Again in unison, their voices rose through the silence. "'I allowed the match to die. In the darkness, totally without sight, I felt the creature turn.'"

As they continued, the beast Itself-with Clyde inside-made his way through the group. Startled, some people flinched or gasped before stepping aside to let him pass.

"'His warm breath on my face smelled of the earth and wild, uninhabited forests. He lay his hands upon my shoulders. Claws bit into me. I stood before the creature, helpless with fear and wonder, as he split the fabric of my nightgown.'"

Clyde in the beast suit climbed onto an old steamer trunk beside Lynn and began to strike muscle-man poses.

"'When I was bare, he muzzled my body like a dog. He licked my breasts. He sniffed me, even my private areas, which he probed with his snout.'"

Lynn seemed delighted. "Excellent. Can you go on?"

"'He moved behind me. His claws pierced my back, forcing me to my knees.'"

Clyde began to pantomime the beasts movements.

"'I felt the slippery warmth of his flesh press down on me, and I knew with certainty what he was about. The thought of it appalled me to the heart, and yet I was somehow thrilled by the touch of him, and strangely eager.

"'He mounted me from behind, a manner as unusual for humans as it is customary among many lower animals. At the first touch of his organ, fear wrenched my vitals, not for the safety of my flesh but for my everlasting soul. And yet I allowed him to continue. I know, now, that no power of mine could have prevented him from having his will with me. I made no attempt to resist, however. On the contrary, I welcomed his entry. I hungered for it as if I somehow presaged its magnificence.

"Oh Lord, how he plundered me! How his claws tore my flesh! How his teeth bore into me! How his prodigious organ battered my tender womb. How brutal he was in his savagery, how gentle in his heart.

"'I knew, as we lay spent on the earthen cellar floor, that no man could ever stir my passion in such a way. I wept. The creature, disturbed by my outburst, slipped away into his hole and disappeared.'"

Simultaneously, Vein and Darke bowed deeply like stage actors. Atop the steamer trunk, Clyde raised both arms in triumph.

The midnight tourists burst into wild applause and cheers.

Bixby shouted, "Bravo!" Others called out, "Wow!" and "Well done!" and "Great!" Through the tumult, Owen heard Dennis and Arnold shouting, "Awesome!" and "Dudes!" and "the Beast rules!"

Owen hugged Darke. "That was fantastic!" he whispered.

When the group settled down, Lynn said, "Thank you very much, Vein and Darke. We've never had anything like that before. Did you prepare it especially for tonight?"

Vein shook her head. "We performed it for a Halloween show at college."

"Really?" Lynn seemed amused and delighted.

"But we never got to finish," Darke explained. "They stopped us."

"Escorted us off stage," Vein added.

"We almost got expelled."

Laughing softly, Lynn shook her head. "Why does that not surprise me?" she said.

"This is the only time we've ever been allowed to do the entire piece."

"I wish we could have you here to do it every Saturday night," Lynn told them. "I can't recite all that stuff. I just paraphrase. So thank you again. You've given us all a real treat."

They received more applause.

"And now," said Lynn, "it's time for a treat that is a regular feature of the Midnight Tour. I'm about to remove the padlock and open the steel cover so you'll all be able to take a look down the hole itself. This is the beast's actual hole. Nobody on the daytime tours ever gets a chance to see it uncovered. It's for the midnight tourists only."

Lynn turned her back to the group and squatted down. Owen heard a jingle of keys.

"Do you unlock the other one, too?" asked the man in the camel sweater.

"Afraid not," Lynn said. "We never open the door to the Kutch tunnel. Not even for the Midnight Tour. It's totally off-limits. But we will be talking about the tunnel a little bit later."

Owen heard a quiet snick. The padlock snapping open, he supposed. A moment later, Lynn stood up and stepped to the side.

"We'll have our own beast do the honors," she said. "I'm prettier, but he's stronger."

Clyde jumped down from the trunk. He sank to a crouch. As he came up, hinges groaned. Then came a heavy metallic clank.

"Thank you, beast," Lynn said.

He gave her a casual salute, touching the claws of one hand to his brow. Then he stalked away.

"You can come up one at a time, now, and take a good look at the hole. I'll shine my flashlight down there for you. When you look, try to imagine Lilly Thorn's beast crawling out of it on a summer night so long ago. A night very much like this one. Okay, who wants to go first?"

In the silence following her question, a faint, distant voice called, "Hellllllp meeee!"

People gasped. Others chuckled.

"Cool," said Arnold.

"You've got someone in there?" asked the camel sweater man, sounding suprised and amused.

"Bully!" proclaimed Bixby.

"Awesome," said Dennis.

"Probably just a lame recording," Monica said.

Lynn held up a hand for silence. "Quiet, everyone. This isn't part of the show."

"Oh, sure," Monica muttered.

Several people went, "SHHHHHH."

"...elllllp!"

It seemed to be coming up through the hole in the cellar floor. A woman's voice.

"Holy shit," Lynn muttered.

"Let me through." Dana's voice sounded quiet but urgent. "Excuse me. Excuse me. Let me through."

As those in front of Owen stepped out of the way, he saw Lynn drop to her knees beside the hole and bend over it. "HELLO!" she yelled.

Dana squatted beside her.

"It's just a big act," Monica said.

"Shhh."

"I'm in the tunnel! I can't get out! My hands are cuffed!"

"Holy shit," Lynn muttered.

Dana shouted into the hole, "EVE! IS THAT YOU!"

"Dana? Lynn?"

"RIGHT!" Lynn shouted. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?"

"What the hell took you so long?" asked the faraway voice.

"ARE YOU OKAY?" Dana yelled.

"Been better. Can you get me out of here?"

"ARE YOU ALONE?" Lynn asked.

"For now. But he might come back."

"Shit," Lynn said.

Members of the tour began speaking to each other. Owen heard confusion in some voices, alarm in others.

"Is this real or isn't it?" Bixby suddenly demanded.

"It's real," Lynn said. "Please be quiet."

"We've gotta do something," Dennis said.

"Gotta save her," said Arnold.

"Somebody needs to call the cops," said the camel sweater man.

"Where's the nearest phone?" asked Biff.

"I'll go call," said a muffled voice.

Lynn leaped to her feet. "Clyde! We need cops and an ambulance."

"Got it."

Looking over his shoulder, Owen saw the shiny white beast spring up the cellar stairs, taking them two at a time.

Behind him, Dana said, "Give me."

Owen jerked his head forward in time to see her grab the shiny aluminum flashlight out of Lynn's hand. "I'm going in," she said.

"No, you'd better just..."

"See ya later."

Dana dropped to her knees. She shined her light into the hole and shouted, "I'M COMING AFTER YOU!" Then she toppled forward, arms first, and plunged headlong.

In less than a second, she was gone to the ankles.

Her feet kicked.

The soles of her boots vanished into the darkness.

Chapter Fifty-eight.

THE RESCUE.

From the accounts Dana had read, she'd expected the tunnel to be a tight squeeze. Diving in, she'd feared that she would have to squirm through, flat on her belly.

But the accounts must've been wrong. Either that, or the tunnel had been enlarged in recent years.

After a wild downhill skid just below the cellar floor, Dana found that the tunnel had enough room to let her crawl on her hands and knees.

In the lurching beam of her flashlight, she saw only more tunnel ahead of her.

Dark gray day on all sides.

She felt as if she were crawling through a bowel.

Doesn't smell too good, either.

What is that smell? she wondered.

Something's dead in here!

"Eve?" she called.