“Oh God!” Aunt Lyssa said, pushing herself back against the wall of the cave and pointing behind us. Her voice was hoarse with terror. “Oh my God! What’s that?”

25

I AM HERE

THE THREE OF us turned as one. A shadow was lifting from the mouth of another tunnel leading off this main gallery. It rose higher and higher and seemed to be gathering darkness around it. Even the beam of Mr. Patel’s light was absorbed by that cloak of darkness as the shadow gathered and deepened and loomed over us, its two red eyes glistening.

Strangely, even though my throat was too tight to shout or speak, I wasn’t frozen by fear. I don’t mean I wasn’t afraid. It was just that the fear of what might happen had been more paralyzing than this moment when all my worst nightmares seemed about to come true. Perhaps it was because I heard my father’s voice in my head. I heard it clearer than ever since the time of the accident.

Nittaunis, Maumaneeteantass. “My daughter, be of good courage.”

“Maddy. Get back, honey!”

It was Aunt Lyssa. She was trying to get between me and whatever it was that was in front of us. She couldn’t pull me back. I couldn’t move. All I could do was stare at what was there before me. It was every bad dream I’d ever had turned real. It was as real as darkness itself, and I could feel its thirst for my blood. And there was no way to escape. The wall was to one side of us and that black hole in the floor, that pit, was right behind us now because we’d turned. We were truly trapped. But Aunt Lyssa didn’t care about that. She didn’t know it was the Whisperer in the Dark, a monster far stronger than all of us. But even if she had known, it wouldn’t have mattered. Her own fear was far less than her desire to try to protect me.

But if she’d wanted to get in front of me, she would have had to wait in line. Roger and Mr. Patel were already there, both of them holding me back. As the four of us each foolishly tried to be the one most in danger from the awful creature that faced us, I found myself wanting to laugh and cry at the same time. And this small hope formed itself in my thoughts, that perhaps our courage and our mutual desire to protect one another was strong enough to defeat this monster.

But that thought died as quickly as a flame blown out by a cold gust of wind when the Whisperer spoke.

“Foools.”