Chained (The Siren Series #2)

by L. A. Griffiths

  “So you’ve brought back-up? You’re getting sloppy she-witch.” The creature slithered across the room, no one dared to move. The woman who called herself Idina slithered with ease along the dilapidated slugged infested floor. I was too scared to move, nothing I had seen so far had prepared me for this. The woman moved passed and I held my breath, hoping she would not notice me.

  “Are these things for me?” It asked. “I’m so glad you brought me presents, I haven’t had a plaything in a long while, well since that thing.” The creature pointed its sharp black claws in the direction of the young blonde girl. I felt sick inside, no one deserved that, not even her.

  “Do you think I’d give you anything, creature?” Rhea asked it.

  Idina’s eyes flashed a dark glow and I thought the two of them would come to blows, but her attention was focused onto something else. It was Marcus who had caught her eye. She moved towards him like he was an unopened present at Christmas. It caressed at his strong body, seeing if he was up to scratch. His face, covered with disgust. I watched as Marcus slowly readied his weapon.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” around us, leaches started to crowd around. We were trapped. Idina placed her hands tightly around Marcus’s body and slowly licked his cheek with her slick black tongue. He tried to move but her grip was strong as were her nails. She tore at his skin and he tried to fight the pain.

  “Maybe you could be my new plaything? I’ll take good care of you.” she whispered.

  “Enough!” shouted Rhea.

  The creature’s soulless black eyes focused onto Rhea. “If you do not behave yourselves, I will have you torn apart!” she spat.

  The leaches crept closer, just waiting for the word to strike.

  “Do you like my children?” she finally ignored Marcus and slithered over to one of her leaches. The snake-woman gently stroked its grime covered face, the leach smiling with glee. The others sensed the attention and move in. The sickening smiling leach snarled at the others, warning them to back off.

  “Now, now, you’ll all get your turn.” Idina said to her sickening children.

  “They have been roaming around unchecked, Idina.” Rhea said “they have been killing innocents, and that cannot go unpunished.”

  “My children would do no such thing, and how dare you accuse them!” Idina’s temper flared.

  The five of us closed in on each other. We had to stick together. Things were going to go south fast.

  “I think we’ve talked enough-.” The naked woman’s eyes found mine and stopped mid-sentence.

  “Well, well. What have we here?” the creatures eye found mine but before she could move, Rhea and Marcus stood in her path, cutting off her view. “Is that the creature everyone’s been talking about? She doesn’t look like much, does she?”

  “I think we should leave, I’m having a bad feeling about this.” Robin whispered.

  “I haven’t finished with you yet!” it screamed. The woman sprung forward with her claws outstretched.

  Sophia quickly stepped forward and created a barrier around us, protected from the hideous creatures.

  “Barbus said you would come, he was right.” said Idina as she circled around the barrier. “He will reward me when I give him the girl.”

  Rhea snatched my arm and the rest held hands together, ready to leave this hell hole. I waited for the stomach churning ride, but nothing happened.

  “Rhea?” Sophia said.

  The snake creature started to laugh. “He also gave me a few tips on how to trap you. You cannot leave.”

  No, I would not let them capture me again, I won’t. I was in full panic mode. My fight or flight mode kicked in and everything pointed to flight.

  Robin lifted his hands out to one of the leaches. It began flinching violently on the spot. Within a few seconds it turned to its mother and pounced on her like a crazed animal. Idina grabbed it by the throat and quickly snapped its neck, a quick death. She screamed a high pitch wail that tried to tear its way into my skull. I fell to knees and hopped for the pain to end.

  “What did you do that for?” shouted Marcus

  “I was just trying something!” Robin replied.

  “You’ve just pissed her off even more!”

  “Guys, I cannot hold this barrier all day.” Sophia commented.

  Idina spat a yellow substance at the barrier and it slowly degraded around us. I sat on the floor, panicking. They would lock me up again, and no one would save me this time. My heart thumped in my chest and I tried to calm myself down but all of the horrid memories came rushing in one by one. My body felt like stone, I couldn’t move.

  The group chatted above me, each offering a way out but then another voice would cut in and call the plan a failure. They shouted at each other while the snake woman laughed at our failed attempt to hatch a plan.

  “I cannot hold it!” Sophia screamed.

  “Ellie.” A soft voice said. “We need your help.”

  “Hurry they are getting through over here.” a voice called out.

  I was sick of this, I always afraid of what was around the corner and always afraid of myself, not knowing what I was capable of. I didn’t want to listen to the person in front of me. I wanted to block it all out, no more. I didn’t want this!

  “Ellie, can you hear me.” again the voice tried to get through to me.

  Screams and yells filled my ears. I placed my hands over my ears to try and block it out.

  “Ellie!” this time the calm voice was filled with terror.

  I needed to do something, they needed me.

  I stood up and tried to call on the pain of being abused at the hand of the leaches and torment I suffered. I screamed and my voice shattered the barrier, destroying the leaches that blocked our path. We all backed away from the coiling creature and her leach army and headed back the way we came. We had to get out, fast.

  I hurried with the rest of the group while Rhea and Marcus dispatched any followers. Robin led us through the maze of pipes and tunnels that seem never ending. He tried to remember the way out but fear fueled his decisions.

  Adrenaline fueled my body and my mind was sharp, I felt as if I could run all night without stopping. As we carried on another leach jumped down and blocked our path, we didn’t have time for this crap. I screamed and the leach was sent spiraling through the air and impaled by a thick steel rod right through the chest. The dying leach screamed in agony before finally submitting to its bloody death. Robin was first to run off and I hurried after him back through the tunnels.

  “Do you know where you’re going?” I asked the balding man.

  “Yes!” he said over his shoulder, but I didn’t really hold much faith in him.

  I pounded the floor until my heart became heavy inside my chest. Behind me I could hear screeches of dying leaches and flashes of white bright light. My lungs burned with each new breath, but I had to keep pushing myself. Marcus quickly caught up to me with sweat covering his body and a bloody sword in his right hand. He kept his pace steady with mine and I caught a glimpse of him as he was running and he had a huge grin on his face.

  “What you smiling for?” I asked breathlessly.

  “It’s the chase, I was born for this.” He said.

  “That’s comforting, not.” I replied.

  We came to a stop at a ladder leading up to the surface. Robin was the first to climb, then Sophia.

  “She-witch!” the creature screamed as it slithered towards us with great speed. Many leaches ran behind her hoping to get a taste of their next meal.

  Rhea faced the woman; she reached out with her radiant white hands and above her pulled the lose pipes towards the ground. She had blocked their path.

  I hurried up the ladder with Marcus right behind me. I quickly gripped each bar as fast as my hands could. The fresh air welcomed me back from the dark tunnels and I fell to the ground near Sophia and we both gasped for our breath as if it was our last.

  “That was a failed effort, wasn�
�t it?” wheezed Robin.

  “Big time!” Marcus replied.

  “That was a trap.” Rhea said.

  “You think?” Robin said sarcastically.

  “What the hell was that thing?” I asked.

  “I’ve never seen anything like that before.” Sophia added.

  I turned to Rhea expecting answers but her eyes never left the dark manhole. “We were almost eaten by those things.” I said.

  “If Robin kept his cool, we could have avoided it.” Marcus pointed the finger at Robin.

  “I was doing something, unlike you who was flirting away with that thing.” Robin shouted.

  Marcus face filled with rage.

  I thought the two of them would have a fight right in front of me but Rhea pushed out with her hands and sent the two of them flying in opposite directions.

  “Enough!” her voice roared. “We need to get back and report this, now.”

  There was silence among us. We had failed our mission from the council and nearly gotten killed in the process.

  Rhea again grabbed my hand and we teleported away from the sewers and back to the safety of the underground bunker. My feet touched the ground and the stench hit me like a punch to the stomach. My eyes focused on the grisly scene in front of us. Blood splattered the walls along with screams echoing throughout the halls.

  Chapter Six

  The runaways lay on the floor in a pool of their own blood. Deep slashes and bite marks littered their bodies, they died a horrible death. I just stared at their bodies, their faces had frozen in their last moments of their life. I had enough of seeing dead bodies, I wanted to be sick. When will it end? Marcus rushed down to a dead Protector, did he know him? Marcus slowly closed his glassy stare. Out the corner of my eye something was approaching fast. It was a leach and it was heading straight for Marcus.

  “Marcus!” I yelled.

  He readied his weapon as it came charging in. He ended its life with one quick swing. More screams and shouts came from the sleeping quarters and other corridors. It was a massacre and we were in the middle of it.

  “Ellie, stay here, I need to go and get something.” Rhea ran off leaving the four of us behind.

  “I’m outta’ here, bye.” Robin said as he ran through the halls looking for a quick exit.

  “Wait.” I called.

  “Coward.” shouted Marcus.

  I wanted to do something, to try and save these kids but was it too late. I needed to do something. I ran towards Rhea, leaving behind Sophia and Marcus. I came to a corridor with many blood stains across the white walls. I ran passed the fallen residents and tried to find Rhea as fast as I could. As I rushed passed, something caught my eye. I quickly hid myself behind the wall, thinking it was a leach looking for its next meal. I slowly peered around the wall to see a leach crouched over something. I came away from the wall to see the disgusting creature feeding on someone. The wild unkempt hair gave it away. The leach had killed Amanda, and it was draining her dry.

  I quietly stepped forward, hoping to catch it off guard. I screamed my disgust at it and the creature was blown away crashing through a wall. The small roof supporting us had taken a beating from my scream, I had to be careful with my powers, I didn’t want to burry us, but it was worth it for Amanda. I took one look at her, her hair wet with her own blood, it covered half of her face but I still knew it was her. The guilt tore into me. I wished I wasn’t so hard on her. None of them deserved this, nobody did. Why did this have to happen?

  “Ellie?” said a voice behind me.

  I turned around to be greeted by Rhea who now held a strangely familiar large tome under her arm. I just stared at her with tears forming in my eyes. “How could anyone do this?” I asked.

  “I’m sorry, Ellie.” she replied.

  I took off with Rhea without looking back at the destruction the leaches had caused. We returned to where Sophia and Marcus stood their ground against the many monsters.

  “Where have you been?” asked a pissed off Marcus.

  I tried not to meet his gaze with tears in my eyes but he could already see them.

  Sophia’s face lit up as she saw Rhea.

  More leaches came out from their hiding place and surrounded us with their blood covered talons, fresh from the kill. Marcus stepped forward brandishing his blade. One leach made a quick grab for me but he killed it with one clean strike. I was about to scream but I remembered about nearly burying myself. My powers were useless.

  They rushed at us, ready to taste us.

  Rhea’s bright light engulfed us, turning the leaches into ash one by one.

  “Where were you?” Sophia asked with panic in her voice.

  “I had to get this.” Rhea held out a large tome.

  “What’s that?” Marcus asked.

  “It is something that can save us.” she explained. It was the same book I saw in Rhea’s house. It must be very important if she willing to go through a crowd of leaches for it.

  “Where’s Robin?” asked Rhea.

  No one spoke. “He ran away didn’t he?” The coward had run away with his tail tucked between his legs.

  “Yeah, he saw the bodies and took off.” said Sophia.

  While we were caught up talking, a few leaches spotted us and headed our way.

  “Enough about the book, what do we do?” Marcus shouted while cutting through the oncoming leaches.

  I looked at Rhea for her all-knowing advice. Her face was grim and colourless.

  “We leave.” she said.

  “What?!” Marcus asked with rage in his voice.

  How can Rhea leave them? Did she really check for anyone that could be alive?

  “Are you sure, what about survivors?” asked Sophia.

  Rhea remained silent.

  “There may be people hiding, scared for their lives.” I tried to find a reason to go look for them but I knew there was no one else.

  “Ellie, there’s nothing back there, but death you’ve seen it with your own eyes. We need to leave.” Rhea’s voice was steady.

  I looked over at Marcus who was now walking back and forth seething with anger. He was fighting for his fallen brothers, for their honor. How could we leave?

  “Marcus, you need to come with us.” Rhea said.

  “I will not leave, I will fight!” he roared.

  “Marcus, there’s nothing left.” whispered Sophia. She tried to put her hand onto his shoulder but he quickly shook it off. He didn’t want to know.

  “Marcus?” I called.

  Rhea walked up to the grief stricken young man and grabbed his hand, Sophia and I quickly followed by holding onto her. My stomach started to knot and I was pulled away from the bloody scene. I could see Marcus trying to fight Rhea’s hold she had on him, but her grip was vice tight.

  I landed on my feet this time, but I landed on hard cracked ground. I was getting good at teleportation but this was no time for celebration. Marcus pulled away from Rhea with a grunt.

  “Why’d you do that?!” he asked.

  “You would have died, I saved you.” she answered.

  “That wasn’t your call. I had sworn an oath to my brothers in arms.”

  “I didn’t want to see anymore protectors’ die.” she replied.

  Marcus walked away and I could feel his rage pulsing inside him. He paced back and forth mumbling to himself and I wanted to tell him that everything was going to be ok, but how could I tell him that, after all the misery we had witnessed. It would have been a lie, and I would convince no one of it.

  I looked up into the sky and took a deep breath, I tried to forget what we all had witnessed, freezing cold air whipped around us with ice white clouds towering over us in the air. It was a grim day and I felt it fit the mood.

  “Where are we, Rhea?” Sophia asked.

  “An old friend’s house, we were once sisters, but I have not seen her in some time now.” Rhea explained.

  “Will we be safe?” Sophia asked.

  “No where’s saf
e anymore.” Marcus added.

  I just stared at Marcus as his face was formed into a grim sadness. I wish I could have made him feel better, but what could I have done?

  I looked around. We stood on muddy forest path leading up to a wooden bridge over looking a large river. The bridge was connected to a large stone door that stood ten feet tall. The sturdy stone wall surrounded whatever was inside, or to keep whatever was inside locked up. Rhea was first across the bridge. I watched her effortlessly cross it with grace while I slowly crept my way along, fearing for my life with every step I took.

  Rhea waited for us to cross, she then stepped forward and placed her free hand onto the stone. It responded to her touch as the stone wall crumbled away before her.

  “Be ready for anything.” she said and quickly ushered us in.

  The stone door reformed behind us locking us inside. I looked up at the awe inspiring building that took my breath away. The tall building was made entirely out of stone with balconies at every window. Each brick seemed to glow with its once sun kissed colour. It looked like an enchanted castle that belonged in a fairy tale. On the enchanted building it had four tall towers had tall spirals high up into the air. It made me dizzy just looking up at it. On this grey day, seeing this building was like a ray of hope. Rhea walked up the stone path that once looked like a garden but it was only now a shadow of its former self, overgrown, faded and grey. Nothing like the bright building that stood out amongst the drab dead garden.

  “Who lives here?” I asked.

  “You’ll see soon enough.” she said “But I don’t think she’ll be happy seeing me after all this time.”

  “Who’s is it Rhea?” Sophia sounded suspicious.

  She remained tight lipped on the subject. It wasn’t like Rhea to leave us in the dark.

  The four of us walked through the dead garden until we reached one of the solid wooden doors. We all stood still, wondering who would knock first. Then loud unlocking sounds came from behind the door and it opened welcoming us inside. Or at least I hoped.

  Rhea turned to me and gripped both my shoulder and looked deep into my eyes.

  “Ellie, I need you more than ever. Will you stand by me whatever happens.” Rhea spoke in hushed tones.