Nightmares (The Coven, Book 1)

by Erica Stevens

  It took a few seconds, but Avery finally managed to close her mouth and keep it that way. Everywhere she looked giant plants, flowers, and vines sprouted from the earth and rose to the ceiling. An assortment of vivid greens, oranges, reds, hot pinks, purples, baby blues, and shining golds made up the flowers, but their striking colors were where their beauty ended.

  Each flower was at least two feet wide, and some were larger. Seeds, like a sunflower, formed the middle of the flowers, but these seeds were all bloodred and looked more like a mouth than the innocent center of a flower.

  Vines filled the space not occupied by flowers. Black and brown, the vines twisted across the floor and climbed the walls. Green leaves, easily twice the size of her wrist, covered the vines as they spilled from the ceiling to dangle in the middle of the room.

  The vines and flowers were so thick it took Avery a second to realize that glass made up the walls and ceiling. Only slivers of glass showed through the plants, and it was impossible to see what was outside the panes. Though the plant-life blocked out any natural light, the heat lamps hanging from the ceiling illuminated the space. Some of the vines had coiled around the lamps, but they hadn’t choked out the light.

  “It’s a greenhouse,” Rosie whispered.

  “We have to go in,” Alex said.

  And then they’re going to come alive and eat us. Avery was certain of it, but they had no other choice; they had to find whoever was in here. She released the knob and stepped forward with Rosie and Alex following her. The door swung shut with a click before vanishing. From out of nowhere, a breeze rippled the leaves and flowers and stirred the vines.

  The vines swaying over her head reminded her of the chains in a slaughterhouse. She’d seen too many horror movies not to expect them to come alive, impale them, and rip off their skin. Avery gulped, her feet freezing in place as the flowing breeze created a melody through the vines and flowers that would have been pretty if she didn’t know what awaited them.

  She crept over the thick vines, careful not to step on one as she was convinced it would come to life and eat her if she did. Brown and black hairs jutted from the vines; the tips of those hairs glistened as if they had something oozing from them.

  Avery peered through the thick foliage in search of whoever was hidden within. The greenhouse was only about forty feet long and thirty feet wide, but it seemed as endless as the Congo. The humidity made breathing difficult, and before she made it ten feet, sweat stuck her clothes to her skin. She wiped her arm across her forehead when sweat trickled into her eyes, but it did little good as more rolled free.

  “It’s a sauna in here,” Alex muttered as he tugged at the collar of his T-shirt.

  Winding her way through a group of hanging vines, Avery stopped short when she emerged from them. She released a strangled cry of joy and forgot to avoid stepping on the vines when she rushed to Tina’s side, but thankfully none of them tried to eat her.

  Tina’s mahogany eyes followed her as she struggled against the vines wrapped around her arms, chest, and legs. Avery slid to a stop before her and tore the gag from Tina’s mouth.

  “Are you all right?” she demanded.

  “Yes,” Tina croaked. “Get these things off; they hurt, and they’re… they’re… horrible.”

  Avery had never heard Tina sound so morose or terrified. “I’ll get them off,” Avery promised as guilt clawed at her chest.

  The coven being here was one thing; she didn’t like it, but at least they knew about the existence of other worlds, spirits, demons, and possessed abilities to help them fight Regan. But her friends did not belong here, had never known such a place could exist, and no matter what it took, Avery would make sure they survived.

  Avery tore frantically at the vines encompassing Tina’s chest and arms. She ignored the burns and abrasions the vines created on her palms and didn’t notice the breaking of one of her fingernails until she spotted the blood trickling down her finger.

  Alex and Rosie arrived to help her yank the rest of the vines away. Tina stumbled forward and teetered on wobbly legs; Avery caught her when Tina’s legs gave out. Bracing her legs apart, Avery kept herself from going down beneath Tina’s weight.

  “It’s okay,” Avery said as she blinked away the tears filling her eyes.

  “What… is going… on?” Tina demanded in a shaky voice.

  “You’re about to find out,” Alex said.

  Avery shot him a look over Tina’s shoulder. She didn’t have to ask what Tina feared; she’d imagined it since they entered this place.

  “Tina, it’s going to get worse,” Avery said; she didn’t have much time to prepare her friend. “If your fear is them coming alive, then that is going to happen. But we’ll get you through this, I promise.”

  When Tina pulled back, Avery found herself gazing up into Tina’s wild eyes. The humidity of the room had soaked Tina’s shorts and T-shirt to her slender frame, and her brown hair adhered to her flushed face.

  “Avery?” she whispered tremulously.

  Avery clasped Tina’s hands. “We will get you through this. Trust me.”

  Tina nodded, but she still had the look of a rabbit facing a coyote. Out of them all, Tina had always been the most sensible and practical. Avery hoped those traits persevered through what was coming; if Tina freaked out, they could lose her.

  “Where’s the door out of here?” Rosie demanded.

  Avery turned away from Tina to search through the tangled jungle as a rustling started. Goose bumps broke out on her sweat-coated flesh. A startled cry caused Avery to spin as a vine slithered around Tina’s waist and pulled her backward. Avery lunged for her, and her fingers touched Tina’s before a vine snaked up Avery’s leg.

  Yanked off her feet, she cried out when the floor rushed up to meet her. Avery flung her hands out to soften the impact, but it never came as she was pulled into the air. Dangling over the ground, the blood rushing into her head made her dizzy. Avery caught a glimpse of Alex and Rosie as they were pulled into the air.

  “Avery!” Tina screamed.

  Avery twisted around as Tina was pulled into the air by her ankle and hauled toward one of the flowers. With its petals turned toward Tina, the flower’s teeth clacked as the red mouth in the middle opened and closed.

  “Tina!” she shouted.

  Tina screeched as she swung herself upward and grabbed the vine. She kicked her foot free of its grasp before scurrying up the vine like it was a rope. Scuttling and rustling noises drew Avery’s attention to the vines and flowers slithering across the floor, and then one of the flowers shot up at her. Its open mouth revealed the seeds that had turned into hundreds of tiny, pointed teeth that could devour her.

  Avery flung herself outward, and the flower snapped at the air where she’d been. Unable to stop her momentum, she swung back toward the flower and twisted herself up to grab the vine. The flower snagged her shirt as her fingers encircled the thick vine. The vine’s bristly, ugly hairs pricked her palms and stung them, but she didn’t let go as the flower yanked on her clothes.

  The bottom of her shirt gave way with a wrenching tear that almost caused her to lose her grip as the vine released its grip on her. Ignoring the bristly hairs moving beneath her hands, Avery used her feet and hands to climb the vine. Her arms ached, and her legs trembled, but terror gave her a strength she’d never known she possessed. She was almost to the ceiling when a scream rent the air.

  Rosie and Alex had managed to swing themselves up to climb the vines too, but one of the flowers had caught Rosie. Its teeth were sunk into Rosie’s arm as it pulled down while she clung to the vine with her other hand. Rosie’s red blood was a vivid splash against the neon orange flower petals.

  “Rosie!” Alex yelled and swung his vine toward her.

  “Do something!” Rosie shrieked. “Alex, do something!”

  Alex grabbed for her vine, but his hand grasped only air before momentum swung him away from her. Another vine shot out and, circling his chest, it r
ipped him off the one he clutched. Avery’s mind spun with confusion and dismay as another flower lunged at Tina who turned to the side to evade it.

  The vine holding Alex pulled him back. His breath exploded from him; his arms and legs flew outward when he crashed into the wall, and the vine pinned him there. More vines enveloped his legs as he thrashed uselessly against them.

  The flower attacking Rosie fell away, but another rose to grasp the bottom of her shirt. When Avery looked down, she realized the flowers had fallen away from her and were rushing toward Rosie.

  “Rosie, can you take care of this?” Alex yelled in a strangled voice as the vines twining around his forehead pinned his head to the glass.

  Rosie’s eyes narrowed in determination as the flower tore a chunk out of the back of her shirt. Then her shoulders slumped. “No,” she answered and scurried further up the vine. Blood flowed freely down her arm, but Rosie seemed not to notice as she made it to the ceiling. “I’m still burnt out from the trophy room. Can you?”

  “No—” Alex’s voice choked off when vines encircled his throat; his eyes bulged, and his face turned red.

  The speed with which he was disappearing beneath the plants terrified Avery. If this continued, they would kill him, and she saw no signs of mercy in the vines still shooting through the air toward him.

  CHAPTER 26

  “Avery!” Rosie screamed and dodged a flower. “Avery, you have to stop them!”

  “I don’t know how!” Avery cried.

  “Concentrate on them dying or whatever you want them to do,” Rosie said. “Then let the power build up inside you until you’re ready to set it free. You can do this.”

  “What is she talking about?” Tina demanded.

  “Come on, Avery,” Rosie pleaded. “I know you can do it.”

  Avery watched in horror as Alex’s struggles grew weaker. It was only a matter of minutes, maybe seconds, before he ceased moving. She had to do this, or Alex would die. However, Avery wasn’t sure she could concentrate on anything over the terror quaking her bones. When another flower shot up toward Rosie; she yelped and twisted to avoid its lethal teeth. Avery closed her eyes against the horror pulsating the room.

  Other than the night of her awakening, she’d barely used her abilities. However, if she didn’t try to do something, then none of her friends would make it out of here alive. Behind her lids, a clear picture of the plants wilting and dying formed while her body tingled with the same anticipation she’d experienced the night she awakened her powers.

  It demanded to be released as it swelled within her, and she imagined her ability shooting out of her with enough force to rip apart the plants. The hair on her body rose as the air crackled with electricity. She drew on the currents of life the air flowing over her skin provided to fuel the power growing within her.

  When her eyes flew open, the power burst free of her and, riding the currents of air she’d used to fuel it, tore through the room. The rush of the release was both startling and exhilarating, and she grinned as the flowers hissed and recoiled before their petals withered and crumpled to the ground. Then the vines wilted and broke apart.

  Avery cried out when the vine she clutched suddenly snapped and she plummeted downward. Arms and legs flailing in a useless attempt to slow her fall, Avery discovered that though she could kill plants, she still wasn’t a bird. The air rushing around her tore at her hair and clothes before she hit the ground.

  She got one foot under her while her knee smacked against the floor. Her ankle twisted to the side and dumped her onto her hip. Agony screamed through every inch of her body as she lay stunned and breathless. Unable to move, she could only stare at the vines and flowers falling around her. Despite the awfulness of this room, the brilliant colors floating down were eerily beautiful.

  Finally managing to inhale a shuddery breath, Avery pushed herself up and winced when she put weight on her battered ankle. Bits of vines and flowers fell off her, and she wiped away the petals clinging to her skin. Shaking back the waves of dizziness that threatened to drag her into unconsciousness, Avery wheezed in a breath before looking around.

  Rosie sat, dazed and panting, a few feet away from her. The remains of vines and flowers lay scattered around her as blood seeped down her arm. Slumped against the wall, Alex panted for air as he held a hand to his red throat with the clear mark of a vine still evident on it. She turned to find Tina gawking at her.

  “Are you okay?” Avery managed to choke out.

  “Yes,” Tina said, but her eyes remained somewhat dazed.

  “You did it,” Alex panted. “You did it.”

  Unable to believe she really had done it, Avery gazed at the remains as the power continued to course through her. If she’d been able to draw a full breath, she would have yelled triumphantly from the exhilaration still racing through her.

  Instead, she limped over to Rosie and knelt at her side to gently clasped her wounded arm. Rosie winced when Avery gingerly touched the torn flesh. The bites were ugly, but not as deep as Avery initially believed.

  “Are you okay?” Avery asked.

  “I’m fine,” Rosie mumbled as she climbed to her feet.

  Tina and Alex walked over to join them. “I didn’t know you were scared of plants,” Avery said to Tina.

  Tina’s lip curled as she glared at the dead plants surrounding them. “Not many people do.”

  “Why are you afraid of them?”

  “When I was four, I went with my mom to a greenhouse so she could get some flowers for the spring. While she was comparing prices, I wandered off and ended up getting locked into a side room by myself. I couldn’t get out, and you know how a kid’s imagination runs away from them. By the time an employee found me, I was huddled in a ball, crying, and convinced the plants were going to eat me. I had nightmares about it for years. I never thought…” Tina’s voice broke off as she hitched in a breath. “I never thought I’d actually experience it.”

  “I’m sorry,” Avery said, knowing how inadequate the words were.

  Tina glanced warily around the room before throwing back her shoulders and meeting Avery’s gaze again. Though exhaustion and distress lingered in Tina’s eyes, she exuded strength and determination when she spoke. “Will you please tell me what is going on?”

  “I think we should get out of here first,” Alex croaked.

  “That sounds like a plan,” Rosie said, “but where is the door?”

  Avery glanced around her, but she didn’t see one nearby. “This way,” Alex said.

  Creeping around the dead plants, they searched for a door and found it in the back wall. It was partly concealed by the remnants of vines still sticking to the glass. Avery’s lip curled in disgust as she pulled the vines away from the door and tossed them aside.

  “There’s nothing out there,” Tina whispered.

  Avery threw the last vine aside and turned to where Tina was peering out the glass. She stepped to the side of the door to see what her friend was talking about. Dread curdled like sour milk in her stomach when she saw the vast, barren landscape beyond the panes of glass. The sky was a murky gray, with no sun, moon, or anything else to break the dull color. A rusty color, the ground stretched on until the sky and earth met.

  “Is that real?” Avery asked in a choked whisper and looked to Rosie and Alex who were peering through the glass on the other side of the door.

  They rose away from the glass and turned to her. “I think so,” Alex answered.

  “What would happen if we went out there?” Tina inquired.

  “I don’t want to know,” Alex said.

  Avery eyed the door that appeared to open into that wasteland. Was this a trap? Would the door lead them into that harsh environment?

  “We have to open it,” Rosie whispered, obviously sensing Avery’s hesitance to do so. “It’s our only option.”

  Avery closed her eyes as she gathered her courage. She grasped the handle and, opening her eyes, wrenched the door open before she co
uld think about the consequences of where it led. Instead of revealing the wasteland, an endless, black hole greeted them.

  “Can we go in there?” Tina asked.

  Avery glanced back at the greenhouse, but the door they’d come through was gone. This was their only exit. “We have to,” she said.

  When Tina shoved a hand into the void, it looked as if her arm ended at the wrist. With a startled cry, Tina ripped her hand back and wiggled her fingers as she turned it over before her.

  “We’ll go together,” Avery said. “On the count of three.”

  “No!” Tina cried. “I’m not going into that. I’d rather stay here.”

  “No, you wouldn’t,” Alex told her. “He won’t let us stay here without punishing us in some way.”

  “We don’t know what that is; it could be worse!” Tina protested.

  “We have to find everyone else,” Avery said. “We can’t leave them out there.”

  Tina’s shoulders sagged. “Okay, but we should hold on to each other when we go through.”

  “Good idea,” Rosie said.

  Avery clasped Tina’s hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Tina gave her a wan smile before she took Alex’s hand, and he grasped Rosie’s.

  “On the count of three,” Avery said.

  “One,” Rosie whispered.

  “Two,” Alex counted.

  “Three!” Tina yelled.

  They stepped into the void.

  CHAPTER 27

  Avery felt as if she’d entered a giant vacuum cleaner. The air rushing around her pushed, pulled, and sucked at her body. Her damp clothes plastered to her skin, and her tangled hair whipped against her face and arms. When she tried to scream, the air was ripped from her lungs the second she opened her mouth.

  Her mind whirled with panic as she spun through the endless void. She tried to cling to Tina’s hand, but her friend’s fingers slipped away from her. Scrambling to hold on to her, Avery searched for Tina with her other hand but came up with only empty air, and she couldn’t see her through the darkness.

  Fumbling blindly, Avery desperately searched for her friends, but she felt nothing. Her lungs burned, and her eyes watered as she strained to breathe, to see, and to keep her sanity.