by Kristen Day
The air was suddenly knocked out of me as Priscilla’s foot connected with my stomach; sending me crashing over on my side and gasping for breath. As Priscilla pushed my shoulder down and prepared to hit me, I bent down and wrapped my shaking fingers around the handle of my dagger. My trace quickly warmed at its proximity, but the aquamarines and diamonds felt cool in my palm as I unsheathed it from my boot. Waves of energy and calm determination shot up my arm and into my heart; helping me to push out Bianca’s unrelenting shockwaves as well as to throw Priscilla off of me. I scrambled to my feet as she tried again to grab me from behind. I spun around on her and sunk the dagger into Priscilla’s shoulder with a quickness that surprised even me. She screamed and released me; crumbling to the ground.
Bianca suddenly stopped singing as she saw Priscilla on the ground, gripping her shoulder in anguish. Her deep green eyes became inflamed and a fierce anger took over her features. I noticed a light layer of smoke tendrils lifting from her transparent skin. Evil; just like Nadia. As I watched Bianca advance on me, I spotted Carmen and Phoebe lying motionless on the ground in my peripheral vision. As Bianca reached me the anger in her eyes changed to a burning hatred, and I noticed that the smoky tendrils were growing in height. Before I could move, she tackled me to the ground and slammed my skull against it; muting my senses and sending a black cloud of numbness around the edges of my vision. Pulling power from the stones of the dagger’s handle, another surge of white hot energy coursed through my veins and I successfully pushed the darkness back. She slammed my head into the ground a second time, and then produced a smaller knife from her dress pocket.
I caught her wrist as she swung it down towards my chest with fury. I struggled to shove the dagger away from me, and inadvertently met her frenzied gaze. Her lips lifted into a vengeful smile and out of nowhere, an idea hit me. As I held her gaze, I concentrated on centering my energy and reached out to her mind. Just as I’d hoped, her smug expression morphed to shock as a litany of images flashed before my eyes. A tall woman with flowing blonde hair. A young boy smiling and laughing happily. Her own body covered in blood. Nadia’s face. A younger Priscilla running alongside her. Nadia lashing her with some kind of glowing whip. My own face, confused and terrified.
“Get out!” she yelled, as she snapped her eyes shut and recoiled in an attempt to rid her mind of my spying eye. I took the opportunity to rip her off of me and roll on top of her. The dagger in my hand warmed as I held it above her, prepared to plunge it into her chest. I was met with the frightened eyes of a young girl; vulnerable and defenseless.
“Please Stasia, don’t send me there! Please!” she screamed in terror.
I faltered as her fear washed over me, and a momentary pang of sympathy stalled my anger. With her features returning to the young, innocent face of a girl, I hesitated a second too long. As I began to pull the dagger away from her, she laughed demonically and stuck her own dagger into my stomach. Pain exploded from the newly formed wound, and my rage returned with a vengeance; strengthened by the added layers of betrayal. I lifted the dagger easily and brought it down into her chest.
“No!!!” I heard Priscilla scream behind me. Bianca’s eyes closed as she quickly began to fade below me. Her form shrank from human, to the familiar thin ribbon of silver; which appeared to then be sucked up and away towards an unknown source. I held a hand over the bloody cut in my abdomen and struggled to stand. Priscilla was doing the same, with the intention of attacking me again. I then dragged myself and half-stumbled over to Phoebe and Carmen, who were still unconscious.
“Phoebe! Carmen!” I shook them frantically. Phoebe finally groaned and made an effort to open her eyes when I felt it. A prickling cloud of cold, aching evil wrapped its tendrils around me and tightened; slicing my skin and yanking me down to the ground. I struggled against it, but only succeeded in cutting my skin further.
“I’m really getting tired of you,” Nadia materialized beside me, glaring down at me as I lay helpless on the ground. Her eyes flitted up toward Priscilla with icy hate. “And you.”
With a flick of her hand Priscilla screamed, sunk to the ground and began to fade. As her soul morphed into a silver ribbon, she followed the same path as her sister and disappeared from sight. Nadia muttered something with irritation and then faced me. Her golden eyes flashed as her skin and hair sparkled of gold. It was more apparent than ever that she was connected to the Underworld. The evil tendrils floated off her skin, alluding to the firing inferno that burned just below the surface. She wore a tight bronze skirt with a flowing white blouse that highlighted her golden skin. She shook her head at me.
“I suppose if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.” She glanced at Phoebe and Carmen, rolled her eyes, and growled, “Get up.”
With another flick of her hand, they were swiftly hoisted to their feet; instantly regaining consciousness. I watched as Phoebe’s anger began as a slow simmer within her narrowed eyes, and then roared to life as she attempted to move and couldn’t. I froze in fear, as the white vines at the bank untwisted and slithered towards my roommates. Shaking myself mentally, I struggled against the tendrils that held me down as the taunting vines curled around their legs, torso, and arms with painstaking slowness. Carmen receded further into herself as she looked on in eerie silence. Phoebe struggled against the death grip of the vines, but Nadia only succeeded in looking bored.
“Leave them alone!” I yelled at her. “They don’t have anything to do with this.”
“You did this,” her eyes sparkled with madness as her words caused a memory to resurface. “This is your fault. You killed them.”
“No!!” I screamed. Nadia just smiled and flicked a finger at Carmen and Phoebe. Instantly, the vines tightened and cut off their ability to breathe. Carmen’s eyes bulged while Phoebe continued to struggle.
“Carmen! Phoebe!” I called out to them, feeling utterly helpless and inadequate as my roommates were strangled to death. Nadia glanced down at a non-existent watch on her wrist.
“Time to go,” she claimed, as if we were simply late for an appointment. She flicked a finger at the vines again, which promptly lifted Phoebe and Carmen off the ground. I felt myself also being lifted as the evil tendrils continued to slice through my skin. “I’m taking you where you belong.” She brushed her hair off her shoulders, smirked at me in victory, and snapped her fingers. “Hell.”
Chapter 37
Silence. It precedes many things. The punch line of a joke. The deafening boom of fireworks. A much deserved standing ovation. For us it preceded a terrifying experience that we would never, and could never, forget. The moment Nadia snapped her fingers, we were transported somewhere that no nightmare, no fear, no dark corner could ever compare with. It truly was Hell: Tartarus.
“Stasia?” Phoebe whimpered quietly next to me.
We found ourselves standing on parched soil that was blacker than black; staining everything it touched. Our clothes were quickly covered in the suffocating soot and I could feel it collecting in my lungs. But Nadia and her evil vines had disappeared. It took me several moments to register our surroundings; being that I had never seen anything like it before. Suspended at least twenty feet off the ground were thousands of tormented souls; held captive. From the sky, a thin rope of fire attached to a shackle circled their necks. From the ground, a similar rope of fire stretched upwards; securing their ankles. Both ropes were pulled taut, leaving each soul vulnerable and helpless. I could feel something that resembled evil, but it was much less organized. It felt more like a boiling madness that pressed against me; poking and prodding to wiggle its way in. I pushed it away and envisioned my mental barriers so that I could think straight. I also felt an overwhelming hopelessness that was threatening to suck the energy out of me.
“Phoebe, don’t move,” I warned her in a low voice; unsure as to what would happen if someone or something figured out there were three new residents.
“Make them stop screaming!” Carmen screame
d at the top of her lungs in agony. She clutched her head and squeezed her eyes shut; crouching down to her knees. I glanced at Phoebe, who was attempting to comfort her with a pained expression. The screams of the souls were apparently lost to us. I could see their grotesque mouths stretched open as they struggled against their binds, but all I heard was silence.
“Why don’t we hear them?” Phoebe glanced up at me with trepidation.
“I don’t know,” I whispered, feeling completely defeated.
“Make them stop!” Carmen screeched again, even louder.
“We need to get her away from them,” I advised Phoebe. I closed my eyes and sent out some intuitive feelers in the hopes I could sense which direction we needed to travel. To the north, west, and south I felt only more madness and hopelessness. To the east, I felt a slight trickle of light that washed over my skin like a breath of fresh air.
“This way,” I instructed Phoebe. She pulled Carmen upright and we both supported her weight as she continued to fight against the screams. We half carried, half dragged her for what felt like miles over the scorched earth. At last I could see a clearing up ahead, but I had a foreboding feeling that it wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Once past the forest of screaming souls, Carmen was able to walk on her own; but completely drained and still in shock, she remained unresponsive. We held her hands and continued to walk. I noticed that the trace on my arm had grown murky and dull under the weight of delirium surrounding us. The wound from Priscilla’s dagger and the slashes from Nadia’s evil had stopped bleeding, but the damage had been done. Every move stretched and reopened each one, which burned incessantly and sent sharp pains along my skin.
We arrived at a wall of misshapen branches that arched towards the sky and then fell back down to the parched dirt; creating hundreds of scraggly tunnels. A layer of a black, moss-like substance hung over most of the branches; preventing us from seeing more than a couple of yards within. This stretched out all the way to the horizon in both directions, and appeared to be our only option. I closed my eyes again and felt that same sliver of light, and knew that we were heading in the right direction.
“Carmen, do you think you can make it through here?” I asked her; enunciating my words to make sure that she understood. I felt like I was speaking to a toddler as she continued to stare at me blankly. Her warm dark eyes had turned distant and lifeless; void of any comprehension or emotion. I sighed and gestured for Phoebe to follow me. We knelt down and began to make our way through the maze of branches and trees. Beneath the canopy of black moss, the world became shaded and bleak. A mildew stench filled my nose and a slight burning irritated my eyes. I sensed something around us and caught glimpses of things that darted in and out of the shadows; stalking us. We pushed on, climbing over and through branches; often tripping on camouflaged roots. The presence I felt began to multiply, and I knew that we were being followed by not one, but a group of….something. I could feel their elation, as if anticipating something.
“Did you see that?” Phoebe whispered in terror, as a shadowed figure dashed in front of us.
“I think we’re being followed,” I informed her in a low voice. All of my senses switched to high alert as a hair-raising scratching sound filled the air. Carmen stopped dead in her tracks and became rigid, as she stared at a spot in the distance with an expression that gave me chills. She looked…possessed.
“Stasia watch out!” Phoebe turned abruptly; shielding Carmen from what she had seen. I looked forward just as a being stepped out from behind a blackened, dead tree. It looked human enough, but it was hunched in such a dramatic fashion that it was impossible to know for sure. Skin and muscle hung from its exposed bones as it stood at least eight feet tall, even hunched over. I grabbed Phoebe’s hand and quickly dragged her and Carmen in a different direction. With Carmen’s rigid movements and the amount of obstacles, we didn’t get very far. Another being leapt into our path and a chill went through my body as my eyes landed on her. Limp black hair hung over her cheekbones as her shining black eyes bored into mine. Her skin and muscle were all intact, but a torn, dirty maiden dress hung off of her. Her demon eyes fell onto Carmen, who began to walk stiffly towards her.
“Carmen! Don’t!” I pleaded. Phoebe lunged forward and grabbed her arm, but Carmen pushed her so hard that Phoebe went flying backwards, landing hard on her back. In a moment of clarity, I put myself between Carmen and the woman. Carmen looked through me, her face contorted unnaturally.
“Carmen! Listen to me!” I put my arms out to stop her from walking. “Stop!”
Realizing that my tactic wasn’t working, I wrapped my arms around Carmen and easily tossed her to the side where she landed in a heap; unmoving. I turned just in time to see the skin begin to melt off of the woman’s face, as more and more of the beasts showed themselves. The woman lifted her arms slowly and glanced around at the others; signaling them to drift back into the shadows.
“Stasia! Help me!” Phoebe shouted from several yards away. Thick black vines had pushed up through the ground and had begun to wrap around her legs. I ran to her side and attempted to cut them away with my dagger, but they could have been made of steel from all the good it did. As the woman continued to slowly raise her misshapen arms that were currently dripping skin, more vines pushed through the earth below me and crawled up my ankles. They secured themselves around my thighs, and I fell to the ground as they methodically inched their way up to my waist. The harder I fought, the tighter they became. I could hear Phoebe’s screams as she was dragged across the ground past me. Carmen had also succumbed to the vines and they began to drag her away as well.
“Let me go!” I screamed hysterically, as the vines dragged my body across the parched landscape. I coughed and choked as the soot pressed into my eyes, ears, and mouth. I felt every root, every rock, and every bump as I was raked across the ground. I remembered self-directed anger shooting through me, as I realized that all of the abilities and affinities in the world didn’t help me when I wasn’t near the ocean. I felt my energy being sucked from me, seeping into the dry dirt.
I closed my eyes and gave in to the pain, the hopelessness, and the numb fear that had attached to my mind. My world became filled with a never-ending blackness; pain and misery wrapping around my heart and keeping me company as my wounds were reopened and my blood smeared behind me. When I finally felt the movement stop, I was unable to move or even open my eyes. Limp and fading into unconsciousness, I barely heard Phoebe’s shouts. She was laughing. Or was it crying? I couldn’t make it out. I just wanted to rest. I’d feel better after I went to sleep…
“Wake up!” I felt my body being shaken violently and my eyes flew open, suddenly alert. Phoebe’s tear-streaked face was right above me; a wild panic filling her eyes. “Get up Stasia! Get up!”
I attempted to talk, but it just came out as a groan. I lifted myself up on my elbows and twisted into a sitting position. A burning heat was scorching the right side of my body, and I cringed away from the red glow that suddenly filled my vision.
“What is that?” I asked hoarsely, squinting and shielding my already burned and torn skin. She pointed to the source of the glow, and an intense fear crept up my spine. An immense river of lava flowed slowly and silently towards the dark horizon; bubbling and devouring everything in its path. Carmen’s dead eyes flashed in my mind.
“Where’s Carmen?” I insisted as I swiveled my body; searching for her.
“Over there,” Phoebe squeaked. I followed her stare to a figure that was standing dangerously close to the river. I was about to call out to her, when she turned abruptly and began walking towards us. She strode right past us, turning on her heel and then stared down on us.
“Carmen! What are you doing?” I yelled at her; determined to get through to her. Instead of answering, she began to chant in a foreign language as she focused on the lava. As she continued to chant, small streams of lava travelled up the black earth, winding towards us. Unable to stand, I crawled frantically away fr
om the heat I could feel nipping at my feet. Phoebe was able to move faster, so she was several yards ahead of me when the earth opened up. As the lava burned through the soot it crumbled easily, creating a wide gash I couldn’t crawl away from. The dirt gave way beneath my fingers and as it slid down, I was helpless to stop my body from following. I twisted onto my stomach and crawled at the deteriorating dirt in vain.
“Phoebe!” I shouted, as a wave of soot filled my mouth. I lost sight of her as my body went over the edge. Then I stopped; my body dangling over the void below. Something had grabbed my arms, and in a split second I was lying on the ground yards away from the river and the conjured lava streams. I convulsed on my side as my lungs struggled to expel the dirt I had breathed in. The tears in my eyes succeeded in washing my eyes out enough so that I could open them briefly. The world sloshed and blurred as the tears continued to flow. I felt a hand squeeze mine and I turned my head to the right. The tears poured down my face, clearing my vision and revealing my rescuer.
Chapter 38
A wave of cool, refreshing sea water crashed over me and washed away my pain. It soothed every cut, every burn, and even the knife wound I could still feel throbbing in my abdomen. The smell of sea grass wafted around me and sent a comforting numbing sensation through my mind.
“Try to breathe slowly, baby girl.” Her voice was like a ray of light in a world of infinite darkness. I immediately recognized it from her own memories. I lifted myself up on my elbows and gazed up at her, consumed with wonder and astonishment.
“Are you…” the cadence of my own voice scratched my throat. “Are you…Thetis? My…mother?”
“Yes, Pasha,” she whispered, and I didn’t miss the overwhelming emotion in her voice at the nickname she, herself, had coined. I lifted myself all the way up into a sitting position and met her wise aquamarine eyes. They shone with fresh tears and her joyful smile lifted my heart. Suddenly overcome with emotion, I collapsed into her waiting arms. It was a place I thought I would never find myself, and I never wanted to let go.
