“Close it! Seal the fucking chamber!” Kevin yelled in a panic.
“Language, dude,” John said, chortling at what might have been the first swear word he ever heard Kevin utter. “And, Jesus, man. Did you piss yourself?”
Melissa shot her boyfriend a sharp look. Kevin was clearly upset. “You’re safe now. What did you see down there?”
Kevin caught his breath as John helped him out of the basket. “It was a demon. An honest-to-God straight out of Hell demon with wings and horns and everything.” He saw the skeptical glances he was getting from the other grad students. “Don’t look at me like that! She was floating there in midair not six feet from me. She said she’s coming up here tonight!”
John hid his laughter behind a coughing fit while Melissa tried to get more information.
“I believe you saw something that frightened you, Kevin. Did you see the Professor or Hannah down there?”
Kevin immediately began hauling up the rope that was the only link between the chamber and the camp. “There was no sign of Professor Rogers. I heard Hannah, but she sounded like she was in league with the Demon.”
“What?” We have to go get her!” John’s laugh/coughs had subsided, and now he clearly believed that Kevin’s religious idiocy was putting someone’s safety in question.
“Didn’t you hear me?” Kevin said, his eyes still wide with terror. “They’re coming up here in a few hours. We have to be ready.”
John looked to Melissa for guidance. With the profesor gone, she was technically in charge. Melissa knew that the call was hers to make, and she paced back and forth with her hands on her temples, trying to make up her mind.