Finally able to get my feet to move I dived down a corridor to my right and although it appeared deserted, there was a cold that seemed to seep into your skin. The corridor was painted in deep reds and as I glimpsed the staircase it seemed hazy, like a summer day where the weather is so warm that looking ahead is like looking through smoke. Footsteps and menacing laughter sounded behind me so I started to run even faster. My breath came in sharp gasps as I ran full pelt along the corridor towards the door at the end of it.
As I ran along the lights started to flicker and I couldn’t help the shiver that ran down my spine as I tried my best to get away from the creatures following me and those I’d been seeing all morning. The corridor seemed to get colder and colder and the lights seemed to be more spaced out, leaving patches of near darkness. Maniacal laughter followed me sounding more menacing than ever before as I headed towards a door at the end of the corridor. The door was a deep, blood red colour with no windows and I had a sense of foreboding as I got closer to hit.
Apprehension raced through me as I raised my hands to push at the door. My arms froze midway but I persevered as the laughter seemed to be getting closer to me. I swung my eyes back behind me but couldn’t seen anyone there. The door was stiff, and as I reached out my hands to touch it his voice sounded loudly in my head. “No. Do not open that door.” I shook off the imagined voice. He wasn’t worried about me, he didn’t care and I had to get away from those awful faces. It took three attempts but finally the door gave way. “Jasmine, no.” His voice sounded pained, but I ignored it. I wondered how and why a door like this existed in a school.
The door finally opened and my heart thundered in my ears and a cold breeze hit me right in my chest. My heart froze coming to a stop before it thundered again pumping adrenaline through me.
A horrible smell assaulted my nose as I stepped into the corridor and I gagged. It smelled like rotting food, sour meats and faecal matter.
I walked forwards when an ear splitting, hair raising shriek paralyzed me in fear. The shriek didn’t sound like any other noise I had ever heard and my blood ran cold. My breath was fast and furious as it came out in gasps. I moved back towards the door when I heard the laughter of those following me. They sounded close by so I moved into the staircase with trepidation and let the door close quietly behind me.
Sickness engulfed me as the shrieking noise sounded again, and the lights on the stairs began to flicker. On again and off again. This happened a few times and I was unable to move, my heart was thudding as adrenaline raced through me. Somehow I knew I was in danger, terrible danger. Nathan’s voice sounded in my head, screaming at me to get out. I stood unmoving his furious face flashed through my head and warmth rose in my veins. The warmth gave me the ability to move and I took a few tentative steps forwards.
The flickering lights illuminated a creature whose eyes were a cold dark black. Its face was as red as blood with blue veins showing and its mouth was all sharp teeth with black bits in them. The next flicker showed the hands which were clawed in massive brown nails and a huge twisted body that was blood red in colour. The last flicker showed the creature a few steps from me. It was leering hungrily at me before the lights finally went out.
I started backing up toward the door as I heard clawing and dragging noises coming closer and closer. My breath started to come in short, sharp gasps. The smell got stronger and stronger, but I couldn’t find the door. My heart was hammering loudly in my ears. It was so loud that the thuds almost drowned out every other sound. One sound that broke through was the gurgling, rasping breathing of the creature getting closer and closer to me.
My whole body was vibrating in terror and dizziness overwhelmed me. I knew I must be nearing the door. It had to be around here somewhere. Suddenly I was thrown across the corridor and a long, low shriek sounded right beside me. The stench assaulted my nose and long claws dragged down my arm tearing the skin off. My arm started gushing with blood and a slurping noise made me nauseous, but I couldn’t move. My head hurt from being thrown across the corridor, but my body wouldn’t respond. I lay there screaming move at myself and then it hit me, there was some sort of venom in this creatures claws that paralysed.
I could taste its putrid breath and feel its tongue on my arm. I began to struggle trying to move any part of my body. Something has to move. Fingers, toes, come on. Please.
The breath moved up towards my neck as a nail dragged up my arm towards my shoulder tearing at the skin as it went.
I tried looking through the darkness hoping my eyes would soon adjust but it was pitch black and I couldn’t make anything out except a small sliver of light to my right. As my body adjusted to the darkness my other senses picked up and I was sure I could make out voices shouting close by. I couldn’t make out what they were saying and I wanted to scream. I tried to swallow to encourage myself to move my throat but nothing. The smell was stronger than ever and I had the most disgusting taste in my mouth. I could feel the creature lingering at my neck as its breath tickled my ears.
The creature moved and it appeared above me as the light flickered again. I noticed its eyes looking at me. They were deep, soulless and absolutely terrifying. My heart rate spiked again and I blacked out. I came to after what could have been hours or moments and as blood ran in rivulets down my arms. My head spin and my stomach turned over. I still couldn’t move but I there was a tingling sensation in my fingers.
Voices sounded just outside the door, getting louder and louder. Running footsteps and banging at the door with yelling, but the words were impossible to understand. One of the voices belonged to Nathan and because of this I was sure it was a delusion brought on by the venom of this monster. My eyes filled with tears and my heart shuddered as the door banged again. The creature above me stirred fretfully, but continued lapping up the blood on my arms. Its tongue was rough and jagged and caused an ache each time it lapped at my arms.
I would have taken a million beatings over this torture, at least normally I could try and fight back but lying here paralysed was the worst form of torture because I could do nothing. Unconsciousness beckoned again when his voice called my name and drew me back to the surface. I was swimming atop a sea of blackness and although I was desperate to answer I couldn’t. I couldn’t fight the blackness so I surrendered.
The lights began flickering faster than ever as I fought to remain conscious. The door to my right flew open and the doors bounced furiously off the walls at either side. A cool breeze fluttered in, cooling the burning in my skin. The creature moved as soon as the door opened but before the stairwell was flooded with light.
A face hovered over me. My vision swam and I could just make out Nathan. He stopped above me. There were others with him. They whispered and held the doors open as I stared entranced at Nathan’s face. I watched different emotions flicker through his eyes. He sighed and his eyes filled with tears as he surveyed me, the bloody mess on the floor. He blinked a few times and reached down gently touch my face. The moment he touched me some energy flowing between us and heat raced through my veins. My body warmed under his touch and he leaned closer his eyes tight with what looked like worry.
Unconsciousness beckoned me again and his voice called to me as I started to slip under. My eyes tried desperately to open but I couldn’t force my lids to open. When I came round my arms were being scalded with fire that radiated from the tips of my fingers right up to my ears. I shivered but hadn’t opened my eyes yet terrified that creature was back. My eyes opened without conscious when I felt his hair tickling my face. He was leaning over on his knees and touching my arms. When I stirred his green eyes flashed down to my face and his face sagged in relief. His hands moved on my arms and the scalding increased causing me to moan in agony. Agony raced through my arms which felt as though they were being torn off. He stared calmly into my eyes as he mouthed, “Relax. It’s OK, you’re OK now. I found you. I’ve got you.” His voice was hypnotic and the relief in his tone was evident as he tried to reassu
re me that I was ok.
I looked back at him and the scorching heat running again from my fingertips up and down my arms. He smiled at me and his teeth looked pointed and red. My mind revolted and threatened to carry me back under as he moved closer to me. My eyes rolled and just before I slipped under I his hair tickle my arm as he placed feather light kisses upon my arms. My heart raced and my blood warmed as he placed gentle kisses on my arms.
I woke up in Nathan’s arms. He was carrying me. His heartbeat was slow and steady as he carried me. I could feel him moving but I kept my eyes closed and my breathing steady as he spoke softly to his friends, “Well that was a nightmare. God what if she doesn’t wake up? My father’ll be livid and I’ll probably get the blame. He might make me fight that fucker.”
His heart rate sped as he spoke and his body tensed under me. I peeked up at him from under my lashes and he glanced down at me. His face was tight with worry and stress and all I wanted to do was reach up and stroke his face to smooth the worry away. I closed my eyes again and listened to his pounding heart.
One of his companions laughed, “Seriously mate, you are underestimating how important you are. You are the fucking candidate. Anyway she’ll be fine, you healed her so there shouldn’t be any lasting damage.”
Nathan’s body relaxed at the reassurance from his friend and peeked again under my lashes at him. His jaw was set and a vein was pulsing under his neck. Carrying me didn’t seem to be affecting him and I wondered why that was.
I tried to figure if he sounded worried about me or about himself, but what did he have to worry about. I was the one who was attacked again. I allowed myself to drift off lulled to sleep by the sound of his heart beat. I relaxed against his chest. I knew that when I woke up I wouldn’t feel as safe as I did right in this moment in the arms of a boy that confused me at every turn.
After a few minutes I heard him speak to his companions, “No, go ahead. I have to stay with her.” “Are you ok?” One of them asked him. “Yeah Joe. I’m fine. I just need to make sure she’s ok. She’s my responsibility.”
The door closed and I heard his breath pick up. He placed me down gently and stroked his fingers down my face gently. My heart raced and heated flooded through me as that delicious energy flowed through me. He pressed his lips to mine softly and sighed. He leaned his forehead on mine for a second. “Jasmine, you are gonna break me. I can’t . . .” His words broke off as footsteps sounded outside the door and he moved away. I drifted deeper into sleep sure I had dreamed that encounter as someone spoke with Nathan.
When I properly woke up I was on an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar office. I tried to sit up but my head swam worse than ever and my eyes blurred. A hand rested on my arm and without looking I could tell it was Nathan because my blood heated and my heart began to race. He was sitting there just watching me and as he stared at me I stopped trying to move, getting lost in his eyes. Emotions raging but they flew by so quickly I couldn’t pick one out. He drew a shaky breath, ‘Stay still, you banged your head.’
I opened my mouth to speak, but he gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head. I looked at him through blurring vision and saw his face become sterner as a door opened nearby. A female voice asked him, “How did she get down there? That door’s supposed to be safeguarded by incantations and spells to stop students going down there?”I wondered who the voice belonged to and it only took a second before I realised that it was the battleaxe.
She continued stating, “If your father finds out about this Nathan it’ll be on all our heads. You are supposed to be monitoring her. She is your sacrifice and she is supposed to be safeguarded against all harm.”
I peeked over at Nathan trying to discern what she meant by that. His face froze and he glared at me coldly while he said,
“I don’t care. She’s nothing but a nuisance to me constantly getting into trouble and I am sick of it. She has been here for four days and already been in trouble five different times. I’m done looking after her.”
My eyes began tearing up and my heart splintered. It wasn’t just his tone which was ice cold but at the complete disgust on his face. I felt my heart splinter and closed my eyes. I allowed myself to slip back into unconsciousness, but the battleaxe said something as I drifted off that stuck with me. “‘It is your job to protect her. You know she is powerful. Do you also know about the prophecy? One of them was foreseen killing us and we must prevent it at all costs. Our way of life must be protected.’
The next time I woke I didn’t want to open my eyes, scared about what I would face when I opened my eyes. A finger touched my cheek and lips touched my cheek softly causing the area to heat up. He pulled back a little until he reached my ear and he spoke in a gentle whisper,
‘Time has passed and time will heal,
Don’t remember and please don’t feel,
It will protect and save your life,
But remembering will cause pain so rife.’
My head swam and I slipped under once more. Waking up a short while later I looked around this strange room and panicked because I had no memory of what had been happening. I glanced at the clock and it was 12:30. A huge chunk of my day was missing. I had a vague impression that Nathan had been in this room with me. My arms burned as I sat up and my head felt like lead which made me retch but I didn’t throw up. My eyes darted around in a panic looking for Nathan but he was nowhere to be seen. When I couldn’t find him my heart rate increased and my breath sped. I lay my head back on the cool wall as I tried to bring my breathing under control.
Through my blurring vision I swung my eyes around the room again and the battleaxe stepped into the room. Her presence made me feel uneasy because she was staring at me avidly. She turned away from me and nodded through the open door to someone standing outside. Panic threatened to overwhelm me as she told me what had happened,
“Jasmine, you hurt your head today when you fell down the stairs. You have been here in this office unconscious for almost two hours but I suggest you head back to class now as your concussion seems to have abated.”
I looked at her in disbelief. Something about what she had said didn’t ring true and I searched my memory for it but I couldn’t find anything to contradict her, although I couldn’t remember falling down the stars. As I stood up a smell assaulted me and made me gag. I rushed dizzily to the sink as she frowned at me, but I played it down. “Sorry, I think I stood up too quickly.”
Something stirred in my head, as though a memory was fighting its way to the surface. I wanted out of there so I walked out the door on shaky legs and broke into a run away from the office.
I ran around the corner and almost ploughed right into Nathan. He glared at me but said nothing. I stepped back to make my way by him but he grabbed my arm. He spun me round to face him and my heart rate spiked as I took in his gorgeous face. What was wrong with me, he treated me like a nuisance half the time and his moments of kindness were blocked out by his moments of nastiness.
He looked so far beyond livid that I automatically went to take a step away from him. He smiled, but the smile was dark and made him look sinister as he stood towering over me, glaring down at me. His hands were on my arms, squeezing so hard I knew I would have bruises, but I didn’t make a sound. I just stood there staring up at him as my eyes filled with tears.
He opened his mouth to speak and actually growled at me. The noise made me shiver. He stared at me for a moment then spat out, ‘What do you remember?’ He shook me a little and a tear rolled down my cheek.
I stared at him for a beat and he stared back, not speaking or moving at all. His face softened slightly and he shook me again as the bell rang. His grip on my arm tightened momentarily causing more tears to leak from my eyes. He dropped his hands from my arms looking appalled and swiped one away. He cursed quietly and stormed away leaving me feeling more than confused as I rubbed my arms trying to bring them back to life.
After a moment I moved along the corridor after him lost in thoughts
. I was jostled here and there by other students but my mind wasn’t paying attention. I couldn’t stop thinking about Nathan’s glare and why he suddenly hated me. His face as he stared at me with hatred consumed my thoughts and I couldn’t get it out of my head. A student stepped into my path and I slammed right into them because I wasn’t paying enough attention to where I was going. It was Nathan’s girlfriend. She flew around glaring and as her eyes found min her gaze narrowed in sudden malice. Before I had a second to think of an apology or assimilate what was happening she pulled her fist back and punched me full on the face. I heard a crack and felt my head whip back as blood started pouring down my face.
I was stunned for a second but I wasn’t going to be her victim. I lifted my hand to hit back, but her two friends grabbed my arms and she punched me again in the stomach this time. I gasped for breath as the hit winded me. I snarled trying to get to her fighting with these girls as anger overtook every other emotion. Her friends seemed surprised and pushed me into the wall before they threw me to the floor.
For a minute I just sat there and then I started to move. I was furious and wanted to hurt her and her stupid friends. A hand clamped down on my shoulder holding me down and although I looked up to see Nathan standing over me, I didn’t really have to because as soon as he touched me I knew it was him. He face was beyond livid as he started at Lisa then his eyes swung down to me. My eyes swam as I stared up at him. He lifted his hand and slapped me hard across the face. The sound rang out and my heart shattered again. How many more times was I going to let him hurt and humiliate me? He stalked away over to Lisa they all left.
Luminosity (Escaping Demons Saga Book 1) Page 7
