Bean helped him shoulder the creaking mass of wood aside and they shined their flashlights into the narrow opening. It revealed a cave-like chamber, dank and malodorous, the walls glistening with streams of seepage, and water standing in places on the floor. In its center was a table with thick ropes secured to the head and foot. “Oh, Lord,” Stiles sighed as he inspected the ropes and saw how they had been snapped in haste. “He had someone down here. That’s why he came back—for his reserve supply. Charlie, we can’t let him feed!” He searched the chamber in earnest, found a crawlway opposite the entrance that was barely large enough for a grown man. But it didn’t stop the soldier. He dropped to his hands and knees and scrambled into the darkness.

“Wait up, dammit!” Bean cursed, mostly for fear of losing his guide. He squeezed through as best he could, feeling particularly vulnerable in those tight quarters, but it was only a few feet before the crawlway opened into a much larger tunnel. He clambered to his feet to find Stiles standing nearby, looking about warily. It could have been a natural cavern—there were rock formations present, dribbling pale groundwater from the ceiling like mother’s milk from limestone teats. But the cave roof was shored up in places, supported by big wooden beams that braced the ceiling and walls. “Well, this is something,” the deputy said. “I never heard about any mine tunnels around here.” He shined his light in either direction and saw that the passage split in two each way. “Well, at least you know how he got out ahead of the boys that night. Which way, Chris?”

“I don’t know,” Stiles sighed, and his shoulders sagged with the admission. “But he’s definitely gone. I can’t feel him anymore. And there’s no telling where these tunnels end up. He could be anywhere. I fucked up, Charlie. He’s already feeding again. Getting stronger. Damn!”

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll find him.” Bean looked around. “Pretty old network, if you ask me. Could go anywhere. Too bad there’s no one around these days who’d know just where.”