For all the traits the paranormal might have, a decent sense of humor isn’t one of them.
It was a good bet that whatever was making the sound wasn’t friendly.
Which meant I needed to get out of my current predicament—fast.
I strained against the chair, new agony lighting up inside me. My mangled leg felt like someone had just introduced it to a fresh current of electricity, as well as placing freshly lit coals along the muscles.
I ground my teeth through the pain until dull pressure radiated through my gums.Think, Graves.I had the answer a second later.
The chair rattled under my first attempts to move. As a rule, most modern chairs that people are willing to dispose of aren’t that well put together. Shoddy construction, loose joints, and some particulate wood substitute that doesn’t hold up to the real thing. If you can exert enough force, or find a hard enough surface to crack it against, you can usually escape.
The floor beneath me definitely met that criteria. I couldn’t make it out, but it wasn’t a stretch to figure it was stone. Some strong rocking was enough to send me tipping over.
I don’t get to choose whose body I end up in, but it’s pretty damn helpful if you land in the shoes of someone who, at least by feeling, is built like an ambulatory refrigerator. That much mass matters on impact.
I hit the ground—hard—and for a moment, wasn’t sure if thesnapthat filled my ears was my shoulder joint or a part of the chair. Mercifully, it seemed to be the latter. I managed a weak groan, still flooded with whatever this guy had swallowed and some spittle I knew to be tinged with blood.
The knocking now mimicked the percussive beat of an all-drum ensemble. Steady, drubbing me from all sides until it reverberated inside me as much as it did around.
That’s totally normal.
I grimaced and wrenched against the chair, managing to break free at the armrest. After that, it was easier to twist and apply the right kinds of pressure to get my other side free. I undid the rope and hobbled to my feet. My pained leg didn’t like that much, feeling like it’d been fashioned from hot glass that had taken on too many cracks in the making.
I limped my way forward, figuring moving in any direction was better than sitting still for whatever made that knocking to find me.
Usually, that’s a bad idea in a place as dark as this, but there’s something that changes that.
No one likes being lost in the dark with a preternatural nasty.
I placed a hand on the nearest wall, realizing it was a rock face. Following it along led me to the first opening I could move into.
Bright whiteness lanced my vision with the sharpness of a freshly honed knife. The world blurred, and a new one took its place.
I’m not sure what the light source was exactly, but it emanated from just above my head. The familiar dirty orange of ahard hat rimmed part of my vision, and the stone tunnel wasn’t as illuminated as it should be, but that was because I currently was walking down an offshoot that hadn’t been properly expanded into. The way behind me led to a dead end, and I was making my way back toward the main body of the operation.
My head felt like a brass bell that’d just been rung, and the vision faded.
Another part of the job: whatever higher power shoves me into these bodies also grants me access to someone’s thoughts and knowledge base, though notably not at my desire. The major downside’s been that the years of doing it has left me with a near encyclopedic knowledge of all manner of skills and the memories along with them…all at the cost of my original own and my identity along with it.
But the vision had told me something new. The victim I was now inside had known the place well. A routine had been built around it. And now that subconscious information guided me as I walked blindly through the tunnel, wishing very much for that same light that had been in the vision.
I felt my way along until I stepped into a cavernous opening—the main corridor of the stone surroundings that the previous owner of this body had been heading for before. I knew there was a row of high-intensity LED lights above to brighten up the place, only they were now off.
Of course.“At least the knocking’s stopped.” Just as I’d finished the words, a low, dry rasping echoed through the cave like dying autumn leaves scraping against the ground. And it was close by the sound of it.
There are few options for the intrepid paranormal investigator when confronted by an unknowable and likely supernatural baddie in a pitch-black cave system.
But the best is usually this: run like hell.
I picked up the pace, ignoring every bit of searing pain flashing through my injured leg. It’d be the least of my worries if whatever was making that noise caught up with me. Mercifully, I spotted the promise of light up ahead as it washed through the opening of the cave.
I hobbled outside, taking a second to look over my shoulder and ensure I wasn’t followed. The brightness of the outdoors brought sharp pinpricks to my eyes, making it harder to see, but I managed to catch enough.
Therewassomething lurking inside what I now realized to be a commercial mine. The knocking returned, just barely audible from where I stood outside—closer to a sound like distant hail on a roof. But there was a darkness lingering inside the already deep black of the cave. Something a shade deeper—enough so that it could pull at all other light filtering into the place.
I couldn’t make out any discernible features, but I could feel it when I locked eyes with where I assumed its might be. And the dry sharpness in my lungs doubled, feeling like they’d been freshly wrung clean of breath.
I turned away from the blackness and doubled over, sucking down air. My vision, and the world, soon steadied. Whatever filth had been clogging my borrowed throat and lungs cleared as well. Though, not without a few parting coughs that racked my insides. One last bit of blackened spittle dribbled free from my lips, and I decided that some things are most certainly better spat out than swallowed.
