Holding tight to his fingers, I felt his hand twitch, reassuring me of his presence.
Behind me, Cody drew closer and, with just a few steps, we were drowning in the dark.
Our breaths echoed back at us. I kept my free hand out, swaying it from side to side to try and find something solid, something to follow. I could hear Aidan’s hand scraping against the wall ahead of us. At least I hoped that was him.
Cody hissed behind me. “Does anyone have matches still?”
“No,” I whispered back over my shoulder. Read had the lighter, I thought. The thought of him made my heart ache. I hoped he was okay with the others.
Cody leaned closer and said in a hushed tone. “Maybe we should turn back.”
“Keep going,” Aidan mumbled over his shoulder. “Keep quiet.”
He was right: we were making enough noise just breathing.
Shuffling, Cody kept stepping on my heels. He grunted an apology.
Keeping my free hand swaying, I ignored Cody. After a while, my heel had gone numb anyways.
I wondered if we were going to find anything at all. Maybe we’d just walked into our own doom and we were all lost in the Demon’s Grave. I took a deep breath as my pendulum search pattern bumped into something.
Startled, I faltered in my step and Cody stepped on my heel.
Swinging my arm back, I found the same soft object. It wasn’t hard, like a wall. It felt almost squishy and warm.
Tugging back on Aidan’s hand, I whispered so softly I barely moved my lips. “Wait…”
Pushing my fingers forward, I felt it move, like…skin.
My hand jerked back but it wasn’t fast enough. A beefy, damp hand caught my wrist with cat-like reflexes.
I cried out and my voice was a bombshell, echoing crisp and shrill in the hallway.
“What is it?” Aidan demanded over my yelp.
“Something has me,” I wheezed through my teeth, twisting my wrist to free myself.
Cody released my belt loop and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me back but I wouldn’t budge. My arm felt as if it was being pulled out of its socket and I pleaded for Cody to stop until he released me.
Jerking free of Aidan I heard him gasp a protest.
Balling up my first, I decided to try out something that Phoebe taught me back in junior high.
The knuckle of my middle finger stuck out a little farther from my fist and I twisted my body in preparation and hoped for good aim in the blindness before punching.
To my surprise, my protruding knuckle hit flesh. The impact shuddered all the way up my arm and if it weren’t for Cody’s arms, I’d have fallen off balance.
Phoebe’s specialization in “dead arms” must have worked because the grip on my wrist released and there was a growling complaint in the dark. The kind that made me think of a feral dog.
Aidan caught my arm and demanded if it was me as Cody grabbed my other arm and yanked. I made a noise similar to a whimper—I think—and together we staggered back the way we came.
I scrambled into a jog, keeping my shoulder at the wall. We pitched out into the dim light that was nearly blinding to us.
The chandelier near the stairs was hard to look at but at least we were in the light again.
Stopping in the lit sanctuary we turned to the darkness, expecting something to come lumbering out after us. Only our footsteps and movements disturbed the mist.
Several seconds ticked by before we caught our breath and began to relax.
“What happened?” Aidan asked me.
I pointed with a shaky hand toward the darkness. “There’s something in there. It grabbed me and wouldn’t let go until I gave it one of Phoebe’s dead arms.”
“Those hurt,” Cody attempted to joke.
I didn’t have the strength to laugh and Aidan just looked confused. “Dead arms?”
“Yeah,” I said when Cody didn’t offer an explanation. “She’d hit a pressure point with her knuckle and it would go all numb and tingly.”
Aidan’s sour expression stopped me. He gestured to the darkness. “Nothing is happening. You don’t think that’s weird?”
My eyes wandered back to the ebony abyss, waiting for a sign—for something to burst free and find us sitting in the hallway ripe for the picking.
After a few seconds of silence, Cody motioned to our left, growing somber. “Maybe we should check out the other way.”
My eyes grew wide. “No,” I grabbed Cody by the shoulder, fingers digging. “We should find light first. Something to guide us through.”
Cody smiled as reassuringly as he could muster. “It’s okay, Nora. Aidan and I will check it out.”
And just like that, Cody gently shrugged my clawed fingers away. I was ousted.
“We can’t separate,” I insisted letting my hand fall. My arms were feeling oddly languid and tired. Crossing them over my chest I glanced between the guys, chewing on my bottom lip.
Cody shrugged and said to Aidan, “We won’t wander far.”
Aidan was staring down the unknown hallway. “It’s not like we got far the other way.”
I didn’t want them to go and leave me alone but I also didn’t want to wander into the dark again. The memory of the fleshy cushion beneath my fingertips was still vibrant.
“Can we wait here?” I asked hopefully. “Maybe it’ll come to us in the light.”
“We can’t do that,” Aidan said. “We have to keep moving.”
I wiped the sweat from my brow, coming away with bits of white plaster. “I can’t go,” I admitted. “I need to rest for a bit,” I said and avoided eyes. I could feel them both staring a me and hunched my shoulders with my hands tucked under my armpits.
In the silence I babbled, “that thing is waiting for us. We have to go right and you know it. There is no easier route here.”
Balling my hands into fists, I took a deep breath. This wasn’t fair. We needed a rest. I needed a rest from all this.
“Here.” Cody said.
Looking up I saw him holding out a white string. Following it with my eyes, I saw it was attached to his t-shirt and frowned at him. “What is this for?”
Aidan was already close to the darkened hallway to our left when he said over his shoulder. “Cody and I will go a few feet in and see what’s up.”
Did they discuss this while I had my head down? I glared at them. “You want to leave me behind?”
“No,” Cody flashed his best brown puppy eyes, “it’s not that. We just want you to feel safe. Listen, this stupid string has been trying to unravel for days. I’ll tug at it every ten seconds so you know we’re there.”
“Not even,” Aidan said, holding his hand out to the hallway as if testing if the darkness were real.
“What if something happens to you?” I asked.
Aidan glanced over his shoulder. “Then we shout and we run back.”
And run off without me!
Uncurling my fist I pinched the white string in my fingertips. My stomach did a flip. “Why not just sit for a second?” I protested. Neither of the guys seemed to share my views and stared at me as if I was just a silly girl.
I felt them about to cave to my weakness and to avoid the look, I snapped, “Every ten seconds, got it? If I don’t feel one, I’m coming after you both and if something happens to me it’s on your heads for not wanting to rest for fifteen minutes.”
I’m such a wuss. I wanted to tell them to whistle or sing something to ensure they were alright, but whatever was in there would be listening to them too.
Cody nodded to me and patted my shoulder before snagging the back of Aidan’s shirt as a signal to lead.
Hobbling, Aidan didn’t look back at me. Maybe he was hoping I’d be swallowed up, disappear, or just leave them to their Challenge. Despite his leg, he probably thought he and Cody had a better chance.
Watching Cody disappear into the looming darkness, I hoped I was wrong and everything would be alright. They’d come ba
ck for me and we’d continue. Maybe we could outwit whatever was waiting and just skip ahead. No harm or foul, just a lucky break.
The string in my fingers tugged and I leaned against the wall, the small reassurance only lasting a second. The moment they were gone I couldn’t hear their footsteps or breathes to my left. I felt the strain of being alone. Since we had stepped into this Challenge I’d always had someone with me. Someone I could count on to have my back and I theirs. Safety in numbers and all that, but this felt wrong.
If something came racing towards me while they were gone what would I do? I glanced to the stairs then to the hallways. None were an ideal escape plan.
The second tug of the string lessened the worry a pinch and I leaned against the wall opposite the staircase. Regulating my breathing I kept glancing at the shadowed hallway to my left. I could hear them talking in whispers. Then, I realized the whispers had changed direction.
Freezing, I listened as I turned my head slowly, trying to pick up where they were coming from. They weren’t coming from the hallway to my left, they were coming from downstairs.
As I strained to hear the words I could tell that several voices had joined in. They melded together in soft tones, then a buzzing took over. Every once in a while I would catch a word, I scarcely allowed myself to breathe in case I might miss a string of something recognizable; a sentence, a clue, anything.
Amongst the rumblings I heard what almost sounded like Robin’s voice. Taking a sharp breath, I heard. “…we never…again?” It sounded exactly like Robin Thurston.
Pushing away from the wall, I caught the banister overlooking the entrance with my free hand. Were they here? Had we met up after all?
The little string in my fingers tugged again.
“Robin?” I called my voice cracking. But no one was at the base of the stairs.
The whispers continued to bounce off the walls, swirling dizzily.
An unrecognizable hiss voice echoed louder. “Dismal and dark is the Demon’s Grave.” The rest was muddled and camouflaged with the other voices.
“Dismal and dark…” I clapped a hand over my mouth to stifle the words.
The whispers drew closer, or maybe they were louder. It was as if the murmured drone had been given volume-control and instantly they were blasting through the space at decibels that hurt my head.
I tugged at the string hard, hoping to get Cody’s attention, then covered my ears.
I shouted through the amplified cacophony. “Stop. Stop! Aidan? Cody? Come back.”
The room began to spin as if the voices were stripping me of my balance. I wobbled, trying to keep my hands up against my ears, then I realized that I wasn’t standing anymore. My body was pitching forward, toward the stairs. I screamed in surprise, releasing the string.
Arms flailing away from my head, I closed my eyes and prepared myself for pain.
Someone caught my hips from behind. Digging fingers into bone, my fall was halted as abruptly as the voices.
Still in the motion of falling my torso jolted forward, but I was able to grab a railing and pull myself upright. They came back for me!
The silence was almost as shrill as the voices and I struggled to focus on the banister to regain my balance. It wasn’t coming very easily this time and I twisted in the grip. My shoulder bumped into Damien.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Damien released me before I could slap him away.
I stumbled and my back hit the wall, knocking my knees together. Every muscle quivered, begging for relief. Unable to hold myself up, I slid until I was sitting on the floor.
Raising my hands, I discovered they moved slower than I commanded. Flexing my fingers in slow motion, I stretched out one leg but it wouldn’t straighten the way I wanted. I touched my temples with both hands. The vertigo hadn’t lost its edge and it felt like marbles were racing each other against the inside of my skull. “What’s going on?”
Damian stood just a few feet away. I rolled my eyes up to see him staring down at me, the chandelier at his back. “You’re being punished for someone else’s mistake.” He almost sounded apologetic, which made me giggle.
Like a sneeze it escaped and I quickly squashed it as black dots danced between us.
My hands touched the floor on either side of me and I realized I was tilting to the right.
Trying to concentrate past the bumping marbles, I remembered Robin’s voice and asked, “What mistake?” Robin had been called a cheat by the doppelgängers. “Whose mistake?”
“That doesn’t matter right now,” Damien answered softly.
Nausea heated my face and clamped down on my jaw. Closing my eyes only made the spinning worse. I realized I’d dropped the string. Warning Cody and Aidan wouldn’t work. I couldn’t hear them in the darkness. No whispers, talking, shuffling of feet. Where are you guys? I opened my eyes.
“What are you doing here?”
Damien was inspecting my outstretched leg. The red swelling on my knee had faded to a heated pink just seen under the mud that crusted my sneakers and calves. “You’re very lucky to have survived this long.”
“This long?” I hissed his last words, my voice dripping with venom. “This is bullsh…” I choked as hot saliva moistened my gums, forcing me to swallow. I’m going to ralph right in front of Damien…son of a bitch.
“Your nightmare,” Damien mused. “Did the spiders and scorpions turn out well? I see that you’ve been stung without much consequence.”
I didn’t bother following his gaze and glared at him through the tangle of loose hair. The warmth in my stomach fought alongside the nausea. I remembered it from our last encounter but it wasn’t making things easier.
“Control your emotions,” he advised coldly. “Humans are so weak with their feelings. It’s an enigma how your race made it in your realm.”
Gritting my teeth. I choked down the anger, taking his advice even if I stubbornly didn’t want to. As I took a deep breath, I felt my heartbeat begin to slow, just a little, the heat in my belly quaked but didn’t squeeze.
Uncomfortable, I shifted against the wall. “We didn’t trespass, did we? You made us come in because you were, what? Lonely? Psychotic? I didn’t tell Aidan to open that door, someone else did.”
Damien’s smile disappeared. Something tenebrous flashed across his face and I realized I may have hit something. He recovered quickly, the pretentious expression dancing back in place. “I didn’t make Aidan open the door. You spoke those words not of your own free will?”
At first I thought he must be pulling my leg. Blinking back the surprise, I shook my head. “It was like someone else was controlling me.”
“I’m insulted you’d think I’d stoop so low.”
My eyes narrowed. “You shouldn’t be. All of that crap that you just threw us into…” My stomach clenched with the return of the heat against my insides and I swallowed the building saliva, desperate not to vomit.
“That crap was what the Challenge offered. May I remind you that, you received the messages and you still opened the door despite the Keeper’s warnings plain on the wall,” Damien said and stepped closer.
The instant he did, the meager control I held over my stomach loosened.
I twisted in time for my stomach to convulse and the first wave of vomit slapped the floor. My eyes teared and I gagged when I saw the long, dark hair amongst stomach bile.
Before I could blubber my horror, another throe struck and I was subjected again. Wave after wave hammered into my stomach until I was left with a sore throat and a mixture of tears and snot dripping off the end of my nose.
Spitting, I rocked back, kicking myself away along the wall. The smell was overwhelming and I held my hand to my face to try and protect myself from another attack.
My entire body was shaking and my skin prickled with a chill.
My head felt inflated and I asked through my hand, my voice high pitched and shaking, “Whose mistake was that? Shit, Damien, shit!” I choked o
n the bitterness; I’d rather lick the floor than taste what was left in my mouth but I thankfully restrained myself.
Damien didn’t answer. Bridging the gap between us, he knelt.
The back of my head smacked against the wall when he reached up, but didn’t stop him from placing a hand on my forehead. It was cool and inviting compared to the throbbing heat. I could almost imagine steam twisting off my skin when his chilled fingers cupped over my forehead. Part of me was scared, letting the demon touch me, while the other was relieved that the torture was ebbing.
How bad was the mistake to lose their hair? It had been long and dark, which could have meant Robin’s, but her hair wasn’t that long. The worst part was that it had been in my stomach. My hand still up to my mouth, I tried to disguise a popping gag reflex with a cough.
Damien’s touch soothed the heat in my skin and I met his eyes.
Shaking, I felt the tears welling, this time not from the strain of vomiting, but from the fear bubbling to the surface. I didn’t want him to see me like this. It was like giving him some inappropriate compliment for getting to me. But that’s what he did. He got to me.
When we spoke last, he said I was a threat and he wasn’t sure about me and here he was. He was comforting in a twisted way, but it didn’t make sense. He gave me this punishment, he shouldn’t be trying to make me feel better. But he was.
I tried to read what he might be thinking, but his eyes were just black and watching mine, as if trying to read me at the same time.
Sniffling, I looked away, to the messy floor. “Was it Robin? Was that her hair?” I licked my lips behind my hand and tried to hold back the wave of emotions. I struggled to keep them deadened, like him. “Is Robin dead?”
Placing three fingers on my wrist, he lowered my hand from my mouth, making me look at him. He said soberly, “Robin is not dead.”
My eyes narrowed, searching for a sign of a lie. His lips didn’t twitch, his eyes didn’t brighten in amusement or look away.
He got to you again, Nora, a voice whispered in the back of my mind.
Pulling my arm from his touch, I latched it around my stomach. “Why are you here?” I demanded, blinking back the watery vision. “Was it just to watch me play out the punishment?”
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