“Well?” Theo didn’t know whether or not to tell her the truth, but when she groaned and said,
“Look, I don’t really care either way, as I have my own problems to deal with.” Then she turned around and started walking in the other direction towards a row of arched windows that looked out onto a balcony with steps going above and below.
“Hey wait!” Theo shouted after her, which was when she snapped her head back to him and hissed a warning,
“Ssshh or they will hear you!” Then she looked all around her as if expecting to see someone watching them, only relaxing when she found the hallway empty.
“Who will?” he asked and she rolled her eyes once.
“Oh, I don’t know, the same people you don’t want to find out you’re sneaking around here at two in the morning,” she replied sarcastically, making her point.
“Alright, so you got me there,” he admitted, making her smile momentarily and he had to admit, it suited her far better than the fake attitude that looked out of place.
“I’m Theo, one of the…”
“I know who you are…everyone does,” she said, cutting him off and adding this last part as though she was being made to swallow a bitter pill. Theo decided to ignore the last comment as he was too interested in who she was to argue.
“And you are?” Theo asked and she looked out of the window for a moment before answering him.
“In the wrong place and with the wrong people,” she said cryptically and that’s when it all clicked into place for Theo.
“You’re the girl I heard shouting earlier, aren’t you?” Her head snapped round to look at him and her red cheeks weren’t hard to miss, even in the low candlelight, thanks to lit torches on the wall.
“You heard that?!” she hissed horrified. Theo put his hands out in a symbolic gesture of peace and justified himself.
“I was walking back from the dining room and got lost, I heard someone shouting and…”
“Yeah, yeah, I get the idea,” she said, obviously too embarrassed to hear more.
“I was angry,” she said, this time being the one to justify herself.
“And now?” Theo asked, seeing that she had opened the window, and it didn’t take a genius to guess what she was planning.
“This isn’t anger, this is clarity.” Theo could understand that, having found it quite a few times before himself.
“Fair enough. Look its none of my business I know, but I need to ask you this for my own peace of mind…do you need my help?” Theo asked, knowing that time was of the essence, so if this girl said yes, then he would help her but convince her to do whatever she was planning at a later time. She looked thoughtful for a moment and a small smile played with the corners of her mouth, as if she knew a secret that he didn’t. However, she didn’t say what but instead said,
“Thank you, Theo but I will be fine. I know this place better than most people.”
“You do?” he asked, surprised by her answer, but even more by her next reply.
“I grew up here.” She laughed once when she saw his shocked expression. Yes, she supposed it would be a hard thought to grasp, considering she was roughly the same age as the teens but had still not joined them. Not through lack of trying, she might add. But oh no, there was always some lame excuse in her world… ‘the stars are yet to align’, ‘the fates have not yet decided’, ‘the Gods have yet to cast judgement on such things’…yada, yada, yada…Well she was sick of it.
For once she just wanted to act like a normal teenager and actually have friends that weren’t old enough to remember things like, ‘Oh remember when that dude, JC turned up who could walk on water and rocked the civilised world.’ Okay, so mainly that would be Pip saying that but still, was it too much to ask for someone to talk to that had been born in this century? In fact, if she stayed there any longer she would be saying things like ‘Thee vexes me’ and ‘I do declare’.
But Boy Wonder here wouldn’t understand she thought bitterly, as not many would, instantly feeling guilty for thinking such things. Especially about someone who was only trying to help her.
“Then maybe you can help me instead. I am looking for a way down into the lower levels.” Her eyes widened after Theo said this.
“Why on earth would you want to go down into that vile place?” she asked, shuddering and pulling her oversized, long knitted cardigan around herself in comfort, one that was made from chunky, soft grey wool.
“I have a friend who went down there and could be lost.” Theo said, thinking it best to just keep it simple.
“Then you’d better hurry or…” She paused as if what she was going to say next was tactless and insensitive.
“Or what?”
“I am sorry, I shouldn’t have…let’s just say your friend obviously needs your help more than I do.” Hearing this didn’t fill Theo with masses of confidence, that was for sure. But then at least she took pity on him enough to tell him the way. She even went one step further and after fishing around in her bag, she wrote down on a piece of paper a few tips for him, telling him not to look at it until he was down there, as only then would it make sense.
“Thanks. So are you gonna tell me your name before you run away,” he said and she blushed again.
“That obvious is it?” He nodded to her bag that was almost bursting and said,
“Well, you are packed and about to crawl out of a window…it’s not the most conventional way to leave otherwise.”
“Look, like I said, its none of my business and I…” he started to say, having pity on her, when she suddenly blurted out her name,
“My name is Faith but my friends call me Fae.” Theo smiled and said,
“It’s good to meet you, Fae.” And before he knew what he was doing he was extending his hand for her to take. He didn’t even realise his mistake until she had placed her slender hand in his. But instead of causing her pain and weakness like he was afraid of, she simply shook his hand.
“Warmth.” The word whispered past his lips before he could stop it, as he had never felt anything like it before. It was as if her touch had awakened something deep inside him, as if opening up the door to a secret chamber he had unknowingly locked shut. Her smile quickly disappeared and she pulled her hand free.
“I am sorry, I shouldn’t have…” She didn’t finish but shook her head and looked away, as if suddenly ashamed of herself.
“Hey, it’s okay, you didn’t do anything wrong,” he reassured her, now seeing something in her that he saw in himself…self-doubt. But she wasn’t listening and instead she pushed open the window and climbed up, using her foot on the stone ledge. She was halfway out and looking down at the balcony when she stopped.
“Theo…” She called his name without looking at him and Theo paused himself.
“Yeah?”
“It’s true what they all say, you know…” she said and Theo could hear the smile in her words even if for the moment, he couldn’t see it. So, he went on to ask,
“Yeah, and what’s that?” She took another moment and this time looked back at him over her shoulder and said something that in that moment he had never needed to hear as much…not where he was going.
She grinned big at him and said,
“You do have a hero’s heart.”
And then she was gone.
30
The Glass Dagger
Theo followed the route that Fae had told him about and other than making one wrong turn, when he had to back track, he found the main staircase that led him down. And boy did it lead him down he thought, looking over the side of the spiral staircase and not seeing an end.
It reminded Theo of something better suited to a castle and he had to ask himself how long this place had been there, as it seemed centuries older than it could have possibly been. From what he could remember from history class and the basics they had touched on world history, America was only founded on the 4 July 1776, yet this place looked like something from the 13th century!
“Zane, you scared the shit outta me!” he snapped but Zane just raised a sceptical eyebrow and said,
“Yeah well you fed me a load of BS about not coming down here yet came yourself, so I think we are even.”
“Point made,” Theo said swallowing his guilt.
“So, are we really gonna do this?” Zane asked nodding to the spiral staircase that looked more like a giant stone corkscrew that could have led straight into Hell.
“I guess we are,” Theo said before taking the first steps down.
“What do you think is down there?” Zane asked, no doubt trying to concentrate on anything but the creepy descent.
“I’m not sure, but my guess is it’s nothing good,” Theo replied, trying to not let his head spin at the sight of how far it went down. The height didn’t affect him, it never did as he loved to be up high, but this was more dizzying thanks to the continuous circling motion it took to get down there. They seemed to go on forever but at least they could see what they were doing thanks to the full moon shining through the slits for windows, that were positioned at every turn.
“Whoa!” Zane said slipping on a step and saving himself just in time.
“You okay back there?” Theo asked as he too had noticed that the further down they travelled the more damp and slippery the stone steps became.
“Yeah but come on, you would think with all that money they would have at least put in a lift or something.” Theo didn’t reply but silently had to agree with his friend, asking himself a few times, when would it ever end.
“So, the hot chick with glasses, did she say anything about what could be down here then?” Zane asked making Theo groan.
“Just how long were you following me?”
“Pretty much since I saw you coming out of Janie’s door like someone had a gun to your head.” Well that had been entirely possible considering his mind had been too focused on finding her than who was watching him.
“And since I knew you weren’t going to face danger in tartan flannel trousers and bare feet, I just waited for you to leave your room,” Zane confessed and Theo had to admit that he was impressed. He hadn’t known anyone was following him, so it had to be said the boy had skills…although for now Theo thought it better to keep that to himself as knowing Zane he would take that as the go ahead to make sneaking around his new hobby.
“Finally,” Theo muttered as soon after they reached the last step and came face to face with a door. The door was jammed a little but when they both put their weight behind it, the stubborn wood gave way. They walked through and both took in a deep breath, as it no longer smelt damp. Their eyes also had to adjust to the new, brightly lit room they had just entered and Zane’s must have cleared sooner than Theo’s as he heard him whistle before he knew what it was about.
“What is this place?” Theo asked aloud, even though he knew Zane wouldn’t have the answer to this one.
“I don’t know but I am sure of one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“That if Indiana Jones was a real dude, then he would be peeing his antique man pants right about now.” And Theo had to agree with him as the place was a treasure trove of everything from historical artefacts to strange glowing orbs. It looked like a shrine to both the world of the supernatural and its history combined. It was a long, wide room that had holes carved out of the rock walls and each were used to display something of great value. It kind of reminded Theo of walking into some supernatural museum, with everything from exquisite jewels, to half broken pots covered in symbols.
“Wonder what used to be here?” Zane said, nodding to a strange black pool of water that looked as if it once had something sat on top of its now empty plinth that could just be seen under the veil of liquid.
“I don’t know but my guess is it wasn’t anything you’re likely to see in the British Museum on Great Russell St, that’s for damn sure.” Theo said, thinking of home and the busy streets of London.
“Let’s keep going,” Zane said, nodding to the door at the other end and Theo agreed. But he was unable to help his wandering eyes from taking in each and every object housed in the carved holes, being utterly fascinated. He had no idea what they were or the significance of each piece, obviously needing the man who owned the collection for that information. One he very much doubted would happily do so when they weren’t even supposed to be down there in the first place.
Theo carried on walking…or so he thought.
“Uh…dude, you coming?” Zane asked and Theo didn’t know what had happened, but he strangely found himself standing opposite something he had no memory of even walking up to. It was as though his movements were suddenly a blurred reaction of what he thought he was doing.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Theo, it could trip an alarm or…oh okay, so too late,” Zane said and once again Theo looked down to see he was now holding something. But when did he move his arm?
“I don’t know…” Theo was suddenly cut off when a series of age old images slammed into his memory bank, as if it was being branded there for all eternity. Scenes of the sky clouded with arrows, raining down on an ancient army below. A barbaric King that led that army falling to the ground after taking a spear to his shoulder. And then a heroic beauty with hair as golden as the surrounding sands of time.
She held in her hand a glass spear, plunging it into the chest of a living monster, letting the glass fill with blood before telling it that even a God could die on Earth.
She had been incredible. Like a warrior Goddess fighting against the evils of the world. But it all ended with an eternal scar left upon the earth and Theo was stood at its very core. Black sand started to slowly rise up all around, as though some invisible force was trying to take it away and cleanse the earth of its lasting evil.
Theo began to feel something in his hand and he looked down to see he was holding the glass spear. It was the same one that he had seen embedded in the King’s shoulder and the same one that was then plunged into the chest of an unearthly being.
Only now, it had been made into a glass dagger and one filled with the blood of an evil God.
Theo asked himself why. Why him? Why had he been chosen? But as if it could read his thoughts, a voice spoke to him from above the black dust that was still funnelling around him.
“The blood of yours, is now the blood of mine, and the blood of mine, will rise again… to take it back!”
“THEO?!” He heard Zane’s voice calling him from a distance but when he looked around he could see nothing but ancient sands of time, once scorched upon the earth, telling him the story of how they came to be. Then came the pain.
Theo screamed out, landing on his knees as he felt the burning in his hand. He looked down at the blade to see the handle had fused itself to his skin so that he couldn’t drop it. Its metal spikes cast upon the handle had also twisted round and embedded themselves into his hand, like a locking mechanism, so that he couldn’t let go. The glass started to crack, signalling for the ritual to begin. This was when the once blood filled dagger started to drain away, seeping through the cracks and running down the glass onto Theo’s hand, as though his inner power was drawing in, sucking it from its once empty vessel, and now into the depths of a living breathing one…Theo.
He screamed again, feeling it travelling through his veins like venom burning his cells in its wake. Theo felt as though he was both dying inside and getting stronger with each fill of his lungs. Like two powers were fighting each other for dominance and in the end so as not to destroy each other, they simply merged together, as if good was no longer fighting the bad.
Like Demon no longer fighting Angel.
It felt like…
Like destiny.
31
Stone Eyes Watching
“Theo…Theo?!” Zane shouted his friend’s name, as the second he picked up that dagger he knew something was wrong. In fact, the second Theo had moved towards it Zane knew his friend wasn’t acting of his own accord. It was as though something was compelling him towards that glass dagger, almost like the blood trapped inside it was speaking to him. Zane knew it sounded crazy but even he himself could feel the power buzzing around it like it was conducting electricity or something.
He had called his name a few times but there had been nothing. It was suddenly as if he wasn’t in the room. His body was still there but his mind was locked away in a place Zane couldn’t reach.
“Uh Theo man, I think maybe you should put it…whoa, what’s happening to all the red stuff?” Zane asked not knowing whether Theo could even hear him. But Zane didn’t take it as a good sign when his friend started crying out in pain before dropping to his knees.
“THEO!” Zane shouted his name and ran back to him, shaking his shoulders as if this would help to bring him back. He looked down at the dagger and tried to pull it from him but Zane ended up crying out himself as it burned his skin the second he made contact. He cradled his hand to his chest and looked down, feeling helpless to do anything. No, it seemed that it would only release its hold on Theo once all the liquid had drained away, only Zane couldn’t see where it was disappearing to. But as he’d guessed, the second the very last drop had gone Theo gasped in air, as though he had been close to passing out. He fell forward on his hands just as the dagger skittered across the floor.
“Theo?! Are you alright?!” Zane asked placing a hand on his back, letting him know he wasn’t alone. Theo took a few minutes to compose himself enough to move. He just nodded at first, letting his concerned friend know that he was okay.
“What the hell was that?!” Zane asked once he managed to get Theo back to his feet. Theo looked down at his hand to see a new red mark had appeared, like an ancient scar from the past had made its way through the vision. It was the symbol of the Alpha and Omega combined and Theo was trying to think of where he had seen that symbol before.
The Glass Dagger (Afterlife Chronicles Book 1) Page 24