Flood Plains by Mark Wheaton (best ereader under 100 .TXT) 📕

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Up on top of the pipe, Big Time listened in as his son quizzed Mia on her powers.

“Where is it?” Tony asked. “Can’t you hear it?”

“It’s there,” Mia assured him. “It’s coming.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

“I just want it over with,” said Tony, lowering his voice. “If this thing really does have my mom and my brothers and my grandma trapped inside of it, I want it dead. I don’t want to think of them trapped in there forever.”

Big Time felt like he’d stuck a finger in a light socket. This is what his son was thinking about. Fifteen years old and already capable of imagining a hell worse than death.

“Do you hear my family?” Tony asked.

“No,” Mia replied. “I don’t hear any one voice, and they don’t sound like anybody in particular. Just words appearing in my head that are said aloud only in my thoughts.”

Big Time forced his attention away from the conversation and back over the water. Several objects had tricked him over the past hour. They’d bob up and down in one place and he’d think they were on the move, only to be proved wrong a second later.

Now, his eyes had picked up something else. It surfaced and went back under but didn’t come back up. He watched the spot for a second, only to see it reappear ten feet closer to the pipes a moment later.

“It’s here!” he cried.

Inside the pipe, Sineada hadn’t needed to be told. She’d been feeling its gradual approach for the better part of five minutes. As the day had gone on, she’d taught herself how to better pick up the creature’s “signature,” as it were. She didn’t kid herself into believing she was better than Mia, but thought she was good enough to attempt what she was about to try.

I’m what you’re looking for, I’m right here,she screamed out in her mind. C’mon, now. I’m right here!

She knew Mia’s veil was waiting in the wings to cloak the others, even Big Time up above, but she realized something felt off. The collective’s thoughts were more directed this time. It wasn’t hunting anymore. There weren’t any searching questions in its movements. It was like an arrow released from a bow.

Mia?Where are you?!

I’m here, Abuela. It’s in front of me in the water.

Don’t wait! It might be closer than you think!

Outside, Mia inched closer to Tony. She surprised him by taking his hand and holding it tight. She shut her eyes.

Suddenly, a sharp banging sound came from one of the massive tanks in front of them. It clanged twice, as if the black mass was trying to bash its way inside. It surrounded a service hatch just above the water line. Flattening itself, it swam around the bolts and slowly sluiced its way through the fissures.

“Ain’t that a thing,” whispered Alan.

Zakiyah nodded dumbly. But then she was gripped by something inside. Her pulse quickened and she turned to the tank, her grandmother just on the other side of the thin steel wall.

“What’s wrong?” Alan asked. “Mia’s protecting us.’

“Yeah, but my grandma’s in there. I’m protected, but she’s not. I should be with her.”

“You’re crazy!” Alan exclaimed. “You want to fuck this up?”

But Zakiyah was already at the ladder.

“Mom? Where are you going?” cried Mia.

“I’ve gotta get to Abuela, honey. I’ve got to get in there.”

“Big Time!” Alan yelled up. “Zakiyah’s coming up.”

Big Time, who was closing the hatch, heard Zakiyah’s footfalls on the ladder. He opened the hatch and looked down at Sineada, barely visible in the dim light.

“Close it,” she said. “You can’t let her in here.”

Big Time nodded and slammed the hatch shut just as Zakiyah reached the top of the pipe. He was turning the wheel with the wrench to seal it when the young woman grabbed his hand.

“I’m going down there.”

“You’re not,” Big Time said quietly. “There’s nothing for you to do there.”

“I want to see her! I want to be with her when her time comes.”

Big Time saw anguish in Zakiyah’s eyes but also just a little madness. He balanced himself against the hatch and put his hands on her shoulders.

“You can’t be. You don’t know what’s going to go down in there. We have to keep this closed and let her do her thing.”

“I just want to see her,” she pleaded. “I just want to say goodbye!”

“You already said goodbye. Think about Mia. You’ve got to get back down there. Let me do this.”

Big Time’s face was like granite. He wasn’t going to budge on this. Zakiyah couldn’t help it and started crying.

Down in the pipe, Sineada could hear all of this. She knew Big Time would take care of it but wished she hadn’t caused her granddaughter so much pain. She wanted to reach out to her, maybe soothe her mind, but she couldn’t. She had to remain focused.

It took the sludge worm some time to force itself into the service hatch. Even more to extend itself into the trio of pipes that emptied out into the single large pipe that Sineada sat in. But soon she could hear its approach. The liquid slid across the metal in a snake-like motion, using the slickness of the surface to hurry its progress.

Come on, Sineada whispered to the collective. I’m right in front of you.

We know, it seemed to hiss back, though Sineada figured this was a figment of her imagination.

Suddenly, the ghost wind rushed from the darkness and smashed Sineada backward. Her head slammed into the pipe wall, and she knew her skull had been fractured in multiple places. The voice had been right. This was the day she was going to die.

As the tendril of black oil reached her foot, Sineada realized what had been wrong. The tentacle beginning to flay her skin from bone was hardly the whole piece. A second sludge worm remained outside in the floodwaters.

“Oh, God,” Sineada whispered.

Before she could reach Mia, the ghost wind pummeled her again. This time, she sank into darkness.

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