by Sophia Sharp
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Laura realized she had overlooked a key feature of the chamber. Right in the middle of the floor was a long, oval pool of silver water. There was no edge – no pivot in the ground – and it blended easily with the rest of the floor. It was of perfect level with the marble flooring, not an inch lower, and there was no visible separation, no rim she could make out. The water glistened with the same mercurial shine as had the opening to the corridor from the mines. It did not seem natural, the water, but at the same time it radiated a sense of… peace, and… serenity… that Laura had not experienced before.
“What do you think this place is?” she asked, turning to Alexander. He voiced bounced from the walls and echoed grandly. But suddenly her eyes caught something hidden away in the crevice of a pillar by the side wall. A small bunch of mushrooms, easily overlooked, growing out of a crack in the marble. But they were thriving, and the stalks were long. Blue stalks, speckled with small white stars – the ones Selaine had been talking about. “Look!” Laura exclaimed, running up to them. “The mushrooms! They are right here!”
She ran to them, kneeling down beside them. “Look,” she said happily, “we found them! You’re going to be all right!” She laughed, and looked to Alexander.
But he wasn’t paying attention. Instead, she found him standing at the edge of the pool, staring intently at the surface.
“Alexander?” He did not answer. “Alexander, what is it?” She stood up, and walked to him slowly. She stood beside him and glanced where he was looking. “Alexander…?”
Suddenly Laura’s eyes caught something… something in the water. She looked down at the shining silver pool at her feet. She could see her reflection so clearly in the pristine water, untouched by ripples or waves. But there was something more, something past the surface, that beckoned her. She looked, straining to see past her own reflection. And gasped.
They were pristine waters, but below the shimmering surface, seen from a certain angle, she caught… faces. Screaming faces, distorted and twisted in pain. Three men and three women, who Laura thought could have called beautiful once if their faces had not been so shaped by fear. They only knew terror, and agony.
“There are bodies in the water!” she exclaimed, stumbling back. She lost her footing, and began to fall back, but reached out quickly to grab Alexander’s shoulder for support. He stumbled back with her, and the movement must have broken him out of his trance, because he looked back, seeing her for the first time. His eyes were dark.
“We should leave this place,” he said quietly. “The pool, it is not natural.”
Laura nodded quickly in agreement. She still hadn’t gotten over the shock of seeing the faces. “Who… who do you think they are?” she asked unsteadily.
“They are the souls of those long forgotten.”
Laura jerked towards the voice as if a hook had been planted in her mouth. It came from the far side of the pool. There, walking towards her from the darkened side of the chamber, was a small creature, no taller than Laura’s waist. Its skin was unnaturally pale, and speckled dark dots all over gave the creature the appearance of being very ill. A head that stood on a too-thin neck looked to be perpetually on the verge of toppling over. Thin legs filled out grimy breaches, and flail arms poked out of a shirt that hung loose around the creature’s body. It walked with a hobble, and reminded her vaguely of an imp.
Alexander stepped forward, placing him between the creature and Laura, but Laura stepped up right beside him. She was not so helpless as before, and would face whatever this was head-on.
“Who are you?” Alexander asked cautiously.
“Who am I?” the creature mused. “I might ask you the same question. You enter my home, where I have been undisturbed for thousands of years. Thousands upon thousands of years. Guests do not come frequently, anymore.”
“Who are you,” Alexander repeated.
“I am but a caretaker. I bear no titles.”
“A caretaker?” Laura asked. “Of… who?”
The creature smiled, revealing a mouth full of missing teeth. “Of those who stray far from their destined place.” It walked over to the edge of the pool, and looked in adoringly. “Aren’t they beautiful? The faces of those who did not know their place.”
Laura felt a stab of fear pierce her gut. She tried to push it down, to ignore it, but it stayed.
“You did this?” Alexander asked. He pushed Laura back with one arm. “Why?”
The creature ignored his question. Instead, he looked past Alexander, straight at Laura. “Ah. I see you have your eye on my little garden?” It motioned to the growth of mushrooms, and started walking towards them. “Beautiful little things, as well. Tricky, too. Ingest too much of one, and it will burn your insides until the lining of your stomach is destroyed and your body collapses onto itself. A painful demise.” It chuckled gleefully. “Too little, and you may fall into a deep sleep haunted by dark nightmares from which there is no escape. And yet! Taken in just the right amount, with just the right preparation, the juices of the mushroom have the power to heal even the most deadly ailments. They will be my gift to you, Laura. Laura Cubus.”
“How do you know my name?” she sputtered, shocked.
“I know many things about many people,” the creature answered casually. “These mushrooms are the reason you came, are they not?” It leaned down by the growth, and pulled one small mushroom out of the ground. It popped out easily. The creature caressed it gently, drawing its fingers over the mushroom’s cap. Then it walked slowly towards Laura and Alexander.
Laura backed away. She glanced back at the entrance, and briefly considered running. But thought better of it. These mushrooms could save Alexander’s life, and if she ran from this small creature there would be no other chance to get them. Besides, whatever the creature was, it did not look dangerous. But that did not ease the fear in Laura’s gut.
“Do not be afraid,” the creature said. It motioned to the pool with one arm idly. “This is simply the natural order of things.”
Laura’s back came up against something hard, and she realized she had backed into the wall. Alexander was right beside her, standing with his feet wide as if preparing to fight.
The creature stopped a few meters before them, and extended its hand forward. “Here,” it said. “This is why you came?” Laura looked to Alexander, who had an unreadable expression on his face. Gingerly, she took a step forward, reaching out with her hand…
“Oh. Wait a second.” The creature pulled its hand back quickly. “I forgot.” Very deliberately, the creature brought the mushroom to its mouth, and conspicuously breathed onto it. Immediately, the mushroom in its hand shriveled up and died, leaving a dry dark carcass. “There,” the creature said, smiling up at Laura. “That’s much better.” And it tossed the mushroom over to her. Laura reflexively stepped out of the way. The mushroom flew through the air, arching high before falling, and as soon as it touched the ground, it sizzled violently, burning a hole right through the marble. Laura looked at it in shock.
The creature hadn’t moved. Instead, it lifted its head back and laughed. It was a shrill laugh; Laura wouldn’t have expected it to be able to make such a sound. But it was cutting, and it pierced her ears and penetrated her mind until she thought she would scream. Squirming back, she grasped the side of her head, covering her ears, doing everything she could to stop the sound. But it continued on, forcing its way into her ears, like some poisonous bell ringing and destroying her mind. She opened an eye, and saw that Alexander was in the same position as her, in the same agony. Laura had to get it to stop. But… how?
Just as abruptly as it began, the laughter stopped. Laura opened her eyes. The creature was looking at them, smiling devilishly. Alexander was already moving. “Run!” he yelled to her. “RUN!”
Laura started to the stairs, trailing Alexander. The two of them ran as fast as their legs could carry them. Just as they were about to get to the entrance, about to esc
ape from the massive chamber, a great marble blockade appeared in front of them. It covered the entire entrance – a huge marble stone, white but cracked and stained like some wilting flower. Laura stopped short. The thing had just… appeared… out of thin air!
She spun around. There was nowhere to go. They were trapped! The creature looked at them, and shook its head. “You’re not going anywhere, my darlings.” It took an step forward. “You think you can come here, disturb me here, and leave alive?” It shook its head again. “No, no. Nobody who has seen this but the makers get to leave this place alive. Nobody.”
Suddenly, its entire body started to shake. The creature turned its head down. And it grew.
Slowly, at first, but then it started to pick up speed. It grew until the clothes on its back tore under the strain, and grew even more. A furry back appeared, deep brown stained with red. It grew even larger. Its arms extended out, becoming thick, thicker than most men’s legs, thicker than a man’s waist. And hairy with dark fur. Its face… shifted. A snout appeared, the same fur covering it. Its eyes became smaller, more beady, and stained black. But they shone with a fiery wickedness. It snarled, and the mouth that was missing teeth before was now full of harsh, pointed edges. A long tongue snapped out to lick its lips, not a human’s lips, but the lips of a beast, and the creature roared. It grew even larger, its legs transforming into monstrous abnormalities wide as tree trunks, curling like the hind legs of a kangaroo. It kept growing, until its hands became paws, sharp with massive, yellowing claws that curved dangerously like a row of sharp hooks. It roared again, and the sound shook the entire great hall. Reverberations ran across the walls, straining the marble tops, shaking the crystals on the ceiling. The creature straightened. It had become… demonic. A leather crest extended over the front of its body like some sort of protective shell, and it stood towering above them. It was a foul mix of rat and gorilla and snake god-knows-what-else. The torn pieces of the tiny garments it had worn before were miniscule compared to even one of its feet, both of which were now hooved and clawed. It took a step towards them, snarling viciously.
And Laura knew fear.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
~The End of Life~
A gut wrenching cry echoed from Alexander’s throat as he launched himself toward the creature. He barely got two steps closer before he fell to the floor, screeching in pain. He clutched at his shoulder, and Laura saw with horror that the wound she thought healed had opened up again, staining his shirt with an outpour of deep red blood.
The… thing… in front of them laughed. The deep bass of the sound shook the room. “You are weak,” it spoke. Its voice was grating, not human. It was a beast speaking in a foreign tongue, barely comprehensible, and horrible vile, thick, deep, and guttural. It took a step forward, and the shifting of its massive weight sent trembles down the entire chamber. Small shards of crystal fell from the ceiling to shatter on the floor. It stepped forward again, so it was right beside Alexander. It rose one giant foot, hovering it just above him. And the foot started coming down.
“NO!” Laura screamed.
The creature stopped, its enormous paw only inches away from crushing Alexander. “No?” It put the foot down, just in front of Alexander. “You are right. It is not him I am interested in. It is you. Destined one.”
Laura backed away, trying to think. She looked around, desperate for some advantage. She could not see how even her vampire gifts could save her here. She felt paralyzed by fear, and by the weight of those beady eyes on her.
“Tell me, Laura. Why should I spare your friend?”
Laura looked down to Alexander. He was lying behind the creature, and his screams still filled the room. He was in pain much worse than any human could endure. She thought fast, but couldn’t come up with anything. The creature snarled, and started turning back to Alexander.
“No!” Laura screamed again. “What do you want?”
It spun to look right at her. “I want you.”
Laura looked again at Alexander. Then at the creature. And back to Alexander. She felt desperation. She saw no way she could get to him, get him away, without the creature crushing him first. She had to think, there was no time. And fear gripped her. Alexander had been right – this was no natural place. She had to get the beast away from Alexander. Somehow. Distract it, somehow.
Her mind worked for answers, but none came. There was none, save for one. “You can have me.”
The creature snarled, barring its teeth, and laughed again. But as it did, it kicked Alexander’s body back. He slid towards the pool. Laura watched in horror as his body curled across the floor, slowing down slightly, but not enough. His body slid towards those horrible waters… and stopped right at the edge. Laura sighed with relief. But the momentum of the slide carried his bad arm over, and the limb fell into the water. His body spasmed uncontrollably, and he screamed again, a terrible sound, a sound of pure agony. Laura saw him try to pull his arm out, but it wouldn’t move, as if stuck in quicksand.
“Enough!” Laura screamed. “You can have me!”
The creature stepped forward towards her. Laura was frightened, yes, but necessity dictated her to do something. Anything! Fear gripped her, but she was a creature of instinct, and could not face demise so easily. And she had the gift of vampire blood running through her veins; that first feeding afforded her that advantage. The creature reached towards her, its hand bolting through the air, but Laura was fast. Just as its hairy paw was about to grasp her body, she jumped onto its arm, and ran along it, up towards its shoulder. The creature froze in a moment of surprise. Laura moved towards its head, towards the eyes – those would be the weakest point. The fur was slippery and dank, but Laura ran fast, faster than the creature thought possible. She had caught it off-guard…
Something hit her hard across her side, and she flew off. She landed hard on the ground, sliding backwards. Instantly the creature was on her, its jaw snapping wildly at her face. Its mouth was nearly as big as her entire body, and she could smell the putrid stench that emanated from there. Laura curled back, avoiding the snout, and spittle flew into her face, on her clothes, and in her hair. It was sticky and disgusting. She tried to get up, to get away, but an iron claw sprung onto her, holding her still. She squirmed, but it was no use. The creature shifted more weight to the paw, and Laura’s lungs emptied under the pressure. She couldn’t breathe – she was being crushed to death! She heard the sound of marble cracking around her under the weight of the paw. With one last desperate effort, she screamed.
Suddenly the load lightened, and the pressure came off. She did not know why. Just then she felt herself being picked up, carried in one paw like it was nothing. The creature turned back, holding her in that giant disgusting claw, and lurched towards the far end of the chamber. Its steps were uneven, and Laura’s head swung uncontrollably as she was carried. Her vision blurred, and she started getting dizzy. But out of the corner of one eye she saw that Alexander had pulled himself away from the pool. She felt relief. But the fabric of the shirt of the arm that fell in the water had melted away, and the skin there was a blistering red. Laura was jerked in another direction, and lost sight of him. The creature was running now, moving unevenly towards the end of the chamber. Towards the darkness that was there.
It closed the distance quickly. When it got near, it stopped. The darkness there… it was impossible to see through. It was like a curtain, a solid black shape. There was no transition between it and the light of the chamber. It was just a wall of black.
Laura watched, gripped by fear and uncertainty, as the creature reached towards it with its other paw. It extended a single claw forward, touching the darkness, and… tore… a piece of the black away. It moved its claw down against the shadow, like a knife through cloth. The darkness parted in the spot, and a hole appeared. The hole grew larger as the creature’s claw slid down, until the opening was the size of two men or more.
The hole in the black was stained with a sickening blood r
ed color, like a living wound, and pulsed against the dark. Laura looked at it, and realized inside was the mirror image of the place just behind her. But the red hole was no mirror – the creature wasn’t reflected, and neither was she. Just as that thought fully formed, Laura found herself flying through the air. She had been thrown – and was going towards the gap. Desperately, she shielded her face with her arms, trying to twist away from where she was going. But then she hit it.
She felt the most agonizing pain ever. It was similar, in essence, to coming back from the dream world, but it was so much more real. This time, her flesh was actually seared as she lived a thousand lives. Piercing needles burned her, and every second lasted an eternity. She was trapped in a vacuum of time. She felt pain, torturous pain, but it was worse than that. It was as if she was losing a part of herself. The sun’s blazing heat, the frozen river’s iciness, it was all too real – all too powerful. She felt herself being stretched thin, like butter on too much toast, felt the very essence of her being thinning and slipping away. She was being stretched forward and backward, left and right, in a million different directions all at once. She was losing her shape, losing herself, and this time – it was for real. She felt the pull from all sides increase in intensity, until she knew she was going to break under its weight… and then she snapped back into herself, and flew out the other size.
Hit the ground hard, and slid a long distance. Her body felt… weaker. She looked up, and saw through the portal. The creature on the other side was slicing downward, making the gap even larger, big enough for it to come through. She watched through blood-stained shimmering glass as the creature slowing began to step through. The portal waxed and waned as one massive leg came through. Its body followed, and then the snout appeared. Laura knew she had to get up, to get away.
