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“Jacob,” she whispers. And then, “Sarah?Anyone?” Then she notices a pair of eyes gleaming in the darkness. Cosmo. He’s still here. He’s panting heavily; she wonders if he was drugged, too.
“Cosmo,” she wails. “Where did they go?”
“Shhh,” calls a voice.
Lenna turns her head, alert. “Who’s that?”
A moan. “Sarah.”
“Are you okay?”
“I think so. Are you?”
“Yeah. Wherearewe?”
There’s a long pause. “It looks like a cave, but I can’t really see.”
Lenna feels around on the floor. It’s warm. Earthy. Moist. Rock. She can sense, without actually seeing, that the ceiling is low.
She curls into herself.A cave.She thinks of the terrifying things that lurk in these caves. Snakes. Spiders. Bats. Death.
“How long have we been here?” Sarah’s voice pierces through the darkness.
Lenna glances at her watch, but it’s too dark to see the face. Then she remembers her phone. Miraculously, it’s still in her pocket. The battery is on red, but the screen wakes when she presses the side button. The clock reads 8:54p.m.
“Over an hour,” she reports.
Her heart splits in two.Where is Jacob?She can’t remember when she last fed him. Should she scream more? Maybe someone will hear? Tears blur her vision. She can’t breathe.Her baby.
“Is your phone still working?” Sarah calls.
Lenna consults the screen. “It hasn’t run out of battery. But I’m not getting any service. No Wi-Fi.”
“So that means we’re not within the range of the router, nor are we up high. But maybe we’re still on the property. Not that that’s particularly helpful, considering how big the property is.”
“Should we scream?” Lenna asks her. “Do you think they’ll hear us?”
“We can try.”
On the count of three they scream, ravaging Lenna’s throat. When they finish, their voices echo on the cave’s walls. They wait. A coyote howls, somewhere, but that’s all. The wind has died down, the dust storm over, but it still seems like the cave has absorbed the noise.
Tears stream down Lenna’s cheeks. How could no one have heard them? Is thisit?
Then her foot brushes against something soft and skin-like. She lurches back, mortified.Sarah?But Sarah’s voice comes from farther away. “Hello?” she says. “Wh-who’s there?”
No answer. Lenna squints. She’s able to make out a head, shoulders, a mound of hip. It’s…aperson,lying on her side. She shifts closer. And then, she sees it: a few locks of that wild, curly hair, splayed out on the dingy floor, barely visible.Rhiannon.
“Rhiannon!” Lenna cries. “Jesus, Sarah, Rhiannon’s next to me!”
“What?” There’s scrabbling. “Are yousure?”
She stretches, just able to touch the edge of Rhiannon’s shoulder. It’s cold, and Lenna recoils, beginning to hyperventilate.
Rhiannon moans. Lenna’s heart bursts with joy. With the tips of her fingers, she touches Rhiannon’s side. “Rhiannon! It’s Lenna! And Sarah! Are you okay? Where are we?”
“Mmmm.” Rhiannon sounds woozy. Her lips smack dryly.“Wha-?”
“Holy shit,” Sarah whispers. “Is it really her?”
