Midnight's Lair

  With the hand that was under her arm, he could reach her breast.

  Don't try it, he warned himself.

  You spook her and you'll blow it.

  It's so dark in here, I could do anything. Anything at all, as long as Paula stays quiet.

  He would need to keep her quiet.

  Kyle patted the pocket of his jeans and felt the knife inside. Moving his hand over a bit more, he gave his erection a gentle squeeze through the heavy denim, felt a surge of pleasure, and imagined sliding it into her. Then imagined the lights coming on suddenly.

  Forget it, he warned himself.

  Even if he had all the time in the world and could somehow find his way around the entire cavern, there was no place to get rid of the body. There'd be a search as soon as they got out of here, and she'd be found.

  Only one way to have Paula - she has to go along with it.

  ***

  'Just for the fun of it,' Darcy said. 'The pay's not good, but this is pretty interesting for a summer job.'

  'What's your major?' Greg asked.

  'You tell me. You probably have a theory.'

  Greg laughed softly. 'Majoring in tour guidance?'

  'Yeah, sure.'

  'The obvious, of course, is geology.'

  'Wrong again.'

  'That was an observation, not a guess.'

  'So, what's your guess?'

  'Psychology.'

  'Oh, come on. Only fruitcakes go into psychology. You think I'm a fruitcake?'

  'No, your head seems pretty well screwed on. How about phys-ed?'

  'Now I'm a jock. Thanks.'

  'Jocks are air-heads, right?'

  'You got it.'

  'But they're also physically fit and graceful, so you shouldn't consider my guess to be an out-and-out insult.'

  'Okay, I won't.'

  'How about a clue?'

  ' "It is an ancient Mariner, and he stoppeth one of three." '

  'Seamanship.'

  Darcy elbowed him.

  'Archery?'

  She looked at him with surprise. There was nothing to see. 'You do know your literature.'

  'I wonder if someone down here recently murdered an albatross.'

  'Not me,' Darcy said.

  'We could ask around. All this might be punishment for some kind of transgression.'

  'Right.'

  'As a matter of fact, I'm serious.'

  'You don't sound serious.'

  'I find it intriguing. You take life, a lot of nasty business goes on.'

  'I'll buy that.'

  'It all comes down to one of three things,' Greg said. 'About fifty per cent is crap that just happens, nobody's fault, just God or Mother Nature or Fate or Chance dropping on you like a ton of bricks. The other half of the bad stuff is caused either by human evil or ignorance. Evil and stupidity are about equal.'

  'Nifty theory.'

  'I think so. Now, you take our present situation, I figure the odds are fifty-fifty that we're victims right now of somebody doing what he shouldn't.'

  'Twenty-five per cent that somebody shot an albatross.'

  'Right.'

  'So where does that leave us?' she asked.

  'Right where we were before I started my lecture.'

  'Except I'm wiser, now.'

  Greg laughed softly.

  'And we're a few minutes closer to getting out of here.'

  'I sure hope so.'

  Darcy didn't like the sound of that.

  'Have you thought about…?' He stopped.

  'What?'

  'You said, yourself, we don't know what happened up there. We've been assuming that, whatever the problem is, it'll be fixed before long. But what if it's not? I think we have to… consider the possibility.'

  'Great. Thanks. I've been trying like hell not to consider that.'

  She felt Greg let go of her hand. He stirred beside her. Then his arm went across her shoulders, and she leaned against him.

  'I figured to give it a couple of hours,' she whispered. 'Then what?'

  'Then, we get our asses out of here.'

  'That's what I like, a woman of action.' She thought she could hear a smile in his voice. 'But how do you plan to accomplish this feat?'

  'With great difficulty.'

  ***

  When Paula began to sniff, Kyle thought she had a runny nose. Then he wondered if she might be crying. 'Are you okay?' he asked.

  Her voice trembled as she answered, 'Not very.'

  She is crying.

  'What's wrong?'

  'I'm just… so scared.'

  'Hey, there's nothing to be scared about.'

  'It's so dark. Why aren't the lights on yet? What's taking so long?'

  'They'll be on pretty soon,' Kyle said. He hoped not. It'd be just fine, he thought, if the lights stayed off for hours. Maybe we could even spend the whole night down here.

  He liked the blackness. He liked the feel of Paula, and wanted more. The moment the power came back on, that would end it with her.

  'Maybe you should try to take a nap,' he whispered. 'It'd pass the time.'

  'I don't think I could sleep.'

  'My butt's already fallen asleep.'

  Paula made a loud, wet sniff. 'Mine, too.'

  'Let's try lying down. Even if we can't sleep, it'd be a lot more comfortable.'

  'All right.'

  Kyle took his hand out from under her sweater. He felt her hand on his shoulder as he lay down. The chill of the cavern floor seeped through the back of his shirt. He rolled onto his side.

  'This isn't all that comfortable,' Paula whispered.

  'Here.' He touched her hair, then slid his arm under her head. He put his other arm around her back, 'Is that better?'

  'Yeah.'

  Paula's hand found his side just below the ribcage. But she didn't move any closer to him. Their bodies were apart.

  A couple more inches, Kyle thought, and we'd be touching.

  She's probably worried about that.

  He could feel her shaking.

  'Cold?' he asked.

  'A little.'

  He scooted himself closer. Her breasts pressed against him. He felt their warmth, and the warmth of her belly and thighs. Instead of moving away, Paula tightened her arm around his back and she squeezed him to her body. She sighed. 'This is nice,' she whispered.

  'Yeah.'

  'You feel so warm.'

  'You, too.'

  He wondered if she could feel his hard-on. She must. It was pushing right against her. But she didn't try to get away from it.

  Maybe she likes it, he thought.

  He'd never messed around with a girl his own age, never even taken one out, but he knew guys who had and sometimes they bragged about scoring. Unless those guys were lying, there were girls who put out.

  Maybe Paula's one of them.

  Even if she's not, Kyle was pretty sure that a lot of girls her age would let you do other stuff - everything but that.

  He slid his hand down her back and rested it on her hip. Her dress was a soft fabric. He moved his hand over it, feeling the curve of her rump.

  Her head moved. Kyle felt her face against his. Her lips brushed over his cheek, then found his mouth. She kissed him. It wasn't a noisy smack like he got on the cheek from his aunt and grandmother. It was a soft, quiet suck on his lips, and afterwards her mouth didn't go away.

  Nobody had ever kissed Kyle this way.

  She was a girl his own age, kissing him because she wanted to.

  She must like me, he thought.

  He pressed his lips against hers. He was hard and aching and wanting Paula more than ever. But there were new feelings: amazement, gratitude and tenderness.

  This must be what it's like, he thought, to have a girlfriend.

  But she'll go away when the elevators start up.

  It isn't fair.

  I'll still have room 115, he told himself. And I'll still have Darcy.

  But I won't have Paula anymore.

 
He felt a tightness in his throat.

  Even if she does like me, she'll go away.

  The hell with her.

  Keeping his mouth on Paula's, he twisted enough to make room between their bodies, and closed a hand gently over her breast. She made a small gasp and stiffened.

  'Kyle, don't,' she whispered.

  'It's all right.' He moved the sweater out of his way. He squeezed her breast through the blouse and bra. 'Nobody can see anything.'

  'What if the lights come on?'

  So it was okay with her; she just didn't want to get caught. 'If they do, I'll stop.'

  'I don't know.'

  He covered her mouth with his lips. She was breathing hard and trembling. He fumbled with buttons, opened a way in her blouse, and slipped his hand inside. Some of her breast wasn't covered by the bra. He caressed its smooth warmth. She moaned into his mouth, a moan that seemed partly desire and partly protest. Then Kyle pushed his fingers under the bra. She flinched and squirmed.

  'No, don't.'

  'It won't hurt anything,' he said, digging deeper into the yielding flesh until his fingertips found the rigid post of her nipple.

  She yanked his hand away. She held it motionless by the wrist. 'I told you no, Kyle.'

  'I thought you liked me,' he said.

  'I do. But… you're going too fast. I've never let anyone… There are people all around us.'

  'I don't see any.'

  'Silly.' She squeezed his wrist. Then she guided his hand through the blackness and placed it on her breast. He felt the blouse. 'Outside my clothes, okay?'

  'But your skin is so smooth and nice.'

  'Kyle.'

  'Please?'

  'Do you promise to leave my bra alone? And not go below the waist?'

  'I promise.'

  'Okay.'

  She released his wrist.

  Kyle unfastened the other buttons, then slid his hand inside her blouse.

  Pretty soon she'll let me undo her bra, he thought. Pretty soon, she'll let me do everything.

  ***

  'She took your car?' Darcy asked.

  'And my stereo and VCR and all the cash in the house.'

  'That's awful. After everything you did for her.'

  'Well, she was such a mess,' Greg said. 'I was pretty upset for a while, but I was relieved, too. It was no kind of relationship. Once the shock wore off, I realized how lucky I was to be rid of her.'

  'Did you love her?'

  'I don't know. I thought so. At first, anyway. She was very attractive and vulnerable, and she needed me. There was certainly a strong element of sexual attraction. But putting up with her…'

  'It must've been terrible.'

  'On top of everything else - her fits of rage and jealousy and all the rest - she tried to commit suicide twice, and one night I woke up and found her holding a butcher knife to my throat.'

  'Good Christ.'

  'She said I'd put a radium bulb in the bedside lamp to poison her chromosomes.'

  'I don't know how you could live with that kind of thing.'

  'It wasn't easy. I kept hoping she'd get better. But she'd come back from the clinics and be fine for a while and then it would all start up again. I felt totally trapped. I really wanted her out of my life, but she was so dependent on me - I knew she'd go off the deep end if I tried to throw her out.'

  'Why did she finally take off like that?'

  'I don't have any idea. As crazy as she was, maybe she decided I was plotting against her. Maybe she met someone at one of the bars. I just don't know. I'm just thankful that she left.'

  'Do you think she'll come back?'

  'She's been gone more than a year, now, so I doubt it.'

  'And you haven't been… involved with a woman since she left?'

  'No. And it's been wonderfully peaceful.'

  'So, you've let your experiences with Martha turn you off completely to…'

  'Not turn me off, just make me careful. The last thing I need is to get messed up with another emotional crip - what's that…?' His voice stopped.

  Darcy tensed.

  Greg's hand tightened on her shoulder.

  She listened. The sound came from behind her - from the elevator shafts? A far-off, skidding rumble that reminded her of a subway train approaching a station. It grew louder, louder.

  Greg's hand darted under her armpit. Her other arm was grabbed and she felt herself being lifted, hurled forward through the blackness with Greg at her side until they stumbled over people who yelped with alarm.

  Greg, on Darcy's back, pressed her down onto a squirming body.

  She heard the roar, shouts and screams, a tremendous crash.

  Greg rolled off her. Raising her head, Darcy saw that she was sprawled on top of Beth Donner. The woman's face glowed with fluttering yellow-orange light. She had a look of terror in her eyes.

  'Sorry,' Darcy muttered. 'You all right?'

  Beth nodded.

  Darcy pushed herself up. She looked over her shoulder.

  Into the flames.

  The elevator on the left, its wooden doors blasted apart, was a closet of fire.

  Darcy squinted into the burning, twisted wreckage of its car. She saw no bodies.

  That's something, she thought. At least…

  There came another roar.

  Another crash.

  The doors to the second elevator burst apart in a spray of slabs and splinters.

  ***

  That morning, after coffee and a sweetroll from the snackbar, Chris Raines walked with her daughter to the area beyond the giftshop where people were standing in line to buy tickets for the tour.

  'You sure you don't want to come down for another look at the wonders of the cavern?' Darcy asked.

  'I don't think so. But maybe tomorrow. I suppose I should see it once more before I take off.'

  'What'll you do with yourself all day?'

  'I'm sure I'll think of something. Sit around and relax, I suppose. This is my vacation.'

  'If you get really bored or something, you can always drive into town.'

  'Maybe later on. I'll stick around long enough to have lunch with you, though.'

  'Fine. Whatever. See you.'

  'Have fun.'

  As Darcy walked towards a doorway beyond the ticket booth, several of the men waiting in line turned their heads to watch her.

  My kid, Chris thought, and felt the familiar stir of pride and concern. Darcy had always been beautiful. When she was a child, it had been women who seemed to make most of the comments: store clerks, people waiting in supermarket lines, strangers passing on the sidewalk. Later, the women stopped remarking on her beauty at about the same time that boys and men began to notice her. And stare. And often get awkward. Chris's male friends, after meeting Darcy, rarely failed to say, 'She's going to break a lot of hearts.'

  She probably did, too. But never on purpose, as far as Chris knew. The girl accepted her beauty, realized it was nothing more than a lucky accident, and never let it go to her head, never dumped on people because she considered them inferior.

  It was Darcy's own heart that ended up broken, so often, when she let herself fall for guys who turned out to be creeps.

  Comes with the territory, Chris thought. All the men want you, but so often it's the wrong kind who comes along with the right moves. God knows, she'd had to struggle with that, herself, all her life.

  Darcy's father was a prime example.

  Don't ruin a lovely day by thinking about him, she told herself, and started walking quickly through the tourist centre. She opened a door at the front, and entered the hotel lobby. On her way to the stairs, she glanced at the registration desk. Ethan Mordock was there.

  Speaking of creeps, Chris thought.

  Fortunately, he was on the telephone with his back turned.

  The man had been perfectly polite and friendly the few times she'd spoken with him, but he had that look in his eyes. Like a vulture inspecting its next meal. He might be looking at your
face and chatting about the weather, but you always had the feeling he cared more about the colour of your panties.

  A real sleaze.

  And Darcy's boss.

  Chris hurried up the stairs, and felt a little relieved once she turned at the landing and knew she could no longer be seen by him.

  ***

  She had warned Darcy about the guy. 'I'd keep my guard up around him, if I were you.'

  'Oh, he's all right.'

  'If you don't mind a man undressing you with his eyes.'

  'Depends on the man.'

  'Very cute. I'm serious.'

  'Don't worry, Mom. He's not my type.'

  'Is he married?'

  'Interested?' Darcy asked, that glint in her eyes.

  'Right. I'll run right down and throw myself into his arms.'

  'He'd probably go into cardiac arrest.'

  'I take it he's not married.'

  'I've heard his wife ran off with someone a few years ago.'

  'Well, just watch out for him.'

  'Don't worry. He starts any trouble, I'll give him the ol' one-two and knock his lights out.'

  The kidding around, Chris knew, was simply her daughter's way of dealing with the problem. The warning had been heard and accepted.

  And probably wasn't necessary in the first place. Darcy was a sharp kid. But a little motherly advice never hurt.

  ***

  Chris searched her shoulder bag as she made her way along the corridor. She found her room key, stopped at the third door from the end, and let herself in.

  With the door shut, she turned the latch.

  Don't want Ethan the lech coming in with a pass key while I'm undressing, she thought.

  The pits to think he can let himself into any room that suits his fancy.

  Good thing Darcy has a roommate.

  Chris wondered if they used the inside latch. They certainly should.

  Remember to mention it at lunch.

  Oh, Mom, you worry too much. The man is probably harmless.

  I latched my door, she thought, and I'm sure I'm not nearly as tempting to a man like that as Darcy is.

  She suddenly remembered Arthur, one of her boyfriends. Oh, that bastard, that bastard. She hunched over, hot and sick, no longer in the hotel room but home and waking up in her dark bed and wondering where Arthur had gone and looking for him and finding him in Darcy's room, crouched over her bed, touching her while she slept.