The Vampire Stalker

Chapter 16

WE RAN TO KATIE'S PLACE, where she grabbed a hockey stick and broke it over her knee. "Here's our stake." She tucked the sharper half into my knapsack with the tip facedown.

By 2:47 P.M., we were at the mall.

My phone buzzed. It was Alexander.

"Where are you?" I asked.

"I am almost at the mall." It sounded like he was running. I heard a car horn blare.

"We'll meet you in the basement in front of Michaels Crafts," I said.

Five minutes later, he joined us. He wore his long coat. He had a stake in there, I knew. Maybe several. When he shot a suspicious glance at Katie, I explained that she had been filled in — and was trustworthy. Alexander looked dubious, but nodded.

"Two days ago I followed the tunnels north," he told us. "Vigo would not be hiding there unless he moved last night, and I doubt he had the time to do so. He would take her where he had already established a hiding place. We'll go south and check the offshoots. Follow me."

He led us to a maintenance door. We blocked him from view as he jiggled a small metal gadget in the lock until it clicked open. Then we all slipped inside and down a staircase. He opened another door, and we entered the darkness of the tunnel.

It was cold. I felt the crunch of dirt underneath my feet. My eyes slowly adjusted until I saw the ground beneath me and a long, curving tunnel ahead. Every few yards there was a maintenance light attached to the wall, a beacon for city workers who came down here.

Katie and I started walking, but Alexander blocked us with his arm. "Not that way. This way." He switched on his flashlight for a second, and it revealed a cavelike passageway to our left. My throat constricted, but I didn't back away. We had to find Chrissy.

"Follow me by sound," he whispered. "Don't use your light unless I tell you."

Follow him by sound.

One step at a time.

One step after another.

After a few minutes, Alexander came to a sudden halt. Katie bumped into me, stepping on the back of my shoe. I felt her hockey stick jam against my ribs, but I didn't let myself grunt. At least I knew it was sharp.

"Look." Alexander flickered his flashlight, which allowed us to see that the tunnel branched off in several directions. We could keep going straight, or turn right or left.

"This tunnel likely goes forward a few miles," he surmised. "Passageways like this one always have a purpose. They are used by bootleggers in my world. The same was true here."

"Which way should we go?" I asked him.

"Vigo prefers left. It is in the books."

Our pace was slow, our steps careful. There was no margin for error. It would be a mistake to cough or stumble. I heard breathing: mine, Alexander's, Katie's. It felt like the walls around us were breathing, too.

The darkness got softer until it became a deep gray. I didn't know if my eyes were still adjusting or if I was imagining it, but the darkness appeared to be getting lighter. I felt Katie squeeze my arm, and I knew she was thinking the same thing.

Alexander stopped. He whispered, "I hear them."

It must have been his keen hunter's hearing, because I couldn't hear anything above the sound of my breathing.

As we continued to move forward, I began to see something take shape ahead. I could faintly make out the outline of a door with light seeping through the edges.