Part 4 (2/2)
Jay could hear Lila stumbling in the tunnel behind him and looked back. ”Lila?” Her flashlight beam was drooping. She seemed to be staggering. ”Hey, Lila, you okay?”
”Okay your minute when it's wider, I'm a gimme ...” she answered.
Jay reached out and grabbed his father's arm. ”Dad ...”
Dr. Cooper had also heard Lila's response. ”Lila? How's it going back there?”
They could only see the beam of her flashlight coming up the tunnel. She didn't answer.
Dr. Cooper s.h.i.+ned his light in her face.
She cowered, covering her face with her arms. ”NOO! Light now, I'm over inside!”
”She's talking crazy!” Jay exclaimed.
”Something's wrong,” said Dr. Cooper. They hurried back into the tunnel. ”Lila, hold still, sweetheart, we're coming.”
Jacob Cooper had almost reached her, was just about to touch her, when she dropped her arms and he saw her face.
Her skin had turned a pale green. Her eyes were wild, like a savage animal's. She screamed a scream that chilled his blood.
He tried to grab hold of her. ”Lila-”
SWAT! She struck him across the face before he even saw it coming, her fingernails gouging him, the power of the blow enough to knock him off balance. He fell backward to the tunnel floor, a sharp stalagmite just missed his rib cage.
”Lila,” Jay cried, ”what are you doing?”
Her flashlight lay amid the stalagmites, still s.h.i.+ning. Far beyond its small circle of light, Jay and Dr. Cooper could hear Lila racing back up the tunnel with incredible speed.
”Did you see her?” Dr. Cooper exclaimed, carefully getting to his feet. ”Did you see her face?”
”What happened?”
His voice was desperate. ”The very thing Jose de Carlon wrote about and warned about. Whatever it is, she has it-the curse of Toco-Rey!”
FIVE.
Armond Basehart and his three men were suddenly startled by faraway, echoing screams coming out of the pit like anguished screams from h.e.l.l. Toms, Juan, and Carlos crouched, gripping their rifles, their eyes white and wide with terror in the dark of the jungle.
Even scientific-minded Dr. Basehart was unnerved by the sound. ”It's-I think it's the girl.”
Toms nodded, his face etched with fear. ”This is not good, seor. It's-”
The sound was getting closer, louder, wilder. They could hear running footsteps, the other Coopers shouting, the girl screaming. All the voices echoed from far below like ghosts in a deep, forbidden crypt.
Dr. Basehart leaned over the wall and s.h.i.+ned his light into the pit. ”One of you had better get down there and see what happened.” He looked at his men. ”It could be-AAUUGH!”
Something grabbed his arm, then the edge of his coat, then clawed and climbed over him like a wild cat, knocking him to the ground. Juan and Carlos cursed in Spanish, unable to believe their eyes.
”Grab her!” Toms yelled. ”Seorita, stop!”
Juan dropped his rifle to free his hands. She was coming right at him, her eyes wild, her teeth bared, her breath huffing.
He tried to stop her, plead with her. He grabbed hold of her. ”Seorita, please-”
She threw him off as if he weighed nothing, and he tumbled head over heels into the brush. Without looking back, she ran headlong into the jungle. They could hear her cras.h.i.+ng through the thick growth into the dark night, getting farther and farther away. She screamed again.
And then they heard another scream-the other scream, from somewhere in the ruins. It seemed to be answering her.
”Basehart!” came Dr. Cooper's voice from below.
Dr. Basehart and his men dove at the rope and pulled Dr. Cooper from the pit.
”Where's my daughter?” Jacob Cooper demanded, scrambling over the wall.
”She ...” Dr. Basehart fumbled to answer, still in shock.
”Where is she?” he yelled.
Dr. Basehart's voice trembled. ”She ran into the jungle. We couldn't stop her. She was mad, out of her mind!”
”Get my son out of there!”
They quickly pulled Jay out of the pit.
Dr. Cooper was seething. ”So the green slugs are harmless, eh?” He grabbed Toms by the collar.
”You call that harmless? My daughter is a raving animal!”
Dr. Basehart intervened, pulling Jacob Cooper away from Toms. ”Dr. Cooper, we are just as surprised as you! We had no idea-”
They heard another scream. It was Lila.
”Come on,” said Dr. Cooper, leading the way into the jungle, ”we'll talk later.”
Toms cautioned, ”It is dangerous! There are snakes, carvies, maybe Kachakas!”
”Come on!”
They pushed into the jungle, trying their best to follow Lila's trail. Dr. Cooper kept probing the thick growth with his flashlight, finding broken branches, trampled leaves and vines, footprints in the soft earth. Her speed and agility through this tangled mess was uncanny. Not only was she out of her mind, but a ma.s.sive adrenaline rush also gave her super strength. Sometimes it seemed she had bounded over the top of everything.
”The curse of Toco-Rey,” Dr. Cooper muttered bitterly, groping about, slas.h.i.+ng with his machete. ”Toxic slime! That's all Jose de Carlon encountered. That's all it ever was. I shouldn't have believed Toms. I should have gotten Lila out of here right away and put her in a hospital!”
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