司氏姐妹 第17章 – 走進黑暗

地下隧道顯得比實際更窄，兩邊的洞壁似乎擠壓著姐妹們的肩膀。摩根，米娜和瑪麗排成一列——通道的寬度只能容納一個人通過——跟著前面的黑影向前走去。

瑪麗向後伸出手來抓住米娜的手，她的手上滲出一個層薄薄的汗水。在門被關閉，她們發現自己被鎖在房間里后，亨特市長的眼睛里閃過一層奇怪的光澤。他身後的書架開始在牆壁里輕輕抖動，然後隨著其中軸旋轉，露出一個黑暗的通道。

亨特市長沒有說一個字。相反，他走向牆上的洞口，轉身面對姐妹們。他示意她們向前。他的姿態很自然，顯得毫不經意，似乎是真誠的邀請，就像那扇門沒有奇怪的把她們鎖在裡面，就像燈光沒有突然變暗，就像隱蔽的書架門是預知的，就像他曾經答應給姑娘們看的一些有趣的東西就在這暗門的門檻後面。

米娜拉著瑪麗和摩根的衣服。就象她所猜測的，她們在靜靜地相互用感應交談著。

嗯，我們還能做什麼呢？摩根對瑪麗想道。

你瘋了嗎？瑪麗想回來。

什麼，你要等到他變得恐怖和瘋狂，拔出劍或什麼的，讓我們服從？現在我們沒有任何防禦能力。還不如好好聽他的伺機麻痹他。

應該還有另一條路！瑪麗想著。她看了一圈整個房間，沒有回頭就毫無聲響地從米娜的頭髮里拔出一個髮夾（米娜站在她身後），在門的把手上攪弄著。市長再次示意著。鎖仍無法打開。

沒有窗戶，瑪麗想著， 附近沒有任何可以當作武器的東西， 摩根補充道。

或許你是對的，瑪麗終於屈服了。她用微笑克服著她的恐懼。「您想讓我們跟著您，亨特先生，對嗎？」 她問道，她的聲音象糖一樣甜甜的，但仍不能掩飾在心中慢慢積起的恐慌。市長點點頭。

好，瑪麗對摩根感應道，就這樣干吧。讓米娜走在我們中間。時刻注意可能的逃生路線。摩根向前走了幾步，瑪麗拉著米娜的手，領著她跟在后面。市長走進了暗門，它直接通向另一個樓梯。摩根走在他的身後，後面跟著米娜和瑪麗。當瑪麗走過暗門門檻后，書架轉回到了它原來的位置。

你認為他會把我們帶到哪裡去？在她們的頭腦內外都沉默了很長一段時間后，摩根感應道。他們已經到達樓梯底部，這個樓梯至少有5層樓深，從地面螺旋形的通向地底，並且在地底的長長的隧道里至少走了10分鐘。

我也一直在想這個問題，瑪麗感應回來。

可你沒有讓我就進來，摩根有點憤憤不平。

對不起，有時侯我一個人能想得更好。不管怎麼說，我一直在考慮各種可能性。目前有一點似乎很清楚，這里肯定有一些貓膩，很有可能涉及到格雷厄姆的謀殺案。因此，或者亨特市長是兇手， 或者。。。

那還用你說，摩根插進來。

這就是為什麼我喜歡一個人思考。沒有人打攪。現在讓我把話想完。因此，亨特市長或者是兇手， 或者是幫凶，或者他知道謀殺案的一些內幕，並希望我們得以捲入。我的意思是，也許他知道兇手是誰，想得到我們的幫助。

在如此貓膩的事態下，你還真的認為他可能仍然站在我們這一邊？

對，我只是不希望排除任何可能性。因此，如果他是兇手或幫凶，他要我們去幹什麼？這可能是因為。。。

你已經點到點子上了。那麼，你認為他要帶我們到哪兒去呢？

瑪拉。瑪麗嘆了口氣，聲音在隧道的洞壁中回蕩。

真的嗎？我沒有想到這點。。。我只是猜想他會試圖殺死我們或什麼的。

但是他可以在任何地方殺死我們，如果他真的殺了格雷厄姆，他顯然對消屍非常在行。而且，他為什麼要保留瑪拉作為人質，卻殺了我們？這樣做沒有如何意義。我的猜測是，在現階段，他只希望從我們這兒得到信息，而不是血。

那麼，如果他只想從我們這兒得到信息， 是什麼讓你認為他會帶我們去瑪拉那兒呢 ？

如果你能讓我把話想完…...如果他在兇手的那一邊，他可能已經知道我們正在試圖找到真正的兇手，他希望了解我們究竟知道多少。他也有可能會要想辦法讓媽媽投降，因此，把她所有的女兒一起作為俘虜將是一個很好的對她施壓的辦法。然而，如果他在兇手的對立面，他仍然可能會嘗試從我們這兒獲得儘可能多的信息，甚至試圖幫助我們。他會想到和我們在一起會更有用--有我們在一起，他可以得到瑪拉更多的信任....再說，即使我們是在地下， 我也一直在追蹤我們的方向。這個地下通道通向東方，朝著沼澤地的方向。我們肯定已走了至少一英里，已經到了城市的邊緣。除了瑪拉，還有什麼在那兒呢？

正當瑪麗把她的結論想法傳到摩根腦子裡時，隧道里的光似乎也漸漸變亮。前方，瑪麗認為她在黑暗中已看到了另一個樓梯的輪廓。

而摩根是一反常態的沉靜，她還在想著瑪麗的邏輯，試圖判斷它們是否有道理。最後，她對瑪麗感應道，我猜你是對的，把我們騙到某個地方來傷害我們沒有任何意義，很有可能他是沖著我們的信息來的，那麼......我們該怎麼辦？我們有什麼可以告訴他的呢？

我們有什麼他所不知道的東西可以告訴他的嗎？我們認為瑪拉是無辜的，我們不知道誰是有罪的兇犯。

但是有關我們的魔力的事怎麼辦，如果他問我們是否是巫婆怎麼辦？

我們要告訴他真相，我們並沒有比其他任何人有更多的法力。瑪麗指著戴在她手腕上的翡翠手鐲，知道摩根也在想這個問題。還記得嗎？

他們走到了樓梯口，跟著市長爬上了樓梯。整個過程市長一直保持著沉默。

Chapter 17-Into the Dark

The tunnel felt narrower than it was. The walls seemed to squeeze against the sisters』 shoulders. Morgan, Mina and Marie walked forward in a single file line–the passage was only wide enough to fit one of them at a time–following the dark shadow ahead.

Marie reached back and gripped Mina』s hand, which was covered in a thin layer of sweat. After the door had closed and they had discovered it to be locked, a strange glaze had passed over Mayor Hunter』s eyes. The bookshelf behind him shivered lightly in the wall, and then it turned on its center axis, revealing a dark passageway.

Mayor Hunter didn』t say a word. Instead, he walked towards the hole in the wall and turned around to face the sisters. He motioned for them to approach, a gesture so casual that it seemed inviting. It was as if the door hadn』t strangely locked behind them, as if the lights had not suddenly dimmed, as if the hidden bookshelf door was to be expected, as if there was something interesting that he had promised to show the girls that was just behind the threshold of the hidden door.

Mina tugged on Marie and Morgan』s dresses. They were, as she guessed, conversing silently to each other.

Well, what else can we do? Morgan thought to Marie.

Are you crazy? Marie thought back.

What, are you going to wait for him to turn creepy and crazy on us, pull out a sword or something, and then obey? It』s not like we have any defense mechanism. Might as well play nice to throw him off.

There』s gotta be another way, Marie thought. She looked around the room, and without making a sound or looking back pulled a bobby pin from Mina』s hair–Mina was standing behind her) and tinkered in the doorknob. The mayor motioned again. The lock would not click open.

No windows, Marie thought. No possible weapon objects nearby either, added Morgan.

You may be right, Marie finally gave in. She smiled against her fear. 「Would you like us to follow you, Mr. Hunter?」 she asked, her voice sugar sweet and not betraying the panic that was slowly bubbling inside. The mayor nodded.

Alright, Marie thought to Morgan, Let』s go. Mina stays in between us. Keep your eyes open for possible routes of escape. Morgan stepped forward, Marie held Mina』s hand and led her after. The mayor stepped into the hole, which turned out to be another stairwell. Morgan stepped in behind him, followed by Mina and Marie. After Marie passed the threshold, the bookshelf slid back to it』s original position.

Where do you think he』s taking us? Morgan thought after a long stretch of silence both inside and outside their heads. They had reached the bottom of the stairwell, which was at least equivalent to five flights of stairs and spiraled deeper into the ground, and had been walking down the long tunnel at the bottom of it for at least ten minutes now.

I』ve been thinking about it, Marie thought.

And you haven』t been letting me in? Morgan shot back indignantly.

Sorry, sometimes I can think better alone. Anyways. I』ve been considering the options. It seems pretty clear by now that this is some fishy business, and most likely relates to Graham』s murder. So, either Mayor Hunter is the murderer–

Well DUH, Morgan interjected.

This is why I like to think alone. Fewer interruptions. Just let me finish. So, either Mayor Hunter is the murderer, or he』s accomplice to the murderer, or he knows something about the murder and wants us to get involved. What I mean is, maybe he knows who the murderer is and wants our help.

You seriously think he might still be on our side after all this fishy business?

Well, I just don』t want to rule out any options. So, if he is the murderer or accomplice to the murderer, why would he want to get us? It』s probably because–

Just get to the point already. Where do you think he』s taking us?

To Mara. Marie sighed, and the sound echoed off the damp walls of the tunnel.

Really? I hadn』t thought of that…I guess I just assumed he was going to try to kill us or something.

But he could have just done that anywhere. If he did kill Graham, he』s obviously very good at getting rid of bodies. And plus, why would he want to keep Mara hostage but kill us? It doesn』t make sense. My guess is that at this stage he wants information from us, not blood.

So what makes you think he』s going to take us to Mara if he just wants information from us?

If you』d only let me finish…If he』s on the side of the murderer, he has probably figured out that we』re trying to find the real murderer, and wants to see how much we know. He also probably then would want to figure out some way to get Ma to eventually give in, and so having all her daughters together as captives would be a good way to pressure her. Then, if he』s against the murderer, he』s probably still going to try to get as much information out of us as possible, maybe even try to help us. He then figures that we』ll be more useful together–that he can get Mara to trust him if we』re there…And besides, I was keeping track of where we』re going, even though we』re underground. This passageway leads East, towards the swamp. We』ve definitely walked at least a mile now, so that』s already leading us to the edge of the town. What else is out there but Mara?

Just as Marie passed her concluding thought to Morgan, the light in the tunnel seemed to glow brighter. Ahead, Marie thought she saw the outline of another stairwell form in the dark.

Morgan was uncharacteristically silent, still thinking on Marie』s logic, trying to decide if it made sense. Finally, she thought to Marie, I guess you are right that it makes no sense to take us away somewhere to hurt us, that more likely it』s just information he』s after. So…what do we do? What do we tell him?

What can we tell him that he doesn』t already know? We think Mara』s innocent, we don』t know who the guilty party is.

But about our powers. What if he asks us if we』re witches?

We』ll tell him the truth. That we have no more powers than anyone else. Marie fingered the jade bracelet around her wrist and knew that Morgan was thinking about it too. Remember?

They reached the stairwell and climbed up after the mayor, who remained silent as ever.

• [09/23]The Switch Sisters Chapter 14: The Mourning Mothers
• [09/29]司氏姐妹 第15章：有其母就有其女
• [09/29]The Switch Sisters: Chapter 15, Like Mother, Like Daughter
• [10/06]司氏姐妹：第16章 - 關閉的門
• [10/06]The Switch Sisters, Chapter 16 – The Door that Closed
• [10/15] 司氏姐妹 第17章 – 走進黑暗
• [10/15]The Switch Sisters: Chapter 17-- Into The Dark
• [11/04]司氏姐妹 第18章：入侵者
• [11/04]The Switch Sisters: Chapter 18 - The intruder
• [11/11]司氏姐妹 第19章：姐妹們
• [11/11]The Switch Sisters: Chapter 19 - Sisters
• [11/25]司氏姐妹 第20章：銀色鑰匙
• [11/25]The Switch Sisters: Chapter 20 -- The Silver Key

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