The Supernormal Legacy (Book 1): Dormant

by McLennan, LeeAnn

  Ben pointed down the corridor. “Come on. The thing was last seen in the section near Burnside Avenue.”

  Lange nodded and led us south.

  Ben was directly behind me. He smelled of soap and, strangely, cloves. Once again, he made me nervous, not just because of his ability, but for some other reason that I couldn’t quite identify. I tried to move further ahead of him, but there was no room to get past Kevin without looking rude. I told myself to get a grip and focused on the path in front of me.

  I jumped at the shadow of a huge creature but relaxed when I saw it was only a spider made large by light and shadows. A couple of rats scurried away from us and I know I, for one, scurried away as well.

  “How did you hear about the creature?” Lange asked Ben, his voice echoing back to me.

  “A couple of homeless kids got into the tunnels last night looking for a place to sleep out of the cold,” Ben answered. “Only one of them got out, and he was scared enough to tell a cop. We were listening to the police scanner when the cop called it in.”

  “Did the cops believe him?” Zoe asked.

  Ben snorted. “What do you think? The poor kid is getting a free night in the psych ward.” He said to Lange, “Turn left at the crossways.”

  “Okay,” Lange answered as he came to the meeting of four tunnels.

  “So what did the kid say?” I asked.

  “He said they saw a long, gigantic red worm.” Ben tightened his grip on the sword he carried. “And it spit yellow goo all over his friend. His buddy dissolved, probably screaming in agony the entire time.”

  Emma made a face. “Ben, you don’t have to sound so enthusiastic.” She spoke primly. “The normals should be respected.”

  Ben rolled his eyes. “Emma, I wasn’t being disrespectful.”

  Emma frowned at him, her lips thin and tight. Ben stuck out his tongue at her. Yeah, there was something there, or there had been.

  Lange stepped further into the left tunnel, waving his flashlight to highlight any crevices.

  A gust of air came down the tunnel, bringing the same metallic scent I remembered from when we first climbed down into this icky place. Along with the air, I heard a rumbling sound, like a truck was coming towards us. The ground vibrated.

  As if in slow motion, Lange turned towards the rumble. He raised his bow and tried to grab an arrow from his quiver, but before he could, there was a sound like a giant whip. I glanced at Zoe, thinking she had unleashed her whip, but it was still coiled in her hand.

  Lange screamed out in shock. I jerked around to see him being dragged away by a long red tentacle.

  “Holy crap!” Kevin yelled.

  As one, we all ran after Lange and whatever had taken him.

  Chapter 21

  Lange was nothing but a shadow in the gloom by the time I rounded the corner. He wasn’t screaming anymore. I tried to keep up with Kevin and Zoe, but they ran like crazy cheetahs. Emma pushed past me with a knife in each hand. I fell behind until I was running with Ben at the back of the group. Kevin and Zoe arrived at another crossroads, with Hugh not far behind them. Zoe pointed without hesitation towards the right. My belly tightened with anxiety as they disappeared from sight. Fear of losing even more cousins quickened my steps so that I was next to Emma when we arrived at the crossroads and turned right.

  This tunnel was danker and darker than the others we’d gone down. It angled downwards, and the stink of sulfur wafted up. Further down the tunnel, I saw a flickering orange light. Shadows moved in front of the light, and I almost shouted out a caution before I realized the shadows were Zoe, Kevin, and Hugh. As I got closer, I saw they stood at the edge of a dropoff. Kevin was crouched down, peering into a cave. Holding my sword out of the way, I crouched next to him.

  The dropoff opened to a cavern. The floor was about ten feet below us, with rocks forming a sort of stairway. The cavern was about the size of a small movie theater auditorium. Where there would have been rows of seats, there were large chunks of concrete lying broken on the ground. At the base of the wall opposite us was a pit emitting a flickering light that brightened the space enough to see fairly well.

  I saw all of this in the background because my attention focused on Lange draped across one of the concrete slabs not far from the pit of light. His eyes were closed, and blood from a cut on his forehead dribbled down the side of his face. One hand was outstretched, as if reaching for the bow lying on the ground beside the rock.

  I started to scramble towards my cousin, but Ben stopped me by sticking his arm in my path. I rocked back, not wanting to touch him. He shook his head. “Hold on, we need to check out the situation before running down there.”

  Zoe said softly, “Do you think he’s still alive?”

  Hugh stepped forward and stared intently at Lange. Several seconds passed with everyone watching Hugh watch Lange. Finally he nodded. “He’s alive. And he doesn’t look too beat up.”

  We all relaxed, which made me realize just how tense everyone had become.

  My confusion about Hugh’s actions must have shown in my face because Hugh said, “I’ve been training, working on extending my sight abilities.”

  “So you could see that Lange was breathing. Got it.”

  Kevin growled, “There it is.” He raised his sword and pointed. “That’s the death worm. That’s what got Lange.”

  We all crowded forward to see the death worm slithering between the concrete chunks. It was hideous, all red and shiny, as long as two streetcars, and segmented with scales. As it moved, the scales separated slightly, revealing pinkish skin underneath. Black tentacles of varying lengths waved around its mouth. As the creature got closer to Lange, one of the tentacles caressed his leg almost gently. I shuddered, grossed out by the idea of that thing touching me.

  The death worm gave Lange’s leg one last stroke and then raised up so its mouth was level with Lange. We all gasped as one, realizing Lange was about to become dinner. There was no more time for us to assess the situation for the best strategy. We needed to attack immediately.

  Zoe yelled at the death worm, “You fucking asshole, take your slimy tentacles off my brother!” She led the way, scrambling down the rocks with the rest of us not far behind.

  Hugh aimed his crossbow and shot an arrow that buried deep into the worm’s side. It shrieked horribly, the sound making my spine shiver and my legs weak. The death worm curved around to face us, its tentacles whipping through the air. Kevin lopped off one tentacle with his sword as it snapped by him, and the worm shrieked again. Dark goo spurted from the stump, and Kevin leapt to one side to avoid the mess. The creature whipped another tentacle at Kevin, but he bounced to the other side of the cave, appearing next to the pit.

  Zoe moved in, lashing the thing with her whip. Hugh shot another arrow while Kevin ran around the fight to climb up the slab next to Lange. He waved frantically for us to come help him.

  I followed Ben, holding my sword ready. I had barely gone three steps when the death worm lashed a tentacle at me. I ducked and raised my sword instinctively. It sliced through the air, cutting off the tip of the tentacle. Surprised at my good aim or good luck, I froze, allowing the monster enough time to twist around to face me. My chest tightened when I saw how close I was to the thing. Its mouth and its tongue protruded enough to slap me on the hand. And then it squirted a stinking, greenish liquid at me. I managed to jump to one side and only a small amount of it hit me on my forearm. It burned like crazy, and I snarled furiously. Not really knowing why, I extended my uninjured arm, palm facing the monster. My body tingled, and my raised arm felt tight, like it was under pressure from within. I felt alternately hot and cold. I gasped, trying to get enough air into my lungs. I was vaguely aware of shouting around me, but I ignored it.

  Just as I was almost at the crest of the energy, Emma tackled me to the ground. My head glanced off one of the rocks and I lost all sense of power. Pushing her off of me, I staggered to my feet. “What the hell, Emma?”

  .“Stop it
! You’re not even aware of how much danger we’re in,” she yelled.

  I looked around and saw Kevin, Ben, and Zoe respectively slashing, stabbing and whipping the death worm to death. That didn’t seem particularly dangerous; in fact, it was what was supposed to happen, wasn’t it? They finished it off by cutting off the head. Kevin dropped the tip of his sword to the ground and stood breathing hard. Zoe held her gore-encrusted whip out to one side while Ben walked around the death worm with a thoughtful expression.

  And then I noticed the pools of fire around the cave. Puzzled, I turned to Emma. “Where did the fire come from?”

  She didn’t look at me; instead she frowned at the fires. “No idea.” She pointed at the glowing pit with her chin. “Maybe from there.”

  I started to walk over to the pit and check it, but pain shot up my arm. A wave of dizziness came over me and I sat down abruptly. Emma looked down at me and sighed. “Come on.” She pulled me up by my good arm and helped me to the steps.

  Kevin met us there and examined my injured arm carefully. “I’m so sorry. I was supposed to be watching out for you.” He gave me a wry smile. “I got a little distracted.”

  “It’s okay, ” I assured him. “It was Lange, after all. I get it.” I looked at my arm. There was a long oozing wound from my upper arm to mid forearm. It burned and throbbed and just plain hurt. I had a feeling I wouldn’t be able to bend it in an hour or so.

  Ben sat down next me and frowned. He leaned in towards me and then jerked back, shaking his head as if telling himself no.

  “What did this?” Hugh came over supporting Lange. I smiled to see Lange awake and somewhat alert.

  “That thing spit on me. It was really disgusting.”

  “The death worm spit on you?” Hugh said sharply. He helped Lange sit on one of the stairs and took my arm from Kevin. “This is bad, really bad. Have you noticed if the wound has gotten bigger?”

  I stared at my arm. “I don’t know, um, I just,” I looked into Hugh’s concerned eyes, “don’t know. Why?”

  Instead of answering me directly, Hugh said with a grim expression, “We’ve got to get Olivia back to Uncle Alex before this gets worse.” He glanced at Lange. “We should take Lange as well.”

  Lange said, “I’m fine. The monster didn’t hurt me much. I think it didn’t want to play with its food.”

  “What’s going to happen to me?” I asked.

  Hugh ignored me, looking around with a slightly wild expression. “Does anyone have any idea where the nearest exit is?”

  Zoe nodded. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure we’re near the one that comes out under Powell’s Bookstore.”

  “Okay, let’s get going. I’ll have Uncle Alex meet us with the van.”

  “Hugh!” I yelled to get his attention and almost fell over. I was so dizzy. “What is going to happen to me?”

  Zoe answered for him, “You’ve been poisoned, and if we don’t get help, it will eat at your skin until you die.” Her blunt statement was softened by her taking my good hand gently and continuing, “But Uncle Alex knows what to do. I promise.”

  “Oh.”

  There wasn’t much else to say as Kevin started to pick me up. Ben stopped him. “I didn’t fight as hard as you. I can carry her. She’s shielding me now, so it’s fine. However I will be able to tell sooner than any of you if she gets worse.” He frowned at Kevin’s censorious look. “If her shield slips, it’ll be because she’s in too much pain to hold it.”

  Kevin looked at Lange, who nodded. Kevin stepped back to give Ben room.

  Ben gently picked me up. “Just relax. You’ll be okay.” He held me against his chest and I wrapped my good arm around his neck. He followed the rest of the group out of cave, though the gloom of the tunnels caused Ben to stumble a few times. I was glad to leave it behind us.

  I rested my head on Ben’s shoulder and sighed. I knew I should be worrying about the trouble I was going to be in once the ‘rents knew I’d come along, but being so close to Ben was distracting. He didn’t seem to have any trouble carrying me and keeping up with the others. He was a little sweaty from the fight, but he still smelled like soap and cloves.

  I murmured, “Why do you smell like cloves?”

  His chest and stomach moved with his chuckle. “Would you believe I was baking pumpkin bread?”

  I laughed.

  “Yeah, Mom is teaching me how to bake.” He shrugged the shoulder I wasn’t clutching. “It’s kind of fun.”

  “Okay, that’s nice,” I said vaguely. I was starting to drift in and out a bit.

  “Hey. Olivia. Stay focused,” Ben said. “Tell me, do you like to cook?”

  I tried to focus on his question, but it was hard to think through the burning running down my entire arm. I lifted it and gulped. The wound had spread all the way down my forearm to my hand and seemed to be wider as well. “Oh no,” I said, dazed.

  “Damn,” was Ben’s response, “guys, we need to hurry. Like now.”

  Hugh glanced back, holding up the phone. “Uncle Alex says…” And my world went black.

  Chapter 22

  I drifted in a soft, quiet place, feeling relaxed and safe. Incomprehensible words drifted around me, comforting me because I knew the voices of the speakers.

  I gradually realized they were arguing and, despite my relaxed state, I reluctantly focused on the words.

  “…and Olivia could lose her arm!”

  My eyes popped open in shock. I struggled to sit up, but strong hands restrained me. “Ollie, you need to stay still while Uncle Alex heals you.” Zoe’s concerned face hovered over me.

  Remembering the words I’d just heard, I looked at my arm in fear. I was on a table, and Uncle Alex sat at my side, one hand on my shoulder and the other hand on my wrist. My sleeve was torn or had been eaten away by Mongolian Death Worm acid. I felt my stomach swoop. Where there had been a deep, expanding wound, like a furrow, from my wrist past my elbow, now there were only several small, shallow cuts. I raised my astonished gaze to meet Uncle Alex’s eyes.

  He smiled through the glaze of sweat on his face and then closed his eyes in concentration. I noticed the blood on the forearm of his shirtsleeve. It looked fresh, though the edges were already dry and crusty.

  We were in the classroom area at the warehouse. My cousins stood in a circle around Uncle Alex and me. Aunt Kate and Uncle Dan stood in the background wearing identical frowns, looking more like siblings than I’d ever seen them.

  I gasped in unison with Uncle Alex as sharp pain shot from my wrist to my shoulder. I tried to pull away from his grip, but he held on, despite the sweat pouring down his face and the blood darkening his shirtsleeve.

  Finally, Uncle Alex released my arm and slumped in his chair with a gasp. Aunt Kate was at his side instantly.

  I lifted my arm. Only faint scars hinted that the horrible wounds had ever existed. I moved my arm around, marveling at the ease of movement. I sat up with Zoe’s help, and then shrugged off her hands. My body ached as if a fever had just broken, but I could feel the effects of the wound passing away.

  I watched as Uncle Alex gulped down a glass of green-hued fluid Uncle Dan handed him. Uncle Dan watched his brother intently until Uncle Alex gave him a nod and handed back the glass.

  “What did he do? I mean, how did he heal me?” I asked Zoe softly. Kevin and Hugh gathered around their father. Hugh put a hand on Uncle Alex’s shoulder while Kevin handed him a sandwich.

  “He’s an empathic healer,” Zoe said equally softly. “In order to heal you, he took on your injuries briefly and absorbed them.” Looking exhausted, she slid off the table to sit in one of the chairs.

  I swung my legs down and started to stand up. Lange stepped forward and offered me his arm for support. I let him help me off the table but stepped over to Uncle Alex on my own. I put my hand on Uncle Alex’s arm, and he looked up at me, his face lined with exhaustion.

  “Thank you.” I swallowed hard. “I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost my arm.�
��

  He smiled at me but didn’t speak, obviously worn out from healing me.

  “If you hadn’t gone out without permission, you wouldn’t have had to worry about that,” Uncle Dan said angrily. “You knew you weren’t cleared for patrol and yet you went out anyway.” He pointed at my arm. “This is why you must have more training before I can let you out.”

  “Uncle Dan, it’s not her fault.” Kevin came over to stand next to me. “She was so bummed about being left behind that I felt bad and asked her to come with us.”

  Uncle Dan pointed at Kevin, who took a step back. “I’ll deal with you in a minute.”

  “Hey –” I started to defend Kevin, but Uncle Dan held up a hand.

  He drew a deep breath in an obvious effort to calm himself and said, “For the next week, you may only go to school or the warehouse. All other activities are disallowed. If I could find a plausible way to confine you to the warehouse, I would.” I saw Emma stiffen up behind her father. She cast a quick glance at the area that was sometimes used for naps. Uncle Dan looked over to where Uncle Alex still sat slumped on the couch, loosely holding a bottle of water. “And, because your indiscretion has cost Alex some of his healing ability for the next day, you must go with him on his rounds tomorrow.”

  Angry at being grounded again, I sputtered, “What rounds?” How long would these rounds take? Would I still be able to meet Jack tomorrow? I had to meet Jack if I wanted to be able to make up with him. Oh wait, I was grounded. Could Uncle Dan really ground me?

  “Every week, your uncle spends a good part of his time helping the homeless population. He’ll pick you up at eight tomorrow morning.” Uncle Dan pointed to the floor. “Here at the warehouse.”