فصل 11

A Night in Terror Tower - Chapter 11

I ducked out of the caped man’s grasp.

With another frightened groan, I grabbed the flashlight off the floor.

I planned to use it as a weapon. To shine it in the caped man’s eyes. Or swing it at his head.

But I didn’t get a chance.

I froze in horror as the beam of light bounced down the tunnel—and I saw the rats.

Hundreds of them. Hundreds of chittering gray rats.

The darting light made their eyes glow red as fire. The rats came scrabbling over the sewer floor. Snapping their jaws hungrily, gnashing their jagged teeth as they came charging at us.

Their shrill whistling and chittering echoed through the tunnel. The terrifying sound made my breath catch in my throat.

The tiny red eyes glowed in the light as they scrabbled toward us. As they pulled their scrawny bodies over the hard floor, their tails slithered behind them like dark snakes.

The caped man saw them, too. He leaped back in surprise.

And Eddie came tearing out from under the cape. He gulped in shock as his eyes locked on the charging rats.

“Jump!” I cried. “Eddie—jump!”

Eddie didn’t move. We both gaped at the rats in horror. A churning sea of whistling, chewing, red-eyed rats. A living tidal wave of rats.

“Jump! Jump—now!” I shrieked.

I raised both hands. Jumped.

Eddie jumped, too. We grabbed on to the metal bars imbedded in the sewer roof.

Pulling myself up, I frantically lifted my feet as high as I could from the floor.

Higher. Higher. As the rats charged underneath me.

A foul odor rose up, nearly choking me as the rats ran past.

I could hear the tap tap tap of their long toenails against the floor. Hear the swish of their sweeping tails.

I couldn’t see the rats in the darkness. But I could hear them. And feel them. They jumped at my shoes. Scratched at my legs with their sharp claws. And kept coming.

I turned to see the caped man start to run back.

He stumbled with lurching steps as he tried to flee the thundering wave of rats. His arms shot forward as if reaching for safety. The black cape whipped up behind him.

The wide-brimmed hat flew off his head and floated to the floor. A dozen rats pounced on it, climbed all over it, and began chewing it to pieces.

The man’s footsteps echoed in the tunnel as he ran faster. Rats leaped up at his cape, clawing it, snapping their jaws, and shrieking excitedly.

A second later, he disappeared around the curve of the sewer.

The rats scrambled noisily after him. As they vanished around the curve, the sounds all blended together, became a roar, a roar that rang through the long sewer.

A roar of horror.

My arms were both aching, throbbing with pain. But I kept my feet high off the floor. I didn’t let go of the metal rung until I was sure all the rats had disappeared.

The roar faded into the distance.

I heard Eddie’s heavy breathing. He let out a sharp groan and dropped to the floor.

I let go of the bar and lowered myself, too. I waited for my heart to stop pounding, for the blood to stop throbbing at my temples.

“That was a close call,” Eddie murmured. His chin trembled. His face was as gray as the tunnel walls.

I shuddered. I knew I’d see the hundreds of tiny red eyes in my dreams, hear the clicking of their long toenails and the swish of their scraggly tails.

“Let’s get out of this disgusting sewer!” I cried. “Mr. Starkes must be frantic searching for us.” Eddie picked up the flashlight and handed it to me. “I can’t wait to get back on the tour bus,” he said. “I can’t wait to get away from this awful tower. I can’t believe we’ve been chased by a crazy person through a sewer. This can’t really be happening to us, Sue!” “It’s happening,” I declared, shaking my head. I suddenly had another thought. “Mom and Dad are probably out of their meeting,” I said. “They’re probably worried sick about us.” “Not as worried as I am!” Eddie exclaimed.

I beamed the light ahead, keeping it down on the sewer floor, and we started walking. The tunnel floor rose up and curved to the left. We started to climb.

“There’s got to be an end to this sewer,” I muttered. “It’s got to end somewhere!” A faint roar up ahead made me cry out.

More rats!

Eddie and I both stopped. And listened.

“Hey—!” I uttered excitedly when I realized it was a different sound.

The sound of wind rushing into the tunnel.

That meant we had to be close to the end. And that the sewer emptied somewhere outside.

“Let’s go!” I cried excitedly. The beam of light bounced ahead of us as we started to run.

The tunnel curved again. And then suddenly ended.

I saw a metal ladder, reaching straight up. Straight up to a large, round hole in the tunnel ceiling. Gazing up at the hole, I saw the night sky.

Eddie and I let out shouts of joy. He scrambled up the ladder, and I pulled myself up right behind him.

It was a cold, damp night. But we didn’t care. The air smelled so fresh and clean.

And we were out. Out of the sewer. Out of the Terror Tower.

Away from that frightening man in the black cape.

I gazed around quickly, trying to figure out where we were. The Tower tilted up toward us, a black shadow against the blue-black sky.

The lights had all been turned off. The tiny guardhouse lay dark and empty. Not another soul in sight.

I saw the low wall that divided the Tower from the rest of the world. And then I found the stone path that led to the exit and the parking lot.

Our shoes thudded over the smooth stones as we hurried toward the parking lot. A pale half-moon slid out from behind wispy clouds. It cast a shimmering silver light over the whispering trees and the long stone wall.

It all suddenly looked unreal.

Without stopping, I glanced back at the old castle. The moonlight shone off the jutting towers, as if casting them in a pale spotlight.

Real people walked on this path hundreds of years ago, I thought.

And real people died up in that tower.

With a shiver, I turned back and kept jogging. Eddie and I moved through the open gate and out past the wall.

We’re back in modern times, I thought. Back where we are safe.

But our happiness didn’t last long.

The parking lot shimmered darkly in the pale moonlight. Empty.

The tour bus was gone.

Eddie and I both turned to search up and down the street. The long, empty street.

“They left us,” Eddie murmured with a sigh. “How are we going to get back to the hotel?” I started to answer—but stopped when I saw the man.

A tall, white-haired man, limping toward us, moving fast, pointing and calling, “You there! You there!” Oh, no, I thought wearily, feeling my body freeze in fear.

Now what?