The Demon Conspiracy (10 page)

“I wouldn’t use that word
in here if I were you. And I certainly am
not
going to help you. These are my
business associates and your timely arrival has made it possible to
move on to the first step of our agreement.”

With that, we watched the winged demons fly
back up to their perch in the ceiling. They were completely out of
sight.

They’ve got us
outflanked
, I thought to Travis.
But I don’t think they can see
us
.

Jon drew back from the
monitor with a determined look in his eyes. “You two are getting
out of here,
now
.
Put everything in two backpacks. Haul it all with you. We don’t
want those things to know we were even here. I’ll stay with Chris.
Trav leads; he can find his way no matter where he is. Be careful.
The cave-in changed the tunnel.”

Chris looked up at us. “You guys go. You
too, Jon. If you can send back help, do it, but don’t worry about
me. Just get out of here now!”

Jon shook his head. “I’m not leaving you
behind.”

“You have to!”

While they argued, Travis kept taping, but I
knew he listened more to the discussion behind him than what was
going on below. Jon was right. We had to get out of there as soon
as possible, or we’d be the next ones down on that stage beside
Anton Edwards. I wanted to see if Anton was still alive, but I
hesitated. What if there were parts of Anton all over the stage
area? Well, he hadn’t screamed yet. I bit my lip and looked over
the ledge. Anton was still there, but he stood like a statue,
glaring at the demons in the crowd like he wasn’t afraid of them
anymore. The Salesman continued.

“Now, your Lordship, allow me to give you
one more gift.” The Salesman held out his empty hands, both palms
up. A second later a long knife in a jeweled scabbard appeared in
them. It was a magnificent weapon. The Salesman passed it over to
the Boss. “It will destroy anything it is used against. You will
need it in the fight to reclaim the surface.”

The Boss gripped the hilt of the knife,
withdrawing the short blade. He looked at the Salesman,
puzzled.

“Am I supposed to reclaim the surface with a
fancy little knife?”

“It’s adjustable,” said
the Salesman. He touched one of the jewels on the side of the hilt.
The blade became longer from within itself, like a telescope. In
seconds, it was a very long sword.
Very
long. The Salesman winked at
the Boss. “The length of the blade automatically matches up to your
height and great strength. It will cut through anything, like
slicing hot butter.”

The Boss grinned horribly and pushed the
jewel again. The blade shortened to dagger length.

“A real piece of work,”
said the Boss, placing the dagger back into the scabbard. “Yes!
We’ll be ready to fight. But before we seal the agreement, answer
me one question, human. Why are you doing this to your own kind?
What do
you
get
out of it?”

The Salesman adjusted his necktie and
interlaced his fingers in front of him. His voice was somber,
almost dreamy. “I get exactly what I want from this agreement. A
magnificent retirement bonus, corporate stock options and a
ten-percent commission based on long term profits. Besides, I know
a winning team when I see one!”

Both the Salesman and the Boss spit on their
palms and shook hands. The agreement was sealed.

7

FLYING DEMONS

KELLY

We watched Jon scamper up the rope like a
spider. When he got to the top, he called back down in a loud
whisper. “Come on, I’ve got you.”

I nodded, but knelt beside Chris first. “I’m
so sorry we have to leave you, but Jon will take care of you. We’ll
get help as fast as we can.”

“I know you will,” said Chris. “I wish Jon
would go with you. I want you kids to be safe.”

“I love you.” Sometimes when your life is in
danger your feelings become clear. I really wanted Chris to be our
next father, the permanent kind, so I gave him a big hug. Chris lit
up, surprised. His eyes got a bit teary as he swelled with
happiness. Travis smiled. The love Chris felt for each of us was
genuine, just like Angie. I knew Travis had never experienced that
before, except when he was too young to remember. Chris hugged me
back and patted my shoulder.

“I love you, too, girl. Now get going.”

Travis turned off the camcorder and dropped
it into Jon’s pack. He went over to Chris. “We’ll be back. An’
we’ll bring the whole army with us.”

“That’ll be
great
, Travis. Just
please be careful.” I felt bad for Chris. If his leg hadn’t gotten
broken he’d be leaving now, too. So would Jon.

I tied a sturdy loop in the end of the rope.
I tested it, then told Travis to go up first. “Jon might need your
help pulling me up. I don’t think I can climb the rope the way he
did. Hurry!”

Travis put on his hardhat, making extra sure
the headlamp was turned off so he wouldn’t attract any unwanted
attention from the local inhabitants. He tightened the strap snugly
under his chin and shook his head. The hardhat must have felt good,
so he spit on his hands and started up the rope. Near the top Jon
grabbed his shirt and lifted him onto the new ledge.

Travis glanced below. Chris and I must have
looked small and dark.

We were
lucky
, he thought to me from way up
there.

I scanned the ceiling searching for any
demons that might be lurking in the higher shadows. It looked
clear. Jon waved to me. I nodded and looked back at Chris. He bit
his lip and spoke encouragingly. “You can do it, Kelly!”

To my surprise it took me less than a minute
to reach the top. Jon and Travis both helped me up.

“Sorry I was an ass,” said Jon, rubbing
Travis’ hair. “I get how you feel about Chris and Angie. Call them
mom and dad, if you want.”

“It’s not like you could stop me,” said
Travis boldly. “I’d kick your butt.”

Jon grinned big. “That’s why I changed my
mind. I didn’t want to get hurt.”

We laughed, then hugged each other.

“The camcorder’s in your pack,” Travis told
Jon. “There’s still ten minutes on the battery.”

“Thanks, Trav. Both of you hurry, but be
super careful. Parts of the tunnel might not look the same. Where’s
your flashlight, Kelly?”

“Here.” I pulled the light out of my jacket
pocket and shined it at the tunnel. Large rocks and loose gravel
partially blocked the way, but the window to the sliding board rock
was still open. “I have extra batteries, too.”

“I’ll go down and tie your backpacks to the
rope. If for some reason the rescue team doesn’t find us, the
camcorder is in my backpack under the rocks where Trav found his
hardhat.”

“Don’t say that, Jon!” Travis was almost in
tears. “You’d better be here!”

Jon smiled bravely. “No problem, little
brother. Just make sure whoever comes after us is well-armed, okay?
Remember, Trav, you da man!”

“That’s what I’m talking about!” said
Travis, sounding more positive than I knew he felt.

I hugged Jon again, very hard. “If those
things find you…I can’t think about it. How can you protect
yourself and Chris? You don’t have any swords here.”

Jon reached behind his neck and whipped out
the two Elvish blades. He twirled them once and carefully slid them
back into the sheaths under his shirt. “I almost always have a
sword.”

I couldn’t believe it.
“You brought swords into a
cave
? You’re obsessive! Why would
you do that?”

“In case I needed them.” He dropped the rope
back down the wall and started over the edge. “I’ll send up your
packs.”

“You’d better be careful,” Travis told
him.

“You, too.” Jon dropped out of sight. Travis
turned on his headlamp and studied the tunnel. It was a mess of
crumbled stone.

“Can you get us out?” I asked, not feeling
very sure of myself.

He nodded slightly. “Sure. We’ll be outta
here in no time.

JON

Back on the ledge with Chris, Jon got his
own backpack and took out the camcorder. He found a black trash bag
in his pack and wrapped the camcorder inside it for protection.
Then he slid the camcorder into a side pocket on Kelly’s Barbie
pack and zipped it shut. He tied her pack and Travis’ pack to the
rope.

“Good idea, sending the camcorder,” said
Chris. “Nobody will believe there are monsters down here without
proof.”

“That’s what I figured.” Jon yanked on the
rope and signaled for Kelly to pull it up. The backpacks rose
slowly up the wall.

“Jon, I want you to know how sorry I am.”
Chris hung his head. “I never meant for any of this to happen.
Caving was supposed to be fun, you know?”

Jon bent down beside the older man and put a
hand on his shoulder. “It’s not like you planned an earthquake,
Chris. We’ll be okay. Travis will find his way and send help
soon.”

KELLY

At the mouth of the tunnel I untied the
packs and tossed the rope back down. We put on our backpacks and
started into the tunnel.

“Maybe we should try to get Chris up here
before we go,” said Travis. “The three of us might be able to pull
him.”

“Don’t you think Jon would have tried it
already? The best thing we can do is get help fast.”

Suddenly, I heard the flapping sound again.
We turned. One of the flying demons swooped down and landed on the
ledge. Its hideous orange eyes lit up hungrily when it saw us.
Travis looked at me and I knew why. I was frozen in fear. My mouth
and eyes were wide open but I couldn’t move. Dammit! Why’d I have
to be such a wimp? The demon flashed a big, toothy grin and rushed
at us.

“Go!” Travis pushed me ahead of him.
“Hurry!”

I blinked, then came alive. Turning on the
flashlight, I hopped over a broken stalagmite and took off running.
I headed for a narrow gap where the ceiling had collapsed against
the wall. Travis was a step behind me. The space looked tight.
Could we even fit through it?

I glanced back. The demon was right there!
“RUN!”

The demon lunged forward, claws wide. It
caught Travis’ backpack and jerked him off his feet. He landed hard
on the stone floor with the wind knocked out of him. The creature
dragged him back toward the tunnel opening.

Travis gasped for air. At the same time he
groped about for something—anything. His hand caught a loose rock.
He tossed it blindly over his head at the demon. The rock bounced
harmlessly off one of its wings. The demon laughed and dragged him
further. Travis looked ahead. The ledge was only a few meters away.
Then his shoulder struck something solid. The broken stalagmite! He
grabbed it and held on with all his strength.

“Let go of the pack!” I cried.

“No! It’s new!”

I scooped up a rock and
threw it at the demon. I threw it
hard
. It struck the demon over the
eye, cutting its slimy, blue skin. A rivulet of black blood
trickled down.

The demon shook its head angrily. I covered
my mouth in surprise.

“I’ll rip off his legs for that!” said the
demon fiercely. It pulled Travis even harder. Travis’ hands were
slipping.

“It’s just a backpack, you moron! Let it
go!”

The demon spit on its
hands and re-gripped the pack. “Yer comin’ with
me
!” It shifted its full weight and
gave a mighty pull.

At that instant Travis let go of the
stalagmite and raised his arms straight over his head. The backpack
slipped away without resistance. The demon was taken by surprise.
It back-peddled off balance and slammed into a wall near the ledge.
It collapsed there dazed.

Travis got up in a panic. He looked back.
The demon’s downtime was short. It tossed the backpack aside and
charged again. We raced for the window to the sliding board rock
and I dove straight through it. Travis must have done the same
thing. He was so close he crashed into me on the level side of the
gap. We tumbled together in a tangled heap of arms and legs. My
flashlight struck the wall and went dim. Travis looked up. The
demon was coming fast. We were trapped!

The demon started into the gap. Half way
through, its great, leathery wings became jammed against the walls.
It stopped cold. It growled and shook its ugly head, still trying
to get to us. Travis looked around for another rock to throw at it.
I caught his sleeve and pulled him along. Then my flashlight went
out. I shook it and tapped it against the wall. It was completely
dead.

“Turn on your light!” I said. “Get us out of
here!”

Travis felt around for the switch. The
headlamp finally came on, flickering. The demon was gone.

“Come on!” Travis took the lead. He slid
down the sliding board rock, landing at the bottom of the slide. I
slid down a moment later.

“I couldn’t read its mind!” I said, catching
the knotted rope that was still there. “I tried, but I just didn’t
get anything.”

“Maybe there’s nothin’ to get,” said Travis.
“Or maybe it’s better if you don’t know what a demon’s thinking.
Whutta we do with the rope?”

“Leave it. The rescuers can use it.”

“Come on. The stream’s this way.” The
thought of crawling through the water again didn’t thrill me, but
we had to get out. If we didn’t get a rescue team back in there
soon enough, Jon and Chris could be lost forever. Time was against
us.