by Jen Pretty
Alex jogged past me, to cross the path around the hole before me. He flashed me a quick smile and then pressed up against the wall and crept along to the far side. I followed his lead, inching my feet along. The flashlight somehow made it up out of the hole with Singh and me. I shone it down the tunnel when we got past the hole in the floor but still couldn’t see the end or anything for that matter. Whatever this witch was using to hide was powerful magic.
I passed Alex, not wanting to leave him in the lead if we ran into something more powerful than a vampire. I knew from the stories Vincent told me that witches and warlocks could kill vampires and had hunted them long ago before they signed the treaty.
The shadows got thicker, swallowing the light beam, the farther we walked. I felt the push to turn around again, but it was an old trick now. I recognized it for what it was. Magic. I also had magic, thanks to Durga and pressed on.
“Lark, do you think it is much farther?” Alex rasped into the eerie silence.
I was about to reply when I heard something. It was a quick whizzing noise. Strong arms shoved me out of the way, knocking me to the ground. Then there was a gurgled noise followed by a thud.
I crawled across the ground and grabbed the flashlight that flew from my hand and swung it back to find everyone on the ground, but Alex lay on his back, his chest bowing to the ceiling as blood gushed from the wound on his neck. I crawled to him and pressed my free hand to the wound. It hadn’t severed his spine, but I could see the glistening white of the bone for a second before blood covered it.
“Shit,” I said, looking around for what had done this.
Ninel and Vilen rose to their feet, and beyond them, I saw a sword laying on the ground. It was intricate like a piece of art, not a weapon any of the team was using. It had almost decapitated Alex.
Durga rose and spread heat into my hand until it was so hot, I wanted to let go of Alex. He screamed and thrashed on the ground, my scream joining his. It seemed to go on forever, but finally, the heat dissipated and I could remove my hand. Durga had healed Alex, again. He would have recovered on his own, but it seemed she had taken a shine to the strange vampire.
“He is mine,” she whispered directly to me. It was a strange and personal way for her to communicate. One she had only used once before. It felt like talking to myself, like the two of us were one person. I wasn’t sure how to feel about it, but at the moment I was happy she had saved Alex. I was tired of this witch's tricks. It was time for action.
Durga agreed.
I stood and raised my arms, hoping Durga would play along. Of course, she did, the little drama queen.
She divided my arms until I stood in the tunnel in her image and with all the rage I could muster I screamed.
“Come forth you filthy magic wielder. I will not abide your games.”
Our skin glowed a soft green, illuminating the darkness that tried to absorb us.
All around, etchings on the walls appeared. The words were in Sanskrit and Durga scanned them before scoffing.
“You think your God will save you from me?” She snorted. “Come forth or suffer my wrath!”
I was sure the witch would suffer our wrath anyway, but what slunk out of the shadows made my jaw drop.
A tiny boy of no more than six stood before us. My breath caught in my throat. His hair was scraggly and dirty and his clothes tattered. He sniffled and wiped his nose. Durga rose to stare at him too. His small frame shook in the cold tunnel, and he wrapped his arms around himself. He kept his eyes trained on his shoes. They were two sizes too big, and his bare ankles showed between the tops of his shoes and the bottom of his too-small pants.
“Who are you?” I whispered, stepping forward.
Singh blocked me from going closer. It was just a small boy though. I couldn't imagine how he got down here, but he looked lost and cold. I wanted to scoop him up and take him away.
“Um, Lark?” Alex said from behind me. I didn’t turn around. The little boy's blue eyes caught mine and I couldn’t turn away. It was like he was my little boy, so beautiful and perfect and everything I had ever wanted. His dark hair was an exact match for my own, but his eyes. They were Vincent’s. As soon as the thought entered my mind, I could see other signs of Vincent. The shape of his nose and his lips. The corner of his mouth curled in a tentative smile and I was lost. My heart stopped in my chest.
I squatted down and opened my arms to him. The smile on my face was genuine. I wanted to care for this little boy and make him so happy. I wanted to watch him grow and flourish and never see him cold or dirty again.
“Durga!” Ninel shouted from behind me.
“Come here, it’s ok,” I said, ignoring the vampire behind me. Durga watched through my eyes, her love for him as strong as my own, but when the boy looked frightened, she slid away and let my eyes bleed back to their usual chocolate brown.
Singh huffed, startling the little boy. My little boy. I shoved the tiger out of the way and scowled at him. “Do not scare my boy,” I said, my voice more like Durga’s than my own. I turned back to my sweet boy and smiled again. “You see? It’s OK. Mommy’s here.” I opened my arms again to the boy. He took a tentative step, then another.
I held my breath, but a moment later he scurried forward and was in my arms. His warm hands wrapped around the back of my neck and his sweet smell filled my nose.
“I love you, Elliot,” I whispered. The moment was perfect, and I closed my eyes. Nothing else mattered as long as Elliot was in my arms. I stood and lifted him off the ground. He was so small and fragile, like a tiny bird that needed my protection.
“LARK!” someone yelled behind me. I tried to turn my head, but someone knocked me down. A knife shot through the air, my knife, I realized, towards my head. Instead, as I crashed to the ground, the blade ricocheted off the wall behind me. I sprung up to look for Elliot, but he had disappeared.
“Elliot!” I yelled. Everyone was just standing there staring at me. “Find him! Where did he go?” I screamed. I turned and then ran up and down the tunnel.
“Elliot!”
“Durga!” Ninel called again. I couldn’t stop to talk to him. I had to find Elliot.
Someone attacked me from behind. Steel arms circled my waist, lifting my feet from the ground.
I screamed and kicked, trying to get free and save my boy.
“He was never yours. You must stop. The witch has used a spell.”
I fought for a few more moments before the words sunk in. It was a spell. I didn’t have a boy. I would never have a boy with Vincent.
Crumbling to the floor, sobs wracked my body. Durga curled up inside me. Her sorrow was my own for a moment longer, and then reason saw its way through. The witch was playing games with us. With Durga and me.
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 goo
d, 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 sounds 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 wit
ch 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.