by W. J. May
A groaning creaking sound in front of her mixed with gasps of shock from behind her. She spun around to find a section of the floor sliding down at an angle.
"Oh, well done, Tessa." Her father strode to the opening and bent down, staring into the black abyss. "Stairs, let's go."
One by one they filed down the spiraling stairs. Tessa had to admit her nerves were getting the best of her. She didn't want the floor to close and lock them in while they were down there. Just the thought of that gave her the heebie jeebies. So did being left behind alone. Bolting down the stairs, she raced to catch up. As she reached them a horrible grating noise sounded.
Tessa spun around. The floor was rising – effectively sealing them in.
***
Jared let his head fall back. He closed his eyes, relief coursing through him with the easing of his tense muscles. So much pain. He wouldn't have thought it was possible to live through so much and still be alive.
Death had to be better than this.
Nutrients pumped into his body. Blood pulsed out of his body. He was a captive. For the rest of his life. And now the means of doing something about it had gone beyond him.
Tears collected in his eyes, and he hated that too. Anger stirred – faint at first… Then the beginning of resolve bloomed into determination, washing away the moment of weakness. He was Jared Enderby. He refused to let his life end like this.
There had to be something he could do. For the other humans who hung here at his side. For himself. For those that hadn't yet been caught.
He opened his eyes and stared at the rubber piping so close to him. His arms were encased in plastic to stop him from moving around. His legs were similarly suspended. He could bend slightly forward, but that was it.
Why couldn't he be unconscious like everyone else? Through the wave of pain, he vaguely recognized one of the orderlies standing in front of him, a look of concern on his face. The orderly motioned to someone to come over.
Why?
***
Cody stepped inside the mausoleum of a house and listened quietly. His gaze darted from side to side. The time to meet Ian and his father had come and gone. There was no sign of them. The door creaked behind him as Jewel joined him.
"Where are they?" she hissed against his ear.
"I don't know." Leaving the door wide open, Cody crept further into the house. Was anyone living here? And if they were, where were they? He was trespassing. For all he knew the owners were waiting to smash him over the head.
"How do we find them?" she whispered.
"I have no idea." They hadn't set up a plan B.
Crap. Cody looked around the cavernous room. Sheets covered the furniture…and nothing indicated that vampires lived here. Of course vampires often didn't inhabit the main areas of the house, as they tended to have too many windows that let in natural light.
"I don't want to call out – who knows what we'll wake up." Jewel wandered over to the large fireplace mantle, picking up photos before putting them down again. "Do we just wait here?"
"It's either that or go looking for them."
Jewel cast a long look around the deserted space and shook her head. "Don't like that idea much."
"So how long do we wait? And if they still don't show up, then what?"
Jewel’s lips pursed as she considered it. "Let's give them another fifteen minutes, and then we'll go and look."
"Sounds fair."
Slam.
Cody and Jewel swiveled in shock. The door had closed. Jewel rushed over and tugged on the handle. She spun around in a panic. "It's locked."
Cody refused to believe her. He tugged on the doorknob himself. "Damn it."
They were locked inside.
***
"Tessa, wait!" Her father raced behind her as she tried to outrun the floor as it closed. "You can't stop it. You'll end up getting hurt."
Clank!
The floor settled into place.
Tessa's throat started to close.
"Let's go." Her dad turned and started back toward Wendy and Jacob. "Come on, Tessa. Let's catch up with the others."
She spun around and watched him head back down the passage as if nothing had happened. "Go where? Don't you care that we're locked in?"
"No." His faint voice floated back to her as the others raced behind him. Tessa spun around and realized she was alone in the darkness.
"Wait for me," she yelled, and ran to catch up. Her finger smacked against the first corner. "Shit." Shoving it into her mouth she switched to her vampire vision. Why didn't she just keep the damn thing on? She was such an idiot.
You'd think she'd have learned by now. Not. She sped through the darkness, barely keeping the others in sight. The stone walls led her deeper underground. Stone floor gave way to hard-packed dirt, then, finally to sand. A heavy chill settled in. Ten minutes later, still running, she gasped for air and grabbed her side. The others showed no sign of slowing.
Purebloods. Sometimes she darned well hated them. Still grumbling, she picked up the pace and tried to catch up to her dad. Five minutes later she smacked into someone.
"Umph."
Tessa sprawled backwards on the floor.
"Damn it, Tess. Watch where you're going." Jacob turned to glower down at her. "And what are you doing on the floor?"
She glared at him as she scrambled to her feet. "Why'd you stop?" She looked around. "Are we here?"
"You tell us."
Tessa shot him a look as she struggled past him to her dad's side. "What's the matter?"
"Look." He pointed at the stone wall in front of them. They'd reached the end of the line. The passage stopped right in front of them. Tessa frowned. She spun around, looking for another way out.
"That doesn't make sense." The energy wisps had disappeared into the air a long time ago. "Maybe we missed the exit."
"And maybe we didn't. Maybe this is a dead end…a trap against intruders," Jacob scoffed at her.
Tessa ignored him. She'd never really liked this friend of David's. Not like she did some of the others. That Jacob had come at all had surprised her. Now his presence just irritated her.
"Dad, there has to be something we've missed."
Jacob turned to stare at her."Then you'd better find it."
"Me?" Her stomach hiccupped. "Why me?"
"Because you got us into this mess," Jacob spouted again.
She glared around at the others. "You could do something to help, too."
"That's enough." Serus turned to the walls. "Everyone look for a way out."
Tessa had already turned away from the others, her vision shifting easily into half-and-half mode. There had to be another door. She walked from side to side, searching for the energy wisps. Nothing.
"Look, she has no idea what the hell she's doing." Jacob's sarcastic voice sliced through the air.
Tessa couldn't stop her shoulders from cringing against the same kind of criticism she'd endured for years. Jacob was just being his usual asshole self.
This wasn't all her fault. She crouched down and touched the sand under her feet. It was damp.
She sniffed the air. Musty. "Dad. Where's the closest water to here?"
"There's a small river close by." He knelt and touched the sand. "For all I know, with the heavy snowfall the whole area flooded."
Going on blind instinct, Tessa placed one hand against the cold rock and walked along several feet. She didn't know what she was looking for, but water had to have come in from somewhere. And recently.
Her fingers snagged on a crevice, dragging her to a stop. She followed the edge of it up as high as it could go. Then she traced the crack down to the floor. It appeared to completely separate the walls. "There's something here."
She went over it again, looking for some kind of lever or opening mechanism. "Spread out and look for a second split in the wall." Everyone spread out and searched against the stones.
"It's here."
Tessa ran over to her father's side.
"Is there a way to open it?" She bent down to the bottom. Her fingers caught on something odd. Wiggling them in deeper, she tried to find something to grab onto. As she shifted, her knee smacked against a stone higher up.
Heavy grinding and groaning filled the air as the wall moved upwards.
"Good girl."
The words were barely out of her father's mouth when water rushed in.
***
Cody circled the huge living room in the mausoleum. He been looking for a way out since the front door had sealed, locking them in. The room opened to other parts of the house, but the windows and doors were all locked. Motioning Jewel to follow, Cody led the way through the den and dining room to the kitchen. There was even less indication there that anyone lived here.
"Dad?" Cody called out. "Are you here?"
Jewel gasped, her eyes wide. "What are you doing?" she whispered. "We don't know who's here."
"Dad's here. Remember? And Ian. Let's keep looking. We need to find them."
"I'd rather go outside and wait for them to come to us." Jewel tried the door leading to the backyard, then the windows one after the other. She turned around to face Cody, the reality of their situation settling onto her features. "There's no way out."
"Not that we've seen – yet."
Panic glistened in her eyes. "What do we do?"
"We stay calm." Cody walked to the one door off to the side. "We haven't checked the basement. There could be an exit down there."
"I don't want to go."
Cody knew exactly how she felt. He reached for her hand. "Let's go together."
Jewel gulped and grasped his hand tightly.
"Together."
CHAPTER TEN
Tessa tried to close the wall and stop the water from flowing in, but the mechanism didn’t seem to work in reverse. "I can’t close it," she cried out in panic. Even as she spoke the onrush dissipated to a gentle wave as the water flow leveled out and started to soak into the sand.
"This is stupid." Jacob waded away from them through the water. "I’m going back to the stairs to look for another way out."
Tessa shrugged, just glad to see the back of him. She crouched down to look under the stone wall that had stopped about three feet up from the ground. Light shone down, twinkling on the water at her feet. She bent and slipped out into the early morning air. Freedom. She closed her eyes and with relief, opened her arms to the sky, gulping in deep breaths of air.
She’d been right all along. She couldn’t begin to understand how she’d known what to do, but her instincts had led her in the right direction. She took several steps in the soft muddy ground.
"Tessa?" Her father's anxious voice carried outside.
"It's beautiful out here." She bent down and ducked her head under the wall so she could see her father. "Do you want to try to come out?"
"No." Serus gnashed his teeth. "Damn it. It's too bright out there already."
Tessa stopped and looked around at the bright morning sun. "I’ll go look around and come back." She tossed a confident smile back at him. "No worries."
Leaving him spluttering, Tessa circled the outside of the house, searching for a place for the others to hide out. A safe, dark place. They could stay where they were, but it was hardly ideal. What if the owners returned?
She leaned against the wall. She'd been through so much already. She was so tired. Think, damn it, think. There had to be an answer. What about gloves and helmets? That might do it. Where could she find such things? There had to be another option. Steal the vehicle? She headed back to the others to discuss their options.
The wall was closed.
"Crap." With one hand on the wall, she walked the full length, looking for the same crack in the wall. Surely having a mechanism to operate the door from the outside was just a normal safeguard? Her stomach wanted to heave. Tremors wracked her legs. Why hadn't she stayed in there with the others?
The early morning light showed her footprints sunk into the wet ground. She stepped to where she'd stepped out from under the wall. That should be about right. Turning around to face the stone, she ran her hands back and forth looking for the edge – and couldn't find it.
She considered her options. She could go back inside and down to the basement where the others were or she could look around and see if she could find a place for everyone to hide. Wanting to make the most of the time she had, she decided to search the outbuildings.
Twenty minutes later, frustration mirrored her fatigue. She'd found nothing. She circled the last outbuilding, some kind of garage or shed. Windowless. The doorknob turned easily under her hand. This building, like everything else she'd seen so far, was empty. She walked through the interior carefully, searching for some sign. Any sign.
In the far corners, she found several empty water bottles. Signs of humans. Vampires rarely drank water. Generally, if it didn't have blood or caffeine in it, they wouldn't touch it. She crouched down beside the bottles. No sign of blood.
Good. Maybe she was getting somewhere.
The plank floor had been well scuffed. The walls had been scraped up, but she couldn't tell if the marks were old or new. The ring pounded into the wall was definitely new.
Humans had been here. They were gone now.
To where?
And how?
There were two vehicles outside now. But the driveway could hold dozens. The place was so remote no one would know if human trafficking were going on here.
She wrinkled her nose. Could be two or ten or a hundred vampires involved. She walked back out into the morning sun and leaned against the open door. A sound came from the front door. Dad? She raced back toward them. Just as she started around the large SUV the heights of the people standing in the shadows of the front entrance stalled her forward rush.
That wasn't Dad.
But it was Jacob standing inside the dark shadows of the porch.
And someone else. No. Two someone elses.
Tessa dropped down behind the vehicle. What was going on? Another male, much bigger and decked out in the full motorcycle suit, stood on guard off to one side. From where she stood, Tessa couldn't identify the others. Jacob appeared to know them well though.
He had to be in on this. Maybe he'd been responsible for the floor and the wall closing, locking them in?
Just then the bigger man motioned around the yard while the others immediately spun around to look. Crap. Her stomach knotted. They were looking for her.
Where were her dad and Wendy?
She reared back, finally cluing in. Jacob carried gloves and a motorcycle helmet. So this was preplanned? How? How could anyone have known about their group coming here? Unless Jacob had told them. He could have texted or called anytime. Her group hadn't been secretly tracking each other's movements.
She crouched lower to the ground, wondering where she could hide.
Jacob and the smaller man split up to search the outside grounds. The bigger man loped toward her. Tessa slid under the front bumper, scraping along the ground. She closed her eyes and held her breath.
Black boots thudded past, heading toward the shed she'd just vacated.
She breathed gently and rolled carefully out from under the vehicle, on the house side. She sprinted the short distance to the front door and slid inside. She needed to find her father and Wendy. She could only hope Jacob had just locked them in the basement. She raced down but also checked behind to make sure she wasn't being followed.
The floor was closed. Placing her sweaty palms on the wall in the right spot, she waited nervously as the floor fell away. She cringed at the noise this time, glancing behind her several times to make sure she hadn't attracted any unwanted attention.
She was still alone. She raced down to her father. "Dad?" She picked up the pace and half ran, half jumped down the long passage. "Are you here?"
"Tessa?"
"Yeah." Tessa ran toward his voice. She found them halfway down the passage, sitting in a heap on the dirt floor. She fell t
o the floor beside him. "Are you okay?" She ran her hands over his face, then his shoulders. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine. Wendy's tired, but she'll do." Serus stood up. "Did you see Jacob? We haven't seen him since he headed back to the stairs around the same time you snuck out."
Tessa sneered. "Yes, he's out front with two other men looking for me."
"What?" Her father stilled. Then he reached out and grabbed her by her shoulders. "But that's good. Why are you acting like this?"
"Not good guys. And he's in cahoots with them. He could have gotten you out anytime."
Serus and Wendy stared at each other. "Surely not." Serus frowned.
"Tell me how he left." Tessa stepped past Wendy. "Come on. Let's get you two out of here while we talk."
"Why this way?" Wendy followed along obediently.
"Because I don’t trust them," Tessa said flatly.
No one questioned her again. At the door, she switched on the mechanism. When the wall had risen enough, she sneaked under, the others right behind her.
Into the sunlight.
Damn it.
Tessa ripped off her black jacket and threw it over Wendy's head. Her dad had already done the same thing with his coat, leaving his arms still in the sleeves. They hobbled toward the tree line as fast as they could. Once in the bushes, Tessa found a large fir and motioned the other two deep under the boughs. "Dad, will this work? There are a lot of empty outbuildings, but we could be seen."
"If we can get deep enough, we'll be fine for a while."
Tessa worked to lift the lower boughs so they could create a hollow underneath. "After a rest, could you drive out? Wendy, do you drive?"
Wendy, her voice muffled from the coat and branches, said, "I drive but can only tolerate mild sunlight so the windshield would need to be heavily tinted."
Serus coughed slightly, clearing his throat. "I think Jacob could, but he’s not a candidate. I recall he's good in partial light, like through a tinted windshield too. I've never tried it."