Page 138 of The Last Session

Now that I knew, I could smell it, sweet and sickly. Rotting flesh. I gagged and threw up over the side of the ledge.

But why did she smell if she’d died one day ago? I thought of what had bumped against my leg. There was someone or something else in here too. Something that had been here longer.

Okay.I was on the verge of it—a frenzy, a hysteria, that would holdme in its grip and not let go. I needed to breathe.Good.Now I needed to take stock. I moved different body parts. My head ached horribly from when Sol had dropped me in the cave, but otherwise I felt okay. I rubbed my goose-bumped arms. It was freezing. Should I take off my wet clothes? Would that be better or worse? I pulled off my jacket, opening it on the ledge to dry.

Something was pressing into my upper thigh. Karen had slipped something in my pocket right before they’d shoved me in.

It was a tiny key chain flashlight wrapped in plastic.

Oh thank god. I ripped open the plastic and a piece of paper fell out. “Shit!” I lunged but it was too late: the paper was consumed by the churning water.

Another sob lodged in my throat. I had to stay calm. Karen was trying to help me. She’d given me this flashlight because somehow she’d known where I’d end up.

I needed to use the light to take stock. But suddenly I didn’t want to, the aversion so strong it took my breath away. I didn’t want to see where I was. What was in here with me.

Do it, Thea.I gritted my teeth, clicked it on.

It was worse in the light. Much worse.

I was indeed trapped in a tiny chamber. It was filled with water, rushing from the tunnel to my left and continuing out to my right. But the tunnel out wasn’t intact; it broke into smaller holes, all the size of my fist or smaller. The water rushed through but trapped me inside.

No way out. That’s why Grace was trapped in here with me. I’d disturbed her body, and now her head bumped against the hole-filled wall. I thought randomly of an exercise I’d been taught in the high school gym unit on swimming—if you were in the middle of the ocean, waiting to be rescued, you’d position yourself like this: arms out, head down. Only Grace couldn’t raise her head to take a breath. Her wet neon hair was subdued, a rich copper in the blue-tinged light. And something else floated next to her: a small creature covered in glossy black fur. A dog? A whiff of that rotting scent: it was the animal, further along in death.

They were so close. If I leaned over the ledge, I could touch them.

I shuddered, turning off the light.

I was trapped in this tiny space with two corpses.

I screamed.

I stopped only when my throat felt raw, then curled my head into my arms. My brain felt disconnected; I couldn’t comprehend why I was here.

No.I had to think. I had to fuckingthink. Catherine had gotten out of here. I needed to remember that. I just had to figure out how.

I clicked the flashlight again. Had she climbed back out against the current? I plunged my hand beneath the water, but the flow felt too strong. I also couldn’t remember how long the tunnel had been. I knew my panic had probably stretched it out, but it hadn’t been short.

I played the light all around the cave walls. I even desperately pushed at the ceiling, but the rock was, of course, solid and unyielding.

“Fuck,” I whispered. I shoved the flashlight deep in my pocket and rubbed my arms, my legs. This was bad. This was very, very bad.

I forced myself to take deep breaths. Karen had given me this flashlight. Why? If only I hadn’t dropped the fucking note. It could’ve said anything fromHelp is on the waytoI’m sorry, hon.

I thought of Catherine’s bloodied fingertips at the hospital. She’d tried to crawl out of the tunnel. Had she succeeded?

I thought of her blank eyes, staring at Block D’s wall. I’d been so curious what had happened to her. What was so horrifying that it had shut her brain down.

Well, now I knew.

54

There was no way to follow the passage of time down here.

I stared into the darkness for what felt like hours, then somehow fell asleep. I woke on the ledge. I felt clear and calm; some part of my psyche had risen from the depths, ready to deal with the situation. The tears had dried up. I knew what I had to do: go back up the tunnel.

I found a little circular hole in the wall to act as a cubby for the flashlight. I couldn’t risk it falling into the water, being carried away. I practiced holding my breath, counting the seconds, until I felt dizzy. By the time I dropped into the water, I was certain I’d be out of here soon. I braced myself to touch the bodies, which had resubmerged, but they stayed near the exit holes.

The first time I tried to swim up the tunnel, it felt like pushing into a block of cement. I managed to get a few feet in before the water pummeled me back. Determinedly, I went in again, grasping the edge of the tunnel, trying to launch myself through. But I lost my grip and the water pushed me back once more.

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