The Demon Conspiracy by R. L. Gemmill Read Free Book Online Page A

cave he was completely swallowed up by gloom. I
couldn’t see him at all and it had a spooky feel about it. Chris
took a deep breath and went after him. Then Jon and I went in,
followed by Travis and Dr. Parrish.
    Something about walking into pitch-blackness
made my stomach flutter, and not a little flutter either. But as we
entered I found out it wasn’t quite as dark as it seemed from
outside in the morning light. We passed through a sort of twilight
zone where the walls were lined with pale, ragged plants and spider
webs. Farther in it was like entering a dark movie theatre after
using the restroom. I couldn’t see a thing. Apparently Parrish
couldn’t see either. He bumped into Travis.
    “Sorry, Travis,” said Parrish. “I’m walking
blind.”
    Anton turned on his headlamp revealing
steep, rock walls on both sides. Parrish stood up straighter when
he saw the high ceiling.
    “Stay close to me,” said Anton, who turned
and went ahead, leaving us all in total darkness. He laughed and
called back. “You can switch on your headlamps.”
    Well, duh! I’d forgotten all about it.
Luckily, I wasn’t the only one. The others murmured with relief and
turned on their headlamps. Now I could see the smooth rock path
we’d been descending, which led into a narrow tunnel. So that’s
what the place looked like.
    “The cave is named for
Pandora Wilby, a local heiress,” said Anton, giving us a little
history lesson along the way. “When she dies the property will
belong to the National Park Service. This cave is completely
natural. No electricity, signs, or handrails. But don’t worry, I
brought spotlights to show off the impressive stuff. Now pay
attention, everybody.” Anton bent down and drew a tiny arrow with a
piece of white chalk near the floor. “ I know my way around this cave, but
if for some reason one of you needs to get out without my guidance,
just follow the arrows. I’ll rub off the chalk when we
leave.”
    When the group moved again, I saw Travis
glance back, which of course made me look, too. The cave entrance
was out of sight. Travis was really good at finding his way around,
and I don’t think he’d ever been lost. He must have gotten that
trait from our real dad, who never got lost either. Even now I had
to fight off tears whenever I thought about the accident. But this
wasn’t the place to get sidetracked. I clamped my jaw tight and
focused on the cave.
    Like I said Travis had
never gotten lost, though keeping track of where we were in a cave
was different. With all the turns, rises, passageways and drops, it
was hard for Travis to get his bearings. To make matters worse
there were pitch-black side tunnels, which seemed to drop into
nothingness. Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of
nothingness—especially the dark kind. I did not want to get lost in this place,
but I noticed Anton was careful to make a tiny chalk mark at every
intersection.
    “Where do all the other tunnels go?” asked
Travis.
    “Some just end,” said Anton. “A few go down
to an underground river. And one leads to a side exit. You could
lose your way in here very easily.”
    “So there’s another way out,” said Jon. “Is
it hard to find?”
    “Not if you know where to look. The other
way’s actually shorter than this one, but it’s boring. If there was
an emergency, though, I’d bring a rescue team in that way. Cuts
time and distance in half.”
    Anton led us through narrow passages and
small holes where we had to crawl. Travis kept making weird sound
effects whenever we had to do something other than walk.
    “Bierrrrol. Bierrrrol. Gudda-gudda-gudda.”
The echoes of his battle noises, if that’s what they were, sounded
distorted and alien.
    “What’s that supposed to be?” asked
Parrish.
    “I dunno,” said Travis. “I’m just havin’
fun. Blecka-blecka-bierrrrol.”
    That was an understatement because I knew
Travis was having the time of his life. The only thing he wasn’t
sure about was his