Book 1 - Puppets

XVII - Tommyknockers

As they walk deeper into the dark, Russia occasionally looks into the hallways marked off with pink tape. With every shadow they pass, his heart sinks.

'Has anything changed?'

Most of the caverns either haven't changed or are blocked off entirely by fallen debris.

'Is there any reason to go back through the areas we have already looked in?'

He decides against the idea until one of the doorways catches his attention. It's a small opening, one he would have to duck into, marked with a short piece of pink tape. Its shadows call to him.

"Was this always a hallway?" he asks, pointing his torch to a space that looks a lot more open and much darker than it had been.

"What are you talking about? That's a tiny room," Texas says, waving his flashlight at Russia flippantly.

"Not now, Tex. Look," Louisiana says as she peers over Russia's arm and into the abyss, waving her hand in front of her.

"What's going on?" Canada asks from further down the cavern, his voice echoing slightly.

"We might wanna go investigating because something weird is going on here," Louisiana answers, "come and look, 'Nada."

Canada's footsteps echo as he walks over.

"Huh," Canada comments, pointing his flashlight into the darkness. The circle of light disappears into the void.

"This was a small space, right?" Texas says with furrowed eye brows, looking to Louisiana.

"I'm pretty sure there haven't been any places we've marked that you couldn't see the end off from the entrance," Canada comments, peeking past the threshold.

"And the length of the tape proves it was small. See, it's short," Louisiana says, pointing at the strip, "the shorter the strip, the less space was in the room."

"Should we go in there?" Canada asks as the shadows curl around his feet, almost caressing his ankles.

"Does the floor look stable?" Russia asks skeptically, shuffling back.

Russia points his flashlight to the ground and sees several other circles of light join his own. The stone under it looks unnaturally smooth, as if it had been sanded down until slick and shiny. Russia swallows his heart, which has risen into his throat. Then, soft knocking rang out a short distance into the cave.

"Y'all heard that too, right?" Louisiana asks.

"Yup, and it looks like we decided where we're going," Texas says.

Russia takes a step back to allow Canada to take the lead. Canada strides in confidently with Texas and Louisiana trailing just behind him. Russia follows behind the states, but he keeps his light trained on the floor. He carefully places his feet as to not fall and hurt himself or his passenger.

The knocking follows the left wall, moving forward at the same rate as Canada, which puts Russia on edge.

The knocking itself sounds like someone knocking against a thick, wooden door. Though where that sound was coming from, Russia isn't sure.

'Just like the whispering,' he thinks, and he tenses.

"What is making that noise? It is the same source as the whispering?" he asks the group, who all freeze.

"Damn it. I didn't think about that," Texas mumbles, scratching at his hair under the brim of his hat.

They stop walking and flashlights circle the room cautiously. The knocking continues forward a few paces before it returns a meter or so in front of Canada. The states back up around Russia. Canada joins them soon after.

"But it seems to be trying to lead us somewhere," Canada defends.

'I can see that.'

"I do not think that following this will end very well," Russia replies skeptically.

"Well, what else are we gonna to do? We already searched most of the rest of this place and didn't see nothing. 'Sides, we're trapped. We've got nothing left to lose," Texas says with a tense shrug.

"What about Massachusetts?" Russia asks.

"He's just tired. He'll wake up soon," Louisiana says dismissively.

Russia shakes his head. He turns around to leave, ignoring how knocking becomes more aggressive at his defiance. When Russia tries to step out, the floor shakes. Russia stumbles back with a gasp. His foot slips, and he slams it back into the rock, his eyes wide. His foot stings from the impact and the floor stops shaking. Then, the knocking continues where it had stopped.

"Okay. We will follow the knocking," Russia reluctantly agrees.

Russia watches the floor, stepping around the shinier parts of the ground. His hair rises, and his head wants to swivel to watch the dark, but Russia forces his gaze back to the floor. Eyes burn a hole into his back, and Russia hears something that could be skittering or water. He strains his ears, and a hiss creeps through the cavern, Russia's head whips up and his feet stop. He watches the shadows, but nothing gives him an answer, only more unease.

Russia reaches his flashlight arm around, feeling for the cold of the crowbar, his flashlight beam dancing frantically around on the cave walls.

"You doing okay back there, Russ?" Texas asks.

"Yes, I am fine," Russia replies, taking furtive glances over his shoulder. The on.y thing that meets his gaze is nauseating blackness crawling up the holes in the rock to eat him whole.

"Then what's with the crowbar?"

"I thought I heard something hissing, but I did not see anything out of place."

"Hmm, that don't sound good," Texas mutters, before pulling out his gun and cocking it.

"Tex. What good is that gonna do? We can't see nothing. You're better off with the bat," Louisiana scolds, knife already in hand.

Texas sighs in disappointment, clicking on the safety and shoving it in his sheath. Then, the silhouette of him with his bat and hat are lit up by another light. Canada pulls out his hockey stick, holding it in one hand and a flashlight in the other. Texas' spurs clink quietly as he moves behind Russia.

"I got your back," Texas mutters, shining his light into the hungry shadows.

Soft scuttling has Russia's head swiveling toward the darkness behind them, and he points his flashlight over Texas' shoulder. Texas ducks to dodge Russia's crowbar, hand on his hat, and he shoots Russia an annoyed look. Russia ignores it and looks around but sees nothing directly in front of him.

Then, he tilts his flashlight up, and something glints in the darkness.

Two yellow eyes.