Page 14 of Defying the Relic Hunter

The lost souls wailed,“Free us. Free us.”

It was too dangerous for me to connect with the esoteric plane and open a portal. I reached out mentally.“I will free you. I promise, but first I must deal with the one who killed you.”

“He comes. He comes.”The spirits vanished from my mind.

Seriously freaked out, I cautiously surveyed the area. “Whoever murdered them has to be human.”

“The evil one serves the Tomb Raiders,” Granny proclaimed.

“Are you talking about an archaeologist or something else?” The comm-link chirped, and I instinctively answered it.

Ethan barked, “Are you out of your tiny, little mind?”

“Probably. If you were a mass murderer, where would you hide?”

“Mass murderer? What are you babbling about?”

“Someone has killed a bunch of people.” I dropped my voice to a whisper. “And I think he’s still here.”

“You’re dehydrated and hallucinating.”

A weird silence fell as if everything had been silenced by an ungodly, destructive hand. “I wish I was.”

The hieroglyphic began to shift and transform into strange shadows which cavorted around the canyon like ritual dancers.

Ethan groused, “A mass murderer is stalking you. Do you know how crazy that sounds?”

“Shhhh! He’ll hear you.” I rubbed my eyes and looked again. Crap the shadows were still there. My gaze settled on the inky darkness concealed behind a half dead tree. The blackened limbs reached out like sinister thorny fingers.

“What does this mass murderer look like?”

“Dunno.” I opened my psychic eye. A giddy laugh broke from me. They were illusions. Very convincing illusions. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to set this up.

“Why do you think he’s hunting you?” Ethan’s commanding tone steadied my nerves.

I hated the fact that my voice shook slightly, “I triggered his trap and I know there are dead people here.”

“Tell me where you are,” Ethan growled.

“Hieroglyphic Canyon.” I’d be a fool to turn down some help. A paralyzing fear suddenly engulfed me in the raw edges of a nightmare. A hideous creature shimmered into existence and moved towards me with sharp reptilian fangs. My breath came in rasping shudders. “It’s not real. It’s not real.”

“They released a gas to make you see what is not there,” Granny Annabel said.

Ethan snapped, “What kind of drugs are you taking Kizzy?”

For a moment all I wanted to do was run as far away as I could. Then I got mad. Drugs? He thought I was taking drugs. “You’re such a dickhead.” Now I knew why Ted North went nuts. This place was enough to scare the bejeesus out of anyone.

Granny huffed, “You should show your man more respect.”

I totally lost it and yelled, “Can we do this later? Like when there’s not a serial killer stalking me!”

“What you seek is in the cavern,” Granny stated.

“You couldn’t have told me that sooner?”

“Who are you talking to Angel?”

For the sheer hell of it, I said, “My dead grandmother.”

---