a child’s voice echoes faintly through the darkness ahead.
Soft.
Terrified.
“Please don’t take me back…”
Every single person in the tunnel freezes.
My blood turns to ice.
Because that voice didn’t come from memory.
It came from somewhere deeper underground.
46
Clay
Nobody moves.
Nobody breathes.
That tiny voice echoes through the tunnel again.
“Please…”
Weak.
Terrified.
Real.
Hannah grabs my arm so hard her nails dig through my sleeve.
“Oh my God.”
Russ immediately signals silence with two fingers.
All lights stay off.
The only illumination now comes from the distant glow of Sentinel flashlights moving somewhere behind us through the underground rail system.
Too close.
Way too close.
But none of us are focused on them anymore.
Because there’s a child down here.
Now.
Not twenty years ago.
Now.
Gabriel slowly steps forward into the darkness.
