Jenna was halfway into a full-blown meltdown when she noticed an orange glow flickering right in front of her. She stuck out her hand, only to find out that there was a rough stone wall only a few inches away. The glow was reflecting off it.
She rolled over to see three small fires burning nearby. She followed the thin smoke coming up from the flames with her gaze, watching the way it weaved and curled its way up to the ceiling of the large cavern, disappearing from sight in the darkness up there.
It took a few moments for the rest of the scene to finally filter through her still-aching head. Most importantly, the half a dozen figures moving around the fires. A dirty and bedraggled man and woman tended to the heavy earthenware pots hung over the fire while four ghouls sat around content to do nothing more than watch them work.
Jenna probably could have made out more details of exactly what the people and their captors were doing, but a series of twisted wooden poles lined up in front of her made that difficult. She tried to move to the side to see around the poles, only to realize two things. One—the wooden poles were actually the bars of her prison cell. And two—her whole body hurt like she’d been rolled down a long hill inside a trash can.
She tried to stifle a groan but didn’t succeed. The sound was still loud enough to bounce off thestone wall behind her and the rough ceiling overhead, echoing in the small space. Two of the ghouls over by the closest fire glanced her way but thankfully didn’t bother to come check on her.
“Jenna, thank goodness you’re finally back with us,” Esme said from beside her, a gentle hand coming to rest on her back. “We were scared when we couldn’t get you to wake up.”
Her stomach sank at the realization that Esme had gotten grabbed, too. That made her own capture so much worse.
Jenna turned, able to make out Esme’s face in the dim light coming from the fires. Isaac was right behind her, his face covered in dirt and a bruise coloring his jaw. Oh, damn. Both of them had been taken.
More people moved closer in the darkness, and Jenna’s stomach dropped another few feet when she saw Ada and Nicole. They both looked exhausted and desolate, even if they seemed happy to see her. Behind them were a few other prisoners, many who looked like they’d been there for a while, if the condition of their clothing was any indication. Jenna leaned this way and that, hoping to see Hannah among them. Unfortunately, she wasn’t there.
From the quiet conversation among her fellow prisoners, it didn’t take Jenna long to figure out that Esme and Isaac had already explained what had happened at the club. That was good, becauseit kept Jenna from having to talk about it. Hell, she’d prefer if she never had to even think about those moments again. The only thoughts that kept running through her head instead were what Trevor would do when he learned what happened. He’d be devastated and would almost certainly blame himself for her kidnapping. She only prayed he didn’t do anything stupid. Like come running down here to save her without a plan.
“Any idea what they’re planning on doing with us?” Jenna asked during a lull in the whispered conversation, looking out toward the ghouls standing around the fires and forcing herself to think about something other than Trevor being in danger. “I have to admit that when I fell through the club’s floor, I didn’t think I’d be waking up again.”
“We spent hours packing a bunch of wicker-like baskets today,” Nicole grimaced. “At least I think it was today. It’s difficult to tell when it’s always dark. Anyway, we were packing up everything from food to cooking gear. If I had to guess, I would think we were here to help them move. The same way we’d do for friends at home. Without the free pizza and beer.”
Jenna nodded, considering that. “I guess that makes sense. But it doesn’t explain why they went to so much effort to get Esme, Isaac, and me. I mean, they attacked a packed nightclub. That seems an extreme way to get three more workers to help pack.”
“I’m pretty sure those ghouls were only there for you, Jenna,” Isaac said. “Esme and I sort of fell in the hole when we tried to save you and ended up going along for the ride.”
She frowned. “But I don’t understand why they would bother to kidnap me specifically. What’s so special about me?”
Answers to those questions varied, though all of them involved her connections to Trevor or Hannah. Of course, only Esme and Isaac knew that Trevor was a werewolf—though they never said the word out loud during the conversation—so they pushed that theory over the idea that the ghouls had grabbed her because of her relationship to Hannah.
For her part, Jenna had no idea. She seriously didn’t think the ghouls would go out of their way to lure Trevor into a trap to get revenge for the way he went up against them in that fight the other day. It also didn’t make sense that the creatures would kidnap her because she was Hannah’s sister. How could they even know that?
She and her fellow captives were still going back and forth on that when Jenna heard movement outside the makeshift holding cell. She looked up to see five ghouls moving toward them. She didn’t have long to wonder if that was a bad thing, since half the prisoners in the holding cell quickly shuffled toward the back wall, tension clear even in the darkness.
One of the ghouls untied the vine-like rope thatheld the door of the cell closed, then stepped back as three other creatures shambled into the cell. Prisoners scattered, with a few helping shoves from the ghouls. The things might not be very big, but they were strong, and they had no problem slashing their claws at anyone who didn’t move fast enough.
Jenna tried to move aside along with everyone else, only to find that the ghouls changed direction to keep heading straight for her, making it obvious that she was the one they were here for. As scared as she had been waking up in the darkness, knowing the ghouls were coming for her was even worse.
Even though she knew it wouldn’t help, Jenna still scrambled backward, hoping to disappear into the heavier shadows along the back wall of the cave. But the ghouls kept coming, grunting and snarling out guttural sounds that clearly showed they were getting angry.
Jenna balled up her fists, ready to fight, even though it would probably do no good. But before she could make a move, Isaac and Esme stepped in front of her, shouting at the ghouls to stay away from her. The creatures slashed at her friends, forcing them back, and Jenna heard them gasp in pain.
“Isaac! Esme! Stop!” she yelled, moving forward to put out a hand on each of their shoulders, pushing her way between them until she was in front. “Let them take me. Please. I don’t want you guys getting hurt on my account, especially whenit won’t mean anything. They’ll still get me, no matter what you do.”
The ghouls stood there, eyes darting from side to side to scan the cell, as if they were waiting to see if anyone else was going to put up a fight. When Isaac and Esme backed off—albeit reluctantly—two of the creatures stepped forward and wrapped their claw-tipped fingers around Jenna’s arms, pulling her toward the door. The way their claws pinched into her skin made her whimper, and she bit her lip to stifle the sound. Memories of the night she’d watched the ghouls drag Hannah away just like this flooded her mind, and her heart began to pound faster.
“You’re going to be okay, Jenna!” Esme shouted from behind her. “We’ll find a way to get out of this and we’ll come find you. I promise!”
Jenna tried to focus on the words—and that promise—telling herself that if she believed enough, it would come true. But as the ghouls dragged her past the cluster of fires and the humans tending them who refused to even look in her direction, she couldn’t deny that she was getting more and more terrified with every step. Something told her this situation wasn’t going to end well for her.
The ghouls silently led her through a series of dimly lit tunnels. Every once in a while, they’d pass a big cavern with one or more fires burning, but within a few minutes, they moved beyond any sources of light, venturing deeper and deeper intodarkness. If it wasn’t for the creatures’ firm grip holding her upright, she would have tumbled to the floor a dozen different times.
After a few hundred feet, they moved into an area so pitch-black that she couldn’t see anything at all, which was more terrifying than she ever would have imagined.
“Where are you taking me?” she demanded, her voice echoing off the walls.
The ghouls didn’t answer. Then again, they probably didn’t understand a word of what she’d said. Even if they did, she suspected they wouldn’t tell her.
