.

Eddie and I froze in the middle of the floor.

The caped man froze, too. The only sound was his harsh, raspy breathing.

We stared through the dim light at each other. Frozen like the dummies in the
cells.

“You cannot escape,” the man growled once again. “You know you will not leave
the castle.”

His words sent a cold shiver down my back.

“Leave us alone!” Eddie pleaded in a tiny voice.

“What do you want?” I demanded. “Why are you chasing us?”

The big man pressed his gloved hands against his waist. “You know the
answer,” he replied flatly. He took a step toward Eddie and me. “Are you ready
to come with me now?” he demanded.

I didn’t reply. Instead, I leaned close to Eddie and whispered, “Get ready to
run.”

Eddie continued to stare straight ahead. He didn’t blink or nod his head. I
couldn’t tell if he had even heard me.

“You know you have no choice,” the man said softly. He reached both hands
into the folds of his cape. Once again, he pulled out the mysterious white
stones. And once again, I caught a glimpse of his dark eyes, saw the cold sneer
on his lips.

“You—you’ve made a mistake!” Eddie stammered.

The man shook his head. The wide brim of the black hat cast tilting shadows
on the floor. “I have made no mistake. Do not run from me again. You know you
must come with me now.”

Eddie and I didn’t need a signal.

Without saying a word to each other, without
glancing
at each other,
we spun around—and started to run.

The man shouted in protest and took off after us.

The room seemed to stretch on forever. It must be the entire basement of the
castle, I realized.

Beyond the beam of light, the darkness rose up like fog.

My fear weighed me down. My legs felt as if they were a thousand pounds each.

I’m moving in slow motion, I thought, struggling to speed up. Eddie and I are
crawling like turtles.

He’ll catch us. He’ll catch us in two seconds.

I glanced back when I heard the caped man cry out. He had tripped over the
same dummy chained to the floor. He had fallen heavily.

As he scrambled to his feet, my eyes searched the far wall for a door. Or a
hallway. Or any kind of opening.

“How—how do we get
out
of here?” Eddie cried. “We’re trapped, Sue!”

“No!” I cried. I spotted a worktable against the wall. Cluttered with tools.
I searched for something to use as a weapon. Didn’t see anything. Grabbed a
flashlight, instead.

Frantically pushed the button.

Would it work?

Yes.

A white beam of light darted over the floor. I raised it to the far wall.
“Eddie—look!” I whispered.

A low opening in the wall. Some kind of tunnel? A tunnel we could escape
through?

In another second, we were ducking our heads and stepping into the dark
opening.

I kept my light ahead of us, down at our feet. We had to stoop as we ran. The
tunnel was curved at the top, and not high enough for us to stand.

The tunnel ran straight for a while, then curved down and to the right. The
air felt damp and cool. I could hear the trickle of water nearby.

“It’s an old sewer,” I told Eddie. “That means it has to lead us out
somewhere.”

“I hope so,” Eddie replied breathlessly.

Running hard, we followed the curve of the sewer. My light leaped about, jumping from the low ceiling to the damp stone
floor.

The light revealed wide metal rungs hanging from the ceiling. Eddie and I had
to duck even lower to keep from smashing our heads against them.