With skin as pale as Arawn’s and eyes as large as the moon, Gabrielle looked at the terrified figure of her mother. She had rope wrapped around her body which was tied to the reins.
Gabrielle’s eyes welled and she could hardly see as the tears erupted from her. Arawn said nothing at first, he only stared at Gabrielle with an accomplished look as if to say ‘check mate’.
A snide giggle leaked out of Arawn’s mouth. It was like the hounds knew their master had won and they all began to pant, happy just knowing Arawn was happy.
“Oh no, my dear. Don’t worry,” Arawn spat out in between bouts of laughter. “Remember, I hold no dominion over you, so I can’t hurt you. Oh wait, now I remember why this is so great…” Arawn trailed away and looked back at Gabrielle’s silent mother. She stood like a statue, lost to the world.
Arawn raised his claws and swung his arm as though he were swatting away a fly. The motion only swiped air, but four shallow cuts appeared on her mother’s face. Gabrielle could see a single tear form and roll down her mother’s cheeks, but this was her only reaction.
“Leave her alone!” Gabrielle screeched as she rose to her feet and regained her battle formation.
“You see,” he continued on, flicking his wrist in the air, “You found yourself in my private grove. You saw things you weren’t meant to see and, just as you normally do, you pried into business that’s not yours. However, two things happened that I love.” Arawn’s face softened again, and he made a show of raising both of his hands, like a conductor readying an orchestra.
“One,” he pulled down one of his long, bony fingers, holding it with the other hand. “Is that you got to see my plan unfurl right before your eyes, and two,” he pulled down a second skeletal finger. “And this one is my absolute favorite,” he boasted, “You made my whole plan a lot easier by falling right into my trap!” Arawn erupted into a fit of laughter before becoming silent again.
“Oh, and in case you were wondering, she can feel that.” Arawn smiled a crooked grin. “And that. Oh, and this one too!” With each statement he reached a single finger out, causing a thin line to appear on her mother’s face.
“Stop! Stop you’re hurting her!” Gabrielle demanded as the last tear fall from her eyes. Rage had taken over, making her body go cold. Her eyes cut through Arawn as she clutched the knife in her hand so that her knuckles cracked.
“You bastard!” Gabrielle screamed, her voice coming out much louder and more powerful than she could have imagined. “You have no dominion! You can’t do this! This isn’t real! It’s a trick by a sad, pathetic creature!” Arawn rolled his shoulders with silent laughter.
“As bright as you seem to be, I find it hysterical that you still don't get it. I mean, it’s not like you couldn’t see this coming.” Arawn’s face softened a touch, as if he were explaining a complex rule to a toddler.
“I’m not sure if you remember, little one, that oh so precious moment you spent with your dearest mother, and how you couldn’t save her. If you think back to that moment, you’ll remember that I never touched her.” Arawn’s face contorted into a sinister smile as the realization spread across her face.
“In fact, it was you who let her fall to her death. You’re the reason your mother’s here with me and not home baking cookies for the family you took from her.” Arawn straightened himself, letting the verbal punches fly.
“To be honest with you Gabrielle, it’s your fault that your mother’s life was so sad and pathetic. YOU took her husband from her when you forced him to climb out on that ladder in the rain and YOU left her so you could go prancing around in places you have no business being. And it was YOU who let her tumble down those stairs right into my tender arms. Oh, and don't worry, once I find daddy dearest, I’ll take good care of him too.”
With every statement Arawn’s smile grew stronger and Gabrielle felt smaller. She dropped her gaze to the ground, unable to face either Arawn or her mother’s accusing glances.
“NO! You’re wrong! None of this is my fault, it’s yours! If you weren’t stealing souls from the afterlife, Alexandra wouldn’t need me to help free them!” Gabrielle brought her eyes back to her statuesque mother. “Mom, it’s me! Gabby! I’m here. I'll save you!” Arawn’s laughter forced her eyes back towards him.
“Yes, she can see and hear you as you whimper like the child you are. As you cry and moan, her heart breaks even more. Please, don’t stop on my account. I’ll ask once more, Gabrielle, return what’s mine, and I’ll spare your mother. I can’t make the same promise for you, but I can promise that I won’t carry on with all the plans I have in store for her. All you need do is surrender.”
Arawn extended his hand to Gabrielle, a gesture that seemed both genuine and menacing. Gabrielle racked her brain to find the right answer to this puzzle. Could she allow Arawn to win after all that she’d been through and all the spirits she’d saved?
Gabrielle brought her eyes up and spat at the ground where he stood, hand still outreached, waiting for her to decide.
“I grow weary of your games, child.” Arawn furled his hand back and brought it to his side. “I’m beyond anything you can even imagine. My pets will make you wish you were dead you stupid little girl.”
Arawn reached out his claw-like hand and pointed at Gabrielle. He opened his mouth to shout a command but was interrupted by a loud ‘crack’ that rang out as the ground exploded at Arawn’s feet!
CHAPTER TEN
“What in the Hell is going on here in the middle of the night?” The voice was unmistakably Sam. “If you so much as move a goddamn muscle, I’ll put the next shot square between those ugly eyes of yours! That goes for the mongrels too!”
Gabrielle stole a glance behind her as Sam emerged from the crops with a revolver pointed straight at Arawn. His face was scrunched up, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Gabrielle wondered for a moment how she would explain the ghostly man with red eyes and his decaying hounds to Sam if they got out of this alive.
He took a few steps toward Arawn before stopping with his shoulder next to Gabrielle’s who was still in shock. This shouldn’t be happening. Sam shouldn’t be here. She looked to Arawn who held a similar expression on his long face. Sam placed his arm around Gabrielle’s waist and pulled her close to him.
“Are you alright? I don’t know what in God’s name is happening here, but I heard your cries back at the house and came as fast as I could.” Gabrielle’s eyes were fixated on the edge of the barrel as it danced in Sam’s hands while he spoke. She thought about grabbing the old pistol and shooting at Arawn herself, her eyes moving from the barrel and focusing on her mother in the distance.
“I’m fine Sam, you shouldn't be here. It wasn’t meant to be—something is—wrong. You need to go,” Gabrielle didn’t intend on speaking in riddles, but she was having a hard time forming a complete thought. Sam was standing in the same space as Arawn and his hounds and she didn’t know what this would mean for her journey.
Alexandra had warned her that if she ever spoke about what she was doing to one of the Lamented, something bad would happen. She didn’t know what that something would be, or if this counted as her breaking the rules, but the thought petrified her.
“It doesn’t matter why he’s here,” Arawn interrupted. “The fact of the matter is that he is here, rudely coming between a meeting of old friends.” He took a step towards the pair, and Sam raised his revolver again so it was aimed at Arawn’s head.
“Sam is it? Hi. Hello. Um, do I need to teach you a lesson in basic manners? Oh, I’m sorry, let me back up,” Arawn made an exaggerated circular motion with his hands. “Manners my boy, are something that grown-ups have when they know how to MIND THEIR OWN DAMN BUSINESS!” Arawn clenched his jaw, paused a moment and then regained his playful composure. “Don’t worry Sam; I’d be glad to teach you all about it,” Arawn hissed as he took another step toward Sam and Gabrielle.
Sam fired another warning shot that whizzed over Arawn’s head. The deity d
idn’t flinch; rather he tapped his foot and huffed a sigh of impatience.
“Think you’re a hard case, huh? Well no one’s tough enough to survive a bullet to the head,” Sam spat, though the slight tremble in his hands gave him away.
“OK, if that’s how you’re going to be then. I think I’ll have some fun with this one…” Arawn chuckled.
“Sam, don't!” Gabrielle yelled and pressed his arm down, so the gun was facing the dirt. Sam pulled his arm away in bewilderment and took aim again at the God standing before him.
Gabrielle clenched her jaw and rolled her upper lip. Sam didn’t know how much trouble he was in and if he didn’t back down, he would get himself killed… again.
“Sam you can’t hurt him! Your gun won’t work!” she yelled before she could slap her mouth shut, the irritation rising in her voice.
“Why the Hell won't my gun work?” Sam yelled back as he steadied his aim at Arawn and pulled the hammer back. Arawn only rolled his eyes in response. As he took another step towards them, Sam let another shot fly, this one also just missed the target. Arawn continued to advance with his hounds in tow. Sam fired another round that hit him square in the chest but Arawn continued walking, unfazed.
“What the—” Sam’s eyes bulged in amazement as he looked down at the revolver in his hand.
“Sam, he’s a GOD!” Gabrielle yelled at the top of her lungs. Everything stopped. The wind no longer moved the grain, and Sam’s shots could no longer be heard ringing out into the darkness. Gabrielle looked at Sam for a moment and then turned her confused look to Arawn.
Everything was gone. All that remained in the circle of crops were Arawn, Sam, and Gabrielle. Her mother and the hounds had vanished into the silence that had taken the grove in which they stood. Arawn, now standing back where he was before his pets appeared, had a strange expression plastered on his face.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” he said like he were scared of waking a sleeping infant. Gabrielle turned and looked at Sam whose breath was quick and shallow. He looked back at her, his large eyes pleading for an explanation. Gabrielle opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out.
She didn’t know what to say, what to tell him that would make this make sense to him. As she stood there, mouth opened and eyes wide a buzzing sound crept into her ears. The buzzing became louder and louder until it was clear it wasn’t buzzing, but voices.
“Ah, there they are,” Arawn said as he drew in a long breath. The fact that Arawn was calm and still seemed in control worried Gabrielle a lot more than the nearing voices.
She glared at him, trying to read what he was planning. A faint glint of uncertainty flashed in his crimson eyes and Gabrielle felt a shiver course through her body. If she hadn’t known any better, she would swear that Arawn was afraid. Whatever was coming, it wasn’t something he could control.
“What’s happening?” Gabrielle’s voice cracked as if she hadn’t had water in centuries. The voice grew in volume as it was joined by another. Then another voice joined, followed by another and another until Gabrielle couldn’t hear her own thoughts anymore.
“Those, my dear, poor souls, are the Sluagh. Damned spirits that roam the space between the worlds, not welcome in either one.” Arawn sounded bored, but there was a twinge of something in his voice. Could it be fear?
Gabrielle remembered her dream where she’d seen Arawn in the grove talking to the witch named Carman. She remembered him saying that the Sluagh could take his power if he hurt her.
“They lurk in the shadows and wait until they can break into the worlds and rip spirits from them for their own tortured pleasures. Gabrielle, you’ve upset the balance by making this one aware!” Arawn gestured toward Sam like one might reference a servant to a mess that needs tending to. Gabrielle looked at Sam who shared the same look of unbridled horror that she could only assume was plastered on her face.
“Looks like they’re using this moment to come into this plane for souls, and to my good fortune, they’ve come for you! I would banish those disgusting monsters from my home, but why crush the spider when there are still flies that need to be eaten? I’ll tend to them once they’ve had their fun. Ta Ta!” Arawn beamed at his own brilliance before disappearing in a flash of black smoke like an amateur magician.
“Sam, we have to go!” Gabrielle tugged on his arm with an urgency that betrayed her strength. “We have to go now!” she yelled over the whispers when Sam refused to budge. He just stood there, mouth open, glaring at the embers that were once the god of the underworld.
“I think we’re past that point,” Sam said and pointed to the crop line behind where Arawn had been standing. Several creatures emerged from their cover and shambled toward the stunned pair. Of all the things Gabrielle had seen and fought while on this adventure, the Sluagh were by far the most grotesque.
Large hunched over beasts made their way through the grain and into the clearing. They had long, muscular hands that dragged on the ground behind them, their fingers equipped with talon like claws.
Their lanky, unbalanced features were held together by leathery skin the color of mud. Their heads came up to a rounded point and their eyes were black pits that could suck in your very essence.
Gabrielle allowed herself a glance into the eyes of the beast and saw small yellow pinpoints glowing from within them. It was mesmerizing. Her skin tingled, and she felt like her whole body was being pulled into those gaping pits.
She tried to pull herself away but couldn’t force her eyes to move. Her gaze was broken by Sam, who forced her head toward him.
“Don’t look, mistress.”
The creature’s lipless jaws jetted forward and exposed rows of razor teeth. They didn’t walk, but rather shuffled toward the two. Gabrielle willed her feet to move but they betrayed her, frozen by consternation and dread.
As they came from the crops, Gabrielle counted at least seven and she could only guess by the noises around them that there were many more yet to be seen.
As she felt for her bangle and clenched her knife, contemplating their next move, another shot rang out into the night. With a flash of light before her, Sam fired a round at the center monster. The creature rocked its head backward as the leather-like skin spilt and the top of its head exploded.
The monster fell to the ground motionless. With that, its companions looked from its lifeless body, then back to the pair. Displaying their fangs, they let out a guttural scream and flung their arms outward, reaching for Sam and Gabrielle.
“Shall we run, then?” Sam quivered as he counted the remaining bullets in his revolver. One.
“I think that's a smart move!” Gabrielle said as she kept her eyes on the creatures.
“To the house?” Sam replaced the remaining bullet back in the revolver as the monsters let out another animalistic squeal.
“Run!” Gabrielle screamed as she grabbed his arm and spun them both around. Without looking back at their attackers, the two ran for the crop line, broke the surface, and ran through the field of grain. With every step they made, the monsters were right on their tails.
Gabrielle had died before, but this was different. If these things got her, she wouldn’t go to sleep and wake again in a new life. That would only happen if she witnessed the soul’s life to the end, without deviation. If the Sluagh killed Hazel before Gabrielle could witness the soul’s true death, Hazel would be stuck in this world forever.
As she ran, the whispers still sounded from all around her and the stalks of grain stabbed at her face and arms. Her hair stood on end and her skin was covered by gooseflesh. She could feel that they were close.
The view of the edge of the field and the porch were a welcome sight. Even if the monsters didn't catch them before they reached the house, what were they going to do once they got there?
A shiver raced down her spine and a snap erupted from behind her. One creature was faster than the others, swinging its mighty claws at her and just missing.
“Sam, get inside an
d barricade the door!” Gabrielle huffed at Sam who was only a few feet ahead of her.
“Right!” he yelled back, his voice strained by his lack of breath. Gabrielle could see they were at the edge of the field. As the lights from the house crept through the reeds like a welcoming beacon of hope, Sam yelled, “When we get to the porch, run ahead of me!”
In that instant, they reached the crop’s edge and were running on the dirt to the porch stairs. Gabrielle could hear the Sluagh’s claws scratch at the soil and stones right behind her. With her heart pounding in her throat and gasping for air, she pumped her arms harder and pushed her legs faster.
In a fleeting moment of clarity, Gabrielle took one last look at the beautiful, full moon and wondered if this would be the last time she’d lay her eyes upon it. This thought was torn from her as she felt the first step of the porch stairs.
“Get ahead of me!” Sam yelled again as he pivoted and allowed Gabrielle to run past him. Gabrielle took that moment to look over her shoulder. To her horror, the monsters were right on their heels like a pack of wild animals.
Sam brought his pistol up and sent a round into the gaping eye of the beast ahead of the pack. Its body fell backwards off of the porch and onto its brothers, causing them all to fall down the steps like a set of dominoes.
“Go!” Sam yelled as he glanced back at Gabrielle who was still frozen in the doorway to the kitchen. She pawed at the handle without looking and managed to get the door open, falling onto the kitchen floor in the process. Sam followed her in and they grasped the heavy wooden door and slammed it shut.
No sooner had the door married its frame did they feel the force of the beasts slam against the other side. Gabrielle slapped the lock closed, and they both pressed their bodies against the door.
The Gabrielle Series Boxed Set Page 34
