Echoes. She heard echoes, mournful and empty—wind crying and rain lashing and the soft slurp—somewhere—of water…

Water…

Kelsey’s foot plunged down into nothingness.

Screaming, she flung out her arms to catch herself, but the useless bannister twisted beneath her grasp, loosening from the wall with a horrible groan. The lantern swung in a crazy arc, and as Kelsey pitched forward, there was a wide swath of pale light—stone walls—wet rocks—bats—and more bats—squirming restlessly—wings quivering—

She landed hard, the breath knocked out of her, so that all she could do for several long minutes was lie there and stare at the lantern through a haze of agony. Through some miracle the light hadn’t gone out. And now she could see the wall, the rocks, the mass of bats, all in their proper, horrid perspectives.

She seemed to be in some sort of cave.

She heard her own breathing, shallow and labored, surrounding her on all sides, as if others breathed with her. There was a horrible stench in the air, like rotten meat. She gagged and put up her hand—felt blood again on her face. Her leg, bent under her, was throbbing unbearably. My leg…

“Donna—” she tried to raise herself on her elbow, tried to penetrate the void and find her friend— “Donna, I think I’ve done the same thing—” She clutched at her knee, flinching, trying not to faint…trying to think what to do… “Donna, we were wrong…it wasn’t Isaac, it was Skip—we’ve got to get out of here, do you hear me? Donna, where are you?”

But the voice that floated out of the darkness began to laugh…like Donna might have laughed…

“Oh, Kelsey…Kelsey…” and it sounded so amused…

Only it wasn’t Donna.

Someone was trying to sound like her…but it wasn’t Donna…

The voice laughed again, and it was the same laugh that Kelsey had heard once before…when she’d been alone that day…alone in the lighthouse…

And still the voice laughed.

And laughed…

“Donna can’t help you,” it said.

Chapter 23

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE with her?” Kelsey shrieked. She struggled into a sitting position, bracing her arms against the cold, damp ground. How did he get in here? How could he have gotten here without my knowing? Her own pain and that awful smell rocked the blackness around her.

The lantern cast a circle of sickly light upon the stone. Just beyond that circle, where the light couldn’t reach, a pair of shoes squished wetly and stopped.

“Donna!” Kelsey was crying now, out of her mind with fear. “Where is she, Skip? What have you—”

“Kelsey,” the voice admonished gently, still that high, singsong voice that was not—could never be—Donna…could never be human. “Kelsey, you made me make a very bad mistake…giving Donna your jacket the way you did…”

Eyes wide, Kelsey listened, tears streaming down her face. “Where’s Donna? Tell me where she is—”

“I mean, how was I supposed to know you weren’t wearing your own jacket? And there I was—with the wrong body on my hands—such a terrible waste…” The feet shifted, stirred the shadows, fell silent again.