Free Dark Screams, Volume 1 by Brian James Freeman

right out. My head swiveled as I searched for her.
    “Here,” she hissed, “on the other side.”
    I saw a green box on the far side of the culvert. The box, which probably housed machinery of some kind, stood about five feet in height, and there, above it, was something that I hadn’t expected to encounter down here: a woman of around thirty with short black hair. She wore a strapless dress and makeup for a night out. She was clearly frightened and extremely wary as she peered back at me from above the casing. The way her head and the upper part of her body were visible hinted that she stood on something on the other side in order to get a better view.
    She angled her head as she studied Goliath. “He is asleep, isn’t he?”
    “As far as I can tell,” I replied. “Who are you?”
    “One of you, I suppose. A prisoner. Look.” She raised her hands, revealing that her wrists were manacled together. Another chain fastened her to the metal casing.
    “My name’s John.” I whispered, because I didn’t want to wake the murderer. Even so, the roar of water flowing through the vault meant the whisper had to be a loud one, otherwise the woman wouldn’t hear me.
    “I’m Katy.”
    “How long have you been down here?”
    “Just over three hours.”
    “Who brought you?”
    “I don’t know. One moment I was near the bus station, the next thing I knew I was waking up here, chained to this box.”
    “Did you see who brought me here?”
    Instead of answering, she asked nervously, “Are you sure he’s asleep?”
    “Goliath? Sleeping like a baby.”
    “How do you know he’s called Goliath?”
    “I don’t.” I shrugged. “Though it seems as good a name as any.”
    “Kill him. Kill Goliath.”
    “How?” Her sudden demand to slaughter the guy shocked me. “I don’t have a weapon. And have you seen the size of him?”
    “You’ve got to.”
    I glanced at splashes of blood drying on his face. Had Katy seen the death of vest guy? A moment later came confirmation that she had, when she told me that she’d watched Goliath drag me along by the chain before going crazy and smashing his victim’s head to bits against the wall. Katy knew the guy was dangerous. She’d clearly decided that the only certain way to prevent our violent deaths was to terminate Goliath’s life. Yet putting an end to Goliath wouldn’t be easy.
    Meanwhile, I tried my earlier question again. “Katy, did you see who brought me down here and who chained me to him?”
    “Sorry. When I heard sounds I hid behind this box thing. By the time I dared look again you were lying on the floor near him. Goliath. I was going to call across to you, but when he awoke I was too frightened. I don’t want him coming across the river to get me.”
    “That’s understandable.”
    “He’s still asleep, isn’t he?”
    I checked Goliath. The steel collar around his neck glinted as his chest rose and fell. “Seems like it.” I moved closer to him, stretching out my hand, ready to touch his leg, then thought better of it. Even so, the chain links that connected us together made a rattling sound and his head moved sharply, suggesting that he’d heard something other than the water gushing along its channel. And yet his eyes didn’t open and soon that rhythmic rise and fall of the chest indicated pretty clearly that he continued sleeping.
    “Don’t disturb him,” Katy whispered, obviously very scared. “He might get nasty if he’s woken up.”
    “Get nasty? He’s already nasty.”
    She nodded. “That’s why we’ve got to get out of here.”
    “I agree. The question is: How?”
    A voice answered me that wasn’t Katy’s.
    “What’s more, we need to do it before sleeping beauty wakes up.”
    “Who’s that?” I asked.
    “Over here. Behind you.”
    I looked back to see a young man with curly hair peering out of a recess in the brickwork.
    “I’ve been listening to you,” he said. “My name’s Nev.”
    He was a captive, too, chained to the