Chapter 6 - THE DEAD CAPTAIN'S KEY
The captain's fingers closed around my neck with impossible strength.
I slammed against the instrument panel.
Lily screamed against my chest.
"Garrett!" Mara shouted.
Arthur grabbed the captain's arm and pulled.
Nothing.
The dead man turned his head toward Arthur.
Bone cracked in his neck.
His lips stretched into a smile.
"Passenger Vance."
Arthur froze.
The captain tightened his grip.
My vision blurred.
"Eleven years," the captain whispered. "You must be so tired."
Arthur's face changed.
The captain knew exactly which wound to open.
"You could rest."
"Arthur!" Mara shouted.
"You could see Margaret again."
Arthur released the captain.
I stared at him in disbelief.
"Arthur!"
The captain smiled wider.
"She's waiting."
A woman's voice came softly from the cabin.
"Arthur?"
He turned.
Mara slapped him.
"Margaret died forty years ago."
His eyes filled.
"I know."
"Then help Garrett."
Something human returned to his face.
Arthur grabbed the emergency crash axe mounted behind the copilot seat.
He swung.
The flat side struck the captain's wrist.
The grip around my throat broke.
I fell backward, coughing.
Mara tore the brass key from the captain's neck.
The dead man shrieked.
Every cockpit instrument illuminated at once.
Altitude alarms screamed.
PULL UP.
PULL UP.
PULL UP.
The windshield showed only blackness.
No stars.
No clouds.
Nothing.
"Go!" Arthur yelled.
We ran.
The captain lunged from his seat.
His body moved like a puppet on strings, limbs bending at wrong angles.
Arthur slammed the cockpit door.
Mara locked it with the manual latch.
"That won't hold."
"I know."
I clutched Lily and tried to breathe.
The cabin had changed again.
All the passengers had returned.
Every seat occupied.
Everyone asleep.
"Do we go through them?"
"Yes."
Mara checked the time.
10:21.
"Almost an hour until the breach."
"We need the recorder now."
"It's in the tail equipment bay."
"Can we access it from the cabin?"
"Not normally."
Arthur gave her a look.
"Nothing about tonight is normal."
We moved slowly.
Each sleeping passenger seemed peaceful.
Too peaceful.
A woman in row three rested against her husband's shoulder.
A child hugged a stuffed bear.
A college student wore headphones.
For the first time, they didn't look monstrous.
They looked like people.
Victims.
"Are these the original passengers?"
I whispered.
"Some."
Mara pointed toward a middle-aged man.
"Thomas Reese. Accountant. Two children."
An older woman.
"Margaret Dorsey. Retired teacher."
A teenage boy.
"Caleb Morrow. Seventeen."
"How do you know?"
"I memorized the manifest."
Arthur looked at her.
"All seventy-three?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because somebody had to remember them."
We passed row fourteen.
My original seat was empty again.
The paper had returned to the cushion.
I grabbed it.
New writing had appeared.
RULE SEVEN — WHEN EVERY PASSENGER FALLS ASLEEP, DO NOT WAKE THEM.
They are remembering the lives that were stolen from them.
If one wakes naturally, answer only one question.
Never tell them what year it is.
I folded the paper.
A little girl in row fifteen opened her eyes.
Of course.
She looked about nine.
Blonde braids.
A stuffed rabbit in her lap.
"Sir?"
I stopped.
Mara whispered, "One question."
The girl looked at Lily.
"Did we crash?"
My throat tightened.
We hadn't been told not to answer that.
"I don't know."
She stared at me.
"Mommy said the engines stopped."
The woman beside her slept peacefully.
The girl looked toward the window.
"Are we dead?"
One question.
That was her second.
I remained silent.
Her eyes filled.
"Please."
I wanted to answer.
Mara gently pulled my sleeve.
The girl's face hardened.
"Why won't you tell me?"
We kept walking.
Behind me, her voice changed.
Deep.
Distorted.
"What year is it, Garrett?"
I walked faster.
The sleeping passengers began twitching.
We reached the rear galley.
Mara unlocked a floor hatch beneath a storage cart.
A narrow ladder descended into darkness.
"You first," she told Arthur.
"Why me?"
"Because you're carrying the axe."
Fair enough.
Arthur disappeared below.
Mara followed.
I looked at Lily.
"Guess it's you and me."
Her tiny fingers closed around my shirt.
I descended.
The lower compartment was freezing.
Bundles of wiring ran overhead.
Metal walls vibrated.
Arthur switched on a flashlight.
"Which direction?"
Mara pointed.
"Aft."
We crawled between equipment cabinets.
The space narrowed.
Every few seconds, the airplane groaned around us.
"How did the original aircraft disappear?"
I asked.
Mara crawled ahead.
"Nobody knows."
"Your theory."
She hesitated.
"Hannah's husband was on the flight."
I stopped.
"What?"
"Daniel Mercer."
"The abusive husband."
"She was trying to leave him."
Arthur swore quietly.
Mara continued.
"She bought the ticket secretly. But Daniel found out."
"He followed her?"
"He boarded at the last minute."
"What happened?"
"Hannah managed to send Elaine one voicemail before takeoff."
"What did it say?"
Mara didn't answer.
"Mara."
"She said Daniel had threatened to kill Lily before letting Hannah take her away."
My arms tightened around the baby.
"Then why would the flight care?"
"Because sometimes evil doesn't create these places."
Arthur looked over his shoulder.
"It opens the door."
We reached a bulkhead.
A tiny brass lock sat beside a red warning label.
FLIGHT DATA ACCESS — AUTHORIZED MAINTENANCE ONLY.
Mara held up the key.
"Found it."
She inserted it.
Turned.
Nothing.
Again.
Nothing.
"Wrong key?"
"No."
Arthur examined it.
"There's something inside the lock."
He used the crash axe to pry off a panel.
A folded scrap of cream-colored paper had been stuffed inside.
I pulled it out.
Same handwriting.
My mother's.
IF YOU HAVE REACHED THE RECORDER, DANIEL MERCER KNOWS THE CHILD IS ALIVE.
DO NOT LET HIM SPEAK TO HER.
I looked at Mara.
"Daniel is still here."
A voice came from the darkness behind us.
"Of course I am."
Arthur raised the axe.
A man stood at the far end of the compartment.
Early thirties.
Brown hair.
Business shirt.
No blood.
No distorted face.
Normal.
His eyes went straight to Lily.
"My daughter."
Mara stepped in front of me.
"Daniel."
He smiled.
"Twenty-seven years, Mara."
Arthur lifted the axe.
"Stay back."
Daniel ignored him.
He looked at me.
"Hannah told you I was a monster."
"She didn't have to."
"Did she tell you she kidnapped my daughter?"
"She was escaping you."
"According to whom?"
"My mother."
Daniel laughed.
"Elaine."
The contempt in his voice was unmistakable.
"Still lying after all these years."
I kept Lily behind my shoulder.
"What do you want?"
"My child."
"No."
"She's mine."
"She's not property."
His smile disappeared.
"Give her to me."
Lily began crying.
Daniel took one step closer.
Mara whispered, "Don't let him speak directly to her."
"Why?"
"Because names matter here."
Daniel looked around her.
"Lily."
The baby went silent.
The compartment lights died.
Mara screamed.
I felt Lily jerk in my arms.
"Hold her!"
I clutched her.
Something pulled from the darkness.
Hard.
I fell to my knees.
Arthur swung the axe blindly.
Daniel laughed.
"Lily Mercer."
The force doubled.
My arms burned.
Mara shouted, "Don't answer him!"
Daniel's voice became thunder.
"LILY MERCER, COME TO YOUR FATHER."
The baby suddenly twisted toward the darkness.
Her mouth opened.
And another voice came from inside her.
Hannah's voice.
"He isn't her father."
Everything stopped.
Daniel went silent.
The lights flickered back on.
His face had changed.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
I stared at Lily.
Mara stared at Daniel.
Arthur slowly lowered the axe.
May you like
Then Hannah's voice came through the child one more time.
"Tell Garrett what you did before takeoff."
