The Demon Conspiracy (15 page)

Dr. Parrish sat on a desktop, flipping
channels on the small TV with the remote control. He went from one
news channel to the next, hoping to pick up information about what
was happening in the park. He still couldn’t see much, so he leaned
close to the speakers on the TV and listened with the sound turned
low.

Outside I counted five additional work
lights powered by gasoline generators. The space between the cave
and the ranger station was well lit with numerous fire trucks,
squad cars, and other rescue vehicles crowding the parking lot.
Rescue personnel moved all about the place and police kept curious
onlookers and reporters away. None of that mattered to me. The
additional lights made the area seem somewhat safer, and so did the
presence of all the rescuers. But I knew, deep down, if the demons
wanted to get us, all they had to do was come. Their sheer numbers
would be enough to get by those people outside.

Angie had shown up an hour before dusk, and
we’d been so glad to see her we wrapped our arms around her and
held on tight. She had embraced us both, but became confused when
we tried to explain about the demons and how it wasn’t going to be
safe at night anymore. I sent Travis an unexpected thought.

Don’t talk about what
really happened!
Angie’s losin’
it!

But she’s always calm.

Not this time.

Travis tuned in to Angie’s
emotions and nodded back at me.
You’re
right!

Yvette Edwards had arrived some time later.
Yvette was a tiny woman, slim and pretty. She had a friendly smile,
bouncy hair and dark eyes that were tired with worry. She showed
amazing strength and self-control, even when Angie fell to pieces
and cried into her shoulder. But Yvette couldn’t completely hide
her true feelings. Travis felt her fear and I knew her worries. Her
emotions hung by a thread. Both women had stayed close to Ned
Taylor at the cave’s entrance for over an hour, but now they headed
back to the ranger station.

When they came in Angie’s eyes were swollen
and red. Her hands trembled like she was cold.

“Anything in the news?” asked Angie,
stifling another cry.

“No,” said Parrish. “It’s like nothing is
happening.”

“They’re keeping it quiet, aren’t they?”
Angie went to the coffee machine and got another cup. She made a
wounded sound as she took up the coffee pot.

“How many cups of coffee is that for you?”
asked Yvette. She looked at Travis, who held up seven fingers. I
don’t know why, but he’d kept track for some reason. “Maybe you
should hold off on the caffeine, girl.”

“I can’t. I’m just so scared.” Her hands
trembled badly as she poured the coffee. She spilled a little on
the table and got flustered. When she tried to wipe it up with a
napkin, she knocked over a bowl of sweetener packets. Then she
stood there shaking her head and getting ready to cry some more.
Yvette rushed to her.

“Go sit.” Yvette set the bowl upright. “I’ll
get this.” She put the packets back in the bowl and grabbed a
handful of paper napkins. Angie looked at her thankfully and sat in
one of the office chairs while she sipped the coffee in
silence.

Travis looked at me. “Do you wanna go hang
out with the ranger?”

I shook my head. “No. Why? Do you?”

“I just wanna see what’s happening.”

Dr. Parrish overheard us and handed the
remote to Angie. “I’ll go with you, Travis. I need to stretch my
legs. But you’ll have to lead me.”

12

MUCH WORK TO DO

TRAVIS

Travis felt safer with Parrish, especially
now that his head was bandaged. It was Parrish who had rescued
Kelly from the demon that had grabbed her by the leg. The big man
hadn’t been able to see a thing at the time, but he’d dived after
her anyway, and luckily caught her hand. He’d jerked her right out
of the demon’s grip.

Travis and Parrish stepped out into the
clear, cool night and went over to Ned Taylor. Ned picked up the
radio and clicked on a switch.

“Base to Relay One. Do you read?”

Sheriff Ford’s static-filled voice
responded. “Relay One. I read you, Base.”

“Have you heard from Relay Two?”

“I’ve not heard from anybody in twenty
minutes.”

“Sheriff, we’ve got ten people out here
equipped and ready to go in. Maybe you should tell Melinda and the
others to come out for a dinner break.” For a few moments all they
heard was more static. Then the Sheriff called back.

“Good idea, Base. Relay Two’s out of range.
I’ll go check on him. I may be out of touch for a few minutes.”

Ned put away the radio and got up. “Man, I’m
tired. I’m working a triple shift right now. But if I know Melinda
Laarz, she won’t come out unless she finds the people she went
looking for. She’s kind of hardheaded about stuff like that, which
I guess is what makes her a good boss. I think maybe--”

Ned was interrupted by a blast of static on
the radio. He adjusted a knob and listened. More static. He called
out.

“This is Base. I’m not reading you. Come
again?”

The Sheriff’s voice was barely perceptible
because of a static burst. He sounded out of breath. “This is
Relay…can’t hear you…something’s after…can’t find others…oh my
God!”

At the cave entrance
everyone froze and listened.
Pow! Pow!
Pow!
Some firemen rushed toward the
cave.

“Were those gunshots?” Parrish looked from
Ned to the cave.

Ned signaled for him to be
quiet. Everyone’s full attention was directed toward the cave
entrance. Two Virginia State Troopers moved closer to the gaping
dark entry. The troopers were concerned, and Travis could tell from
their feelings that, yes, it
had
been gunfire. So why was anybody shooting inside
a cave? Travis knew why. Demons were coming. He tensed and glanced
back to the ranger station.

Ned kept trying to contact the Sheriff
again. “Base to Relay One. Sheriff? Are you there?” Nothing but
more static. Ned grabbed a flashlight and looked at Parrish. “He
can’t be very far in, I better go after him. Take the radio for
me.” He gave the radio to Parrish and rushed into the cave. A lady
firefighter took up an axe and ran in after him. The state troopers
stood ready, hands on their sidearms.

Everyone got quiet. Travis stared wide-eyed
into the cave. At any moment he expected demons to appear. He was
ready to run for his life.

“The demons got ‘em.” He said it to Parrish
in a low voice. Parrish glanced down at him. The concern in his
eyes suggested it could be possible.

Travis saw a flashlight beam from inside the
cave. A voice echoed. Ned and the lady firefighter burst into the
night air.

“They’re back!” cried Ned. “The team is
back!”

Dr. Parrish and Travis stepped ahead of the
troopers. Travis crossed his fingers and held his breath. For the
first time in his life he wanted to be wrong. He wanted to be
absolutely wrong about demons even existing. And he wanted to be
wrong about what might have happened to Jon and Chris.

A murmur rose from the crowd. Ned Taylor
looked into the cave. He smiled and started clapping his hands.
Everyone else applauded, too, as the first person came out.

Eric Wooden emerged from the cave empty
handed. His clothes and face were filthy and his pants had a tear
in one knee. As soon as the bright lights hit him in the face, he
ducked and covered his eyes. But slowly he looked up and blinked.
Ned Taylor went up to him and shook his hand.

“Welcome back, cousin,” said Ned. “How’d it
go in there?”

Before Wooden could answer, police, EMTs and
firefighters swarmed over him with a barrage of questions.

“Did you find the missing men?”

“Were they injured?”

“Are they alive?”

“Did everyone make it back?”

Wooden raised his hands to speak. Everybody
got quiet. “I’m Eric Wooden, and I’m fine. But you’ll have to
excuse me because I have much work to do. I must work hard and
fast.” He smiled and marched straight to the ranger station.

“What did that mean?” asked Parrish. People
around him shrugged or scratched their heads. But Eric’s cryptic
response was momentarily dismissed as the two EMTs came out of the
cave. They were covered with grime and sweat and had no equipment.
The lady EMT stepped bravely up to the crowd and spoke in a loud
clear voice.

“I’m Beth Ann Foster and I’m just fine. But
I need to go now. I have much work to do. I must work hard and
fast.” She smiled and waved to everybody, apparently cured of her
shyness in front of a crowd. Some people applauded her, but Travis
knew they had no idea why they were doing it.

Malik Parikh was beside her. When Travis had
first seen him, he was funny and outgoing. Now he was
different.

“I’m Malik Parikh. I’m fine, too. But I have
much work to do. I must work hard and fast.” They both followed
Wooden to the ranger station. The people in the crowd let them go,
but Travis blurted out the one question that was on everybody’s
mind.

“
Did they rescue anybody
or not?”

A moment later Sheriff Ford and Anya came
out. They ducked and covered their eyes like the others when the
light hit them. Were they afraid of the light? Or was it just a
shock after being in the cave for so long?

“’ello, everybody, I am Sheriff Andy Ford. I
‘ad a bit of a fright in there when I saw th’ others. But I am
fine. An’ I got much work to do. I must work hard and fast.”

Travis noticed something distinctly
different about the way he spoke. At first he couldn’t place it.
Then it struck him. The man no longer had a country accent! What
was that all about? Sheriff Ford looked down at Anya, who stood
beside him.

“I Anya Sapunenko. I fine. I got much work
to do. I work hard and fast.” They marched through the onlookers
toward the ranger station. Anya’s Russian accent had changed
completely and her English was much worse than before.

A man in a suit stepped in front of them,
blocking their way. “Sheriff Ford, we heard gunshots. Did you fire
your weapon? What were you shooting at?”

Ford paused and shook his head. “I do not
know what you heard but it was not me.” Sheriff Ford and Anya
passed by the man in the suit without saying another word.

The man in the suit looked at a nearby cop.
“I don’t get it. What’s all this talk about work? Do they have a
mess of paperwork to fill out, or something?”

“Maybe it’s some kind of joke?” suggested a
female officer. “It almost sounds like a patented FBI response.
Unimaginative and boring.” She and the man in the suit
chuckled.

Yvette came up with Kelly and Angie. Angie
put one hand on Travis’ shoulder and one on Kelly’s. Her hand
trembled but Travis didn’t say anything. He listened to her
emotions, but backed off immediately. She was a mass of confusion
and pain inside.

Kelly was also upset and Travis sensed it.
“What’s wrong?”

Kelly gave him the you-don’t-want-to-know
look, but told him anyway. “Those rescuers came into the ranger
station, but they didn’t say anything to us. They just stared at us
like we were supposed to leave. So we did. It was creepy.”

“
Very
creepy,” said Yvette. “That’s a
cold bunch, if you ask me.”

Angie looked warily back at the station. “I
wanted to know if they found Chris, was he okay, you know? But the
young ranger just opened the door and pointed the way out. The
others all said they had to work, or something. What’s going on?
This is so strange.”

And getting stranger by the minute, thought
Travis, even without demons being involved. He listened as police
and rescue personnel spoke in undertones about what was going on.
They didn’t understand it either, and they were clueless what to do
about it.

Travis and Kelly stood close to Parrish.
Yvette stayed shoulder-to-shoulder with Angie and chewed on her
index knuckle. The next five people who emerged from the cave all
ducked and covered their eyes until they became adjusted to the
brightness. Then they moved on. But nobody carried any equipment,
not even a flashlight.

“Where’s the stretchers and stuff?” asked
Travis. “Did they just leave it all in the cave? Where’s Jon and
Chris?”

“And Anton,” added Yvette.

Kelly was an emotional time bomb waiting to
explode. But so were Angie and Yvette. If the people they cared
about didn’t show up soon, they were going to lose it. Travis might
lose it, too. He was pretty excited about seeing Jon, but where was
he? He had to be coming. He just had to be. The rescuers wouldn’t
have left him behind.

“I’m Sigmund Holzmayer. I’m a firefighter
from Loudon County. I’m fine. But I have a lot of work to do and I
must work hard and fast.”

“I’m Karen Otero and I have much work to do.
I must work hard and fast.”

“Marcus Conn. I’m from Ashland and I’m fine.
But I have much work to do. I must work hard and fast.”

“Van Nguyen. I am fine. But I have much work
to do. I work hard and fast.”

“I’m Melinda Laarz. Thanks for being here.
But I can’t talk to you now. I have much work to do. I must work
hard and fast.”

Angie’s powerful emotions were contagious.
Travis could hardly stand beside her without feeling a strong need
to sit down and cry. She became more and more anxious searching the
rescuers’ faces as they passed by her and marched toward the ranger
station. Yvette was starting to lose her cool.

“Where’s Chris?” Angie asked Laarz as she
passed. Laarz ignored her. “Why didn’t you bring Chris out?”

“Anton?” called Yvette. “Where’s my
Anton?”