Jeff Strand - Graverobbers Wanted - No Experience Necessary

The man nodded. I reached inside, unzipped the mask from the back, and pulled it off him. The man's face was a bruised and bloody mess. I wondered if he'd put up a struggle when he was kidnapped, or if they'd done it afterward.

"Thank you," he whispered.

I removed the masks of the other two people. Their faces were in about the same condition asTracy 's—a bruise or two, but nothing serious. All four of them were from the coming attractions segment of the first video.

I returned toTracy 's cage, lifted the axe,then brought it down as hard as I could upon the padlock on the cage door. The cage shook with a loud clatter, but the padlock remained in place. With the second swing, however, the padlock dropped to the ground and I pulled the door open.

The locks on the chains were going to be more difficult because I could only raise the axe as far as the top of the cage. And since they were right next toTracy 's ankles and wrists, there was always the chance of a nasty accident.

"Don't move," I told her.

"I couldn't if I wanted to," she said.

I slammed the axe down on the padlock binding her ankles, but it didn't break. I was too concerned about accidentally chopping off one ofTracy 's feet to hit it with full force. In theory, much worse things than losing a foot would happen if I didn't get the prisoners out of here in time, but I couldn't help trying to be careful.

"Andrew?"

I froze at the sound of the voice.

"Andrew, are you here? It's me, Rachel!"

For a few seconds I allowed myself to feel relief that I now had somebody to help me free the prisoners, but that was soon replaced with a sense of unease. After all, who had given me the location of the "taping" in the first place? Very possibly, I'd put my trust in the wrong person.

"C'mon, Andrew, I know you're here! I saw your car out front!"

How would she recognize Helen's car? I cautiously stepped away fromTracy 's cage, still holding the axe.

"Andrew, talk to me! Are you here or what?"

Her voice was closer. She was on the second floor now.

There was silence for almost a full minute except for Rachel's footsteps. I eased my way over to the ladder, gripping the axe handle tightly with both hands, making sure I couldn't be seen from below. Then a flashlight beam shone on the ceiling.

"What, are you hiding up in the attic? C'mon, I'm notgonna hurt you, for God's sake!"

They'd done well so far, and I prayed the prisoners would continue to remain silent.

"Okay, I'm coming up. Don't shoot me or anything, please."

The ladder creaked as Rachel began to climb. I stood by the entrance, just out of sight, axe poised and ready to strike.

Chapter 21

RACHEL'S LEFT hand came into view, and then her right hand, which was holding the flashlight as well as gripping the ladder. Then her head rose up above the entrance. Her eyes widened as she saw me holding the axe. "Whoa! Settle!"

"What do you want?" I demanded.

"Could you maybe put the axe down?"

"I could, but I'm choosing not to."

"Fine, but could you promise not to hit me with it as long as I don't make any sudden moves?"

"Sure."

"Can I come up?"

"I'd rather you didn't."

"Suit yourself." She glanced over her shoulder and for the first time noticed the prisoners in the cages. "Oh my God..." she gasped. "Are these the people you were telling me about? Sorry, dumb question, but Andrew, we've got to get them out of here!"

"That was my plan."

Rachel sighed. "Okay, look, it's pretty obvious what you're thinking. But listen to me, Andrew—I had nothing to do with this! Nothing! And every second you waste not believing me is time that we should be using to set these people free!"

"Why did you come here?" I asked.

"To check the place out before the taping.Nobody lives here, so I figured I could look around beforehand."

"Uh-huh. And how did you know it was my car?"

"There were toys in the backseat. Nobody in Ghoulish Delights has kids, and it certainly wasn't out of the question that you'd show up here, so I took a guess. C'mon, Andrew, let's not risk the lives of these people just because you're being paranoid."

"Okay," I said, stepping back as my stomach tightened at the mention of my kids. "You can come up."

She climbed all the way into the attic. "So what's the situation?"

"They're chained to the floor and I don't have the key. I'm going to have to use the axe to break them free."

"Why don't you let me try it?"

"Thanks, but no."

"Oh, for God's sake, Andrew, are you saying you can't trust me with the axe?"

"At this point I'm not really up to trusting anyone."

"Goddammit!" shoutedTracy from her cage. "Give her the fucking axe so we can get out of here!"

"Nobody asked your opinion," I informed her.

"Okay, how about this?" Rachel pointed to the far end of the attic. "You walk over there and set the axe on one of the cages,then you climb down the ladder to safety. That way I won't have a chance to chop your head off before I start bashing padlocks."

I stared at her for a long moment. "Ah, screw it," I said, and handed her the axe.

"Thank you." Rachel tested the axe's weight with both hands as she walked over toTracy 's cage. "I could have taken this from you in about two seconds, but I wanted to give you a chance to cooperate nicely."

"If you say so."

"Don't move," Rachel toldTracy . She took a practice swing in slow motion to make sure the axe was positioned correctly,then brought it down hard, breaking the lock that held her ankles.

"Oh, God, thank you!" saidTracy , as Rachel positioned the axe to break the lock binding her wrists.

"So did I miss any other developments?" asked Rachel.

"The killer has my children."

"What?"

She finished settingTracy free, and I told her everything that happened since we'd last met.Tracy could barely walk, so I helped her move around the floor, working her arms and legs to get the blood flowing again. By the time I'd finished thestory, two more prisoners were free, leaving only the man with the battered face.

"One after the creation of the other," muttered Rachel. "What could that possibly mean?"

"I have no idea," I admitted.

"What kind of condom was it?"

"Trojan, I think.Trojan after the creation of the mail.Mail after the creation of the Trojan." I shrugged."Doesn't help."

Or did it? What did the Trojans create? I only remembered about .007% of what I'd learned in history class, but I did recall the story of the Trojan horse.

"Something after the horse?"I said aloud. "Can you think of anyplace a horse might be important?"

Rachel thought for a moment. "Not off the top of my head, not here in Chamber."

"Wouldn't letters be more appropriate than mail?" inquiredTracy , massaging her ankles.

"Letters after the horse," I said. "Specifically, five letters after the horse. The fifth letter would be `E.'What could that mean?" Nothing sprung to mind. "Or maybe it's like one of those codes we used to do in grade school, where B means A, and C means B, and so on. That would make it...I, J, K, L, M for the first letter, giving us Morse, and then—"

I stopped as I had a sudden realization. That's why the skull's movement seemed so weird! "The skull is speaking in Morse code!"

"Are you sure?" asked Rachel.

"That has to be it! That's the answer!" My heart was pounding so quickly I thought it was ready to break out of my chest and onto the dirty floor. "I have to go somewhere I can look at the tape!"

"Go, then!" said Rachel, lifting the axe to break through the last of the man's locks. "I'll get everyone out of here and take them to the police."

"No, you can't do that yet," I said. Rachel smashed through the padlock and began to help the man out of his cage. "Take them somewhere safe, hidden away. Put them in your car and just drive out of Chamber, get as far away as you can. Give me until midnight to take care of everything,then go to the police."