Bloodstone (Talisman)

by S. E. Akers

  “GET OUT HERE THIS INSTANT!” Kamya shouted.

  I extended my diamond blade, mainly for a boost of confidence. “I can’t, Kamya,” I apologized and took off in search of Tanner.

  Her screams for me to “come back” faded the farther I trekked. My only guide came from the light the wand was radiating. The rugged floor jostled my senses as I headed straight on an unknown course. There were no sounds to follow, no roars or human groans crying out anymore. I was both physically and mentally in the dark and alone.

  I bumped into something when I’d glanced back to check my rear. I waved my wand in one sweep, scanning the obstacle from top to bottom. It was an upright coffin. Instinctively, I pulled it open and jumped back. It wasn’t occupied, but it wasn’t empty either. In fact, it seemed to be some sort of entrance. There was a faint light shining at the end of the passageway. I had no other option but to follow it, to wherever it led.

  My black surroundings were lightening into grays. Strangely, it didn’t matter if I ran or not, I didn’t seem to be getting to the end of the tight corridor any faster either way. One thing was certain — the air around me was cooling. As I came upon an arched stone opening, something started to twitch and tap at my chest. I looked down to spot a lump flopping wildly underneath my clothes. I’d no sooner tugged the neck of my shirt away from my chest when I got smacked in the face by that creepy bat.

  I followed its flight up towards the most beautiful star-studded sky I’d ever seen. Suddenly the stars started to drift down. Mesmerized, I watched one land on the tip of my finger. But I realized it wasn’t a star as soon as it began to melt away. I lifted my curious gaze back to the cloudless sky that was now showering me with thick flakes of glistening white snow.

  A tremor began to tingle my feet. I scanned the snowy ground as the sensation grew. A building light that was amassing a swelling shadow on the ground whirled my body around. I dove out of the path of its glare, just as the coal-carrying locomotive came whizzing by. Once the train had passed, I rose to my feet as I stared wide-eyed at the mountain tunnel and followed the now exposed tracks. At that moment, I knew exactly where I was.

  I followed the iron tracks until I came upon the reddish-pink mushed patch of snow. I hadn’t paid too much attention to it before, but I had more than enough time to now. It was nothing less than a chunky, gory mess.

  My eye caught the gleam of something lying amongst the carnal debris. Lazarus’ ring. I trudged through the snow, headed straight for it. Just as I’d arrived at the very spot where it lay, a chilling voice halted me in my tracks.

  “You don’t want that,” Lazarus cooed as he stepped into view.

  I fell back and landed in the snow. The protruding bones on his long, sullen face looked as harsh and menacing as ever. He scooped up the ring and gave it a quick shine on the lapel of his long coat. “There,” Lazarus announced with a contented sigh as he slid it on his finger. “Back where you belong.”

  I felt the blistering cold on my rear and the wind whipping across my cheeks. Cautiously, I extended my foot to give him a nudge. An unnerving jolt rocketed up my leg once I’d gotten my confirmation.

  “You’re not real,” I repeated aloud, several times, to reassure my teetering mind that the bump didn’t mean a thing.

  Lazarus crept closer. “I’m as real as I need to be in here,” he alleged. His icy-blue eyes darkened. “Real enough to finish you off.” I scooted to the side warily and rose to my feet. Lazarus prowled around me like a cat. “Hmmm. What’s different about you?” he questioned. His eyes lit up. “You don’t look as trailer-trashy. That’s it!” I swatted his hand away as he reached for my shirt. “Someone’s been dressing you,” Lazarus confirmed like a critic. “Well, good for you.” He spied my purse. “But you really must do something about that sack. Though I suppose it makes up in practicality for the style it lacks.”

  I glared at him as he strutted on ahead — his nose high in the air and his wiry, white locks pulled tightly back into a pristine braid. Even in an alternate realm he’s an arrogant ass!

  Lazarus spun around and blocked my path. “So, Ms. Wallace…how has the wand been treating you?”

  “Fine,” I answered as I looked down at my hand, only to realize it was no longer there. Oh, no… I scanned around inconspicuously for it while I kept Lazarus firmly in my sights.

  “From my vantage, I’d say it has caused you nothing but heartache,” Lazarus assessed. “For starters, your father is dead.”

  “Because of you,” I interrupted and went back to searching.

  Lazarus grinned and brushed off my claim with a frivolous wave. “Your best friend, too.”

  “Again, because of you.”

  “Partly… But I’m not the one who deprived her of a true death. You cheated her out of that when you stripped her body of its soul. Shame on you,” the pompous Talisman scolded.

  I charged ahead of him flustered, not knowing where I was going. Even more baffling, I didn’t know why I was even here. My head was so muddled that I gave my temples a vigorous rub.

  “You know, she’s here,” Lazarus revealed. I planted my feet and spun around. I followed his finger to an enormous iron coffin sitting near a line of snowy trees. “Right over there.” I started to hurry over to the elaborate box until it started thumping up and down. Lazarus laughed. “Pardon the pun, but she’s a lively one.”

  I couldn’t will my feet to move. I’d done this too many times to think anything was actually in there.

  Lazarus leaned into my ear. “How much longer must she wait, my dear?” I took one step towards the coffin, and then another, and another until I was finally there. Lazarus leaned against it. “Is that why you are here? Do you seek to change her fate?”

  For some reason, his words rang a few bells, but I still wasn’t sure of their tune. I brushed him aside and struggled to open the energy-draining lid. The more I lifted and pushed, the more exhausted I grew. I slumped to the ground, but in an odd turn of events, Lazarus rushed to lend me a hand. With one puff of air, he blew the lid open and jerked me to my feet. It was nothing but another empty coffin.

  Just as I’d thought.

  “Humph! I guess she got tired of waiting after all,” Lazarus commented. “How rude.” As I turned around, I spotted Katie — what was left of her. I averted my head and threw-up at the sight of her grotesque, rotting frame.

  “Ahhh! There she is!” Lazarus exclaimed and clapped his hands. He yanked my head up and turned it towards her. “Now, I’m not bias in the least, but you tell me…who makes a more riveting corpse?” He pointed to Katie and then over to the hunks of flesh and blood lying on the tracks. Another round was about to work its way up. Luckily I hunched over not a second too late. “Hmmm… I suppose you’re right, but my exit was far more grand,” he added with a swift pat on my back.

  One cool deep breath later, I whipped up my head, now fully aware. “She’s not real, and neither are YOU,” I restated.

  Lazarus grabbed my arm and slammed me against the coffin. The diamond wand I’d been looking for was now in his hand and resting a hair away from my throat. My insides were bursting with fear as I stared at the blade. We remained locked in that pose for what seemed like an eternity. Lazarus slowly lowered the diamond wand and took a casual step back.

  “I knew you weren’t worthy then,” Lazarus remarked as he swirled the blade back and forth. “And you’re still not.” The next thing I knew, Lazarus was swinging the diamond wand at me. I threw my hand up defensively, only to let it slice my wrist clear to the bone. Its sting dropped me to my knees in one agonizing gasp.

  Lazarus grabbed my bloody arm and gave my wrist a firm squeeze. The tips of his fingers started to turn blue. “Let me show you what someone with some real talent can do,” he snarled.

  “You’re NOT REAL!” I raged. “And you can’t use your stone’s powers in here anyway.”

  Lazarus leaned closer and laughed in my face. “You may be bound to the rules of this realm, however I, my
ignorant dear, am certainly not.”

  All things considered, I would much rather risk getting cut again than to suffer at the hands of his venomous touch. So, I did what any other weaponless person would do and butted my head straight into his high and mighty mouth. He stumbled back enough for me to grab my sword, unfortunately by its blade. With a hard enough yank and fierce bite of my lip, I managed to pry it from his grasp and hightailed it into the woods. I didn’t have any other choice. With a harrowing gash the length of a pencil on my right hand and a mutilated left wrist, I could barely hold on to the wand, let alone wield it at him.

  I ran as fast as I could, not even pausing to look back. The sounds of his vile laughter echoed through the placid snow-covered woods. I eventually came to a screeching halt when I’d run out of ground and almost fell inside a large hole bore into the earth. It looked strangely familiar, and considering where my mind had taken me, I didn’t need to guess who had made it.

  I scanned the woods. There were no signs of Lazarus. Even his malicious taunts had ceased. Cautiously, I crept towards the edge of the disturbing pit. There was nothing but hollow darkness inside it. I got the shock of my life when I raised my head to find myself out of the snowy woods and somehow inside a warm, earthy cave. Stalactites covered its ceiling like harrowing fangs and the air around me held a musty stench. I looked down at the hole that was now a swirling whirlpool and curiously watched the raging waters rise. I took a step back when it reached the brim. All of a sudden, the water calmed enough to where an image began to take form. Mine. I bent down slowly as my reflection cleared. Suddenly a scaly tentacle sprang out of the water. It coiled around my foot within an instant and started to tug me into the watery hole.

  I dropped my wand on the ground and held on to the edge with all of my strength, trying not to let its tenacious grip take me under. The persistent tentacle wan’t giving up, so I eventually let go of the rocks in hopes of clawing myself free. Under the surface I went, using my nails to slice into any shred of it that I could. It finally loosened its hold and sank away from me, drifting down further away in the murky water. I swam up to the surface only to discover that the water had receded. I was a good five feet below the edge. I reached for a rock jutting out of the earthy wall above my head and started to climb out of the hole. I hadn’t made it far when I heard a female’s voice saying, “I want MY moonstone.”

  I froze immediately. Lorelei.

  She was playfully swimming not far from me, diving erratically, and prodding my nerves with sharp bumps to my legs under the surface. She eventually backstroked over to where I hung from the rocks.

  “You’re not real either.” I glanced at my ring. “And this is not your stone.”

  “But it is,” Lorelei insisted. “I was to be granted the next one, until Seraphina had to give it to you.” She rose out of the water, looking absolutely pissed. “You cut the line, and I’m here to get it back!”

  “It was yours?” I questioned.

  “That’s what I SAID!” Lorelei yelled straight into my face. She averted her stare innocently and started picking the skeletal remains of something out of her teeth. “Well, if I have to be honest…it wasn’t to be mine, exactly,” she added in a much softer tone. Her docile temperament took another volatile shift. “But I was already THERE!” she screamed. “Waiting to kill its next recipient!” Lorelei started smacking one of her tentacles against the water repeatedly in a seething fit. “Imagine my disappointment!” She uncoiled all of her ghastly limbs for an intimidating stretch in the air. “Do you know what it’s like to have to be around someone when their very sight curdles your stomach and their touch cringes your every nerve!?!” she raged.

  My eyes narrowed when she raked one of her tentacles across my face, leaving a slimy trail of goo. “I can’t imagine,” I piped back with a wince.

  “But that’s neither here nor there. That grueling predicament has been taken care of…and now, I only have to deal with you,” Lorelei announced with a bubbly smile. I braced myself for her attack, but to my surprise, she simply laughed and then slowly drifted down under the water with her wavy red hair leaving a nagging trail. Soon it was gone and on the surface it seemed so was she. But it was lurked under the surface that bothered me.

  Sure enough, I felt something starting to wind around my leg, followed by a ferocious electric jolt. I didn’t have to see it. I knew it was her wicked vine of ion-charged seaweed. I sprang up and grabbed onto some rocks before any more could take hold. The vines were pulling on me so vigorously that the water was rocking around the hole like giant waves. Luckily, one raised me up to the edge of the pit. It was just enough for me to grab the wand. I dropped back into the water whacking at anything plant-like I could feel or see. I shaved a lot of it away, but as soon as I did, more took its place. The water seemed to be making its electrifying shocks much worse, like throwing a plugged-in hairdryer into a tub full of water. Blinding iridescent sparks kept shooting out in all directions. I thought I heard a scream after I’d sliced the diamond blade across something that had jerked on my leg. It wasn’t Lorelei’s voice, but it sounded like a woman. Confused, I bobbed in the bouncing waters to listen for the cry again. When it never came, I reached above my head for one of the rocks. I had to get out of this freakish well-from-Hell right now.

  A puzzling sensation crept over me the higher I climbed. I felt more at ease, strangely. I guessed it was because I could finally see the top. With the wand clutched in my hand, I grabbed hold of the edge as best I could. I had just thrown my other one securely on its rim when I felt something lock around my butchered wrist. I looked up to find a faceless person twisting and tugging the wand out of my grasp. Once the figure had pitched my weapon off to the side, they began to take on a more sinister, billowy form. The sound of a wickedly familiar cackle rattling my ears was all the proof I needed. The Onyx. I screamed as he wrenched my mutilated wrist with one final heave. I was out of the hole, but so were two scorching streaks of red-hot flames that exploded from my hands and blinded my eyes to a close. The next thing I knew, I had landed hard on the ground with a horrid smell of burnt flesh consuming my last conscious breath.

  Chapter 23 — The Truth Hurts

  Something soft and pillowy cradled me, like I was being cuddled by a fluffy cloud. Regardless of how soothing it felt, I jerked myself up in a cold sweat. My blurry surroundings gradually shifted into a more limpid scene. Somehow I was back in the suite of the hotel, staring at the somber colors of an oil-painting that hung on the wall opposite my bed. Something nudged my arm. I turned my head to find Kamya lowering her foot, sitting at my bedside. The Ruby Talisman’s sleek appearance looked a little worse for wear. Her light brown eyes softened as a wave of relief gradually lifted her furrowed brow.

  “Good. You’re awake… Finally,” Kamya said.

  Skeptically, I leaned over and began to pat the side of her face. “Are you…real?” I posed. Kamya brushed a few strands of hair from my face with a tender sweep and then thumped the top of my head, hard.

  “YES!” Kamya snapped. “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING GOING INSIDE THE VORTEX?”

  I pulled back and rubbed my head. Nice to see you too. “What happened?”

  Kamya crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. “I went in after you. That’s ‘what happened’…and I’m glad I did,” she insisted. “You were trapped in an intense hallucination. I don’t know if you would’ve made it out of there on your own.”

  The more I focused, the easier it became to patch the spotty holes in my memory. I remembered running into Lazarus by the railroad tracks and that the bastard had notched a nice chunk out of my wrist. I peeked under a bandage that was now wrapped around it with a fearful wince. To my amazement, the wound didn’t look that bad. I couldn’t even see the bone anymore.

  “I cleansed your wound…the one on your hand as well. But you need to soak them for a while to speed the healing. I called the front desk. Room service is supposed to be sending up some more sea-salt,” Kamya
said. “You’re lucky whoever did that didn’t sever your hand right off. I’m not very good with a needle.”

  “Lazarus cut me with my own blade,” I admitted.

  “What did I tell you about holding on to your weapon?” Kamya fussed.

  “It was there one second, and then it was gone,” I defended.

  “And that is WHY I didn’t want you entering the vortex. Nothing in there is what it seems,” Kamya scolded.

  “I saw Lorelei, too. She pulled me inside a cenote. Fighting her off was the last thing I remember,” I sighed. My stomach flipped sharply and then my eyes commenced with a turbulent sweep of the room. “WHERE’S MY WAND?”

  “Simmer down.” Kamya reached underneath the bed. “Here,” the Ruby Talisman said as she handed me my fully extended diamond wand. “Be a dear, please.” Kamya raised the sleeve of the hotel robe she was wearing. Her arm was bandaged from her elbow to her wrist. “I’ve had my feel of that thing for a while.”

  I retracted it on the spot. “Did I do that?”

  “I’m afraid so,” Kamya confirmed. She threw up her hand swiftly. “But don’t apologize. I seriously doubt you knew it was me.”

  I grimaced. “I remember Lorelei was trying to tangle me up in her seaweed. I started whacking at it.” I thought of something else. “And I heard someone scream.”

  “Well, that ‘seaweed’ you were whacking was actually one of my whips.” She lifted her arm. “And I don’t think I need to confirm the owner of the scream.”

  “I’m so sor—”

  Kamya threw up her hand again. “Don’t,” she urged. “I thought Beatrix was exaggerating about your guilt, but it seems you are one bothered soul. Accidents happen,” she said with a shrug and pointed to my legs.

  I threw back the covers to find the legs of my new pair of Seven’s singed and shredded. I shouldn’t have expected anything less. Some things don’t change.