The Belial Library (The Belial Series) (20 page)

“See?  Piece of cake,” Laney said, feeling a cold bead of sweat roll down her back.

Jen let out a shaky laugh.  “You really need to stop saying that.  Now, what’s the next part?”

Laney forced some levity into her voice.  “Well, that part’s easy.  You’re going to dive off the platform and avoid all the darts.”

“Oh, good.  I was afraid it was going to be something difficult.”

Laney gripped her hands.  “Jen, you have this in you.  It's part of who you are.  I’m going to walk down the tunnel.  I'll keep the lantern on.  You’re going to aim for me, okay?”

Jen jerked her head, a tremor in her voice.  “Okay.”

Laney backed up fifteen feet.  She’d seen what Paul and Gideon could do.  This would be child’s play for them.  But Jen had been hiding this ability her for her whole life.  Laney prayed she could tap into it now. 

“Just aim for me,” Laney said. “And don’t hold back.  You leap with everything in you.  Got it?”

“Got it.”

Laney placed the lantern on the floor next to her, a beacon for Jen to focus on.  “Count of three?”

Jen paused.  Laney could feel the terror coming off of her. 

“Count of three,” Jen finally called.

“Okay.  Here we go."  Laney took a deep breath.  "One, two, three.”

CHAPTER 42

Jen moved so fast Laney didn’t see her, didn’t hear her.  But she felt her.  Jen plowed into her with the force of a train. 

Laney’s head whipped back.  She crashed towards the floor.  Jen’s hand slipped between Laney’s head and the ground just before they met.

Jen sat up quickly, pulling Laney into a sitting position with her.  “I can’t believe that worked.”

Laney gulped.  Neither could she.  She flashed the light up ahead to where Jen had stood.  Dozens of arrows pierced the walls on either side.  

The kids sprinted down the tunnel towards them.  Eddie stood grinning at them.  Elena flung herself at Jen.  “You made it.”

“Sure did, kiddo.” Jen hugged her back, her breathing still a little uneven.

Laney straightened up from the floor, stifling a groan.  Her butt was going to be one massive bruise.

“You okay, Laney?” Eddie asked.

“I’m good.  Just whacked into the floor a little hard.”

“Sorry about that,” Jen said.

Laney grinned.  “That’s okay.  You just don’t know your own strength.”

“No,” Jen said quietly.  “I really don’t.”

Laney clapped her hands.  “Well, I think we’ve had enough excitement for today.  How about we find the exit to this place?”

“Yes,” Eddie said.  “I want to go home.”

Laney ruffled his hair.  “Me, too.  You two, stay behind us, okay?” 

The kids nodded.

Laney and Jen led the way down the tunnel.  The soft light of the lanterns speared the darkness ahead of them, shifting between the floors, the walls and the tunnel ahead.

About thirty minutes later, the children trailed behind them, their steps tired, but moving forward.  Jen spoke quietly.  “I knew I was different when I was eight.  One of my foster brothers pushed me out of a tree.  I managed to flip and land on my feet.  I couldn’t believe it.  When I was falling, time seemed to slow, and I knew just what to do.”

Jen glanced over at her.  Laney knew she was checking her expression, and any disapproval or shock would close her off.  She kept her face neutral.  “Must have scared the hell out of you.”

Jen smiled tentatively.  “A little.  But it thrilled me, too.  I couldn’t seem to get hurt.”  Her face darkened.  “But my foster brother and his friends realized I was different.  They increased their attacks, always trying to get to me, to make me cry, to hurt me.  It was too much.  I ran away a year later, lived on the streets for a while.”

Laney’s heart went out to her.  “You were only nine.”

“Nine, but pretty good at taking care of myself.  Eventually, though, DCF caught me.” She smiled.  “And I was sent to live with the Witts.”

“They don’t know about your abilities?”

Jen shook her head.  “No.  I never wanted to risk it.  I loved them too much.  It would have killed me if they turned their back on me because I was different.”

Laney though about Jen’s family.  They’d been there for every special event, sending her care packages at school, showing up one weekend a month to visit in college, calling every night.  Their bond was incredibly strong.  “You know they would never turn their back on you, right?”

“My head knows it.  But my heart?  It’s too scared to take the chance.  So I’ve never told anyone.  Not until you.”

"How have you been able to keep it a secret?  Don't you just occasionally slip up? Run too fast? Jump too high?"

Jen shook her head.  "No.  I’ve trained myself not to use those abilities. I was so scared of what would happen when I was a kid, I’m always on guard against using them. Now, it's second nature to hold back."

"The wounds of childhood run deep.”  Laney thought of her own childhood trauma.  Maybe that was why she pushed Jake away.  She loved her parents and they died.  She trusted her aunt and her other uncle and they hurt her.  It was twenty years later and she still felt the effects of those wounds.

Jen nodded her agreement.  "I thought I needed to keep it hidden, to keep from being a target."

"Do you still think that?"

"I don't know."

“Well, your secret’s safe with me.”

Jen gave Laney's hand a small squeeze.  “Thanks.  But I don’t understand how you knew.  How did you figure it out?”

“Let’s just say, I’ve met people like you before.”

Even in the dim light, Laney could see Jen’s eyes light up.  “You have?  Where?  What are they like?”

Laney struggled to find the right words.  ‘Deranged, psychopathic killers’ would probably not be very comforting. 

Jen read her face.  "I'm guessing not good."

Laney gave her a small smile.  "Well, I've only met two."  Her head jerked up with a start when she realized that wasn't true.  Including Jen, she’d now met four.  Henry was one as well. At least, she thought he was.  He had the strength, the speed, but she’d never lumped him in with Paul or Gideon.  Henry was simply too good to associate with those two. 

So now she had even numbers.  Two good, two evil.  What did that say about their nature?  Or were Jen and Henry a different breed of superhumans?

Laney was about to speak when Jen put up her hand.  “Listen.”

Laney paused, struggling to hear anything in the silence.  It all sounded quiet, almost muffled.  In fact, it sounded like a white noise machine, although it seemed to be getting louder with each passing second. 

Panic flooded her system.  She pictured the doors back in the main hall, the ones holding back tons of water.   “The doors burst.”

“Run,” Jen yelled. 

Laney reached back for Eddie’s hand.  Jen did the same for Elena.  Together, they sprinted through the tunnel blindly, a wall of water chasing them in the dark.

CHAPTER 43

Laney ran with her arm along the wall, moving too fast for the dim light of the lantern.  She prayed they didn’t run into anther booby trap.  Up ahead, she saw a small shaft of light.

“Jen,” she called. 

“I see it,” Jen yelled back. 

As they grew closer to the light, Laney could make out the hole where the light shone through.  But the rest of the space was packed with rocks.

“Damn it,” Laney screamed, stumbling to a stop. 

Jen didn’t say a word, just started tearing the rocks away from the exit.  Laney leaped in and helped.  But part of her reeled at the size of rocks Jen was throwing as if they weighed no more than tennis balls.

The sound of water grew closer.  Laney pulled back a large rock and daylight burst through.  Frantic, she and Jen pulled and yanked rocks out of the way until there was hole big enough to squeeze through. 

Jen peeked her head through and then ducked back inside.  “There’s a small ledge on each side.”  She grabbed Elena and started to push her through.  “Climb through and go to your right.”

Elena nimbly climbed over the rocks and disappeared through the hole. 

Jen pulled Eddie to the opening.  “Eddie, climb through, but stay to your left.”

“But Elena . . .”

Hand on his back, Jen gave him a little push.  “There’s not enough room.  You need to trust us.” 

He nodded and scampered through.  Jen looked back at Laney.

“Go,” Laney yelled, the sound of the onrush of water almost deafening.

Jen jumped through the hole and to her right.

Laney clamored through the opening after her.  She couldn’t help looking behind her, though she wished she hadn’t.  Even in the dim light, she could see the wall of water twe
nty feet away and moving fast.

CHAPTER 44

Laney scrambled through the opening in the rocks and to the left just as the water burst through behind her.  Eddie latched onto her arm as the water pushed against her leg, threatening to take her over the edge. 

Grabbing onto the rocks and Eddie’s hand, she pulled herself onto the ledge, panting. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

The ledge was small, only about three feet deep and five feet long.  She looked down and her stomach dove for her feet.  They were on a sheer cliff face, twenty feet above the ocean.  She looked up.  The side of the cliff looked like it had been sheered off, starting at the top.  A rockslide must have created the opening. 

Her eyes found Jen across from them.   Her ledge was a little wider, but not any longer.  “You two okay?”

Jen nodded.  “For now.”

The smaller rocks on the ledge next to Laney began to shake.  She looked closer at her ledge and the cliff face behind it.  Her stomach bottomed out again.  The ledge wasn’t part of the cliff face.  It was part of the pile of rocks blocking the exit. 

The water was building behind it right now.  The only reason it hadn’t exploded out was because of the hole they’d created.   But when enough pressure built, it would burst outward, sending them crashing for the water below in a storm of rocks.

She looked over at Jen’s ledge and saw she was in the same situation.  “Jen, the ledge.”

Jen stared at her.  Then looked down at her ledge.  When her face paled, Laney knew she understood what she meant. 

Jen knelt down to speak with Elena. 

Laney turned to Eddie.  “Eddie, can you swim?”

He nodded.

“Good.  Because we’re going to have to jump.”

Eddie’s eyes darted to the long drop next to them.  He started to breathe rapidly. 

Laney knelt down, taking him by the shoulders.  “Eddie, look at me.  You can do this.  We can do this.”  She took his hand, clasping it in her own.  “You’re going to hold onto my hand and you’re not going to let go.  Do you hear me?  You don’t let go.”

He nodded, but his eyes were filled with fear.  Rocks began to skitter off the ledge and drop to the water below. 

Laney stood up and yelled to Jen.  “Count of three?”

Jen nodded, Elena's legs wrapped around her waist.  Jen's arms held her tightly to her chest. 

Swallowing the lump of fear in her throat, Laney clasped Eddie’s hand even tighter.  “One, two.” Deep breath.  “Three.” 

She and Eddie jumped out from the cliff.  From the corner of her eye, she saw Jen do the same with Elena.  They dropped fast.  But not so fast that Laney couldn’t hear and see the water break through above them, a cascade of rocks and water racing after them.

CHAPTER 45

Laney plunged into the cold water feet first, her hand tightly clasped in Eddie’s.  Rocks pierced the water around them like bullets.  The water swirled, tossing them around like driftwood.  A rock slammed into the side of her head, another slammed into her ribs. 

Eddie’s grip went slack.  Laney grasped him even tighter until the tumult stopped.  Opening her eyes, she struggled to find the surface.  Spying sunlight below her, she righted herself.  Hauling Eddie behind her, she kicked for the light.

She burst through the surface and sucked in a lungful of air.  She pulled Eddie up and saw he’d been hit in the arm and head.  He coughed out some water and then went quiet.  She grabbed him and pulled him close, listening to his chest.  His heart beat strong. 

She released a breath, tears welling in her eyes.  “Thank you.  Thank you,” she mumbled.

“Laney!”  Elena yelled.

Jen waved from thirty feet away, Elena wrapped around her neck.  Other than a few cuts, they both looked fine.  Laney waved back.  Jen started to swim over, towing Elena with her.

Laney waited until Jen pulled to stop next to her. “Well, that was fun.”

A short laugh burst forth from Jen.  “Seriously, when we hit dry land, I am dragging you to the nearest shrink.”

“Is Eddie okay?” Elena asked.

Laney nodded.  “He’ll be okay.  He just took a little knock to the head.”