Free Eleven, Twelve ... Dig and delve (Rebekka Franck Book 6) by Willow Rose Page B

from this place and these people. The only ones that seemed to be truly alive were the man and woman with the cellphones in their hands. Malene walked closer to them. They disappeared through the hole.
    “Hey, wait for me,” she yelled, and dragged her painful body through the hole as well. On the other side, a huge cave opened up.
    Malene couldn’t believe it. The woman heard her and turned to look.
    “You’re awake,” she said, and approached Malene. Malene froze. Could she trust this woman?
    “Hi, I’m Rebekka and this is David,” she said.
    “Malene.”
    “Look what just opened up. Isn’t it wonderful?” Rebekka asked, and spread out her arms widely.
    Malene couldn’t quite see what was so wonderful about this place. It was dark and clammy. “Is this the way out?” she asked.
    “It just might be,” Rebekka answered. “How are you? Are you in pain?”
    Malene nodded carefully. “My back and neck hurt.”
    “You bruised your face as well,” Rebekka said.
    Malene touched her forehead and remembered hitting the stove and the granite counter in the kitchen. She didn’t know if she should tell this woman what happened. She decided to keep it to herself for now. The poet didn’t seem to be here.
    “A long story,” she said. “Where are we?”
    “We believe we are in the limestone mines of Monsted Kalkgruber,” David said. “We think this is one of the many caves underground that are connected by tunnels.”
    “The mines? But that’s so deep underground? How did we end up here?” Malene asked, but then she remembered. She remembered staring into the deep dark hole while sliding and trying to grab onto something. Then it all went dark.
    “The ground caved underneath the entire neighborhood,” Rebekka said. “We believe it was a sinkhole. Do you live on Blegevej?”
    She shook her head. “I was…visiting someone when it happened.”
    “Me too,” Rebekka said.
    She stared at the high ceilings above them. It looked almost like a cathedral when Rebekka shone her lights on it. Underneath the ceiling hung a flock of bats. Malene shuddered. She hated bats, but the air felt a lot fresher in here.
    “At least it’s better than where we came from,” Rebekka said and looked at David. “Let’s bring everybody in here.” Rebekka looked at Malene. “Maybe you can help?”
     

26
    H IS FINGERS HAD started to bleed. Thomas had been biting them since he and Brian had ended up in an even smaller cave after crawling through the tunnel.
    The blood was running down his fingers and landing on the soil, making a puddle that soon turned into a flood.
    “Damn it!” Brian yelled. “I can’t believe there is no way out of this freaking hell-hole.”
    The flood disappeared and Thomas looked at Brian sitting next to him. He had blood running out from his ears. Thomas wanted to reach out and touch it, but wasn’t sure it was really there. The lack of oxygen made his visions even more vivid.
    “You think we should go back?” he asked. He hoped Brian would say no. Thomas didn’t want to go back and face that girl. He had hoped it was nothing but a dream, but there she was. With that bruise on her forehead that he had given her when he…when he smashed her into the stove.
    Thomas giggled, thinking about it again.
    “What the heck are you laughing at, poet-boy?” Brian snarled. “I’m not going back there, no matter what. They’re going to die in there, you hear me? All of them. I’m not going down with them. If that’s what you want, then go ahead. I don’t care. Is that what you want?”
    “Nnn…no.” Thomas bit his nails again while the flood of blood reappeared. It was soaking his shoes. He moved his feet and it made a splashing sound.
    “What the hell is that?” Brian asked.
    “What is what?”
    “That sound you’re making with your feet?”
    “I…I don’t…know.” Thomas felt confused. Was the blood really there?
    Brian leaned over and put his hand in the soil. “It’s wet,” he