by Jen Pretty
She used the cruellest trick of them all.
“Let us end this now,” I spoke out loud, but my words were for Durga only.
She rose again. This time she put her sword in my hand and threw us down the tunnel. No more.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
I pushed my legs faster, flashlight in one hand and sword in the other. The sword was heavier than my knife, but the grip fit perfectly in my hand. My arms swung, lengthening my stride, I could feel the darkness trying to recede, but I was catching up.
I heard screams and yells, but ignored them and continued. I could not let her stop me this time.
Finally, I slid to a halt. The blackness was so complete my flashlight was useless. I tossed it aside.
“You are finished here,” I said.
“You can’t stop me!” A voice screamed through the pitch-black space. Magic welled around a figure, and I could make out an old woman. Her hair was a frizzy halo around her head. She wore dark robes that fell over her plump body.
I raised the sword as her magic spilled forward. The floor of the tunnel turned purple, and the magic ran like water across it towards me. Behind me stood the rest of the team. Whatever magic was coming, I was willing to bet it wouldn’t be good, so instead of risk it, I leapt. From a standstill, I threw myself forward, blade first. I twisted in the air, lengthening my body until the end of the sword reached the witch and penetrated her chest like she was nothing more than smoke.
Her scream reverberated as she collapsed to the ground. Her purple magic dried up and dissipated until I was standing in the dark again. The quiet click of a flashlight preceded a glowing light that filled the room. The witch lay in a pool of purple blood. Magic ran through her even in death. Her hair spread around her like a halo.
I watched her for a minute, waiting to be sure she was dead. Her chest didn’t rise.
Singh huffed as I turned on my heel.
“Let's go find that stupid vampire,” I said, dropping the sword on the ground. The steel rang off the walls and ceiling. Durga and I strode forward, past Alex, Vilen and Ninel. Durga’s anger was not even close to satisfied. She wanted more blood. She wanted vampire blood.
Singh led the way through the tunnel, his swinging stride covering the ground easily. His tail swished back and forth, and a low growl rumbled from him. When we got to the hole I had fallen in, he crept along the wall. Someone behind me was holding the flashlight, and it never faltered illuminating the path for me. I slid across the ledge, careful not to slip, then marched on. We passed the place where the birds had attacked us. Some of them remained on the ground, a few still flapping as if they could escape. Now that we killed the witch and broke the magic, the birds just wanted to escape the dark tunnels. A couple more fluttered past occasionally as we finally made it back out to the main tunnel. Someone flicked the flashlight off as we stepped into the well-lit mainline.
Durga was still steaming mad as she sat down between the steel tracks and crossed her legs. In an instant, we were both before Shiva.
✽ ✽ ✽
A hot breeze blew through the open windows of his temple. The floor was sandy beneath my crossed legs, and the scent of bitter incense hung in the air.
“Hello,” Shiva said, looking calm and relaxed. He was the exact opposite of Durga right now. The scowl on her face and the heavy rise and fall of her chest reminded me of a bull ready to charge. Her arms spread around her like a windmill, each holding one of her gifts. She prepared for battle. I pitied any stray vampire that got in our way. Vernon had little hope once we caught him.
“We must find the vampire,” Durga scowled.
“That is your job, not mine,” Shiva replied, coolly.
Her eyes narrowed, and she stared at him in silence for a moment. His eyes shifted towards her, and he picked at his fingernail. It looked like a nervous habit, but one I had never seen before. I sat quietly observing their interaction.
“You will do this, Shiva,” she growled.
“It is not my place.”
“I do not care if it is your place. I must finish this. It has gone on too long!”
Shiva sighed heavily and closed his eyes. I saw an image in my mind of Vernon in a tunnel. He was drinking from a man. A woman lay dead at his feet. Then the vision was gone.
“Are you happy now?” he asked, looking thoroughly put out.
Durga didn’t reply.
✽ ✽ ✽
A moment later, I found myself back in the tunnels, sitting between the tracks.
She pushed me to rise and then to run. The team followed behind me, but Singh ran at my side—at our side, because Durga was so close now, I couldn’t tell who was in control. The pull from up ahead was getting stronger. Something was drawing me forward. My feet pounded the cement in time with my heart. The tunnel fell away and my senses spread out. I saw the tunnels as a map, and each section was lit up like blue rivers in front of me. I felt the tug pulling me and doubled my speed.
Up ahead the tunnel curved to the right, leaving a blind corner, but I didn’t slow down until I rounded the curve and felt the pull to my left.
I slid to a stop and backtracked to the entrance of a tunnel. This one was lit dimly, and I knew it led to the vampire I was hunting.
I walked forward, my eyes adjusting to the lower light. I heard a rustling noise; It sounded far away, like an echo. The guys walked behind me, but the sound of knives and swords unsheathing confirmed they had heard the noise too. Lights dotted the tunnel about every fifty feet, leaving long sections in darkness before the next light illuminated the tunnel.
I made no sound as my boots ate up the distance between lights. I could feel them all now. There was more than a couple, so many I couldn't count them.
A hiss sizzled on the air, reaching my ears. My blade arrived in my hand, arming me for what I knew would be a battle. The vampires down this tunnel were not rogues; they were fallen. The witch's magic must have been hiding them. I would have noticed this many of them in one place. Beneath my boots, something dark stained the ground in the tunnel. I didn't want to believe it was blood, but the air held a copper tang that refused to let me believe it was something more benign.
I stepped on something slippery and refused to glance down. Fallen vampires destroyed their victims. I didn’t need to see it with my eyes. I crept forward, into the increasing sounds of the vampires hissing and spitting.
When the first fallen vampires stepped forward, the battle began.
A red-eyed vampire launched from the shadow towards me, meeting my blade eagerly before the mass descended.
They swarmed us, and the sounds of yelling and fighting filled the tunnel. I sliced through one vampire's neck and caught the sight of Singh tearing the head from another out of the corner of my eye. I focused back on the monsters surrounding me and slid my knife home into the neck of a tall vampire as another clamped his fangs into my leg.
I screamed, and my blade crashed down onto its head. It released my flesh and reared back to bite again as my knife slide cleanly through its neck, severing its spine. It dropped to the floor as a vampire jumped onto my back. Its nails dug into my shoulders, tearing through my coat and skin, but in an instant, Singh launched himself towards me, ripping the monster off me and pinning it to the ground before tearing out its throat.
Blood sprayed in an arc, coating my face and blinding me for a moment.
I reached up to clear my eyes as someone grabbed me from behind, lifting me off my feet. I swung my arm down towards my attacker blindly, making some impact, but not enough to escape the steely grip. I continued to stab behind me as something carried me away from the mayhem and sounds of fighting.
“Lark!” I heard someone call. Durga rose and attempted to free us, but the arms were strong and determined. Singh’s roar bellowed through the tunnel, but it made my captor move faster. I switched my knife to my left hand and stabbed that side too, but it was no use. The vampire who had me in his grasp was hanging on for dear life, and the soun
ds of the violence faded away. I yelled and twisted, trying to get back and help the team but it was no use. Up ahead I saw a solid cement wall, but the vampire holding me didn't slow down. I called out. We were going too fast to stop. Closing my eyes I waited for the pain to come, but nothing came, and a moment later I opened my eyes to a dimly lit tunnel made of stone before they dumped me on the ground and the sound of steel bars slammed behind me.
I jumped to my feet and threw myself at the solid bars that now trapped me. Durga kicked the bars, sending the impact through my bones and making my teeth snap together.
“There she is,” a menacing voice said from a shadow beyond my prison.
When Vernon stepped out from the shadow, I could hardly see any family resemblance to Vincent or his brothers.
Vernon’s hair was thinning and patchy. His face was an ash grey colour in the dim light, but I was sure it wasn’t healthy even in good lighting. He had dark bags under his blood-red eyes and glowing.
He smiled at me, and his yellow stained incisors were long and sharp, leaving no doubt he was a vampire. I wondered if he could even pass for a human. I doubted it. He was grotesque.
“You can’t keep me here,” I said.
“Sure I can. I had the witch make this special for you,” he said, pointing at the back wall. I turned my head, keeping him in my peripheral vision. On the wall behind me were markings in Sanskrit. They were like the ones Durga read to open the way into Metro two. She read them now, and when she read the final word, I dropped to the floor, mouth open in a silent scream as pain split my mind and fractured my senses. I cradled my head in my hands, praying to Shiva for mercy for what felt like an eternity before my senses came back and the sound of laughter filled my ears.
“Durga is so stupid! I told the witch she would read it. Now you are trapped in here without her!” He laughed again, almost unable to catch his breath. My head cleared, and I looked back up at the etchings in the wall. It was only then I noticed the purple line of magic along the ceiling. I tried to sense Durga, but I felt empty. Whatever magic was in those words, the spell was powerful.
“Now that you are here, I can go find my brother and finally kill him. Your meddling was very inconvenient,” he scolded. I tried to hear the fighting beyond the wall, but it was silent. I hoped it was just soundproof.
“You’ll kill your own brother?” I asked, trying to buy time before he left me here to rot. I needed to come up with something fast.
His grin stretched across his face.
“That is the only way I can rule the world, as I was meant to. I will be king.”
I gasped.
“You thought you had it all figured out, didn’t you? That idiot that has been roaming the tunnels all this time, running his mouth, I heard him talk. Once I knew of Durga, I knew she couldn’t resist following me, but she was moving too slow. My brother was a nice bit of bait for you at least. He will die as soon as I have power. They all will.”
I kicked at the bars again. He turned and slowly walked back towards the stone wall. I kicked again and again, but without Durga, I felt like a kitten.
“Wait!” I called. He disappeared through the stone wall.
I kicked the bars a few more times.
“You might as well stop, you will just hurt yourself,” Alex stepped out of the shadow.
“Thank God. Get me out of here!” I said, shaking the bars. They didn’t rattle, but I was so frustrated.
“I can’t do that,” he said, looking at the floor.
“What are you talking about? Go get the guys.”
He looked up at me, sadness on his face. “You took too long.”
“What?” I moved down the bars as he walked away. I remembered that a set of arms had carried me through the tunnel. My mind struggled with the thought it had been Alex who dropped me in the cell. It couldn’t have been. Durga had claimed him, and she healed him.
“I thought I would be in these tunnels forever. I made a deal with Vernon. I didn’t have a choice.”
“What does that mean?” I yelled.
He turned back around to look at me. “It means, I can't save you today. I promised him I would leave you here, and he let me live. My hands are tied.”
“Your hands are tied?” I yelled, banging on the bars. “Alex!” He disappeared through the wall.
I listened, but the silence was complete. Turning, I scanned the cell. The back walls were solid stone, and the front was all steel. I ran my hands over the bars, shaking each one, trying to find a loose one, but they were all solid. The stones were the same.
I studied the carvings. They looked like someone scraped them in with a knife. The edges were sharp and square. I traced my fingers over them and felt a pull like someone embedded magic in the stones.
I turned away from them and surveyed the cell again. There was nothing to see in the dim light. It was just a box, not designed to be comfortable or even keep a person alive.
Collapsing to the ground, I sat cross-legged in the middle, hoping I could reach Shiva. I closed my eyes and took a deep cleansing breath. Slowing each inhale and dragging out each exhale until they were steady and deep. I counted in my head, trying to pull away from my surroundings and into meditation. The minutes ticked past as I emptied my mind. I struggled to stop thinking, just to let go. I realized that Durga had been helping me meditate all this time. It had to have been her influence as I hadn’t struggled to reach Shiva once since Durga popped up in my life. I briefly wondered if the magic in the cell was stopping me from meditating too but had to push the thought out of my mind before it took over and I lost all hope of reaching deep meditation.
I focused back on my breath, and finally, I opened my eyes to the familiar surroundings of Shiva’s Temple.
✽ ✽ ✽
“Shiva, we have a problem,” I said.
“Lark, what is it? I’m quite busy,” the God said, petting the snake curled in his lap.
“I’ve lost Durga,” I said.
His head snapped up, eyes focusing on me, and shock registered on his face. “Did you make her angry? She once didn’t speak to me for 100 years,” He said.
“It’s some kind of magic,” I said.
“What magic? Who has done this?” He jumped to his feet, tumbling his snake out of his lap.
“Mahishasura,” I said, for it was not the doing of Vernon. It had to be someone with more powerful magic than a single witch.
Shiva stared at me. His snake did too, then it slithered up Shiva’s leg, into his pants and disappeared.
I shuttered.
“This is terrible. She must fight Mahishasura or the entire world is at stake.”
“I know the story,” I replied, rubbing my forehead.
“Tell me exactly what happened,” he said. So I filled him in about the witch and Vernon and Mahishasura, when I finished, he continued to stare at me. His chest was rising and falling heavily.
“So, they trapped you in a hidden tunnel below Moscow, with Sanskrit inscribed on the wall?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“Summon your vampire to free you. Perhaps once you have left the place of magic, Durga will return to you. If not, all is lost. Go now!” he stepped towards me and made a shooing motion with his hands.
“Wait! What do you mean summon my vampire?”
“The one you claimed as your own. Durga did not claim him; you should be able to reach him.”
“What does that even mean?” I asked, rising and trying to stop him from kicking me out.
“It means go, NOW!” he said, and suddenly I was back in my cell.
✽ ✽ ✽
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The one I claimed as my own… that was what Shiva said. I was almost sure that meant Drew. He was the only one I had claimed. I thought Durga had claimed him though. Isn’t that what she said? She got all Goddess-like and yelled at Vincent. Hmm. I didn't know how to summon him, so I sat in the cell and thought about him. I thought of him in Vaughn’s mansion in Moscow
, though I couldn’t send out my senses to find him. I thought of him leaving the house and coming downtown.
I thought I could see him. I focused so hard that it seemed like he was doing it — walking out the door and getting into a hatchback car. Vincent was following him, and I didn't want Vincent to come. Or maybe I did. I was so confused by Vincent right now and my feelings for him. I wanted him, but he was being unreasonable. Guilt ate at me, though. I wanted to kill Vernon, but I didn’t want to destroy Vincent’s brother. I thought I could see Vincent's mouth moving and Drew driving the car through the city at high speed. He banged on the steering wheel and yelled at Vincent.
I hoped it was some kind of magic because if it was all in my head, I was in for a big letdown when they didn't show up. I watched as Drew parked the car and got out. Vincent lifted a cover off a manhole. I didn’t recognize this one, but they dropped into a tunnel and raced through the dark space until they came out into what looked like Metro 2. The smooth cement and glistening steel tracks were identical. They ran along the tracks and skidded to a stop at a tunnel that looked like all the rest, but I hoped it was the one we had turned down.
When they came upon a bunch of dead vampires, I knew it was the right one. I tried to see if Vilen or Ninel were there, but I didn’t get a good look. There seemed to be a lot of dead vampires though. A good sign, probably.
Suddenly, they stopped, and Alex strode out of a shadow.
“Kill him!” I yelled into the empty cell.
Drew pulled out a long knife, and I saw Alex's hands go up. Vincent grabbed him by the throat and looked back at Drew. I could see Drew struggling with what he was doing as if he wasn’t sure why he was holding his weapon.
Alex pointed down the tunnel, the look on his face was pleading. Vincent had his look of pure rage that I had seen a few times. He threw the smaller vampire down the tunnel in the opposite direction and then he and Drew ran again, heading toward my hidden tunnel.