“You want to be a hero?” Carrick asked him, both shocking and scaring him at the same time. Theo didn’t want some murdering freak poking around in his head and especially not if these were his last moments on earth. He knew he should have listened to his gut as his heart was nothing but a traitor to him now.
“You can’t save them,” Carrick warned and Theo shook his head in anger. He couldn’t believe that, he just couldn’t. He had to try…he had no choice.
“You always have a choice, in this world and the next,” Carrick continued to speak to him and no matter how Theo tried to ignore it, he found himself being drawn further and further into his words. No! he couldn’t let himself go there! He was stronger than this! So with one last reach, he grabbed onto Ivan’s hand and as soon as he made contact, unbelievably the large Russian opened his eyes. It was almost as if his touch had caused an electrical current to repower his body, jarring him back into life.
Theo nodded frantically to the window and began kicking out at it so that Ivan got the hint. The big guy moved back, getting into position and with his first kick, smashed the whole panel out of the frame. Theo knew he couldn’t help the others without first getting the desperate air he needed, so shook his head at Ivan, telling him with one look that they couldn’t help the others without first helping themselves. He knew they were useless if they were both dead.
The last thing Theo saw before swimming through the gap was Carrick shaking his head as though disappointed it had all happened this way. Theo didn’t fully understand the look or where it was coming from but right then, he didn’t care.
Ivan followed him as he turned his back to the Monster responsible, as he needed to focus on saving the others. The vast lake water looked dark and gloomy, making it hard to see what was around them but it was clear that sunlight was leading the way to the surface. If anything, it looked almost as if they were reaching up for Heaven.
Almost there, Theo said over and over in his mind knowing they were so close. He looked back at his friend making sure he was still with him and Theo almost smiled as he was so sure that they would make it. But then something started happening and for the second time that day he saw something else he couldn’t explain.
“Look out!” Theo mouthed the panicked words of warning, releasing the last of his air to do it but it was too late. Shadowed serpents deep from below them started to rise up like giant water snakes and as Ivan was below Theo, they got a hold of him first. Ivan’s eyes widened just as he felt the first tug downwards and Theo reached down, stretching out his hand for him to grab. Their fingertips barely touched before he could tighten his grip and with one last tug, his new friend was gone.
“NO!” Theo’s scream also meant the end for him too if he didn’t reach the surface. So, with nothing left for him to do, he looked back up at his only survival and pulled himself up, using his weakened arms to drag his body through the water.
“You might have their spirit boy, but you don’t yet have their power, not until you die Theo.” He heard Carrick’s voice in his head again and just as his hand emerged out of the water first, that’s when he felt his own deadly tug from the serpents. He looked down as they entwined themselves first around his legs and then slid through the water up the rest of his body. Once there Theo started to twist himself free but it was no use as they started to squeeze themselves tighter, getting a better grip on him and snarling at him under the water. It was now he noticed that they looked like demonic eels made of black oily ink that had at some point slithered into the lake and had come alive as if for this very purpose.
Theo knew when he had been beaten and it was as if Carrick knew it too.
“That’s it, just let it happen.” This was said out of comfort and as Theo closed his eyes, he knew it was the last voice on earth he would have wanted to hear this from. But for some unknown reason all he felt was comfort and it was as though someone was also in the background, telling him to just accept it.
To just let go.
And then it came with Carrick’s last words of,
“Welcome to your Afterlife…” and with it,
His Death swiftly followed.
4
The Afterlife
Theo inhaled sharply as if taking his first breath all over again and he half expected to feel the burning pain of water flooding his lungs. But that wasn’t what happened. He was no longer freezing cold from being plunged into the wintery depths of Hellish Lake and he was no longer feeling the strain on his muscles as he tried to fight for his life.
It was the complete opposite in fact. A warmth like no other enveloped him in a comforting cocoon and surrounded him as though the heat of the sun was giving him strength. He suddenly felt strong in ways he never had before and with this, combined with the peaceful calm of the darkness that surrounded him, he knew then that this was not the end…
It was only the beginning.
So when Theo awoke the last place he expected to find himself was still on the bus travelling down the road as if nothing had happened. Was he dreaming now or had he been dreaming then? He looked down at his clothes expecting to find them all dripping wet but they were bone dry. Then he looked around at the others to see everyone was doing the same as him. Even the bus was just as it had been before crashing into the lake and Theo couldn’t help but put his fingers to the glass just to check it was actually still there.
“Okay, so what just happened?” This came from Zane who, unlike him, wasn’t questioning the possibility of any of it being a dream. Ena was touching her hair and Ivan had his large sweater pulled out in front of him as he too was checking himself over.
“Cause I don’t know about you guys but it kinda felt like I had just died.” Zane added as if needing to be sure that everyone else was on the same dark page as he was.
“I don’t know man, but I doubt we all dreamt the same thing.” Theo said rubbing the back of his neck as if this would help relieve some of the tension.
“This is impossible,” Ena muttered to herself but Theo was more concerned with the Goth girl as she was quietly weeping in her seat.
“Hey, are you alright?” Theo leaned over his seat and asked her, remembering himself before he touched her shoulder.
“I…I don’t know…I feel…weird,” she whispered on a shaky breath.
“Yeah, well she isn’t the only one!” Ena said getting that bite of attitude back in her tone.
“Did…did we…really… drown?” the Goth girl said, finally turning her head and looking at Theo for the first time. Big brown teary eyes met his and even through the black eye makeup streaming inky tracks down her pale skin, he could see the beauty she tried to hide under her hood.
“What’s your name?” Theo asked using a softer tone and purposely reining in his temper to do so.
“Janie,” she said rubbing her eyes with one hand and Theo didn’t have the heart to tell her she’d just smudged all those black lines sideways, across her cheeks.
“Alright Janie, I’m Theo and that there is Zane, Ena and Ivan.” Theo said nodding back to the others and was happy that she received kind looks from them all, especially Ivan who went as far as to give her a wink. Theo ignored her blush and carried on,
“I don’t know what happened to us but whatever it is, I can promise you this…you’re not alone. We are all in the same boat here.”
“But we on bus,” Ivan said looking confused and Ena smacked her forehead, muttering,
“Give me strength.” Theo shot her a dirty look that told her to have some patience. Janie however giggled which was a much better sound than her fearful crying.
“Boat, bus, whatever. My point is that are we all in agreement that whatever just happened…well, it actually happened to all of us?” Theo asked addressing the whole group.
“Well if you mean some creepo in a bad suit just stepped onto our bus and kicked our asses with some water, a freaky voodoo briefcase and drowned us all, then yeah…I would say it happened!” Ena said sarcastic
ally but at least she was straight to the point.
“What she said,” Zane said shaking a thumb her way.
“I no understand,” Ivan said shaking his head and having to place his hand on the seat in front as if he would soon pass out from it all.
“No me either, but I know someone who will.” Theo said through gritted teeth, getting up and trying to ignore the fact that his legs wobbled, feeling as though his bones had been replaced with rubber bands. He made his way down to Rue who lifted up her hand towards the mirror as if this was how she was seeing who was coming. Hell, but after what felt like had just happened, he wouldn’t have been surprised if the blind girl could see with her hands.
“Look Kid, before you give me attitude you have to know that this was not the way it was supposed to go down.” Theo frowned and nearly let his mouth drop open in shock. He didn’t know what was more surprising, the fact that she hadn’t automatically started denying it and passing it off as nothing or the fact that any of it had been real and actually happened!
“You drove us into a damn lake!” he shouted making her wince and bunch her shoulders up, which only highlighted her guilt.
“Well yes, there was that,” she said and Theo thought he would actually growl he was getting that mad.
“I think you’d better start explaining things here Rue…don’t you?” he said trying not to make it sound like a threat, he really did, but that was going to be a mission for anyone considering he was obviously now talking to someone who had been an accomplice to what should have been his death.
“I wish I could but I can’t,” she said turning off the main road onto a single lane that was covered either side by thick forest. Theo tried not to wonder where she was taking them now as his trust in her was back down to zero.
“Can’t or more like won’t?” he snapped. “Can’t…but don’t worry, because they can,” Rue said nodding ahead through the window and Theo looked up in time to see the huge mansion coming into view.
“Holy…”
“…Grail Bananas! Yeah I know, pretty cool, huh?” Rue said interrupting him from saying something a lot stronger than ‘fruit’ that was for sure.
“Uh…are we at the right place?” Theo couldn’t help but ask as he suddenly realised how Harry Potter must have felt when riding in that boat and seeing Hogwarts for the first time. Okay so it wasn’t a castle but it came pretty damn close!
For starters there was no saying how big the place actually was as most of it was hidden by thick forest on either side, but Theo guessed that it went much further back than it looked. Only the grand entrance and front of the house was visible, with its thick weathered stones that were half covered in a blanket of lush green ivy that looked thick enough to climb. It certainly had enough features to be filed away in the ‘Horror film’ creepy section of Theo’s imagination because the very last thing this house screamed was school. Now a place people went to if they fancied making the news with the headline…Missing Boy/Girl then yeah, it would fit right in, but a place to learn? Theo didn’t think so.
“Trust me Kid, this is the right place,” Rue said on a chuckle and then pulled the bus in front of the building, squealing the tires as she managed to pull off some spinning handbrake turn, barely keeping all the wheels on the ground. After giving her an even dirtier look, Theo looked around the large parking lot that was empty, save for one blue truck that looked to be one journey short of a junk yard. Theo looked back to see everyone was staring out of the window in utter shock, probably thinking the exact same thing he was…
This was no school!
“What on earth is this place?” Theo muttered under his breath.
“Your new home Kid, now get off the bus,” Rue said shocking him.
“Excuse me?” he replied with a raised eyebrow. She cut the engine after stopping the bus right outside the main doors which definitely looked more imposing than of the welcoming kind. The entrance was just as grand as the building, if not more so with its impressive stone archway standing tall and jutting out making a clear statement, one that Theo interpreted more as ‘Enter at your own risk’ than the ‘Welcome home’ mat he had been hoping for.
Rue pulled the lever to open the creaky bus doors making Theo jump.
“You heard me Kid, this is your last stop.”
“You sure about that?” Theo said sarcastically, knowing he was actually referring to the fact that she had possibly tried to kill them all only a short time ago. Well if that’s what happened on just the journey getting there, then God only knew what was in store for them when they stepped inside the place.
“Sure I’m sure or surely as I am ever going to be sure,” she said winking at him with a wicked grin.
“Right,” he muttered, frustrated that she was obviously finding this more amusing than serious. He looked back to the others and from the looks of things they were all waiting to see what he would do first before making their move. Well he doubted that they would be allowed to just stay on the bus, shout mutiny and kick out the blind chick before taking the bus to Mexico. So with that in mind he took a deep breath and took the first steps off the bus into Horrorville.
“Shake like a tree, people!” He heard Rue say behind him before the rest of them moved quickly to follow him into the unknown. Once they had all piled off the bus the door slammed shut behind them and Rue pulled away fast enough to kick up gravel around the tires before driving out of sight.
“Wait! What about our stuff!?” Ena shouted as the bus disappeared around a hidden road by the left side of the building into what looked like straight into the thick forest.
“Well I for one am going to be looking out for my vintage Doc Martins on ebay,” Zane said dryly, getting an evil glare from Ena.
“She wouldn’t dare get rid of our stuff!” Ena shouted back and Zane chuckled at her before putting their dire circumstances into perspective,
“Oh no, I’m sure the one who just tried to drown us all in a lake with some serial killer whose favourite colours are most likely beige and blood, before then dumping us outside a house worthy of a Stephen King novel, is going to take great care of our stuff!”
“Alright genius, then what are we going to do now?” she snapped back, folding her arms across her chest and tilting her head as if expecting answers. Zane held up his hands in defeat and said,
“Hey don’t look at me, I’m not running this Shindig Sweetheart, I’m just dancing alone in the corner.” Ena rolled her eyes before looking expectantly to Theo, along with everyone else.
“Yes! Now that is a much better choice. Theo here, he’s your main man,” Zane said enthusiastically jumping to Theo’s side and patting him on the back, no doubt just glad that he was now off the hook.
“What?” Theo asked confused, looking from one to the other as they all stared expectantly at him.
“You’re now in charge, that’s what,” Ena said and Theo half expected her to click her fingers after the announcement.
“Oh no, not happening,” Theo said backing up and noticing the worried look that Janie gave him as if she especially needed him to take the lead on this one.
“Oh come on dude, what did you expect? We have been following your lead since you first stepped on that bus to Hell…so now it’s time to man up and lead this band of merry men into the house of horrors…which just so I am clear…means him going first, right?” Zane said looking at the others this time making Theo roll his eyes right along with Ena.
“This isn’t exactly what I had in mind,” Theo admitted and Ena raised her hand out pointing to the house and snapped,
“And you think we did?!”
“Please Theo, can’t you see that we need you?” Janie said in a quiet voice that was barely more than a whisper.
“Yes, you be leader is logical choice.” Ivan said before doing as Zane did and patting him on the back, only when Zane had done it, it hadn’t made Theo fall forward on a step just to keep himself upright.
“Alright, but let’s at
least think about our options here,” Theo said taking a step back so he could look at them all, putting his back to the creepy house.
“Which are?” Ena asked putting a hand to her hip already showing attitude before carrying on,
“Because last I checked, we have no stuff, no ride, no money and oh yeah, a big fat nowhere else to go.”
“Oh right, because these are the reasons to stay at the Bates’ motel…put me down for a park bench,” Zane said making Ena huff and Ivan look confused.
“It’s an old horror movie from the 60’s called Psycho.” Janie told him softly making him smile down at her.
“Nice to see another cultured horror movie groupie is in the group,” Zane told her, giving her a wink and making her blush again.
“Great, and I like long walks in the park, playing netball and hopefully living well past the legal drinking age …can we move on now to the more important stuff…say, are we going into horror school or not?” Ena said, first addressing Zane and then moving on to question Theo, who they had already named leader. Theo looked back at the house trying to weigh up their options. He knew he could get this wrong either way but he at least needed to try and find the lesser of two evils. On one hand, walking away might not get them very far considering no matter how annoying Ena could be, what she had said was right…they had nothing. But then walking through those doors was going to mean only one of two things, either death or answers.
“Has anyone got a phone on them?” Theo asked having an idea. Everyone shook their heads apart from Ena.
“Lucky then I didn’t put it in my bag like Rue asked,” she told him fishing it out of her blazer pocket and handing it over. Theo gave her a grin, admiring that she had a rebellious streak, one in this case that might end up saving their lives.
The Glass Dagger (Afterlife Chronicles Book 1) Page 4