Insidious: (The Marked Mage Chronicles, Book 1)

by Victoria Evers

  I finally raced past the finish line where Coach was standing on the grass field inside the track’s perimeter. Decelerating gradually, I finally came to a halt and trotted back over to Gleeson to clock in my completion. Something foreign inside me clawed desperately for me to keep running, soaking up the high from my endorphin rush.

  “I’ve got a question for you,” said Coach as I approached. “Why in good health aren’t you on the track team?”

  “What was my time?”

  “5:24.”

  “What?” Carly exclaimed, just now passing the finish line.

  “Cue some ‘Eye of the Tiger,’” I declared, jogging in place and throwing up my burning arms Rocky-style. “’Cause I’d call that the sweet taste of victory.”

  “Yeah, by a long shot,” she huffed exhausted. “How the hell did you do that? You made me look like a grandma out there.”

  “Haven’t a clue,” I admitted, not feeling the least bit winded.

  Something didn’t feel right, in the fact that I now felt fine. Better than fine. I felt phenomenal. We’d run the track not even three weeks ago, and I struggled to beat the 6:30 mark in perfect health.

  Lightning suddenly crackled overhead, followed by a thunderous roar, startling us all. The thought of being trapped out on the track in the rain made even the laziest runners pick up the pace, and we thankfully got back to the gym before the downpour commenced.

  “Alright, we’ll dial things down a notch.” Coach opened the equipment storage room and dragged out a bin full of hockey sticks. He split the class up into four teams, letting the last two take a breather on the benches as the first hit the court.

  “You’ve got this, baby!” cheered Carly to Daniel, who took to center court for the face-off.

  Metal clacked overhead from the newly installed overlook that housed our new weightlifting space. Half the girls were sitting at the top of the stands so they could steal peeks between the railings at the shirtless guys working out overhead. My mind seemed elsewhere however, as that invisible pull inside me hadn’t lessened. My body wanted to keep moving, but I was now stuck on the sidelines. Gazing unfocusedly across the gym, my vision suddenly centered on Brenda Hardy.

  I nudged Carly. “Do you see that?”

  “Hmm?” She somehow managed to stop making googly eyes at Daniel long enough to glance over at where I indicated. “What am I looking for?”

  “Brenda Hardy.”

  Of all things, she laughed. “Yeah, you’d think she’d stop trying to fit into her little sister’s clothes by now, but what the hey.”

  Okay, yes, Brenda was notorious for wearing shirts that looked about three sizes too small for her, but that was beside the point. I highly doubted a fashion faux pa took precedence over the freakish red cloud floating around her.

  “You don’t see anything else weird?”

  Carly shrugged. “No. Why?”

  Like a dog eagerly yanking on a leash, I felt an inexplicable inner urge pulling me toward Brenda. The longer I sat there, the stronger the sensation became. I was forced to claw my nails into the underside of the bench to keep my ass planted down.

  “Hey, you okay?” asked Carly. “You look like you’ve got ants in your pants, or something.”

  A pang suddenly punched me in the gut as Daniel relinquished a slapshot, sending the rubberized hockey ball across the court. Right at Brenda. She attempted to hit the ball away when another girl came barreling down on her. Their sticks collided, and the two girls ran into each other. A gasp escaped my lips just as a rogue hockey stick drove right into Brenda’s left ankle. She tried to catch herself, but the force sent her sideways, leaving her accompanying knee to give out at an unnatural angle.

  Brenda yelped, crashing to the floor in an agonizing heap. Everybody on the court raced over to her, blocking Coach’s path. He blew his whistle, leaving us all half-deaf by the painfully high pitch. The crowd parted, and everyone on the bleachers caught sight of Brenda as she rolled over with a scream.

  Carly outright gagged, and I covered my mouth at the grisly image of Brenda’s kneecap protruding from the side of her leg!

  As a player ran out of the gym at Coach’s command to fetch a nurse, I saw the red cloud slowly dissipate from around the girl.

  “That is so messed up,” croaked a classmate behind us.

  Heat spread throughout my body, and my heart started throbbing against my rib cage. What the hell was happening to me?

  The invisible force within me grew into an all-out rage, pounding against my flesh in a desperate attempt to literally break free from my skin locking it inside.

  “You don’t look so good, babe.” Carly hesitantly put her hand on my shoulder, and I involuntarily shuddered at the contact, recoiling away from her like a frightened animal. “Kat, what’s wrong?”

  “I…I have to go.”

  As if a spring was planted beneath me, I launched up from the bleachers and flew out the side door to the outside. Despite the humidity, a breeze still coursed through the air, batting my clammy skin. I remained under the brick canopy that shielded me from the downpour, but that same feeling continued tugging against my chest.

  I needed to run.

  The singular craving brought a wave of clarity over me, and everything around me fell mute. I took off, loving the thrill of the water splashing around me as my feet pounded against the flooded cement walkway lining the building. The parking attendant hollered something at me as I eventually made it to the school lot. She hustled out with her umbrella, trying to catch up with me. The bestial frenzy roaring through my veins laughed at the pathetic attempt as I blew past her in nothing but a blur.

  Chapter 5

  The Nobodies

  I ran for nearly an hour straight without any objective before I eventually found myself nearing my house. The high I had gotten must have worn off, because grim death blanketed me as I staggered up my front steps. I barely managed to unlock the door as my body collapsed against the frame. Surely I had the flu. Even with the unseasonably warm temperature, I was freezing. My hands felt weak, and it took a considerable amount of effort to just move my legs. Could I get upstairs? I made it as far as the foyer rug before everything went black.

  The ground gave out from beneath my feet, sending me into a freefall. I had the wind knocked out of me as my body slammed into the surface below. Desperately struggling to refill my lungs, I gasped as my fingers curled, clawing up what felt like brittle dirt. The blurriness slowly eased from my vision, but all I could see was a billowing cloud of ash looming overhead, illuminated by the light atop of the hole.

  Wait…

  The hole?

  The ends of my hair battered my face as I sat upright, seeing shadows cast amongst the rough stone wall beside me. Three grottos lined the space ahead, each entryway pitch-black. Was I in…a cave? The light at the surface burned coolly from an angle, and the sky above was dark. If it was already sunset, I’d be losing that last ounce of light in a matter of minutes, leaving me trapped in the dark. I screamed, hollering at the top of my lungs for help until my voice gave out. I scrambled back across the ground, kicking up the filth around me. Something about the dirt felt odd. Having spent time in Mom’s garden bed, I knew the feeling of mud and dirt all too well. This wasn’t the same. I lifted a handful, letting the material sift out between my fingers. Even with the minimal light, I could see the charcoal coloring. It wasn’t dirt. It was soot.

  A low grumble echoed overhead, and a flash of lightning followed, highlighting the space. All the shadows vanished in that split second, leaving every inch of the hole exposed. My body slammed against the grated façade behind me as I fell into a frenzy, desperate to keep cowering back despite having no place left to go. Off-white fragments lay spewed across the cavern ground, and the intact structure in the corner solidified my fear. Long shafts rested beside the base of a vertebra, the ribcage and skull framing the outline of the skeleton.

  “Somebody! Please!” My raw vocal chords barely choked o
ut the words as my fingers clawed desperately into the cavern wall. I tried scaling the rutted mass, but my fingers kept slipping on the moist rock face, sending me on my ass as I repeatedly fell back down to the ground.

  “Don’t be afraid.”

  I wrenched around, my vision straining to see through the darkness. The draft coursing through the hollowed space swelled, pushing a pall of dust out from the faint corridor in front of me as footsteps echoed from within the tunnel. The remaining light overhead dimmed in an instant, and I sprang forward, ready to blindly race into one of the other passageways when the large shadow stealthily materialized. I shrieked, stumbling back into the wall.

  The sweeping draft took hold of the flowing black robes, ushering the ends out like expansive bat wings as the hooded figure emerged from the tunnel. I tried to move, but something was holding me in place. It didn’t matter how hard I internally wrenched at my limbs; I was trapped. A severe chill prickled down my spine as the stranger drew closer. Struggling to see beyond the shadows of their hood, I couldn’t make out any distinguishable features. A gloved hand reached out towards me, and I choked on my own scream. I couldn’t even open my mouth.

  “Noli timere,” whispered a low, silky voice. Each word hissed with an unnatural, serpentine quality, making every syllable all the more bone chilling. “Sponsa mea.”

  Amid the bleak space, a startling surge of warmth radiated from the figure as his sweeping cloak engulfed me from all sides. Leather-bound fingers grazed the bottom of my chin, tilting up my head. The angle had me looking square in the face with the stranger, but I still couldn’t see anything. Not until he inclined his own head back did a pale, angular chin peek out from under the guarded veil. Pearly white canines gleamed in the limited light, the teeth elongating the further his jaw opened.

  “Noli timere.”

  ***

  I shuddered awake with a violent jerk, finding thin silk fabric looming not more than half a foot above my face. My mind reeled as it slowly regained its full consciousness. Where was I? All I could see was the desert gold linen, so I rolled over to get a better view of the living space. I shrieked, finding nothing but air beneath me. At the realization, my body suddenly dropped, and I hammered down onto the mattress. The cushiony springs bounced me off as I hit the comforter, sending me hurtling off onto the carpet beside the bed.

  Achingly sitting upright, I looked up to see the familiar surroundings. I was in my bedroom. My first thought would have naturally been, how did I get up here? if not for the bigger question how did I get up there? The canopy of my bed hung just below the ceiling, and I’d awoken mere inches from it. I’d been…floating.

  “Kat?”

  I jumped at the voice, and my nerves didn’t relax much as I realized it was my mom.

  Heels clacked up the hall before she knocked on my door. “Kat?”

  “Y-yeah?”

  She didn’t wait for an invite as she twisted the knob and waltzed into the room. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do-” Mom paused, looking down at me confusedly as I still rested on the floor. “What is going on?”

  Holy crap! How long had I been floating like that? Had she seen me?

  “Where have you been?” she yowled.

  “W-what?” I turned to look at the alarm clock on my nightstand, seeing it was six o’clock.

  “You were supposed to meet me at the country club after school let out. Why didn’t you answer your phone? You know how many times I called?” Her voice ticked up to a whole other level with each new sentence. “I called all of your friends, and none of them knew where you were either! You know how scared I was?”

  “I’m sorry…”

  “And after all the trouble I went through to get you that appointment with Mrs. Marin.” Mom rubbed her temples aggravatingly. “We needed this. With everything that happened with Blaine-”

  She stopped herself, taking a moment to catch her breath.

  “I know none of this is your fault, but the accident has left a lot of scorched earth for us around here. Mrs. Ryder has a lot of sway in Mystic Harbor, and we need to do everything we can to get back on her good side. Right now, we’re all the town’s pariahs, and especially with your father’s business, we can’t have that kind of rep.”

  Against all better judgment, I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t help it. I was in the midst of a nervous breakdown, and all she could think about was her reputation. The gesture didn’t go ignored. Mom heaved a sigh and muttered something about going to Mrs. Banisters’s.

  “And don’t forget that your father’s coming home tomorrow. He’ll be taking your car into the shop to get an oil change in the morning.” As quickly as she came, she was out the door.

  Crap.

  I’d completely spaced out on that tiny detail, and that put a wrinkle in my plans. Having made a mad dash out of school, I didn’t have any of my things. No books, no homework, no purse, no phone. And the last proved the most problematic.

  I knew I couldn’t wait another thirteen hours until getting back to school. My cell only had a third of its charge left when I’d checked it this morning, so the damn thing would be long dead by the time I got to it tomorrow. And I couldn’t go without that lifeline, especially if I wasn’t going to have the car. For how increasingly shitty I felt, a call to the hospital seemed inevitable.

  Asides from the anxiety attack still stirring in my chest, I thankfully didn’t feel too bad. If I hauled ass, I could get to the school before it closed for the night. Climbing off the floor, I ambled my way to my closet to get changed. Last thing I needed was more strange looks from fellow classmates when I waltzed back into Belleview still wearing my gym uniform. And I shuddered at the thought of lying in bed with the sweaty clothes, but it was a hygienic issue I’d have to wrestle with later. I started peeling off my shirt, expecting to feel the cotton athletic wear. Instead, my fingers grappled at loose polyester. I looked down at the hamper in the corner, and sure enough, the black and purple gym clothes rested at the top of the container.

  Spinning around on my heels, I retreated from the closet to the mirror beside my dresser. I was now donned in one of my off the shoulder sweaters and a comfortable pair of black leggings. Given that I’d passed out in the foyer, I doubted my ability to make it upstairs, much less change my outfit. But this was coming from the girl who’d swear she was just levitating above her bed a minute ago…

  Surely, I was going mad.

  The lights suddenly dimmed. Lightning crackled outside, flashing white into my room from the open window shades. My mind immediately snapped back to the dream, and my stomach coiled. Not a moment later, rain began pelting the windows, urging me to throw on a pair of knee-high flat boots. They were always perfect for a rainy day, managing to keep my legs and feet dry while also giving me good traction on slick grounds. I then instinctively searched for my purse, realizing a few seconds past having a blonde moment that it, too, was still in my locker.

  To add insult to injury, the storm outside only seemed to be getting worse. Sure enough, tiny specks of hale pelted the windshield as I rolled my tiny red Civic out of the garage. Maine’s magnificently abysmal weather appeared to have come out in full force. Our house sat on the hillside corner of DuPont Lane and Rochester Drive, where the fog continuously rolled down each street, flooding our lot in the crossfire as the two bends converged. Tonight was no different, making visibility pretty much nonexistent as I drove down the main drag.

  Between the poor driving conditions and the fact that I got stuck behind a sluggish, phantom-breaking minivan, the typical ten-minute drive to the school wound up taking me an exhaustible twenty. Boxing had become kind of a big deal at Belleview over the last couple years, and by the looks of the occupied parking lot, the guys were still inside training. At least one thing had panned out in my favor.

  I took the closest parking space I could find near the gym doors and cut the engine. It wasn’t more than a thirty foot trip, but I still ended up completely soak from head to toe by
the time I made into the building. Sneakers squeaked across the gymnasium floors as hollering overpowered the thunderous echo of the rain pounding against the vast rooftop. I rounded the end of the drawn-in bleachers to see the basketball team practicing on the court, and I immediately recoiled.

  Crap. They’d changed their schedule.

  If Carly had resorted to calling my mom, she sure as hell had told Daniel, and Mark, and Eric all about my vanishing act. The last thing I wanted was to have to talk to anybody, let alone explain myself. And all three were right there. I didn’t have a choice though. There wasn’t another way to get to the hallway. All the other doors would have been locked and chained up hours ago.

  I remained hidden behind the bleachers, waiting for the game to head to the other end of the court. When my opening came, I darted across the gym. Heaving a sigh of relief, I entered the hallway, thankful that no one seemed to have noticed me. The janitorial staff must have already done their rounds, because the lights were all off. Only the faint glow of the street lights outside illuminated the shadowed corridors. The creepy atmosphere did nothing to calm my nerves as I pulled open the doors to the stairwell. Thankfully, one of the dim light fixtures remained on at the half-landing, allowing me to safely travel up the steps. I made it to my locker on the second floor, but failed the first five attempts to get the stupid thing open. There weren’t any windows or doors nearby, so I had next to no visibility to see the numbers on the combination dial.

  When I finally did get inside, I blindly reached up into the top shelf, feeling around for my cell. As soon as I pulled it down, the theme from Dracula erupted from within my hands, startling me back.