Meanwhile, back in The Arching Caves at Aylont, Dakota and the counselor continued to follow Anita down the path. After a while, the three came across some forks in the road. Anita pointed toward a way that didn’t seem to go anywhere, as it wasn’t as lit as the others.

As they all pressed forward, Dakota couldn’t help but ask Anita some questions about the location.

“So, how do you know there’s a secret place around here?” Dakota asked skeptically.

“It’s a little hard to explain,” Anita replied, crossing her arms. “But my son and I have been here before. He finds this scientific stuff fascinating, and I could never understand why. Perhaps I should ask once we find them.”

“What do you mean? Who are you referring to by—?”

Before she could finish her sentence, Dakota, Anita, and the counselor came across Mandy, who walked up to the entrance of the caverns. They stood there staring at each other before Mandy realized who was in front of her.

“Oh no, not you!” Mandy stepped back, horrified, as Anita stood in front of her with a sneer.

“Speak of the devil,” Anita adjusted her glasses. “Why don’t you explain to this lady to my left what’s going on here, hmm?”

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“What’s she talking about?” Dakota turned to the scientist woman.

“I... I...” Mandy grew speechless. She turned the other way and ran off with tears in her eyes.

“Hey, wait!” The counselor called out to her, but she didn’t respond. “Where’s she going?” He turned to Anita and asked.

“Back to her base.” Anita retorted. “After her and call the police while you're at it!”

.-.-.-.

Sam’s head throbbed and pounded as he tried to decipher what went wrong with the keyboard and screen. He also wondered what took Mandy so long to find the source of the noise. Did she already discover it and took care of the problem?

Without warning, the doors behind him slammed open and shut, which caused him to jump. He quickly turned as Mandy boarded up the entries in a hurry.

“Mandy, what’s wrong?”

“She’s here, right now!” Mandy replied frantically.

“Who?”

“Anita!”

“Oh... wait, what!? Why?!”

A loud knock banged on the other side of the door just as he asked the question.

“Hey, you!” Anita’s voice yelled out from the other side. “Come out this instant if you know what’s good for the both of you!”

“Where’s my baby?” Dakota cried. “Is he in here? Do you know where he is? What did you do with him?”

Sam gulped, his heart dropped. Wait, she couldn’t mean...?

“Those two must’ve silenced the kids so they wouldn’t give away their positions...” Anita deduced.

“That’s not true!” Mandy cried out.

“All right, listen up!” Anita warned the two scientists, “If you don’t let us in or tell us where they went, we’ll assume you have them kidnapped, bound, and gagged! Not only that, but we’ll call the police and have you both arrested! So, what’s it going to be?”

Sam and Mandy exchanged worried glances, not sure what to do or say.