***
“Earthquakes east of the Mississippi are more prevalent than you’d think,” said Ranger Laarz to the rescue team gathered at the entrance to Pandora’s Cave. “From what I’ve seen on the news there hasn’t been any damage to bridges, buildings, or other structures in the area. It only registered a 3.6 on the Richter.”
I could tell some of the rescuers were worried about going underground after an earthquake and Ranger Laarz was trying to ease their fear. I shook my head. If that’s all they had to worry about I’d go back in myself.
I assumed the warm sunlight blasting the cave entrance would fry any demon that might stick its head out of the shadows. And the park was busy—almost crowded—with police officers, firefighters, EMTs and other rescue personnel. The area was secure, and yet I still shivered every time I glanced at the cave. The demons had made their intentions clear and I couldn’t get their threat out of my head: We’ll grab you in the dark, when the night comes. The dark belongs to usss!
It wasn’t dark yet, just midafternoon, but night would come like it always did. We clearly had no business being so close to the cave, but we really needed to know what the rescue team was planning. And we weren’t leaving the park until Jon was found.
Ranger Laarz scanned the faces of her co-rescuers with a steel-edged look in her eyes. She was a take-charge kind of person and had clearly decided that her first order of business was to settle their nerves as quickly as possible.
“Where was the epicenter?” asked an older black man with massive shoulders and a deep, bass voice. This guy looked bigger than Dr. Parrish. Could he even fit through some of the narrow places inside the cave?
“Right here in the park,” said Laarz. “Or more accurately, about a quarter mile into the cave. “Look, we’re all a little nervous about going into a cave after what happened, but there are three men trapped in there who need our help, and one of them has a broken leg. Most of us have extensive search and rescue experience and I’m sure we’ve all faced worse dangers than this. So let’s get our heads on straight and get these guys out of there before their flashlights die. Does anyone have a problem with caves? If you do, you’d better let me know now.” Laarz paused dramatically, leaning on the shotgun like a cane. But the tone of her voice dared anyone in the group to back out.
Some of them shrugged and shook their heads, but nobody stepped down. Laarz went on.
“Good. I know a few of you, but not everyone. I think it would be a good idea if we learned everybody’s names and what we do, starting with me. I’m Melinda Laarz, the head ranger here at Crystal Creek Park. I’ve been in this cave a few times, but I don’t claim to be an expert caver. That’s why I called some of you to help us. Eric?” She looked at Wooden, who pretended to be serious.
“Eric Wooden, second in command of this park. That’s second…out of three.”
Everyone laughed. He lightened up and offered a winning smile that helped keep the tension down. “I’m just another ranger here, but I’ve always wanted to explore the cave, so I guess this is my big chance.”
The athletic looking girl beside him sent a smile his way. She had blonde, shoulder-length hair and the face of a mischievous angel. She spoke next. “Anya Sapunenko. I’ll be guiding some of you into the entrance on the other side of that big rock wall. It’s the shortest way in.” She spoke with a Russian accent, but her English was very good. Her equally athletic and cute girlfriend spoke next.
“I’m Karen Otero and I’ll lead the rest of you through this entrance. The reason we’re using both entrances is in case one of them is impassable because of the quake. Anya and I have been in this cave a million times and we know every path.” Laarz and Wooden nodded in agreement.
“The kids say the quake made some changes,” said Laarz. “Kelly, didn’t you say the arch collapsed?”
“Yes,” I replied. “But that’s good, because you don’t have to crawl through water anymore. And there’s a giant hole in front of the organ pipes where the lake used to be.”
Anya and Karen looked at each other, confused.
“Used to be?” said Anya. “But that area was solid rock. Where did the lake go?”
“The entire floor and the lake dropped into a cavern below. You can still see all the pipes, but the organ keys and the flowers are gone.”
“The new ledge is in a really big cave,” said Travis. “It’s huge!”
“Cool,” said Anya.
“New territory,” said Karen, brushing her medium-length brown hair out of her eyes. The girls tapped fists with each other. Their confidence seemed to lighten the fears of some of the other rescuers.
Karen nodded to the police officer next to her. It was his turn to speak. The officer was much older than the girls, maybe in his sixties, with a rather large potbelly bulging under his uniform. He carried a pistol on his belt and kept a cardboard box full of radio equipment. Travis told me he counted the bullets in his belt. Still not enough ammo.
“Ah’m Sheriff Andy Ford,” he said in a thick country twang. “Ah’m in charge of communications. Ah’ll be setting up about a hundred feet, or so, inside the entrance. The radios don’t work as well inside a cave, so we’ll position a person with a radio at any point where the signals start to fade. You’ll relay all messages to me.” He looked at the woman beside him. “Beth Ann?”
“Beth Ann Foster, EMT.” I recognized Foster as the other EMT who had arrived in the ambulance with the east Indian guy. She spoke softly and trembled when she said her own name. Why would she force herself to go into the cave when she was so obviously terrified of it? I listened to her thoughts and found she wasn’t afraid of the cave at all. She was afraid to speak in front of other people. Her shyness made her seem less attractive, even plain, but she had potential good looks. Foster immediately glanced at her partner to take the group’s attention away from her.
“Malik Parikh, EMT,” said the lean dark-skinned man, who had spiked, black hair and wore wire-rimmed glasses. “I assure you, we’re both stronger than we look.” He said it as a joke and flexed his thin arm muscles. The group laughed. Malik was probably born in the United States, or he’d lived here most of his life because he had absolutely no accent. Where Foster made the effort to stay out of the spotlight, Malik clearly loved it. “Is everyone here certified in first aid?” The others all nodded. “Good, that’ll make our job a lot easier.”
Next, the black man spoke for both himself and the smaller man beside him. “I’m Sigmund Holzmayer, but most people call me Siggy. And this is Van Nguyen, just call him Van. We’re firefighters with Loudoun County and we’ve been on several cave rescues together. Van’s from Vietnam, but his English is decent and he really knows his stuff. Plus, he’s small enough to squeeze into some of those tight spots where the rest of us aren’t gonna fit.”
The last guy was tall, thin and completely bald. I couldn’t tell if he shaved his head or not, but it looked like he did. He had small earrings in both ears and tattoos on his arms. He nodded to everyone.
“Marcus Conn, volunteer firefighter, Ashland. I happened to be in the area when I heard about your trouble. This will be my first time in a cave.”
Laarz took charge again. “Thank you all. If we’re still here by this evening, a backup team will spell us. If you have trouble with names, just ask, we’re all professionals and should know procedure. When Sheriff Ford gives you a headset, check the batteries and make sure it works on both channels. Anya’s route on the other side of the mountain is significantly shorter than this one, so if that tunnel isn’t blocked, her group should arrive at the Cathedral room first. I want Eric, Siggy and Beth Ann to go with her. Karen will take the rest of us through this entrance. Like I said, we’re looking for three men, Chris McCormick, Jon Bishop, and Anton Edwards. McCormick is the kids’ foster father and has a broken leg. I understand the children splinted it for him.”
“Travis put on the splint,” I said proudly. Everyone nodded their approval and Siggy rubbed Travis on top
of his head. There it was again, the hair rub, and from a total stranger.
“Nice work, Travis,” said Malik, winking. Travis blushed.
“Maybe we take him, too?” said Van. “He fit in even smaller space than me.”
Everyone laughed, but Travis shook his head. “No way! I’m not going back in. There’s—”
Laarz quickly cut him off. “Some of you know Anton Edwards. He’s been on numerous cave rescues across the region. When the kids came out about an hour ago, his exact whereabouts were unknown, but the Bishop boy and Mr. McCormick were last seen on the broken ledge. It’s about a fifty-foot downward climb to reach them, but Kelly told us a rope should still be there. Any questions? Okay, folks, gear up.”
Ranger Laarz clearly didn’t want Travis to mention anything about the demons, which wasn’t fair at all to the other people going in. I was going to have to do something about that.
The rescuers gathered their equipment and strapped on packs. All of them wore hardhats with headlamps and carried extra flashlights. Travis looked at me, but I was concentrating on Laarz. Whether the head ranger wanted to or not, she was going to say something about the real danger in the cave. Laarz blinked funny and turned back to the others.
“Okay, one more thing. This is going to sound weird, but I’d better warn you before we go in. There might be some kind of animals in there.”
“Animals? What, like bats?” asked Otero. “We’ve never seen bats in there.”
“Are these animals dangerous? Is that why you’re hauling the heavy artillery?” Siggy nodded at the shotgun. “I wanted to ask, but you were the one holding the gun.”
“Are we going to be in danger?” asked Malik. “Are they rabid?”
Before Laarz could open her mouth, Travis blurted it out. “There’s demons! Lots of demons!” The others looked at him incredulously, except for Van Nguyen, who seemed suddenly nervous.
“Demons? What’s he talking about?”
“Should we all be armed?”
“I gotta handgun in my car.”
“Is he serious?”
Laarz glared at Travis. “Nobody saw anything except the kids. Dr. Parrish was with them, but he’d lost his glasses and couldn’t see much at all. I’m guessing the quake may have opened a new passage into the cave and possibly some wild animals fell in.”
“They weren’t animals!” cried Travis. “They were demons an’ they talked! They said they’re gonna get Kelly and me tonight!”
Stop it, Travis! I said inside his head. They don’t believe you!
He looked at me angrily. How can they be so dumb?
I took over. “My other brother, Jon, brought a camcorder. It should be in a backpack on the new ledge under some rocks. We recorded some of what happened, so if you can find it, it’ll show what we saw.”
“We’ll look for it,” promised Laarz, relieved to be off the demon subject. “And we’ll do our best to find your loved ones. Let’s go, everybody.”
A third park ranger drove up in a Jeep and parked in front of the station. He got out and hurried over to the cave, tucking in his shirt on the run. He was kind of short, about the same height as Laarz, but stocky, too. He seemed a bit disoriented.
“Hey, Melinda,” said the new ranger, almost out of breath. His uniform was wrinkled and his copper hair disheveled. “Sorry I’m late. Accident on the beltway.”
“There’s always an accident on the beltway,” said Laarz with a smile. “I hated to call you back in so soon, Ned. Did you get any sleep?”
“I’m fine.”
“Eric and I are going in. I’m leaving you in charge of the afternoon shift. Depending on how long it takes, you could be here a while. Are you okay with that?” Ned nodded, Laarz went on. “I want you to coordinate things out here and stay close to the radio. Ned, this is Sheriff Ford. He’ll give you a radio and you’ll be our link to the outside world. Get some paper and take notes on pretty much anything significant you hear. The State Police will keep the press out and help you with security. Just run the park and stay in touch with us, okay?”
“Yeah, no problem. I’ll be fine. Good luck.”
Travis walked away from the group with his hands stuffed in his pockets. He was so mad. He looked down at the ground and noticed a mound of red ants. The ants kind of reminded him of the demons, so he kicked them and messed up their mound. The ants ran everywhere. I joined him.
“Sorry, Travis,” I said. “But some of them thought you were crazy. I mean really crazy.”
“I figgered. I could feel it. They don’t have enough ammo or guns. They’re all gonna die! Then another rescue team will go after them and they’ll die! Somebody’s got to do something!”
I checked my watch. “It’s nearly three o’clock. The only thing I want to do is get Chris, Jon and Mr. Edwards out of that cave…and leave this place before dark.”