Chapter 7 - The Trap Closes
The heavy iron door of the sub-basement slammed shut with a deafening crash, plunging the room into absolute darkness. Before Marcus and Leo could reach the threshold, the sound of a heavy deadbolt sliding into place echoed through the stone walls.
"She locked us in," Leo yelled, throwing his weight against the wood. The door didn't even rattle; it was reinforced with steel plates on the outer side. "She actually locked us in here with the clothes."
Marcus stumbled backward in the dark, his hand brushing against the metal lockers. His heart thrummed wildly against his ribs. "We have to find another way out. There has to be a maintenance tunnel or an emergency hatch."
"Use your flashlight key," Leo panted, pulling out his small fob. He clicked the button, but the tiny bulb gave one weak flicker and died completely. The battery had given out in the damp air.
"Great. Now we're completely blind," Leo groaned, sliding down the side of the metal lockers until he hit the floor. "We're going to end up like the others. Just another stack of clothes in the corner."
"Stop talking like that," Marcus snapped, though his own voice was cracking. He knelt down beside Leo in the dark, feeling along the floor for anything useful. His fingers brushed against the cassette recorder he had dropped earlier. The red LED light was still glowing faintly in the pitch black.
"Look at the recorder," Marcus whispered, leaning closer. "The light is still on. That means the battery in this thing is separate from the room's power."
Leo leaned over, squinting at the tiny red speck. "So what? It's just an old tape."
"No," Marcus said, his mind racing. "When Ms. Gable talked about the clock tower, she said it requires a new weight at three o'clock. My mother's voice was on this tape. What if this recorder isn't a toy? What if it's a transmitter?"
Leo reached out in the dark and felt the sides of the plastic device. He found a small toggle switch on the side labeled ‘Ext’. "It has an external wire jack," Leo realized, excitement cutting through his fear. "If we plug it into the school's broadcast system line running through this wall..."
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Before Leo could finish his sentence, the metal ventilation grate near the ceiling gave a loud, metallic clatter. A pair of glowing yellow eyes peered down from the dark shaft above them.
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