“Rumors yes, passed down through the ancients… but what if they weren’t rumors, that would explain all of this,” Maleth said.
“Why have I not heard of these?” Chevalier asked, irritated.
“You hated the ancients from the moment one of them made you. They weren’t about to tell you about their games,” Leonid said.
“So... enlighten me on these rumors,” Chevalier said. He looked down at Allen, who was asleep in his arms.
“They were called Mortal Traps. They were enchanted so only mortals could enter. This kept any heku from going in and saving them,” Leonid said, still watching the wall. “Once the mortal was inside, the ancients would gather and watch what was going on inside the trap. The entertainment came from the ability of the trap to read fears and emotions of the mortals. Ancients enjoyed watching as mortals were faced with their greatest fears, and eventually either starved to death or went insane.”
“They were all sealed when the ancients were banished,” Maleth said.
“Apparently not all of them,” Damon said, hiding his amusement.
“What do you mean the ancients could view them? How?” Kyle asked.
“They were just rumors,” Leonid said again.
“How?” Chevalier asked, watching Allen.
“There were portals by the trap entrance that would let them see what was going on inside. The torches were the source of the enchantment. They become active whenever they hear a mortal’s voice,” Leonid said, sitting down.
“What are other options?” Chevalier asked.
“It’s a Mortal Trap, everything fits,” Damon said.
“Just for the sake of argument, what was rumored to happen when a mortal got out of the trap?” Kyle asked.
Leonid shook his head, “None got out.”
“We can solve this… let’s summon the portal and see if it’s here,” Mark suggested.
“How was it done?” Chevalier asked, looking at Leonid.
“It takes an ancient,” he told them.
Everyone grew quiet as they considered other options.
“Think a quarter ancient could open it?” Kyle asked, turning to Allen.
Chevalier frowned, “What would he have to do?”
“It won’t hurt to try, right?” Kyle asked.
“No, it won’t hurt,” Leonid said, and blurred out of the room. He came back less than a minute later with a book.
“Allen?” Chevalier said shaking him gently. “Wake up.”
Allen rubbed his eyes and sat up, “Is Mommy back?”
“Not yet, I need you to do me a favor.”
“What?” he asked, and then yawned.
Chevalier looked at Leonid, who was skimming through a book.
“Aha, here it is,” he said. “Ok Allen, put your hands up and say Ostendo mihi.”
Allen frowned, “What?”
Chevalier whispered into Allen’s ear. He lifted his hands and said “Ostendo mihi.”
The fireplace roared to life, and an image slowly appeared in the flames. As the image cleared, the heku saw Emily standing in a dark hallway with a torch in her hand. She was looking around and breathing rapidly.
“Answers that,” Damon said, sitting down in front of the fireplace.
“Get out,” Chevalier said to him. Damon nodded and blurred from the room.
“Would you like us to leave?” Maleth asked, and put his hand on Chevalier’s shoulder.
“Sam take Allen. The rest of you can stay,” he said, moving his chair closer to the flames. “We need to find her a way out of there.”
The other heku joined him and watched intently.
“I’m sorry Chevalier. I had no idea there was a Mortal Trap in this palace,” Maleth said, sadly.
Chevalier just watched.
Emily stood up and looked down the corridor a little further. She walked forward, and then paused to read something written on the wall. She held the torch up and read the red words ‘Never trust a heku. You will die down here.’
She ignored the writing and looked back down the hallway, where she saw a dark opening. Emily held the torch up and walked forward slowly. The image in the flames followed her as she rounded the corner, and raised the torch to see into the room.
She walked in, carefully avoiding the skeleton crumpled in the corner. She ran her fingers along words etched into the far wall. Emily spun quickly and held the torch up when she thought she heard movement from the corner. She watched the skeleton for a few moments, and then noticed the shoes lying by his decayed feet. Her breath vapors came more rapidly as she crawled slowly toward the skeleton with her hand reached out.
As she touched the shoelace, she wrapped a finger around it and watched the skeleton carefully as she brought one shoe towards her. In a flash, the skeleton reached out and grabbed her wrist. Emily screamed and jerked her body backwards, pulling against the skeleton’s grasp. She kicked a bare foot up and caught the skeleton in the face. The skull fell off of the body and rolled against the wall. She yelled as she pried the bone fingers from her wrist, dropping the torch in the process. Once she felt the fingers release, she ran into the corridor, tripping over something, she fell to the ground.
“Light,” she yelled, and looked up and down the corridor quickly when the torches lit.
Emily leaned against the wall and pulled her knees up to her chest. She ran her hands along her arms trying to warm them. Her feet were freezing because of the cold ground, and her t-shirt wasn’t helping at all to keep her warm.
“Emi?” she heard someone call to her.
She looked toward the sound, and scrambled to her feet, “Dad?”
Emily walked down the corridor, following the voice.
“Come to me Emi. You need to hurry,” the voice said.
Emily began to run. The torches lit a few steps in front of her. She stopped suddenly when she saw Allen standing ahead of her, smiling.
“You look good, Emi,” he said, putting his arms out to her.
“Dad?” she asked again, and took one step closer.
Chevalier growled and his anger filled the room.
Allen put his arms down and smiled, “It’s good not to trust.”
“Why are you here?” she asked, stopping a few feet in front of him.
“It’s important that you listen to me, very important. Do you understand?” he told her, sternly.
Emily nodded.
“The heku Emi,” His eyes were sad. “Do you remember what I told you when you were a little girl? What I told you about the strangers that bit you?”
“You said to stay away from them,” she said.
“I know you think he loves you, Emi, but he doesn’t… he’s a heku, all he wants is the blood you have, and the ability,” he said to her, his eyes were warm and caring.
“He loves me, Dad,” she said to him.
Allen shook his head, “No, he doesn’t. You need to trust me on this. Is he controlling?”
Emily frowned and nodded.
“Is he short-tempered and easily angered?”
She nodded again.
“Get away from him while you can, Emily. The heku do not love mortals. They use them,” Allen said, concerned.
“You don’t know these ones. They aren’t using me.” She tried to make him understand.
“Emi, you have to trust me. These are no better than the ones that fed off of you as a child. They want children from you. They want your bloodline, that’s all. I warned your mother, too, and look what happened,” he said, and took a step backwards.
“Dad, wait, don’t go,” she walked after him.
“I can’t stay. I just had to warn you,” he said, and disappeared into the dark shadows.
“Dad!” Emily said, running forward. She stopped when the empty corridor lit up in front of her.
Emily fell to her knees and watched where her Dad disappeared.
Chevalier leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees, “How did they find this amusing?”
Leonid sho
ok his head, “I don’t know.”
Emily stood up and looked up at the torches. She grabbed one and jammed it hard into the dirt floor so it stood up. She sat down by it and pushed her hands toward the flames. She frowned and sat her hand directly into the fire.
“No warmth. Nice,” she said, and stood up again. She looked both ways down the corridor. “Come on Emily…”
Sighing, Emily set off down the long corridor again. She came to another room and peered around inside, “Light.”
The room lit up and she checked twice, there were no skeletons. Emily looked carefully at the walls. Ancient drawings were painted on them, and they reminded her of the old cave paintings left by the Mayans.
She looked closer and realized they read like a story. First was a peaceful village, the people hunted and played. Then a heku arrived, his teeth were exaggerated in the old drawing. The story was continued on the next wall, and she followed along with it. Once the heku began to make friends with the people of the village, he moved in with them. Late one night, he descended on them in a mass slaughter. The next pictograph showed the heku laughing while blood dripped down his chin.
Emily frowned and turned around when she saw a shadow move. She put her back against the wall when a strange heku entered.
“Who are you?” she asked him.
“The Elder sent me to find you, are you ok?” he asked, concerned.
Emily nodded and smiled, “I’m ok, just cold.”
Chevalier’s fists tightened on the chair, and the wood splintered at his touch.
“Ready to go back to the palace?” he asked.
“More than ready,” she said, taking a step toward him.
“I’ll need payment first,” the heku said, and watched her.
Emily froze and took a step back, “What did you say your name is?”
“I don’t think I did.” He knocked her down quickly and sunk his teeth into her neck. His body pinned her to the cold floor.
Emily screamed and pushed at him. He suddenly disappeared and she got to her feet, clutching her neck. Panting, she looked at her hand, there was no blood. She felt her neck and the puncture wounds she expected to feel weren’t there.
Emily staggered out into the corridor again, still breathing quickly, “Light.”
The corridor’s torches lit up.
Emily blew her breath into her hands, trying to warm them, but it didn’t work. Rubbing her arms with her hands, she sat down against the wall. She sat for hours and rocked on the cold ground.
“Emily,” the voice sounded from ahead of her and she froze, her body tensing.
“No,” Chevalier hissed.
“Keith?” Emily whispered, and her ex-husband stepped out of the shadows, smiling.
Emily took a step back. He was smiling and coming to her with his arms open wide.
“Stay back,” she said, putting her hand out.
“Oh come on. I can help you,” he said, and stopped. He adjusted the Stetson on his head and watched her.
“No you can’t, go away,” she said, angrily.
“I can, I can show you how to get back to him, Emily, back to Chevalier and Allen. They are really worried about you,” he sounded worried.
“You… you are going to show me back to them?” Emily frowned.
“Of course. The vampires are good for you. I can see that now,” Keith took a step back. “I loved you. I just didn’t know how to show it. I only want what’s best for you, and that’s Chevalier.”
“I don’t believe you,” she said, hesitating.
“You don’t have to believe me. Let me take you back to him,” Keith said, putting a hand out.
Emily’s eyes filled with terror, and she turned and ran away from him. The footsteps behind her kept up with her pace, and she pushed herself harder, yelling for the lights every few seconds so she didn’t run into a skeleton.
Emily emerged into the kitchen of the Montana ranch house and she stopped. The tile floor was too cold against her bare feet. She turned to look behind her, and the passageway was gone. Only the back wall of the kitchen was there.
“Mommy!” she heard Allen call to her from the bedroom. She ran through the doorway and looked around. The room was covered in blood. It dripped from the ceiling and slid sickeningly down the walls.
Emily jumped at the heku on the bed. He had his teeth sunk into Allen’s neck and the toddler was no longer moving. She landed on his back and wrenched his neck hard to the side. The heku fell against the bed, not moving.
Emily picked up Allen’s lifeless body and cradled him in her arms. She kissed his bloody forehead and cried.
“Come on, Baby, wake up,” she said, as tears streamed down her face.
“I’m sorry, Emily. It was an accident. I didn’t mean to,” Kyle said, standing up from the bed as blood fell down his chin.
“Wha… what…” Kyle said from the game room. He was horrified by his image in the fire.
Chevalier stood up, grabbed the pool table, and threw it at the wall, where it splintered into pieces and landed with a crash.
“You killed him,” Emily said to Kyle.
“You can have another, it’s ok,” Kyle said to her, smiling. “Let me take him, at least let me finish. I’m still thirsty.”
Emily glared at him and took a step back, “Stay away from him.”
“He’s already dead. It won’t hurt if I have just a little more,” Kyle said, moving toward her.
The heku in the game room knew the look on Emily’s face. She was trying to turn him into ash.
Emily screamed, frustrated, when Kyle didn’t even flinch as he reached out for Allen’s body.
“No!” Emily screamed at him, and turned to run. The dark corridor appeared behind her and she carried Allen’s body through the opening and into it.
“Light!” she screamed, and ran. She could hear Kyle walking quickly behind her, easily keeping up.
“Emily, stop,” she heard the familiar voice behind her. She turned quickly and looked at him.
“Troy?” she asked, frowning.
The man smiled, “We miss you at the office, Emily.”
“Help him,” she begged.
“Help who?” Troy asked. Emily looked down at her empty arms, then back to the man.
“Where did he go?”
“Listen to me Emily, have I ever lied to you?” Troy said.
“No”
“You have to get away. You have to leave the heku to save yourself,” he said, his voice soft and tender.
“But…” she said, not sure what to say.
“Remember when you told me about Keith? Remember how I told you to leave him and offered to lend you some money?” he reminded her.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“You didn’t take my advice, now you see I was right though.”
Emily nodded.
“So trust me this time. Get away while you still can. Take your son and run,” he said, stepping back into the shadows.
“Troy, don’t go,” she said to him, but it was too late.
Emily turned to the wall, her eyes opened wide. She could hear voices from the other side of the wall.
“Chev!” she screamed, and then pressed her ear against the wall. She could hear the familiar voices clearly.
“How much longer?” Maleth asked.
“It takes time. I have to play the part or she’ll get suspicious,” Chevalier answered.
“If it’s another boy?” Leonid questioned.
“Then we try again. We’ll just tell her the boy died at birth. We don’t need another brat running around the palace,” Chevalier said.
Emily frowned.
“Agreed, just keep trying,” Leonid suggested.
“Oh I will. She’s a sexy little thing,” Chevalier said.
“You aren’t becoming attached are you, Elder?” Maleth asked.
“Hell no, I’ll enjoy her while I can, but when the time comes, I’ll drain her without a second thought,” Chevalier sai
d, coldly.
Emily pulled away from the wall slowly.
Chevalier stopped watching the flames. He was watching his hands, enraged.
“I never said that,” Maleth said, frustrated. He looked at the other heku in the game room, “I swear.”
“We know,” Leonid told him, and touched his shoulder.
“The pattern is disturbing,” Mark said. “The ones she trusts, tell her to get away from us. The heku and the ones she don’t trust, tell her to stay with us.”
“Driving a wedge between the mortal and immortal worlds,” Maleth said, nodding.
Emily slunk down on the wall and sat on the cold ground. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms tightly around them, then sunk her head between her arms. Her entire body shook with cold and fear.
“We could get another mortal to go in after her,” Mark suggested.
“She won’t trust them,” Kyle said.
“There has to be something we can do. She’s been down there for almost 24 hours,” Mark said, frustrated.
“Even if we somehow managed to get a heku down there, what would they do? She wouldn’t listen to them, and if I had to guess, she’d run from them anyway,” Kyle said, watching Emily in the flames.
Emily screamed as two hands reached out and grabbed her bare feet. She kicked hard, but they pulled her down the corridor. The shadows were too dark to make out who it was. Emily turned to her stomach and tried to claw at the ground. She was dragged into a small room, and when the torches lit, she flipped back around.
“Hello, Sweetness,” Vaughn said, letting her feet go.
Emily scrambled to her feet and turned for the corridor, but the opening closed. There was only solid wall behind her. She turned around and put her back against the wall.
“Stay away from me,” she said to him.
He stepped toward her and pinned her to the wall with his body. He took her wrists in his hands, and extended her arms out, then ran his nose up her neck, inhaling.
Emily struggled to get out of his grasp, “Let me go!”
“Not until I get what I was promised,” he said, and ran his cold tongue up the side of her face.
Emily brought her knee up hard, but he was too tall and it didn’t connect with him.
“You need to learn some manners, Child,” Vaughn said, and kissed her roughly. He screamed and pulled away from her, grabbing his lip.
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