by Keeley Smith
Stephen woke with a start and scrambled back on the hard rock expecting the wolf to have sunk its teeth in his throat. Coming to his senses, his heart continued to hammer uncertainly, he was panting, sweat was dripping down his back as he finally realised where he was.
Sitting up, he wiped his face with his hands and sighed. The pain in his chest actually felt like the wolf had pounced on him, its claws puncturing flesh. He pulled his top up just to make sure but his finger brushed against smooth skin. He looked around the cramped space, the dark making it difficult to see anything but he managed to find the two dark lumps on the floor. Phillip and Deyna had slept through his little episode, he hadn’t cried out at least.
Moving quietly, so as not to wake the others, he carefully stepped out of the cove and stretched. Sighing, he shook off the cold, the fear, and walked right into Lester’s path.
“Morning,” Lester greeted him awkwardly.
Stephen coughed and mumbled a greeting, feeling embarrassed and confused. He’d so far had the other two by his side which made sure the silence didn’t last too long, plus, he was recovering from the worst nightmare he’d had for a long time. He didn’t feel like talking.
“You didn’t sleep well.”
It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. Stephen knew that Lester was aware he hadn’t slept well. He couldn’t say how Lester knew, he just knew.
God, the babbling in his head was sounding very complicated.
The connection between the ghost and himself was to blame for his sixth sense, it was a annoying that Lester knew how he felt without Stephen actually telling him, it made him feel on edge, nervous.
“You know I didn’t sleep well...”
“Yes.” Lester nodded his head. Matter of fact.
“Do... nightmares like that happen often here?”
Lester floated in front of him, his eyeless sockets tracing the crack on the red clay like floor. “Who did He use?”
Stephen looked at him sure that he’d misheard. The look on Lester’s face let him know that he hadn’t.
“My grandmother.”
Lester nodded like he’d expected something like this. “What happened?”
As Stephen explained, he watched the reaction his words caused. Sympathy followed by disbelief and then anger. Stephen sensed that something bigger and scarier than Lester was at play here, Lester had lost the fear factor long ago. He was still wary of this ghost but he felt better for the off-load. It would seem Lester had been the one to come to when he’d cracked.
“It is perhaps time we were moving.”
Stephen nodded. He hadn’t expected an explanation regarding the nightmare. He also couldn’t argue with the need to move on. They couldn’t stay here.
He entered the cove and now with the light from Lester he could now see his friends. Phillip had his arm protectively slung around Deyna pulling her close into his body. Waking them was going to be hard, he knew they would feel the heavy disappointment he’d felt only moments ago. It wasn’t quite the same blow because they’d slept minus the nightmare.
This nightmare, however, was real for all of them. It was happening and they would have to deal with whatever came their way. If he was going to die, it was something that had crossed his mind since entering this place, something that was pretty much confirmed through his bond with Lester, he would die making sure he saved his friends. They were his family, he would risk it for them.
They exited the cove, Deyna and Phillip stumbling with foggy minds and continued walking along the steep cliff face. He feared one of his friends would walk right off the edge but thankfully the path was wider than it had been which allowed them to walk in a group.
They were quiet, including Lester. The reality of their situation had completely set in. Stephen knew that the moment when you could convince yourself that this wasn’t real, that it was some sort of sick joke, had been and gone. They were stuck here in this bleak reality.
He consulted the map, his fingers slowly trailing where he thought they were, they were nearing the two straight lines and this made his stomach sink to his feet. He really didn’t want to know what the lines were but they were out of options. If it was a cliff face, they would deal with it. This was the only path that didn’t end with a dead end.
Lester glided over to him, his black eyeless pits scrutinising the map. Stephen watched him do it hoping for some hint of what lay up ahead. Instead, he received a curt nod to let him know they were heading in the right direction and then Lester floated away.
They walked, occasionally stumbling, for what seemed like miles. The two straight lines on the map appeared to be close to where they were standing but in reality they weren’t. This place was a lot bigger than he’d assumed and it was cold, dirty and tiring which made their trek harder. His stomach rumble and his throat felt as dry as the Sahara Desert. They needed to find some food and water, soon.
Even the conditions in this place still hadn’t diminished the last scrap of hope that they would soon get out of here. It was the only thing keeping their complaints silently tucked away. He believed they would find their way to the outside world or their parents would find them. There was a positive element of living in Amblewood. People generally noticed if you didn’t turn up because it was such a small place.
He had to believe this because if he had to spend more hours in this place without food or water or hope, Stephen wouldn’t be able to hold back his frustrated yells and the others would follow his lead. He knew his two friends were remaining silent because he held everything together. One crack and they would crumble.
Lester’s ghostly lips were sealed about their journey. His face remained impassive like this was a nice walk in the park. As Stephen walked, his belly rumbled angrily reminding him that he needed to eat. Lester set the pace like he couldn’t see the three teens behind him flagging because of the hunger they felt. Stephen assumed ghosts didn’t need to eat. He recalled the scene from Casper where the ghosts ate but the food fell out of their white, elastic like forms. He smiled as the scene playing out in his head lifted some of the tension from his shoulders. He would love to see it but he knew that Lester would refuse to re-enact the scene.
Lester stopped walking up ahead, the shimmering lines of his body seemed to jolt with shock. Stephen moved to stand in front of the group and alongside Lester. They faced a high cliff wall; the rocky surface looked like every other surface in this place. With Lester’s reaction he’d expected something more dangerous, it appeared to be a dead end. He brought up the picture of the map in his mind and he knew they were following the only path.
“Have we come the wrong way?” Phillip asked, his voice echoing in the vast area.
Beyond their group and the light of Lester, he could hear the echo of his question fade. Stephen didn’t want to know what was out there in the unknown. It gave him the creeps, he just couldn’t admit this to his friends.
“No, we haven’t come the wrong way.” Stephen didn’t need to look at the map to the check this, he was certain.
This was just another obstacle. The bats had failed so now they had to fight their way through a wall? Someone was having fun with them, treating them like they were puppets.
Lester floated inspecting every part of the wall. Of course Lester would know what needed to be done. They didn’t have a password, they didn’t have key and they most certainly didn’t have any money. Was this some sort of secret entrance? He knew the entry to whatever it was would require more than money.
“Something must be given as payment,” Lester muttered.
“What?” He looked at Lester in surprise, he’d been right? Now wasn’t that something...
Lester’s face appeared to be frozen, the features a mixture of fear and determination. Lester lifted his hand which was shimmering; it sparkled like jewellery under a spotlight. What was the ghost doing?
Lester took a deep breath and then
quickly smashed his arm through the wall. Stephen jumped back, shocked by the brute force behind the punch. A loud crunching sound echoed around them before Lester’s screams filled the dark space. It didn’t take much for Deyna to scream with him.
Phillip pulled Deyna towards him comforting her but with Lester’s soulful screams she wasn’t going to settle down anytime soon. Should he try and touch Lester? What was the wall doing to make the ghost scream? Lester flickered, his internal light fading. Stephen launched himself towards the ghost knowing what would happen, they needed that light and if they lost it he didn’t know how they were going to react. Deyna was already at breaking point, Phillip wasn’t doing too great and his nerves were so tightly wound he knew he was close to snapping.
Before he could do anything, the light was taken from them once again.
j
CHAPTER EIGHT
