We were halfway along the outer wall when another scream, as fierce and desperate as the first, drifted up to us from the floor below. “There has to be a basement.” Thomas whispered in my ear. I nodded but said nothing. When we reached the other side, we realized the light spilled from a room halfway down the long hallway there. It looked like it might have been a kitchen or break room. But the stairs we stood at the top of held our attention. A low moan that was abruptly cut off drifted up them. I stared at my friends as our eyes met, grim with foreboding.
I took the first step and winced when it gave a scuffling scrape against my shoe. We continued down together, placing our feet with more care. My nose wrinkled at the heavy smell of antiseptic and something else that was old and rancid that I didn’t care to name.
At the bottom of the stairs, we were met with silence. No moaning nor additional screams to tell us the correct way to go. There was a left and a right along the hard concrete corridor that spanned both directions. There were thin lights in both directions. Down the far right, one of them flickered and jumped, creating eerie patterns that danced along the walls.
As one, our noses following the smell of old blood, we turned left, our ears focused on any sounds that didn’t belong.
We passed several rooms; the doors pulled shut and locked on our way to the room at the far end that stood open, a thin spill of light lancing into the corridor. As we drew abreast of it, we could make out the sounds of soft crying and panicked breathing. Something was alive and hurting in that room. But still there was no sign of our creepy friend. Thomas and Todd moved to the other side of the doorway as the rest of us inched our way in, looking around. I tried to hold back the sound of dismay that fell from my lips but could not. My nightmares couldn’t have conjured anything worse. Welcome to Frankenstein’s morgue, where the victims are still alive and kicking, but not for long. Our mouths drifted open as our eyes took in the long line of stainless steel sinks and tables lined with all manner of instruments and most of them lethally sharp. I didn’t have time to take in much else when my eyes riveted on the young woman chained spread eagled on a steel gurney. She shivered uncontrollably, making the whole table shudder and rattle, the chained links clanking at her wrists and ankles. Her hair might have been blond, but filth and dried sweat had darkened it to matted tangles that clung to her cheeks and dangled off the steel frame. She twisted and writhed, eyes tracking the room, searching every corner for something bad.
The room appeared deserted and we had taken our first step in when all the lights went out.
I whirled in a panic in the inky blackness, my knife held aloft, adjusting my hearing to make up for my sight when I heard the first scream. It wasn’t from the gurney. I recognized the high-pitched moan of pain from Sirris at my side. I’d barely registered the sound when a ribbon of pain erupted along my arm, followed by a whir of movement past my cheek. Acting on instinct, I brought my knife out in a wide arc and felt the slide of steel on flesh. A giggling scream I didn’t recognize whirled away from my blade.
And then there was light. Not the overheads, but eerie and luminescent, infusing the entire room in a steady green glow. My eyes flashed to Fern, insignificant in our midst, her fingers weaving through the air and creating the spell that let us see our attacker as he came at us again, his eyes jumping with madness. Nick stepped forward and swung his staff, halting the lunatic’s forward progress and swinging blade—heading straight for Niel who was just turning in his direction. It was enough. The blast from the staff hit the attacker mid stride and propelled him backwards through the air. He crashed into a set of tables, sliding across the top and taking every beaker and test tube with him to the floor on the other side.
With a squeal of rage, he was on his feet again. He’d dropped the knife. Instead, he held what looked like a butane lighter high over his head. His crazed laughter slid along my nerve endings and made every one stand at attention.
“Burn, burn, burn the monsters, yes I will!” he screamed, flicking the switch, a tiny flame cutting the gloom. He glanced at the liquid pooling at his feet from where he’d fallen. He frowned at us, his eyes shining oddly in the wobbly darkness.
I wasn’t sure how much longer Fern could hold the darkness at bay. I raised my hands, calling my fire, the flames I controlled. But then I hesitated. A lab full of who knew what chemicals was no place for my fire. Instead, I flipped my knife around and prepared to take aim. I was more than just a young Dragon. I was a skilled warrior as well.
From the table came a loud roaring scream of panicked awareness as the young woman on the table realized she wasn’t alone. “Help me! Please help me, get me out of here.” She moaned. Her terror momentarily pulled our attention. It was enough.
Before we could stop him, he ran at us, tossing the lighter, still lit, behind him. It hit the ground with a whoosh of air and heat as the contents from the beakers ignited. Whatever had been in them had combined into something highly combustible. The flames spread with dizzying speed. Frozen in shock, we barely registered as the man scooted past us, greasy and quick, his laughter echoing off the stairwells as he climbed and left us behind in the burning lab.
Snapping out of our momentary paralysis, we rushed to the gurney to where the woman bucked and writhed, wild eyes on the approaching flames. The lights suddenly flashed on and my eyes met Todd’s. He’d found the switch on the other side of the room and flipped it. With frantic haste we searched the table beside the gurney, looking for a set of keys or a pry bar, or anything that could spring the chains and set her free before she burned to death and us with her.
“There are no keys! Wyatt carries them!” she screamed, sobbing. There was nothing else. Our eyes met above the shackled girl with knowledge. We were going to have to leave her to burn or die with her. I swallowed, not liking either option.
And then Niel was there, his eyes hard and determined. He shoved us aside roughly, hands outstretched, a fierce concentration moving across his face as the scales spread and the claws erupted. I wondered if he was going to transform completely, but only his arms and shoulders fully formed, leaving him an odd collection of half man, part dragon.
“I don’t know if this will work. Not sure I’m powerful enough, but it’s all I can think of. This will probably hurt like hell.” He promised.
“I don’t give a damn, get... them... off!”
He reached out, the sharp nailed claws gripping the sides of the metal shackles. With a snarl, he pulled them outward, sharp teeth bared in a grimace of determination. With a rending of metal they broke apart, the links bouncing over the concrete floor. He wasted no more time. He made quick work of the rest of the chains, lifting her from the gurney and running for the door with the rest of us as the hungry flames licked at our heels. We took the stairs two at a time. By the time we’d reached the primary part of the empty warehouse, we could hear the approaching sirens of the fire department in the distance. They were almost upon us. I looked at Niel as he gripped the sobbing young girl in his arms. Both of them were showing way too much evidence of what they were to be healthy for human eyes.
“Run!” I screamed as we sprinted for the exit leading out the way we’d come in. We reached the door and Thomas wrenched it back to let in the faint glow of the streetlights. Behind me, I thought I heard a high keening cry. But I had no time to think on it. We made it out and around the side of the building as the Fire engines screeched into sight.
FRANZ HOBERT ALLOWED himself a moment of joy as he stood on the Valley rim and watched his Dragons soar. They came in all shapes and sizes, some of them darker and others the palest of silver to reflect their heritage from centuries past. Most of them were part of the original twenty-three that had survived the massacre in Salem over 300 years ago. Watching them now, the curve of their wings and the dip of their regal heads in flight, he wanted to believe the sacrifices had all been worth it. And they had, but they hadn’t been without a cost.
His smile dipped as he thought of the recent a
ttacks and the missing Dragoness. He hadn’t known her well, but she’d been a sweet kid, close on her first change. He wondered now if she was lost to them, if maybe she would never know that joy, or if it had killed her.
Rhiannon moved up alongside him. “You’ve done a marvelous thing here Franz. They look up to you and you’ve made all of this possible.”
He nodded. “The Guild would destroy it all if they could. All because they think they are pursuing justice. Really, they are just chasing their own agenda. Assuming they are in the right and because we aren’t the same. When does it end Rhiannon?”
She chuckled, but the tone was bitter. “It doesn’t Franz. But we can’t give up either. We have to pray for a day when we can come together and live beside them, instead of lurking in the shadows and hiding in the dark. It won’t come in my lifetime.” She admitted.
Franz scoffed. “Don’t be maudlin’ you have plenty of years left.”
She shook her head. “Not enough. Not near enough...”
They both lapsed into silence, two old dragons watching the young frolic and play and enjoy limber bones and supple muscles unplagued by age or knowledge of what was coming.
Franz glanced sideways in both directions for the other group they’d invited to attend camp this year. Of course, only one of them had counted. The others had been the leverage to get her here. Aidan’s great granddaughter. A slight smile curved his lips as he thought of her ferocity and courage. She’d already surpassed his hopes. He’d been friends with Lucas Seul for years, and the stories he’d told him about the groups heroics in the last two semesters was an entertaining evening or two for sure.
His eyes narrowed when he didn’t find what he was looking for. Instead, he searched the skies for that young pup, Niel, one of his many great great nephews. When he didn’t find him either his stomach took a dive. All of them missing at the same time couldn’t be good. That meant they were together somewhere they shouldn’t be, and he could only think of one thing that might make Niel miss flight night. They were out, against his orders, looking for that girl. He had to go.
He turned to his oldest friend. “I’ve got something I have to do; you won’t mind keeping an eye on things here, will you?’
She stared into his worried eyes and sighed. She was nobody’s fool. “Do nothing stupid Franz, you aren’t that young.”
He couldn’t prevent the silly lopsided grin that always lightened her heart. “Been doing crazy my entire life, now why would I want to stop now?”
She watched him leave until he was out of sight before turning back to the valley to watch.
FRANZ DIDN’T HAVE TO search awfully hard to find them. As fast as was possible, he borrowed one of the ATVs and rumbled down the mountain towards the town of Purdy, where he suspected the kids had gone. It seemed to be where the attacks were centered and he, like the kids, suspected the gang had a hideout somewhere in its city limits.
As it was, he almost ran them over coming around the last bend in the road where the forest opened up on the winking lights of the small town and harbor. He slammed on the brakes when he saw them. They recognized him and never paused. That’s when he realized that his nephew, Niel, was carrying something. As he got closer, he recognized the young woman, unconscious and in rough shape. They’d found Janice.
I WAS NEVER SO GLAD to see anyone in my life as Franz Hobert when he came busting around the corner. Janice wasn’t doing well. The mad man that had been working on her had been having way too much fun, and she needed medical attention fast. We didn’t know any doctors in town, or where Franz Hobert’s doctor friend lived. The medical community didn’t do well with what couldn’t be explained. A real live dragon qualified. And we didn’t know where the maniac that had left us to burn had gone, either. Was he following us even now as we ran? And what about the other three? He hadn’t been working alone.
Franz Hobert screeched to a halt. I knew from the look in his eyes that we were in so much trouble, but nobody cared. We were just glad to see him.
“She needs help. We were coming to get you, but now you are here, do you think your friend might be able to help?” I asked.
“Climb in the back with her Niel, and Sadie, you climb in up front. The rest of you? Keep going to camp and don’t stop for nothing. Who knows what’s chasing you crazy kids. I think you guys are obsessed with finding trouble.
I couldn’t argue with the truth, so I said nothing. Niel sat Janice gingerly in the small attached bed of the Kubota and climbed in beside her, resting her head on his lap and holding on. She moaned but never woke.
I climbed in beside Franz and he hit the gas, continuing on into town, keeping an eye out for anything that didn’t belong. Whoever had done a number on Janice wasn’t going to be real keen on having their toy taken or their nefarious deeds exposed to the human population of Purdy, regardless of what they thought they were accomplishing. They were criminals, period. The human population wouldn’t condone what they’d done any more than the dragon populace did.
We wound our way through town and I was glad it was well into the wee hours of the morning, before first light. Most everyone that had any sense was still sound asleep, which meant the streets were deserted as we passed, the hum of our motor the only sound we heard. He stopped in front of a small two-story brownstone house on a residential street tucked back in a corner of Purdy. Niel grabbed Janice and together we made it up the steps of the porch as Franz started knocking. He didn’t stop until we heard a muffled voice, sleepy and pissed, telling him to hold up. He was coming.
I’m not sure what it was I was expecting, but the small bespectacled human that answered wasn’t it. I imagined he was somewhere in his forties, going bald, and no taller than I was. He seemed... average.
And then he took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, and I saw his eyes for the first time; reassessing my opinion. The sharpest black eyes speared us, anger making them darker as he stared at us. He ignored Niel, holding Janice, and me as well. His eyes remained hard on Franz. He glanced beyond us and stepped back out of the way.
“Get her in here before you wake the entire neighborhood. He slammed the door behind us and said nothing more, turning smartly on his heels and striding down the hall. We followed.
“Stupid. Are you trying to get us killed, or what. You have to stop bringing me presents in the middle of the night. If word were to get out...” his voice faded.
A second light went on, arresting our progress, and our eyes fell on what must have been his wife; tying the ends of her robe together and padding softly down the stairs. Her chocolate brown hair fell in dark mussed waves over slender shoulders. Her purple eyes looked at young Janice, just starting to moan and struggle in Niel’s arms.
“Oh my, you’ve found another one. Franz, when is it going to ever stop?”
Franz gave her a pained glance but said nothing.
I continued to stare at her as she approached, unable to look away. She was easily one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen. But what really grabbed my attention was the fact that she was unmistakably Dragon; while her husband was fully human.
“Ella, you didn’t need to get up. I’d have handled this.” He protested. His eyes on his wife were soft and as close to worshipful as I’d ever seen. Ella was not a small woman, topping her husband by an easy several inches, but she returned his look with gentle wisdom.
“Of course I did, John. Now how can I help?”
NIEL HAD INSISTED ON hanging with the Doctor and his wife for at least the rest of the morning and afternoon. They’d stabilized her the best they could. She was young and would recover. Dragon’s healed faster than their human counterparts. Still, Janice had been through a lot and he was right to assume that seeing a familiar face when she woke would be safer for them all. They didn’t need her transforming in a panic and destroying the good doctor’s house.
I rode beside Franz back to camp. We rode in silence through town, eyes wary as we kept them sharp for anyth
ing that was out of the ordinary. It was daylight, maybe a shade past nine by the time we hit the main road up through the forest. Heavy clouds hung low to the ground and dark. I hoped we made it back before the sky opened up on us.
I finally could take the silence no more. “We couldn’t sit still and do nothing any longer. We found Jake Winters, and his killers are still out there. We had to do something. You get that, right?” I asked him.
He said nothing for the space of a minute, and I wondered if maybe he hadn’t heard me.
“It was still foolish. You are all so young, Sadie. There are things you don’t know...” he started.
“We’re also Magicals and Other. There’s way too much we do know. We aren’t too young to die at the hands of some madman. We know that for one.” I argued.
He sighed. “This isn’t over. I’m worried it’s escalating.”
I looked at him sharply. “There was some crazy maniac in that basement with her. From the look of things, he’d been having a lot of fun with his victims and a collection of sharp instruments. He was... how do I say? Off. Crazier than a bedbug, and he enjoyed hurting things. But he wasn’t with the three men that attacked Todd that night.”
Franz considered what I’d said, taking it in and filing it away somewhere in that massive brain of his.
“The building was burning. There were fire engines coming when we ran. We don’t know for sure if anyone followed us, but we were glad to see you, that’s for sure.”
“I’m glad you found Janice. Her family will be forever grateful. So will I, no matter how foolish I think your actions. You’re still just kids.”
I didn’t argue out loud with him, but I thought back to our battle with the Demon wolves and the Macu in the first semester of school. The second semester had seen us running for our lives and rescuing the Tuttles in an alternate dimension; while doing battle once more with Will Bennett. No, I’d argue we’d left our childhood behind a while ago.
Valley of the Dragons (Rule 9 Academy, #3) Page 17
