Take Back the Light

Chapter 6

"That was nothing," Trixie said assuringly, trying to convince both herself and Alana. "The mist is getting way too heavy," she said, shaking her head and turning back to the guys. Kord smiled and pulled his blaster out of his back holster.

"I got something that'll cut right through this fog," he said confidently, grabbing a device from his belt and clipping it onto the top of his blaster. "Sonar scope!"

He walked in front of the rest of the gang with his blaster out. The scope had a small screen that was pinging out vibrations with a small ping! every few moments.

"All clear," Kord announced, leading the way through the dense fog. "Oh yeah, this baby works like a charm-"

Just as he finished his sentence, a swarm of cave bats burst into view. Their screeching echoed of the cave walls. Alana shrieked and went down to the ground, pulling Trixie down with her. Kord, Pronto, and Eli all ducked, raising their arms in defense. They covered their heads as the bats flew by, bumping into their arms and shoulders before flying further down the tunnel.

Once it was silent, the gang hastily got to their feet, glancing at each other worriedly.

"Are you sure that thing works?" Eli asked hesitantly.

Kord frowned and inspected his blaster. Then he laughed nervously and pulled the sonar scope off his blaster, flipped it around, and clipped it back on.

"He he, sorry... I put it on backwards," he said. Pronto sighed and shook his head.

"That is it! I'm leading us back to the exit!" Pronto exclaimed, taking a step back in the direction of the Deadweed door. Eli grabbed the molenoid's shoulder quickly.

"Come on, this is fun!" he said. "It's kinda like Halloween."

Alana tensed up, glaring at Eli. She'd heard about Halloween from Will, and it wasn't something that Slugterrans were familiar with. Trixie frowned and tilted her head.

"What's a Halloween?" she asked. Alana smirked and crossed her arms.

"Yeah, Eli, what's that?" she asked innocently. Eli faltered for a moment, scratching the back of his head.

"Uh... it's an old Shane tradition!" he said. "Once a year we dress up in scary costumes and get candy from the neighbors."

Alana laughed, shaking her head. "Sounds weird," she remarked.

"Sounds like extortion," Trixie said as the gang continued on down the tunnels.

The fog lowered a bit, only appearing in spontaneous thick patches. Every once in a while, there would be small, quiet chirps that sounded through the stone tunnels. Alana would tilt her head in the direction of them seconds before she would hear them, as if she could guess exactly where the slugs were.

She couldn't focus on it very much, though, because at every small noise, Pronto would shriek and jump.

"Wow, Pronto. I've never seen you so scared," Trixie said after Pronto nearly jumped out of his boots when he walked into a spiderweb.

"Pronto is not scared," the molenoid said, jumping as a high-pitched wind blew through the tunnel, sounding like dozens of people whispering. "Pronto is... terrified!"

"Uh, I could be wrong, but... that sounded like a voice," Kord said.

"Or a sick owl," Eli suggested. (The rest of the gang chose to ignore him.)

"It was saying turn back!" Pronto gasped.

Alana glanced at Trixie. She didn't want to say anything, but it kind of did sound like it was a voice.