Cult of the Hexad (Afterlife saga Book 6)

by Stephanie Hudson

  Then when I was satisfied I plaited it to one side and tucked it into my jacket. I washed my face but there was nothing to be done about the bruising that had had plenty of time to turn purple and snake around the side of my face and one eye. I must have taken the brunt of the damage to my head and one side of my body when the VW smashed on to its side. I closed my eyes against the throbbing pain in my head and the sting where my flesh was cut. What I wouldn’t have done right now for some painkillers as it was obvious the adrenaline was long gone and I was now running on empty.

  But there was nothing to be done…I couldn’t stop now, not when I was so close. After deciding I had spent way too much time in the bathroom I walked back into the diner and heaved my stiff body back up on to my seat. Not long later I heard the beep outside that was my cue to leave and I got up from the stool, pushing the empty plate the waitress’s way.

  “The sign was right, best pies around.” I told her after putting a few bills down for the pie, including a good tip for her kindness. She laughed as I walked through the door and when seeing the taxi, I knew that by getting in it I was one step closer to my goal.

  “Not long now.” I said to myself pulling my jacket around me to shelter me from the cold seeping in. In the time that I had been in the diner the last of the daylight had gone being replaced by night. Getting in the taxi the first thing I noticed was the time and was surprised to see it was gone nine in the evening. Well at least the club would be in full swing and easier to go unseen amongst the crowds.

  “You wanna go to Afterlife, am I right?” She sounded a bit abrupt, so I gathered it wasn’t one of her favourite places to visit.

  “Yes please.” I said ignoring her look of distaste and wondering what it was about the club she disliked so much. We started driving in the same direction that I had walked to get here and I realised I had been holding my breath in case we needed to go back the other way. Right now I don’t think my fragile nerves could have coped with even getting close to it. By now at least the cops should be all over it and I would have been surprised if the road wasn’t closed because of it.

  “Is it far?” I asked after a few minutes of the tension building.

  “Not far enough in my opinion.” She replied curtly.

  “I take it you’re not a fan?” I said pointing out the obvious. She tutted and said,

  “Most definitely not.”

  “Can I ask why?”

  “Only if I can ask why you would want to go there?” She replied throwing my question back at me.

  “I am meeting someone there, so didn’t have much choice in the matter.” Upon hearing this she seemed to lose the attitude towards me, at least for now.

  “So you’ve never been there?” I nodded confirming what she said.

  “Oh, well I guess you will find out what it’s like soon enough. The turning will be coming up in five minutes.” Those five minutes turned into twenty, as I thought it must have been that long since she had agreed to take anyone this way, she had forgotten how far it was. In fact, the further we travelled, the more my confusion increased. It seemed we were heading way out of town and started to think maybe we were lost because it made little sense why a club would be in the middle of nowhere like this. I was just about to ask the awkward ‘Did you get us lost’ question that no taxi driver likes to hear when she spoke, surprising me,

  “Here we are.” Then she turned down a dark track that was tunnelled by the trees overhead. The whole thing had my nerves pulled tight like strings on a violin. I was desperate to get there as much as I was silently dreading it. What if it looked exactly like it had in my dream…what if it didn’t?

  What if he was there? No! I couldn’t think about that now. I had to focus on the job at hand and that was finding this Draven character and then trying to convince him to help me. So far everyone that seemed to know him told me he would and why would my dreams bring me this far if only to fail. Well I was left with no other options at this point, I needed to go through with this whether I wanted to or not.

  “Holy shit…” I said on a gasp as Afterlife finally came into view.

  “That’s one way to describe it.” The taxi driver said bitterly but I was no longer listening. I just found myself getting out of the car in a daze, not being able to tear myself away from the sight.

  “It’s beautiful.” I whispered in awe. The sound of the window going down and someone clearing their throat barely meant a thing and wasn’t enough to drag me away.

  “I think you’re forgetting something.” She snapped and without looking at her I fished out some dollars from my bag and handed them through the window, again without being able to look away. It was as if I was afraid if I did it would disappear into the abyss that was my dream world.

  “Thanks.” I muttered.

  “Crazy Goths!” She said to herself before she drove off leaving me standing in the middle of the car park staring at perfect dark beauty, lit by a soft warm glow of a few old fashioned street lamps. I thought I would have been surprised seeing that it wasn’t a castle but looking at the large stone blocks that made up the structure, I understood how my mind had easily made the mistake in my dreams.

  So it wasn’t a castle but instead it was an enormous manor house that looked as though it was hundreds of years old. I wondered how far it went back considering most of it was hidden by the surrounding forest. Even the thick ivy that grew all over one side was trying to take over the building and I had to wonder how much longer it would take to be completely taken over by nature.

  Looking at the imposing grand entrance I didn’t know how I was going to make my legs work. But it wasn’t just the stone archway or the thick black gates either side that caused me to worry but the two over built security guards who stood either side of the gates. What if they wouldn’t let me in?

  Well there was only one way to find out. So I pulled my hood further down, hiding my face and shifted the strap of my bag over my shoulder.

  “Here goes nothing.” I said looking down so no one would see me talking to myself. I walked to the entrance just as another group of people had been dropped off closer to the doors and they must have been regulars as the security guards nodded in acknowledgement. I used this as my opportunity to worm my way in so it seemed like I was part of the group.

  Luckily I had thought to change into black trousers back in the woods because combined with the black jacket I at least looked the part. The group of regulars laughed around me and I excused myself as I was pushed to one side in their hurry to get inside. I landed against one side of the enormous wooden doors that seemed impenetrable. With my hands flat against the iron studded oak I was surprised to find it felt warm. It was so strange but the feelings of security that seeped in felt connected to my soul. It felt like…

  Home.

  My fingers automatically went to the symbol carved in the middle and just as my fingers ran along the curve of what looked like a family crest a voice shouted at me from behind.

  “You there, move it!” I looked back for a split second and when I saw one of the security guards coming at me I ran inside before he could get to me.

  “Hey, I know you! Come back here!” I shook my head against where I had seen the face before and pushed my way through the mass of bodies, hoping to get lost in the sea of black. I looked back to see him scanning the crowd trying to find me and I felt better knowing he had little chance now I was in. I ducked and pushed my way further into the centre and just as I thought he might see me again, the band started playing the chorus. Everyone around me went crazy and started jumping around me doing a perfect job of hiding me.

  In the end I saw him throw his hands in the air in a gesture that told me he was giving up and this was confirmed when he started to push his way back to the entrance. I took a minute to calm my racing heart and bent over in the small space I had. Then the band began a new song that started off strange before everyone around me started singing in sync… ‘Freedom, la, la, la, Freedom, follow me�
�� before the main singer started the song. That’s when I started to take in my surroundings.

  “Amazing.” I whispered to myself looking up at what could have been the inside of a forgotten cathedral. The ceiling was a series of stone arches interlocked with medieval wrought iron chandeliers hanging down at the central points. It reminded me a little of some modern day throne room and I half expected to see the King seated at the end. I looked that way and saw no king, however what I did see was two grand staircases that mirrored each other, curving around the stage until they met the top of the mezzanine level.

  I don’t know why I was so drawn to the upstairs but when I saw them I gasped, knowing this was where I needed to go. However, one look at the giants standing guard at the base of both staircases and I knew I would have no chance! No, I needed to find someone who worked here that could take me to the owner or I would no doubt be thrown out on my sore behind.

  I scanned the vast space that was separated into different levels with seating all around in hopes of seeing someone that obviously worked here but one look told me I doubted it was the uniform type of place. Finally, through all my searching I found the two largest groups of people were either by the band on the dance floor or by the bar. So even though I couldn’t see it for people, I took a chance and squeezed my way through to the other side.

  The closer I got, the tighter the queue for drinks got and at this rate I knew it would take me half the night! I umm’d and ahhh’d for a minute and then said,

  “Oh sod it!” Then I pushed my way around the mass of people and approached it from the far end.

  “Hey!”

  “You pushed in, she pushed in!”

  “Oi! Get back!” The chorus of angry Goths made me wish I had rethought this plan of mine.

  “Sorry, I just need to ask a question, I’m not ordering anything.” I said to one girl with black lines down her face like she had smudged her make up on purpose.

  “Oh well that’s alright then!” She said sarcastically. Then she turned back to her friend and continued to moan,

  “Can you believe this Bitch?” I decided to ignore them and try and grab the girl’s attention who was serving.

  “Excuse me!”

  “Back of the queue, Blondie.” She said without looking at me and I looked down to see my plait was on show.

  “But I just need to ask you a question…I…”

  “I don’t do chicks, happy now?” She replied dryly and I was getting frustrated and angry.

  “That’s not what I…”

  “Look you heard her!” The irate clubber barked and I rolled my eyes, which turned out to be an even bigger mistake.

  “Did you just roll your eyes at me?!”

  “Wow observant much.” I muttered.

  “What did you say to me Bitch!?” She snapped and I was finding my patience was unravelling and quickly.

  “Jerry, we have a situation here.” The barmaid said just as I turned my back to the girl, which turned out to be my third mistake since entering this giant hub of negativity.

  “I am just looking for someone and he…” I was cut short when I was pushed from behind, hence me falling forward and slamming into the bar. Oh yeah, now I was pissed! I didn’t come all this way to deal with this shit! Oh Hell no!

  “That’s it! You got a problem Shithead!?” I shouted turning around and pushing her back. She fell backwards into the crowd of people and was unable to right herself due to her hooker heels. I could feel that similar tingling in my fingertips that I had done back in the barn that day, so I took a deep breath to calm myself. But doing this gave the crazy Goth time to get up and the next thing I knew I was being punched in the face.

  “This. Is. Not. Happening!” I shouted in disbelief as I dodged another blow. She powered forward with her fist out and after I ducked it was her turn to fall into the bar. She turned round with murder in her eyes and grabbed a bottle from the bar. The beer poured out of it as she raised it up ready to hit me with it like a woman possessed! I decided I didn’t want to get hit again so I side stepped as she swung it down aiming for my head. As I did this I brought my fist up into her stomach, hoping to get her hard enough to wind her.

  Thankfully it worked. The bottle fell from her hand and smashed as she sacked it to the floor gasping for breath. I looked down at her panting, with my fists still tight and ready to go. When I knew she wasn’t going to get back up for round two I tried to calm my body down from the adrenaline rush. I looked up and noticed everyone had suddenly given me a wide berth. I took another deep breath for good measure and simply stepped over the girl I had knocked to the floor.

  “Now, let’s try this again. Where is Dominic Draven?” I asked the barmaid who looked terrified of me. Her eyes shot behind me and I knew what I would find there if I looked.

  “Come with us.” The stern voice said behind me and there was only one thing left to say,

  “Ah shit…would you believe me if I told you this wasn’t my fault?” I asked without looking at the security guards I knew were there.

  “Now!” They snapped and I eyed the glass of clear liquid on the counter and thought, what the Hell, I am in enough trouble anyway. I grabbed the glass, held it up and said,

  “Here’s to Afterlife!” Then I shot it back in one, trying not to kill the cool and cough after swallowing what felt like battery acid! I let it fall into my other hand and before I knew what I was doing I dropped it back on the bar after doing a neat little trick with it…where did I learn that from?

  I turned around to face my judgement and saw it wasn’t the guys from outside like I thought it would have been but more like the giants from the stairs. These guys were scary but I put on a brave face, raised my head high and let them lead me out of the club.

  “You know that’s unnecessary, I’m going to leave without making a fuss, so if you wouldn’t mind.” I said nodding to the grip they both had on the top of my arms. They didn’t answer me and I became even more confused when they started to walk me to the back of the club instead of the front.

  “Where are we going…? Is there another exit back here?” I asked but again wasn’t surprised when all I received was the silent treatment. What was surprising however was when they led me directly to the stairs and started marching me up them. Suddenly I wasn’t so sure this was where I wanted to be and I wondered exactly how many mistakes I could make in only an hour.

  “Look guys, let’s talk about this!” I said losing my bravery with every step I took up the stairs. We were nearly at the top and I started to squirm around but it was no use. They held on tight enough that I was going nowhere. Well at least they weren’t hurting me I thought finding it my only silver lining.

  Once we reached the top there were two more mammoth guys standing guard and I had to wonder who was up here, the Sultan of Brunei! I scanned the room finding a small bar to one side and tables full of characters of the likes I had never seen before. My dread doubled as all eyes watched me in shock, probably wondering what on earth I was doing being dragged up here.

  They continued to storm me to the centre and I looked behind me and over the edge of the balcony longingly at all the free people below. In front of me I could make out a large table that was slightly raised than all the rest with people all sat around. There was a bigger seat in the middle and it didn’t take a genius to guess that whoever was sat in it was who I would have to deal with. I couldn’t make out the details yet as my eyes quickly found a sight that had my bravery quivering in its boots before it hitch hiked right outta here!

  “Whoa.” I said as the guys let me go right in front of the real giant! Jesus this guy made the other two look normal sized. I stumbled a step in front of the Goliath who had his tree trunk arms folded and I giggled in a nervous habit as I looked up and up and up some more before finally reaching his head.

  “Okay, come on home bravery.” I muttered to myself and righted my jacket, taking my hood down. As soon as I did this a whispered wave shuddered through t
he upstairs area.

  “Little Apple?” I thought I heard the big guy in front of me whisper but ignored it and I decided to get out what I wanted to say first before I was in even more shit than I was right now.

  “Okay, so what happened down there…I can explain…” I started to say when I heard a deep delicious voice speak,

  “Ragnar.” It was a warning so he stepped aside and I was hit with another memory I couldn’t touch. I mentally shook the feeling aside, readying myself for what was to come. I took in all the people sat around a huge table all staring at me like I was some kind of freak…that or some holy messiah!

  “I think I should say now, that girl was crazy and tried to smash a bottle over my head…so you see…” I stopped when the man in the middle seat leant forward so his features came into view and my heart stopped.

  “It…it can’t be…” I stuttered my disbelief at the sight of him. What the Hell was going on…was I dreaming this as well! I kept taking steps backwards but I had no clue where I expected I would get to.

  “Hello, Keira” His gorgeous voice spoke someone else’s name which was like a bullet to my heart.

  Because of the pain the only thing I could think to say slipped from my lips before I hit my limit for the second time today…

  “Hello, My Demon.”

  Then I fainted.

  Chapter 19

  ‘I do’ not want to believe

  Waking up this time I wasn’t sure where I was expecting to find myself but I would say the very last place in my mind was where I ended up. Opening my eyes to a very familiar sight was both shocking and exhilarating. Of course my first thought had instantly been, ‘am I dreaming’ again but then as soon as I lifted my head and felt the pain, I knew this wasn’t a dream.

  No, this time it was real. But most importantly of all, now I knew that he was real. I didn’t know what to do next as I think I was in a state of shock. As I lay there too afraid to move just yet I started to notice the small differences to the bedroom I always saw when looking through that barrier of glass.