Clickers III (21 page)

Tony blinked his eyes, waiting for his vision to return to normal. There were dark spots floating in the periphery. He sniffed the air again.

“Too bad we don’t have any Old Bay seasoning on us,” he said, grinning. “I could go for some steamed crabs right about now.”

Ruby shook her head. “You never stop, do you?”

Tony shrugged. “I’ll stop when I’m dead.”

“We’re wasting time,” Amethyst said. “Let’s get moving.”

They walked toward the circle of stones. Nothing moved beyond the clearing, but they could still hear the Clickers rampaging out in the jungle. Diamond and Amethyst took the lead, followed by Tony and Clark. Ruby and Onyx brought up the rear. The two point men passed between the stones unscathed, and motioned at Tony and Clark to halt.

“That thing gonna fry us the way it did those Clickers?” Tony asked.

“No,” Amethyst said. “As long as you come through with Ruby and Onyx, you’ll be fine.”

Ruby took Tony’s hand and Onyx did the same with Clark.

“You guys go ahead,” Clark said, swallowing hard. “Ladies first and all that.”

Tony steeled himself. He wanted to ask Ruby to wait but she was already stepping forward, pulling him along. He had no choice but to follow. They entered the circle and the hair on his arms and head stood up with static. He heard an odd, faint ringing sound—like a chime had been struck. Then they were through the circle and standing on the other side. Clark and Onyx followed.

“Okay,” Amethyst said. “Same formation as before. Diamond and I will continue with taking point. Tony and Clark, I’d like you in the middle. Ruby and Onyx will bring up the rear. Let’s stay grouped together. No more than ten feet between us. We move quickly, but quietly. Diamond has the GPS. We follow his lead. No needless chatter until we reach our destination.”

“And what is our destination?” Clark asked.

“We’re going inside Mount Rigiri,” Amethyst answered. “There is a subterranean network of tunnels that run beneath the island—both manmade and natural. We’ll access those and they should lead us where we want to go.”

Tony frowned. “Your GPS gonna work underground?”

“It’s a very strong satellite,” Diamond explained.

Tony had his doubts, but he kept them to himself. A moment later, he wondered if Diamond could read minds as well, because the older man pulled a satellite phone out of his pocket, dialed a number, and listened. After a minute, he pressed another button, returned the phone to his pocket, and then nodded at Amethyst.

“Are we still a go?” Amethyst asked.

“We are.”

“So this is what you people do?” Clark asked. “Go from location to location and save the world from supernatural threats?”

“Something like that,” Amethyst said. “It’s a bit more complex, but you’ve got the basics. No more talking, now. Let’s proceed.”

He and Diamond plunged into the jungle. Tony and Clark followed. Tony caught a whiff of smoke on the wind, and wondered if the fires were spreading. As the thick vegetation closed behind him, he remembered that wildfires were the least of their worries. The jungle was filled with a singular sound.

CLICK-CLICK! CLICK-CLICK! CLICK-CLICK!

A dog-sized Clicker burst from the foliage and charged. Tony snapped his weapon off and fired a controlled burst. The creature flipped over and quivered. Then it lay still.

“Nice shot,” Clark said, clearly impressed.

“I never miss.”

“Let’s hope not.”

The sounds in the jungle increased.

CLICK-CLICK! CLICK-CLICK! CLICK-CLICK!

“All things considered,” Tony whispered as they crept forward again, “I’d rather be in Vegas right now.”

The sounds of pursuit grew louder as Jennifer, Wade, Susan and Ed raced after Keoni and Josel. Their trek took them steadily downward, and at times the tunnel floor resembled a slide running at an almost vertical angle. Each of them slipped several times, and Ed suffered a bad gash on his knee. He pleaded with Josel to stop so that he could bind the wound, but if the native guide heard the injured doctor, he gave no indication. Instead, he just went faster, seemingly heedless of the peril—or perhaps heeding the deadlier peril behind them.

Soon, Ed’s lighter became too hot for him to hold. Cursing, he snuffed it out, stuck the lighter in his pocket and sucked his burned fingers. He mumbled an apology to the group and then did a little dance as the heated metal burned his thigh through the material of his pants. Jennifer barely noticed. Her headache had grown steadily worse, but it was still manageable. She had the distinct impression that the darkness was moving—an amorphous, intelligent thing. It was almost as if the blackness had been just waiting for the light to go out, and now that it had, the darkness was swooping in to engulf them in its folds.

Stop it,
she silently scolded herself.
That isn’t helping. You got on Susan earlier for freaking out. You don’t get to do it, too.

“How much farther?” The gloom distorted Wade’s voice, making him sound farther away than he was. Jennifer wondered if it could be having the opposite effect on the sounds of their pursuers—making them sound closer than they really were.

“I’m wondering that myself,” Keoni said. “Josel, are you sure you know where we’re going?”

“Yes, yes. Not much farther now. Not much farther at all. We must hurry.”

Jennifer noticed a strange, quavering lilt in the guide’s tone. Was it his accent? Perhaps the tunnel walls were simply distorting his voice? Or was it something else?

He’s scared,
she reminded herself.
We’re all scared. Of course he has a tremor in his voice. We probably all do.

Something hissed behind them. Jennifer and the others glanced over their shoulders and saw a pair of yellow eyes glaring at them in the darkness.

“They’re gaining on us,” Wade said.

“Yes.” Josel’s voice was insistent now. “As I said, we must hurry. Soon, we will—”

A roar echoed down the tunnel. It was joined by another, and another, until there was a full chorus.

“Come on,” Ed shouted over the tumult.

Josel led them around several more twists and turns, ignoring a series of forks and branching tunnels, and sticking to the main corridor. Their descent grew steeper, and Jennifer found herself grasping the wall to keep from slipping. It occurred to her then that the wall was visible. She could see the nooks and crannies that served as hand-holds. Was it getting brighter or had her vision just adjusted to the gloom? As they hurried on, she thought it was probably the former. The subterranean maze seemed to glow with a soft, pale-green light. Jennifer glanced around for the source but couldn’t find it.

Susan stumbled behind her.

“Are you okay?” Jennifer asked.

The anthropologist nodded. “I feel like we’re running down the side of a wall.”

“Is it me,” Wade asked, “or is it getting brighter in here?”

“It’s not you,” Keoni said. “I’ve noticed it, too.”

“What is it?” Ed asked. “What’s the light source?”

Keoni shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never been this far beneath the mountain. Nobody has, except Josel and a few others. It is…forbidden.”

They stumbled on, struggling to keep their balance. The sounds of pursuit did not fade. Then, without warning, the ground leveled out again and the tunnel widened.

“Ah.” Smiling, Josel stopped and spread his arms as if in welcome. “We are here.”

Jennifer gasped.

They stood in a huge, cathedral-like chamber. Cracks and fissures lined the walls, and boulders were strewn around the periphery, but the center of the cavern had been cleared of debris. Dozens of statues formed a semicircle in the middle of the room. The craftsmanship was crude, but the thing each carving depicted was even cruder—a tentacle-faced deity with the body of a man that could only be Dagon.

Each statue was approximately twelve feet high, and each had been placed facing outward, as if guarding the room.

Wade pointed. “What the fuck is that?”

Beyond the statues, in the middle of the circle, was a rectangular pool of water. It floated sideways in the air, hovering off the floor like a mirror…or a door. The surface of the water was unbroken and smooth. As Jennifer stared at it, she realized she could see beyond the liquid—or perhaps
through
it.

That’s an ocean,
she thought.
That’s an ocean floating on the other side of that thing!

“My God,” Ed muttered.

Keoni whispered something in his own language. Jennifer wondered if it was a prayer.

“What the hell is it?” Wade asked again.

Josel turned to face them. A broad smile cracked his face, revealing his teeth.

Sharks smile like that,
Jennifer thought.

“This,” Josel said, gesturing to the gravity-defying pool behind him, “is the entrance to the Great Deep. It is a doorway. Great Dagon sleeps on the other side. He lies in eternal dreaming. But now the stars are right, and he will soon awake. Indeed, he already stirs from his slumber. That is not dead which can eternal lie and with strange eons—”

“Never mind that,” Wade interrupted. “The Dark Ones are right behind us.”

Jennifer glanced around. “Is there another way out of here? I don’t see any other tunnels.”

“No,” Josel said, still smiling. “The only way in or out is the way we came—or through the barrier. And that is where you will go.”

“The fuck we will,” Wade said, stepping forward. “Listen, old man. I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but if you think we’re going anywhere near—”

“
Silence!
” Josel snapped. His attention was focused on something behind them. He dropped to his knees and raised his hands high. “My masters have come.”

Slowly, Jennifer and the rest of the group turned around. The entrance to the cavern and the tunnel beyond it were filled with Dark Ones. One-by-one, the creatures filed into the chamber—lizards walking erect on two legs. As always, Jennifer was reminded of Komodo Dragons. All of the creatures carried weapons—tridents, clubs, spears, and nets woven from some sort of metallic material. She’d seen this before, but the sight still filled her with dread. Despite her terror, Jennifer was startled to see a young native boy with them. She guessed his age to be around fifteen or sixteen. He seemed unharmed and unafraid. He stood next to a Dark One. This creature was taller than the others, standing at nearly ten feet high. Its green, scale-covered body was crisscrossed with faded scars of battles fought long ago. Its yellow eyes, unblinking and filled with a malevolent intelligence, seemed somehow old. The creature tilted its large head to one side and studied them.

Its clawed hands flexed and twisted.

“Welcome,” Josel cried. “I offer you these mainlanders as a gift to Dagon, to satisfy his hunger upon awakening. May this humble gesture make up for our failure to keep them off the island.”

When the Dark One did not respond, Josel began speaking in a strange, guttural tongue. It focused on him, and when he was done, the creature smiled, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. A long, forked tongue flickered through the air as it hissed with delight.

“Y-you betrayed us,” Keoni gasped, wheeling on Josel. “How could you do this?”

“There was never any choice. I am sorry, my friends. Believe me. Were that this was another life, and I could have a wife and children and grandchildren. But this is not that life, and I am not that person. I serve the Dark Ones as my father did before me.”

“So you planned this all along?”

“Yes. If it is any consolation, once Great Dagon has awoken, none of this will matter anyway.”

Keoni shook his head. “You bastard.”

Growling, the Dark One stepped forward. The other creatures followed, as did the boy. Susan whimpered and gasped. Ed stepped protectively in front of her, but Jennifer noticed that his face was pale and his forehead shone with sweat. His hands trembled. He was breathing heavily, and Jennifer wondered if he were about to have a heart attack. She glanced at Wade, but his attention was focused on the advancing lizard-men. His bloodshot eyes were wide. The Dark Ones spread out before them, backing the hapless humans closer toward the circle of statues and the floating pool within it. To keep from screaming, Jennifer took a deep, shuddering breath—and immediately wished she hadn’t. The stench wafting off their captors was horrible; they stank of brine and rotten fish.

Jennifer became aware of another presence in the room—or perhaps nearby. It was unseen. Unheard. But definitely present. She could feel it pressing down on her, an almost palpable, physical