Traps and Specters (21 page)

T
ank slid down the steep cavern floor, his fingers slicing through the mud as he tried to grab onto something. Mud streamed up his pant legs, and his flashlight bounced around, streaking light across the walls.

When he came to a stop, a giant centipede crawled onto his neck, its body rubbing against his skin. He jumped to his feet and tossed the disgusting thing aside. Then he scanned his new position. The cave had leveled out. Less than five feet in front of him, it opened to a new area where nothing but fog and darkness waited.

He inched forward, the mud sloshing around his feet. He reached the mouth of the cave and stepped out. Then he swung the beam of his light along the wall near him and couldn't believe what he saw.

CHAPTER 36

E
lla and Richie raced up Old Cove toward Jenkins Street. Ahead of them, DeGraff's black boots stomped the pavement and his trench coat waved like a cape. A woman pushing a toddler in a stroller suddenly appeared from the fog. She was dressed as a cat, her child a mouse. Startled by DeGraff, she yanked her stroller to the side of the road and yelled, “Slow Down!” without much kindness.

The scouts dodged left to avoid a kid dressed as Harry Potter, then rounded a curve in the road. Ella glanced over at Richie. Below his checkered flood pants, Ella saw at least six inches of stark white socks. Most of his shirt was buried in his pants, and the things in his pocket protector occasionally jumped out, leaving a trail of office supplies on the street.

DeGraff, faster than the scouts, began to pull away.

“We're losing him!” Ella said into her bone mic. “He's too fast!”

As they rounded a sharp turn in the road, DeGraff was gone, lost in the fog. Ella and Richie stopped. They didn't know if he'd continued down the street or charged into the surrounding lawns.

“He got away!” Ella said.

Sam's voice: “You sure?”

“Yeah.” She braced her hands on her knees and swallowed a few deep breaths to cool the burn in her lungs. “He's gone.”

After a few seconds of silence, Sam's voice rose again into Ella's ears: “Descenders—
find him
! Do whatever it takes!”

CHAPTER 37

H
annah turned off the street she was on and ran alongside a house. There were no trick-or-treaters in sight, and all the nearby porch lights were out. The darkness was as thick as the fog. She needed a better view, and she knew how to get it.

Still running, she jumped and tugged the pull-loops on her boots. Her rubbery soles bulged to ten inches thick. She shot upward, high above the houses, and landed on a gabled roof. Without breaking her stride, she hunched low to keep from being seen and ran across the shingles. At the end of the roof, she sailed easily across the distance to the next house, where she landed with a soft thud.

She looked right, then left. Through the fog, she detected the faint outlines of a few costume-clad kids. About ten rooftops in front of her, the row of houses stopped at Jenkins, the primary road through the subdivision, the one that wrapped around the Clarksville Zoo. On the other side of Jenkins were more houses, and beyond their backyards was the long concrete wall of the zoo.

Hannah sprang through the air again. If DeGraff was headed for the Clarksville Zoo, he would eventually have to cross Jenkins Street.

And Hannah hoped to be there waiting for him.

CHAPTER 38

S
olana cut across several lawns and turned onto Jenkins. Not more than fifty feet ahead was Old Cove, where Ella and Richie had spotted DeGraff. She veered across the street, ran between two houses, and headed across a backyard to where the zoo wall stretched in both directions. She jumped, planted her palms on top of the wall, and pulled herself up. She quickly climbed to her feet and took off running. Though she couldn't see much through the fog, she could still see some activity in and out of the zoo. If she was lucky enough to spot DeGraff, she could move on him in an instant. She came to a stop in a place with a view between a pair of houses to Old Cove.

“I've got a good position,” Solana announced into her bone mic. “I'm on the wall along Jenkins.”

“Stay there,” Sam spoke into her ear. “And be ready. Don't let this monster into our house.”

“No way,” Solana said. “That's not going to happen.”

CHAPTER 39

A
t Clarksville Elementary, Tameron ran across the playground toward the back of the school. In the fog, the play equipment looked strange and eerie. Swings dangled like prison chains, and dome-shaped climbers sat like steel traps.

“I'm at the school.” He spoke into his mic. “The Halloween party's over. The place looks empty.”

“Stay put,” Sam said. “Find a spot with a view.”

Knowing what Sam meant, Tameron veered toward one of the wings of the school. As he ran, he pulled a strap on his large backpack. The canvas bottom dropped and released his tail. It uncoiled on the ground and dragged behind him, leaving a curling, snakelike trail in the wood chips. As he neared to within twenty feet of the building, he swung his tail high over his head, brought it down in a smooth arc, and catapulted himself onto the roof. He quickly retracted his tail and headed across the ceramic tiles.

On the peak of the main building, the Descender crouched beside the big bell tower, leaning his shoulder against one of its columns. He stared into the distance beyond the concrete courtyard in front of the school. Here, the fog wasn't so thick, and he could faintly make out several side streets and the winding stretch of Jenkins. The neighborhood was quiet and still.