Two Halves Series (35 page)

“I’m not sure, but I think we should listen to her.”

Willow’s soft voice resonated from the back. “Sarah, darling, are you sure? Look at these exits. One clearly shows the way up to the surface, and the other one goes down toward the underworld. Why would we go into the dark one?” Willow’s argument was good, but my gut told me otherwise.

William frowned. “Xander, can’t you ask a mouse or a rat to lead us?”

“I would if there were any around,” he answered, scanning the tunnel floor. No vermin braved scavenging in air this toxic.

“Why don’t we go toward the light? We can always turn back,” Mira suggested.

Everyone murmured agreement. I had my doubts about going the way my family endorsed, but I didn’t completely trust Alex either.

“Fine; we’ll go the way you want, but this is not the way I came in. Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Alex said.

We walked up the rough slope toward the light. I followed Alex with William behind me, and the others at the back. The air was just as stale here as it had been underground; I couldn’t detect the fresh air I expected to blow in from the outside.

Without warning, Alex stopped.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“The light . . . it doesn’t look right. It doesn’t have the brightness of daylight.”

I focused on the dancing light ahead. Though it sparkled almost like the sun, it seemed a little different. Sunlight did not shift between light orange and yellow in an unsteady pattern. The beam of light radiated from a flickering source. We should have listened to Alex; it wasn’t the outside after all.

“Turn around! Now!” I ordered.

Atram, who was the last in line, suddenly disappeared beneath the earth. Then Willow, then Ekim, Mira and Xander . . . William would be next. “No!” I shouted, reaching out to catch him before he dropped, but as soon as I flung my arm out, he vanished. Soil receded under my feet and I scrabbled and slid, falling down a steep, muddy chute.

My vampire sight could not adjust to the darkness as I skidded on my behind. Rocks scraped against my thighs with bruising force. The sound of us plummeting through the tunnel resembled that of a rock slide. The curvature of the chute was unnatural, though man-made—or demon-made.

William’s body broke my landing. Alex’s fall just missed me. In the strange orange glow that illuminated the area, my family stood in a line, covered in dirt and mud, their faces motionless staring past us.

I turned around to see over two hundred pairs of orange glowing eyes. Aseret smiled slyly in their midst.

Chapter 19

I was back at the beginning, in the large hall I’d first entered, but now I’d dragged my family into hell with me. My stomach turned inside out. The tension inside me pushed upward, and I wanted to throw up, but there was nothing in my stomach.

I can’t believe I did this.

“Silly, silly creaturesss.” Aseret chuckled, his head thrown back. “You thought you could essscape the underworld? Hah!” he mocked. “And take my prisonersss as well?” His gaze focused on Alex, although he no doubt meant to include everyone.

Everyone, including the witch, stood poised defensively, knees slightly bent, muscles tensed, wary eyes darting, waiting for any movement from the hundreds of Aseret’s minions who watched us with predatory eyes.

“There’sss no need to be afrrraid,” Aseret cooed, his words annoyingly slow. “I’m sssure we can work together. Mira, Xander, have you decided to join me?”

“You need me to even out that beauty mark for you on the other side?” Xander laughed, nodding to a pink scar behind Aseret’s left ear which stretched down and disappeared beyond the cloak. He crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re more delirious than I thought.”

“Hmm, I guesss Daddy wouldn’t apprrrove, would he?” Aseret sneered. “I can deal with that, forrr now.” The sagging flesh on his wrinkled face shifted with a twitch.

“What do you want?” William asked. I knew he’d sensed the change the same way I had.

Aseret focused on him. “You’re taking my prisonersss,” he scolded.

“They’re no longer your prisoners. They should have never been.” William’s tone firmed, fists clenched. He and the siblings showed no sign of fear. I was afraid, but only for my family.

“Hmm . . . That, I cannot accept, but I am willing to compromissse.” Aseret’s cunning voice began to dance with persuasion.

I stiffened.

Aseret pointed to William and me. “You two, for them—all of them. Their safety isss in yourrr handsss.”

It was not a request; there would be no bargain. No matter what was decided, I knew Aseret wouldn’t spare our family. William and I could read body language and facial expressions better than anyone. Aseret’s eyes and tone were clear. He mocked us for his amusement, to see whether we’d give in.

“Over my dead body!” William said.

“That can be arranged!” Aseret threw his hands out, launching a fiery red beam toward us. I jumped away in time to avoid falling through the hole the ray burned in the floor. A river of lava flowed within the opening.

Atram and Ekim stepped in front of Willow, who needed most protection.

“I don’t missss often,” Aseret warned. “Think about it—you can work with me, or die here. There’sss no otherrr choice. I will get what I want.”

“And that is?” I stepped forward.

“You’ve been holding out on me, Ssarahhh,” Aseret drawled. Each word swam hypnotically out of his mouth. It had no effect on me, though, and I saw the frustration on his face. “Silly, Sarah. I’ve known about your powersss for a long time; I just had to figure out how best to ussse them, how to make them mine.”

I didn’t like him calling me silly or wanting any more power than he already had. “Even if we could, there’s no way we’d give them up—especially to you.”

“There’s alwaysss a way, Sarah! What makes you more human makesss you weak. All you have to do is agree and I’ll extrrract them from you, and your friendsss will be safe.” His nose twitched. He was lying.

Aseret gestured for the seekers to surround us. Those present spread, joined by more seekers who streamed through the other four entrances. There seemed no end to the line of orange glowing eyes in front of us.

How are we going to get out of here?

But he hadn’t killed us yet. Aseret would not have missed unintentionally—he wanted to scare us, not kill us. He wanted the powers—or did he? He was already strong and had an army of demons with abilities greater than ours. What did he want?

What makes us more human makes us weak . . . the serums?

“We’ll never give them up!” I said to Aseret.

“Neverrr say neverrr.” He laughed, almost gurgling as he tilted his head back. The hood slid off his bald head.

“Sarah, take my hand,” William whispered. I placed my palm in his and felt Castall’s crystal. A rush of energy flowed from William to me and from me to him. A new force rejuvenated our bodies and transferred the strength and power we each had to the other, multiplying our abilities. Light from the crystal shone from between our palms, but everyone seemed oblivious to our glowing palms.

I took a breath in, felt new vigour, felt our power magnify. For the first time, I saw through William’s eyes—the concealed pain and suffering—everyone’s worst fears. The phobias varied for each demon, though some repeated. From burning alive, to being torched by Aseret’s hands, to long hours in a dark cell full of rats slowly nibbling at their weak bodies, the terrors made me cringe. There were many, so many I couldn’t think, and I wondered how William dealt with this all the time. It must have taken a toll on his mind. My fears of small critters seemed insignificant.

William’s eyes rolled back, then he closed them, and I knew he saw my visions. No one was aware of the exchange between William and me, an exchange that took seconds to complete.

I heard William’s thoughts as clearly as if he were speaking to me.
Just don’t think about their fear. If you do, they’ll manifest into reality.

I forced my thoughts toward bugs and critters. I preferred those over the nightmares.

“What do you fear, Aseret?” William taunted. “Us taking over? Vampires ruling the world? Losing your powers? Death?”

Aseret’s face twitched and trembled faintly as he fought to keep his fears hidden. We saw horrible things as he tried to weave past what really scared him. In one phobia, Aseret was imprisoned, guarded by vampires. Then he appeared, amongst human beings, lost, unable to find his way, unable to ask for help.

“What do you fear, Aseret?” William demanded again, the echo of his voice vibrated through the hall.

Aseret struggled, hissing when he failed to block the first image. The power of the crystal combined our abilities and wrestled a clear picture from him: William stood behind me, his arms wrapped around me.

He fears us?

Aseret still fought and the vision faded out of focus.

“You’re afraid of us!” William taunted, and laughed.

The image of our figures slowly turned clockwise, and we saw the secret fear Aseret had been struggling to keep hidden. William was hugging me—a nearly nine months pregnant me.

He fears our child,
William whispered in his mind.

My knees almost buckled. A child! Our child!

Sarah, don’t think about it. It can’t happen here. Not now, and not this way.
His mental voice was clear and firm.

Not now, and not this way.
Hiding my happiness became a task in itself. My eyes closed for a moment, and William and I privately shared a premonition of a little boy, playing in a sandbox. He looked just like William. Blue overalls hung on his shoulders, over a white T-shirt. Giggling, he waved his hand in front of his, nose saying, “Thop, pheese.” Then a girl! She wore pink overalls and a wide smile that split her freckled face and showed off two little white teeth. Laughing at her brother, she waved a yellow daisy in front of the boy’s nose. Twins!

William, they’re beautiful!

A sudden burst of adrenaline shot through my body as the need to protect my future family grew. I soaked in the energy from the hot lava below us, from the thousands of lit candles, from the strength the demons were preparing to use. William did the same. Together, we became one dominant force which, through the crystal’s power, created a protective shield around us, one we knew could not be penetrated, at least for a while.

We have to help them,
I said to William as our family prepared for the approaching demons.

He nodded, taking a step back to include them under our shield.
We can’t stay here with them. We have to fight Aseret or he’ll find a way to break through the shield.

Aseret’s gaze flew from our family to us, and back, probably setting up a plan to kill us, and I doubted the protective shield could stop him.
William, can we leave the shield here?

We can try. Think of your biggest fear as not having the shield and walk forward.

I thought of what it would be like to face Aseret without the shield’s protection. I thought how vulnerable our human bodies would be. I thought about my family sizzling under the hot paws of hundreds of demons and shivered. Could I ever survive if I lost them? Would my life be emptied? I was the reason they’re here! I couldn’t let them die.

William nudged me forward.
It’s working. Let’s go.

We left the shield behind us.
I don’t think it will hold for long, but it will help.

“Last chance!” Aseret shrieked, beginning to sound like his frenzied demons.

“Aseret, you will never lay your hands on my family! You should fear us—all of us!” William threw his shoulders proudly back.

“Harum sei mola tum!” Aseret ordered.

The demons lunged forward, but bounced back just as quickly, repelled by the shield. Each attack weakened the barrier. They tried to break through, placing their hot palms against it and singing layer after layer. With each break they made in the shield, a red circle appeared on my body, stinging like a fresh mosquito bite. The stronger seekers who passed through fought against Ekim, Atram, Mira, Xander, and Alex, all protecting Willow in their midst.

Mira and Xander vanished, then reappeared behind a demon and tore its head off. They shifted lightning fast, the body of a hawk blending into a wolf, then a mountain lion, bear, and even a small rodent.

“You are mine!”Aseret’s eyes glowed brighter as each demon lost a fight, shining with greater intensity than any of the demons’ orange orbs.

“Let us go if you want to live!” I threatened with all the rage I could muster as my cheeks tightened and joints locked and ready. The disks in my neck cracked, and its tendons stiffened. The veins in my face pulsed as I felt it shifted to a vampire.

Aseret stretched his arms and shot a new stream of magical fire. This time it wasn’t meant to miss. The blow flew at me and William, and we sprang in the air before it hit us. We seemed to glide up in slow motion, and the blast drilled a hole where we’d stood. Two things I knew for sure—we couldn’t fly, and the only way back down was into the river of molten rock Aseret’s blast had opened in the floor.

Sarah, grab the chandelier,
William thought as we reached the apex of our jump.

Still gripping his hand, I reached for the light fixture with my right hand, trying not to think of the fiery magma below us or the intensifying fight as the shield weakened under the demons’ powers. The red spots on our bodies continued to multiply as if we’d been exposed to a plague.

Mira and Xander shifted so quickly they couldn’t be out manoeuvred by any demon. Their powerful blows grounded their attackers.

Look!
I pointed to a grinning Aseret. He wiggled his fingers gathering energy into his palm. The electricity weaved around his hand. A new fire ball formed as he prepared to strike us again.

Swing the chandelier, Sarah. Maybe we can make it to the staircase.

We rocked our bodies and swung our legs forward, then back. The chandelier did not move. Hot wax dripped onto our shoulders.