Cult of the Hexad (Afterlife saga Book 6)

by Stephanie Hudson

  But did any of this really matter unless I was going to let myself run scared. Because taking the risk was worth what the outcome could be every time I would ask myself that question and that outcome was a lifetime with Draven. And as much as I wanted to protect myself from getting hurt, as I felt in my bones I had been before, I knew what level of pain would be waiting for me if I ever decided to walk outside these Afterlife doors without him.

  I slowly shifted under the heavy arm he had draped over me and took my time to look at him under the moonlight that came through the glass doors opposite. It was just enough to dance across his features, now softened by the serenity of sleep. I quietly reached out and brushed back some of his raven black hair, feeling the greatest urge to take care of this strong man any way I could, or more like any way that he would let me.

  I had no idea what it meant to be Draven, holding the weight of the world on your shoulders and I wondered if I ever would. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t be the woman by his side that helped him through the difficult times. It didn’t mean I couldn’t be his Lucy to my Denis, his Sophia to my Zagan or even his Pip to my Adam. Because they were all the same…we were all the same if only we chose to be…if only we chose to embrace love with everything we had. No restraints, no what ifs, no what could have been. No, it was all or nothing and that was what Draven deserved…

  My all and none of my nothing…And I knew right now I would rather die giving him that than live knowing that I hadn’t.

  I don’t know the reason I awakened but decided to use the bathroom before trying to get back to sleep. I carefully wrestled myself free from Draven’s arm and set it back down where I had been lay. Then I turned round and looked down to find my footing as I remembered the bed was surrounded by steps it was that high.

  “What the…?” My muttered sentence trailed off as I saw long shadows start to grow and branch out around my side of the bed. It almost looked like some dark creature was under the bed trying to claw its way out. I looked back to Draven to see he hadn’t moved but by the time I moved back to view the shadows once more, they had moved.

  They started to elongate and join in certain places that started to form letters. It was just like the blood had been when it had poured from my nose in Lucy’s house. I didn’t understand what was going on and just before I turned to wake Draven up, the letters finally formed into words.

  ‘Take a step towards your destiny,

  Walk this line to find the key,

  Answers await you beyond your sanity,

  So take your freedom and follow me.’

  I don’t know why I did it but I just couldn’t help myself. I was being lured into the unknown with the promise of answers something inside of me was desperate to find. Was it me…the other me that was controlling this now? I couldn’t say for sure but I had to find out, which was why I placed one foot on the floor, reaching out my toes so that I could be ready to pull myself back at any minute.

  But as soon as my big toe made contact the stone beneath it started to waver and the words started to blur. I know what I should have done at that point but I was too captivated by the unknown to stop now. So I took a deep shuddering breath and plunged straight in…

  Literally.

  My foot hit the ground and sunk through the stone floor as if it was water. Half my leg was missing as black shadows swirled around it like black ink. I looked back to Draven and reached out but he kept getting farther and farther away from me. The bed was growing and stretching, taking him with it and out of my grasp. I knew now there was no going back, I had to continue…

  So I jumped.

  And instead of falling through the air like I had expected I was back in the freezing lake Vincent had taken me to earlier. I had plunged into my own icy grave and this time there was no angel to keep me linked to the world and there was no demon to drag me out. I was simply suspended in the water like time had no meaning down here. I looked around with the last of my breath and saw there was a world beneath me. I squinted in the dark water to see fire burning on torches and men in cloaks walking past with staffs taller than they were.

  I looked up one last time to see the distorted night sky through the ice and knew my only hope lay beneath me. So with the last of my air quickly running out I made the decision to let myself sink to the bottom. I saw the vision getting clearer the lower down I got and just before I opened my mouth to seal my death by swallowing down freezing water I felt air touch my big toe.

  I looked down and astonishingly saw that the surface of the water was beneath me! I reached out my hand feeling the air also hit my fingertips, so I did the only thing I could…I swam to the surface below me. I was just crying out for more air as my head breached the core and suddenly I fell, landing on stone and gasping for air. My lungs burned at how close I had come to succumbing to the deep.

  I looked up, pushing my soaking hair back so I could see where I had travelled to. I managed to stagger to my feet, still taking in my strange surroundings of what looked like underneath a castle but it was so dark down here. With only a single torch mounted on the wall I could only make out certain details. Like the cobbled stone that looked like wet chipped flint knitted together creating the uneven floor on which I now stood. I looked up to see the water waving softly above me and I reached up, touching it like you would the sea when on a small boat. Not one drip escaped and the sight quickly started to play havoc with my equilibrium.

  I bent over and had to breathe through my nose, trying to quell the urge to be sick because the ceiling above me was moving when it shouldn’t have been. The sound of a giant lever being moved made me look up quickly to find one of the robed figures I had seen when in the water. His black cloak hid most of him from sight and he reminded me of a demonic monk, with the large hood he wore being separate from the rest of the robe.

  The lever protruded from the wall and the robed man needed two hands to push it down, causing the sound of grating metal to echo, bouncing around the bare stone walls. He didn’t look at me and it wasn’t like I was easy to miss. I was stood in a white floaty nightdress that clung to my skin as if someone had poured white paint all over me. Draven must have dressed me in it after I fell asleep in his arms.

  “Hello?” I said, testing out my voice to see if he would respond. I can’t say I was surprised when he didn’t because if he wasn’t going to notice a dripping wet girl in her nightie, then he wasn’t going to hear one being polite.

  “What is this place?” I murmured to myself, seeing as no one would be answering me anytime soon. It was still so dark in here and when the flaming torch began to flicker and crackle, I knew it wouldn’t be lasting much longer. This was proven shortly after the thought and I froze as I was suddenly plunged into darkness.

  “No!” I gasped the second it died. I held my hand up and dread quickly started to be replaced by cold hard fear as I could see nothing.

  I spun around in the pitch black when I heard a crank turning, grinding against something that sounded like it was scorching stone, trying to ignite it. I followed the sounds around the room and screamed when flames travelled down the centre, making me jump out of the way, so that I wouldn’t get burnt. I hadn’t realised there was a long gully carved out of the centre that must have held something flammable for it catch fire like that. This lit up the room and I found that seeing where I was for the first time was no better than the dark.

  “I’m in a prison!” I said looking down the long corridor at too many doors to count. Each crude iron door that I could see looked as if they had been hammered into shape by a giant with a mighty hammer. Dips, bumps and bowl shapes made all the doors uneven but the massive rivets kept everything in place. Each one had grated squares at head height and I could only hope none of them were occupied.

  It was a medieval looking place, with chains and other devices I didn’t want to think about hanging from the walls. I wanted to ask why I was here and what had brought me to this place but there was no one to ask. Even as the
robed figure walked towards me now, there was no acknowledgement of my existence.

  “The blind don’t see and the deaf don’t hear.” Came a voice from farther down the row of doors. I had to take a minute to let my racing heart calm down from the fright…so I wasn’t alone. I watched as one of the figures walked right past me and as it did, I gasped as I finally saw his face under the hood.

  Blood soaked bandages covered eyes that were no longer there and looked like they had been gouged out long ago by his own blood stained fingertips. I also couldn’t help but gag when seeing his ears had been sliced off and the hole that would have been left had been sewn shut, with the thick stitches in the shape of a star. Even what little I could see of his grey dead looking skin had symbols carved into it by what looked a thin blade.

  I finally could breathe again once he had passed me and continued to walk the length of the prison like some mindless drone.

  “Who’s there?” I asked looking each way down the corridor, so nothing could creep up behind me.

  “Many demons hide in plain view however it is the demons in your mind you should be afraid of.” I glared into the endless space now knowing which side the voice had come from. I followed the robed figure from much further back and wondered what he was doing when he raised his arm out to one of the doors. Elongated, bloody fingers stretched out from beneath the lengthened sleeve like a spider coming from behind his chosen home. They extended out one by one and one by one they folded back into a fist. As soon as the last finger curled there was snapping sound that resembled someone breaking a stick and then a vicious howl of pain followed quickly after.

  “Jesus!” I shouted in fright however the robed figure didn’t even flinch as he continued down his path.

  “He won’t help you down here.” The voice sniggered.

  “Who are they?” I asked as I continued to follow the voice.

  “Death Wardens.” I don’t know what surprised me more, the fact my question had been answered or the fact it had been answered by a girl.

  “Why do they look like that?”

  “They do it to themselves, it is part of a rite of passage if one wants to join the brotherhood.” She told me.

  “That’s barbaric!” I said horrified that I had been right, he had gouged out his own eyes!

  “It’s what makes them such a good choice for death wardens. No sneaky little spells to be cast if one doesn’t see it or hear it.”

  “So how do they do their job?” I asked wondering if I hadn’t already witnessed it.

  “They can only feel the presence of evil, the intent to do harm, escape or just a whole magnitude of unlawful things.”

  “But how would they stop such things?”

  “Oh they have their powers and aren’t called Death Wardens for nothing…you can’t drown out your demons if they know how to swim.” She added cryptically and this made me look up at the water ceiling, still floating gently above me. I nervously then looked to the doors as I passed them and for the most part I was happy when I wasn’t tall enough to see inside...of course that was until the next door, when I realised I had spoken too soon.

  As I approached the door I had seen the ‘Death Warden’ raise his hand to I tried to tell myself not to look and for the most part I achieved this. That was until I heard the voice…but surely it was a trick.

  “Come here dearie…I have a treat for you, hold out your hand so I can give you some candy.” I looked to the door as soon as I heard the sweet voice of an old lady and quickly thought it must be a trick. Why would she be down here locked up in this dreadful place?

  “The only treat she has in store is for herself if she ever got hold of you. Now come to me, Katie.” I was startled to hear the girl knew my name but for some reason I couldn’t help trust in what she was telling me.

  “Don’t listen to her, she just wants your bones for herself…now come here and let me kiss you.” The old lady said and I took a panicked step back only to take a quick one forward again, as I felt the heat at my back from the flames I had forgotten about. I stumbled forward because of it and put my hand out to stop myself from falling and landed against the door.

  “That’s it pretty girl, you will look nice bathed red like the wolf I ate.” I looked up slowly and screamed! Because there lurking from the shadows was an old woman stepping forward with the most terrifying face a woman could hold. It was the ageing face of death in motion. A face so wrinkled and cracked it looked painful to move and that creepy smile slit the skin right in front of my eyes. Blackened, rotting teeth were filed into tiny points and peeling flesh curled away from the bone on her forehead. She looked half decayed but her forbidding eyes that lit up with anticipation spoke volumes to how alive she felt with the sight of her prey close to being in her grasp. Tiny black dots grew larger at the centre of white cloudy eyes, eyes that matched the hair that was pinned back like a respectable old woman ready to meet with company.

  “Move away slowly, Katie.” The girl warned me and when she did the old woman snarled like a cornered beast protecting its kill. I did as I was told and ended up falling backwards when panic took over. She had lunged for me though the low bars and she roared,

  “LET ME PICK YOUR BONES, YOU WILL LIKE IT!” Down at me. I scrambled up and that’s when I decided to run. I quickly wished I had never stepped off the bed into this nightmare world! I continued running too scared to find out what was in this place with me until pretty soon I had no choice but to stop. I had come to the end of not just the room but the end of everything!

  I pushed open the single door at the end praying for an exit but not like the one I was offered. Because the world that I knew had reached its limit on living and now I stood at the brink of its end. As the wood swung back against itself I saw all that was left and like that damned picture in my room, the world was crumbling away into the bowels of Hell below. I stood at the cliffs edge clutching onto the wooden frame as if this would save me.

  “It doesn’t need to be like this.” A voice said from behind me. I turned around still gripping onto the frame, not wanting to fall like the others.

  “I don’t understand, what does this all mean…? Why do I keep seeing the end of the world like this?” I asked, in a desperate plea for answers. The robed figure that was stood before me now was dressed all in white and the hood she wore reached down to her chest, hiding everything from view.

  “Because you’re the only one who can stop it from happening.” She told me and I shook my head in denial.

  “No, you’ve got it wrong! I can’t stop this! I can’t stop anything like this…I mean…how would I?! I’m just a girl…I just a normal girl!” I told her, crying out and trying to make her understand.

  “Normal doesn’t exist in any world, least of all yours. Remember these words…‘Time. Time Keira, that’s all our world is. ‘Faith has its tight grip on our lost time like endless sands we cannot touch. Oceans of hopeful space between us mean nothing if the ship cannot sail and Courage is lost in the darkness without the stars to guide us. One by one the crimson moon will take our sisters of the earth on a never ending journey of stolen power. The cups will fill, blood will flow and nine by nine will fall to the Hexad. Time is power. Power leads to destruction. Destruction brings forth the end of Time…our time.” She spoke these words as though everything was on the line and it was all up to me.

  “What does that even mean?! What must I do?!” I asked needing her to tell me!

  “Take away their time and you take away their power. They have taken eight…don’t let them take nine. Find yourself and learn of the Prophecy’s seven, find the key and you will find me next time in Heaven”

  “But I don’t know…wait! Don’t go, what key…WHAT KEY?!” I shouted as she turned around and started walking the other way.

  “I will be here waiting for the Electus to come home. Find the centreless key to unlock the door to your mind, as bartering for souls is what he must bind. In blood and in tears and flames will be the price
but that will be nothing but a roll of the dice.” She spoke the words as clear as if she had been stood next to me but hearing them meant nothing if I didn’t understand them. I watched as her ghostly figure was disappearing from sight and I shouted one last time,

  “But what does it mean!”

  “To remember there is power in time and it is time for you to remember…

  “To take time back.”

  Chapter 28

  I Know You

  “Eight Girls!” I shouted bolting upright in bed.

  “Keira?” Draven called out the name he was most used to and being half asleep I can’t say that I blamed him. Even the girl in my dream had called me it, so I just gathered I should get used to it, for a time anyway as I think if people were still calling me it in my eighties I might be a bit pissed off by then.

  “It’s okay, I’m okay.” I told him as he reached for me as if quickly turning into protection mode.

  “What is it…what’s wrong?” It was sweet and heart wrenching at the same time when seeing how he feared for me. As if he kept expecting me to disappear at any moment and considering what had happened in the past, I couldn’t say with certainty that it would never happen again. Which compelled me to ask him,

  “Tell me about the mirror.” He took a deep breath and rubbed his forehead as he thought about what I was asking him. I knew the basics, which considering my dreams it hadn’t exactly come as a shock to me. But I had a feeling that we were missing something important…and that something I had a feeling he was keeping from me, but the question was…why?

  “First tell me why you cried out ‘eight girls’?” I don’t know why but something told me not to tell him about the girl in my dream and what she had said…almost like some strange feeling came over me, whispering ‘that would be cheating’. It was odd but no matter how I tried to fight it I couldn’t, so instead I told him a warped version of the truth.