Each step I took, the earth began to shake, like we were walking on rust or a crisp layer of quick sand.
Creeks and sounds of cracking wood filled the air; I peered down only to find dust, lightly floating on top of the ground.
“We have to move, fast!” Seth called out with a fierce voice. He grabbed Beth by the hand and began to move quickly, sprinting heavily across the crumbling dirt below us. Through the panic and commotion, I headed for my sister and mother; I wasn’t going to lose them, not now, not ever. Mable was clutched onto my mother’s wrist, frantically moving and tugging for Devon.
“Come on!” I yelled grabbing hold of my mother. Nate spied me, his fingers turning aimlessly around my palm to push me forward. The horizon kept growing further as we ran like there was no end to escape.
215
Glancing back every few times, my neck started to crank; the ground fell into a dark peek behind me. I accelerated my speed, not knowing how fast I was going.
“Stop!” Called out Beth who froze in place, Sage in hand. “We have to jump.”
Marrow immediately spoke without question, his blue eyes glowing, electrifying with a heated darkness.
“Down there?” He pointed. “No, not a chance of that happening.” He shook his head several times. We are going to die.
Beth glared downwards, her eyes completely focused on the scenery below us; endless darkness and an eerie quiet of unending depths.
“It’s the only way,” her voice was scratchy and unsure, but determined. I trusted her, no matter how much I didn’t want to.
I held the hand of my mother who was still shaken by what had happened behind us. I wished that my other hand was not occupied by Nate, but Annabelle’s; although, the warmth and tight hold of Nate made me feel protected. He moved his hand around my waist and securely wrapped all fingers around my hip bone.
“Are you okay to jump?” Nate whispered, moving closely behind me.
I felt a tingling rush of emotion even though the situation we were currently in was more important-Nate made me important.
I swallowed hard, like a knife was cutting my throat as the words struggled out.
“I guess that-,” I choked out. “There’s no other way.”
216
Marrow staggered backwards, throwing a rock down the hole. “How do you expect us to do this? Just jump and God knows what happens after that?” His tone was shaky, and for the first time, afraid.
My first instinct was to watch Beth and Sage whose heads turned to each other and nodded. They grabbed each other’s hands and ran off the cliff, jumping into the darkness.
I released Nate’s hand and ran to the edge.
“No!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
I knew they were already below me. “Mom,” I began in a panic, shaking vigorously at her arm.
“Mom!” Her face was hard and filled with fear and shock. “Mom, we have to go, we have to jump. We can’t-,” I was stuttering looking over and about. “We can’t just leave them there!”
“What do you suppose we do, Kaylin?” Her voice, loud and impatient. “They aren’t alive!”
In the near distance I heard the earth vibrating and bit by bit, the ground we were standing on began to crack. I didn’t want to leave my mom, Mable, Ethan, everyone. I didn’t, but there was no other choice. I walked up to Nate and grabbed his hand.
“Do you trust me?” I held tighter. Kaylin...what are you doing...
He nodded, swallowing the words he could have shot back. I lead him towards the edge, glanced back once at my mom and mouthed ‘I’m sorry’ before jumping off, only Nate hearing my scream.
Chapter 13
Screaming was the only sound I heard before I felt the cold surface beneath me. I heard an echo of my name with my mother’s voice, and Nate’s from Marrow’s, but that’s all it was. Echoes. How are you not dead Kaylin? You fell like a hundred feet. Why am I talking to myself? I did fall a hundred feet.
I’ll protect you...
My father. He was here, I felt it. Watching over me. He saved me from this fall.
I rubbed my arms and felt absolutely nothing. How could this even be possible if it wasn’t my father? Maybe that meant Beth and Sage were okay too? Nate?
218
Nate.
Oh my God, where was he? As my eyes began adjusting, I searched the encircling darkness around the
cave that we appeared to be in. The light above me only projected on one area, and that was the place where I hit the ground. I flamed my hand for light and placed it above my face.
“No,” I breathed out when I saw Nate plastered against a boulder. No, no, please, no.
Sprinting to him vigorously, I saw his head, a mass of blood.
“Nate,” I shook at him. “Nate, wake up!”
I couldn’t take my impatience and fear. I couldn’t lose Nate. No, not him. Not after this.
“Please,” I released once more. I realized tears of fire were already burning my skin. I didn’t know what to do, my world was in spirals.
Help me, please. Dad...I tried, over and over again. Shaking him, but he wouldn’t move.
How was I okay? Through this entire shit show; how was I untouched without anything, and my sister, Nate, they paid the price. No, Nate. You aren’t dying today. I can save you. I can save you.
I placed my flaming hand against his wound with the smallest amount of energy I had left, the cuts sizzling into a red heat.
Please, please, please. I felt his body tense at first, but at least it tensed. It was something. He was moving, he was alive. He was okay.
I could help the tears dripping down my face as he slowly opened his eyes, ashy blonde hair covering the blueness of his pupils.
219
“Nate,” I let out a cry of relief.
He looked around and shook his head, pushing his left arm out to stabilize himself. I didn’t say one word. I
gave him a moment to scan the place as I watched him, his shoulder twitching and his muscles flexing. I need to look at you and know you will never leave me.
His gaze returned to me as he stared, saying nothing.
“Nate, are you -”
And just like that, he pulled me in and pressed his crusted lips against mine.
A real kiss. The kiss I wanted so desperately, his kiss, Nate’s. I didn’t know what to do in this very moment. All the tears were gone, that’s for sure. Heat filled my core, rising up to my lips. I was crouched on my knees leaning in awkwardly as he wrapped both his arms around my waist, making me stumble. Keeping it real like always.
I felt the curves of his mouth form into a smile, laughing as he parted his lips over and over again with mine.
This was the first time I ever kissed someone, touched someone this way, and cared so deeply for someone. In that infinite moment, I didn’t want anything to stop. I was here, and it was just Nate and I.
As I positioned my legs over top of his, my fingers played through his hair, feeling the sweat of intensity. We both wanted this moment. His hands tightened around my back, pulling me in even closer than I was before. I was directly positioned up against his chest, my hands around his neck. The air was heavy, but this moment, Nate and I felt light.
220
He kissed me once, and then retreated back slowly, planting another kiss on my cheekbone and slid his hands down my arms to my wrists. His blue eyes burned into mine, taking one hand and kissing it gently, intertwining
our fingers together. He brushed the strands of hair out of my face and placed his forehead against mine.
“It’s definitely destiny,” he whispered.
At that exact moment, my mind wandered to various places. Places I probably should not have been thinking about at this moment. All this time I believed it was The Enchantress messing with all of us, but could it actually be true? I left my place in reality, laying there tirelessly on the surface of Nate’s lap, wanting to embrace him one more time.
He kissed me once m
ore before I could continue my inner dialogue. “I could kiss you forever.”
“Then why don’t you?” I smiled, not realizing how gross I sound.
“I wish I could,” he began moving his legs away from me. “But Beth and Sage are somewhere on this ground and the rest are above ground.”
I stood up and placed my hands in my pockets, agreeing. Obviously my sexual drive was not something I ever wanted to think about, but hell was it ever there. That is selfish. He noticed my discontent and opened his arms to me. I never wanted to be somewhere so much than in his grasp, but I knew what we had to do. I looked upwards to the rest of our loved ones and nodded to Nate.
He moved towards me and placed both hands around his mouth.
“Do you hear me?” He yelled, the cave echoing his voice.
221
I knew that the sound would take a few seconds to travel considering we were below and they were up high, but a voice called back to us sooner than I expected.
Marrow’s.
“Well we aren’t deaf, are we brother?”
I rolled my eyes and Nate yelled back, “Jump when I tell you!”
I didn’t realize what Nate was about to do, because I had no clue what I would’ve done. I watched as he rushed to one end of the cave creating a glowing blue circle through the palms of his hands, and quickly hurried to the opposite side of the wall doing the same thing. The two circles lit up and floated above the ground. Everything started to shake and rumble, rocks flying down from the sides of the walls. I stumbled over a rock while a light blue outline covered the entire ground underneath me. It looked like some type of net, it had to be. Genius.
Nate joined me in the middle and called out. “Okay, jump!”
Above me, I saw a shadow falling rapidly. The build was similar to Nate’s so I knew it was Marrow; most daring, impatient and loud.
I shielded my head with my forearms and watched as the blue bubble above us trapped Marrow in a delicate blob. I could tell that the rest saw Marrow land safe and began jumping. It looked like fallen angels or birds descending, it was actually quite breathtaking.
I watched everyone finally make it to the ground safely, contented at how no one got hurt. As soon as they all made it to the ground, Nate ran to the corners and crushed the floating blue circles with his hands, causing everyone to fall just a few feet from the ground.
222
“Jesus Nate, next time tell me before you drop me on my ass.” Marrow rubbed his knees and stretched his back.
For some reason, he didn’t have a shirt on. Maybe he was tending to a wound? His back muscles clashed together tightly in a single motion. I tried to look away but I couldn’t; he was sort of beautiful. His fawned hair complimenting the cobalt occupying his pupils, the way his jaw clenched every time he would speak and his deep voice that masked everyone else’s. Kaylin what is wrong with you? Stop thinking like this.
I couldn’t afford to think of anyone like that, even Nate, and especially Marrow. But for some reason, this is what made it more challenging. Why are you thinking this way of Marrow, even for the slightest second? Why did I see his normal form?
I looked away as soon as he caught me gazing. Shit. He moved towards me and put his arm around my waist to lift me off the ground.
“You hurt?” He asked using the slightest muscle to lift me.
“Not exactly.” I shook my head in the cradle of his arm peering down at my skin.
“I should be asking you that, it was quite a fall. I mean, two feet?” I laughed.
He grinned at me, not taking his eyes away from me and pulled me closer to him. I could see light stubble against his face as he hugged my waist, pulling me tighter, and then letting me go just like that.
I found myself wanting him to hold me longer. God, why did I feel this way? I fell into a confused state of inner
223
dialogue once more, when I felt the pressure of someone against my body, tugging me into an embrace.
“Kaylin, I thought you died! That fall-,”she was
panicking.
“Mom, I’m fine.”
I hugged her back before she could react, pulling Mable in beside me. Just, Mable. Not Annabelle, never Annabelle again.
I knew right then and there, I wasn’t fine. I was far from fine. I was a disaster.
“We need to keep searching.” Stated Lore dusting off his torn pants. “We’re underground which means the sensor mark is ineffective.”
If that was the case, we really did need to find Beth and Sage as fast as we could. Where could they possibly have gone, this place has nothing? Where even were we?
“God, why is it so hot?” Marrow asked irritated, rubbing the sweat off his forehead. I didn’t feel anything, but I noticed that everyone else’s heads were gleaming with sweat, besides...my family.
I tilted my head to see a bright light coming from the only opening in the cave. I walked a few steps further to find two paths, both illuminated by, fire.
Now I know where we are. My stage.
“So, the sensor mark doesn’t work but does the map?” Asked Paul, making his way to my side.
Lore nodded his head. “Yes, it is still effective. It says we should go left.”
224
I could visibly see that the sweat was overtaking him. “Lyle,” he questioned. “Is there anything you could do about this heat?”
If there was, I wouldn’t have been the one to know it. Even with all the power and knowledge I felt being in my stage, my strongest, nothing came to mind. For some reason though, my mother knew. She nodded her head and blew out a ball of fire, creating a shield around us all keeping the heat waves out. I didn’t know that it was possible to do that, but again, I had to remember where we were and how much we were now capable of. We were about to cross one cave to the other when a transparent wall blocked our path: The Labyrinth keeper. Really? Now? I thought that The Labyrinth keeper only came at the end?
“It’s dangerous yet valuable, brilliant yet horrible, can endanger or save, risk life or be brave.” Its voice was like thunder through the cave, echoing in my ears.
I didn’t need any help with this one. It automatically came to me, without the help of my father or the wind. I knew, and I wasn’t about to waste time. I could tell we were near. We went through all four elements, and this was the last.
I stood in front of the keeper and crossed my arms. “Fire,” I said.
Immediately, the hologram turned its shaded face to look at me.
“The Enchantress will be pleased to see you, my dear…”
The Labyrinth keeper disappeared in an instant. What? Did she know we were coming? Marrow ran his
225
hand through the space in front of him, revealing that the wall had vanished.
We walked through side by side, turning to the path on the left. A radiation of heat slapped me in the face.
Immediately I saw that the entire cave was surrounded with fire. The shield that protected us all disappeared and my mother fell to the ground in an instant.
“Mom!” I yelled, running to her side.
“Help!” I heard someone yell from behind me.
Liz.
“It’s burning me!”
Everything after this was pain. Surging pain. In that instant I could see that electrified bolts of heat were chaining people down, pulling them towards the wall of fire. Liz’s hands were wrapped up by fire-filled metal as orange and red dripped down to her arms.
“Help, me!” She screamed at the top of her lungs.
I couldn’t do this. I had to make a decision, and I couldn’t. Think. Please Kaylin, think.
I knew that the chains wouldn’t badly injure our family, and if they did, we would know how to break ourselves free.
Conclude this. Therefore, my mother wouldn’t have been affected even if she was passed out.
“Devon,” I reacted fast. “Tend to mom.”
He nodded to me as I ran over to Liz, placing my arms arou
nd her waist and pulling her. I watched a mixture of flesh and violet liquid pouring down her arms. My eyes burned looking at the heat, melting her. This isn’t happening. Please, no.
226
“Kaylin, it’s not working,” she coughed out.
“Help me!” I heard Paul scream. I turned around to see his legs caught up in chains, being pulled to the wall as Ethan grabbed hold of his arms. Mable ran up to Ethan holding his waist, trying to pull Paul back but it was no use.
Everything is slow. Please, help me, dad. I can’t do this. I can’t save everyone.
A chain wrapped around Ethan’s arm, then Mable’s ankle. Screams came from every single direction.
I didn’t know what to do.
Nate and Marrow were next as chains wrapped around both of their necks, dragging them to the wall. Lore looked to me and rushed to help his sons. How was it possible to fight fire with fire?
I froze.
There’s nothing left you can do. You’re going to lose everyone. You can’t fight this.
“Kaylin,” Liz struggled to say. “Let me go.”
Was she crazy, did I hear correctly? I didn’t even think about what to say. There was no way in hell I would ever let that happen. I am never letting anyone go anymore.
“Liz, I’m going to help you!”
I flamed my hand and placed it over the chains, but it didn’t budge. I tried everything, I tried, everything.
It pulled her and tugged her, wrapping around her triceps, then her shoulder.
“Kaylin, you have to save them!” She screamed in agony.
Let the tears burn your skin Kaylin. You can’t save her. Listen to her, let her go. You can’t save her but you can save everyone else.
227
I turned to look at everyone around me being pulled to the wall, although as much as I didn’t want to admit it, Liz was the closest to burn.
“Let, me, go.” She pleaded.
I felt tears begin to roll down my face, burning my cheeks as they flowed down to my neck. I couldn’t accept it. I couldn’t, I can save her.
Enchanted: The Labyrinth Page 18