by Tara Brown
A gust of wind, that same cold wind, blows up the stairs at us. Angie and Em both grip me as though I have some kind of sway over the dead. Or they plan on pushing me and running.
At the bottom of the stairs I smell candle smoke to the left. To the right is a dank, dark hallway with nothing tempting me to go in that direction, but I do. My feet turn and walk, against my better judgment.
“Why you gotta take the scary way? There’s a bit of light to the left.”
I ignore Angie and enter the darkest hallway I have ever been in. It lightens at the end, or I think it does. I expect it’s another doorway or something for about one second. I cup my hand across my lips. A quivering white woman stands at the end of the hall.
Angie squeaks and Em grips tighter to me. I pause but the cold wind is there, pushing me forward. I stumble along, making small scuff noises on the stone floor.
The woman is in a white gown with bright-blonde hair and pale skin. Her eyes glow with a blue light and her lips move, but there is no sound beyond the whispering wind.
I fight the push of whatever force is behind us. I don't dare look.
“Holy hell. Holy hell. Is that a gh-gh-ghost?”
“Yeah.” Ironically, Em sounds like she’s about to pee her pants, and she is still the scariest ghost I know of. “Em, don't be scared, you were way worse than her.”
She sighs as I take a step closer to the floating apparition who lights up that end of the dark hallway.
“You came for the midnight coven?” Her words are ice on my spine.
“What’s a midnight coven?”
She laughs and suddenly she’s gone.
Chapter 2
“I can’t believe you made us come down here.” Angie is pulling me backward, dragging us from the dark tunnel that is meant to be a hallway.
“Let’s just go see what the lit side of the hall has and get the hell out of here,” I whisper harshly. “That damned ghost wasn't helpful at all. She just made more questions. I want to know what the ghost meant.”
Em grips my hand and pulls me. When I look at her she shakes her head. “Everything you said before was a hundred-percent true, wasn't it?”
I nod and she winces.
When we get back to the stairs we tiptoe again. The candle smoke is thick and heady and the light is dim. As we round a corner, a noise causes us all to stop. Em gives me a panicked stare. I recognize the noise drifting down the hallway.
I point my finger at them both and lift it to my lips. They nod and step to the side, letting me pass. I creep along the wall, coming to an entrance. The door is open, and from the looks of it, it’s where the light and smoke are coming from. I peek my head around the corner, staring through the crack in the doorframe. My skin shivers at the depraved sight.
Ollie, the youngest-looking brother, and Inger, the eldest, have two young women tied to a table.
One girl twitches from blood loss, obviously not dead. Ollie spins around, biting down on her throat and ending her life with several short gulps. Inger is doing the same to the other girl.
I don't wait to see what else happens. I turn and hurry back, grabbing Angie and Em’s hands and dragging them both to the stairs. “We gotta go. We gotta go right now. We gotta run now.”
We hurry to the wooden door to head back to our rooms. My insides are burning. But when they open the door, I can’t get past the threshold. I’m slammed back onto the stairs and nearly fall down the long dark flight. “I can’t get past. I’m stuck. There must be a binding spell on the doorway so the witches can’t escape.” I shudder. “Oh dear lord. Oh no. I’m next. Oh God, help me.”
“Shhhh.” Em strokes my cheeks. “Calm down. Tell us what you saw.”
“Witches.” I gasp. “I could sense their magic. They—they killed them.”
Angie’s eyes are huge. “WHIT?”
I shake my head, gagging a little. “Inger and Ollie.”
“The young one?” Angie’s nose wrinkles and her eyes narrow. “Holy hell. We gotta get you outta there.” She pulls on my hand but I cannot get past the doorway.
“Yeah. They ate them, so the sooner we get me out of this friggin’ staircase, the better.”
“You sure they were witches?” Em swallows hard.
“Yeah. Real sure. I could sense their magic and then I couldn't.” I slump down onto the top step, taking heaving breaths and trying to think about everything. “Marcus told me Whit had made me his unlimited blood bag of the good stuff. Whit said he had taken the spell off that he put on me for my protection. Whit is a son-of-a—”
“Yes, he is,” Em cuts me off.
Em and Angie stand in the light of the moon, pale and worried as I ponder. “Maybe the midnight coven has answers. I bet those ghosts are the dead witches, unable to leave ‘cause they died here and the spell on the tower traps them.”
Em’s eyes are wide. “Oh, dear sweet baby Jesus. They died here because they got murdered by vampires. How is this our life? Are we all gonna die?”
Angie nods along but I explain, “They can’t kill you. You’re vampires too and you would serve no purpose dead. But it doesn't matter, we need to get away from them. I’ll find out if there are other witches we need to free.” I scan around. “Since I’m already stuck here and not going anywhere until midnight when I see the coven, you two go find Tessa and get out of here. Walk to the right when you leave the castle.” I hold my hand out. “Give me your hands.”
They both eye the invisible barrier nervously, probably wondering if putting their hands through might get them stuck too.
“NOW!”
They lurch forward, giving me their hands. I close my eyes, holding both hands in mine and mutter the first thing that comes to mind, “Mark them both for me to find. Wherever they go, leave a trail of glowing breadcrumbs behind.”
My eyes open to find their hands glowing red, like there is lava beneath their skin. It fades as they pull them back.
Whit’s words about the Roses Academy spring to my mind. “I know of some people who might be able to help. They stop this kind of criminal behavior from happening in this underworld of undead, blood suckers, and witches.”
Angie gives me a doubtful look. “Who?”
“The Roses Academy. They are the law as far as our kind are concerned. They kill vampires who go rogue and murder innocents. If we don't feed off bad people, we get sniffed out by the Roses Academy and killed ourselves.”
“You said vampires can’t die.”
My gaze turns serious. “The Roses Academy can kill anything. I’ll figure out a way to find them and get them to deal with this situation here.”
Em’s eyes are wide. “I don't want to leave you here.”
“You have to. Get Tessa. Get out. I will find you. Don't kill anyone that doesn't smell real evil. You’ll know the smell the second your nose finds it.”
Angie shudders. All her blood has come from a glass. She and Em haven’t had to eat from the vein yet.
“RUN!”
I tilt my head up to the sky. “Ramón, if you can hear me, go with them. Keep them safe.”
I turn and saunter back down into the dark, alone and scared.
I’m only alone for a moment. The ghost of a girl, the one who giggled and whispered to me before, meets me in the dark hallway. She twitches as she nears me, floating and creepy as sin. “Are you Lorelei?” Her little voice fills the dark silence.
“Yes.”
She comes closer, eyeing me up with the pale-green glowing eyes. “You friends with Ramón?”
I nod.
“He has a message for you. He says you gotta run, Lorelei. Break the barrier and free the witches and run as fast as you can. He was wrong about Whit. He isn’t just sneaky, he’s evil.”
“I gathered that much.”
“I don't think he should say mean things about Whit.” She smiles and points. “My ma is that way, wanna come?”
Nothing is creepier than being lured down a dark hallway by a dead child to m
eet her mom. But I ignore my insides clenching and my brain, praying I have more sense than that, and follow her.
My feet make the same scuffing noise on the stone floor as we get back to the spot where the lady in white was. She’s there again, but she ain’t alone. She’s surrounded by her closest ghost friends, all one hundred of them. Their pale faces turn, twitching and coming in and out of focus. A dark-haired one floats to me, smiling. “We hear you know the way out.”
“I don't know it but I might be able to make it. My magic is working fine. If I have a minute I might be able to find a weak spot in the barrier or just destroy it.”
She gazes back at the others, the frothing sea of writhing pale beauties. When they see me, they freeze and smile, but it don’t improve the spine-chilling effect they have.
The little girl speaks to me, “The witches have been waiting on you a long time.”
“What’s the midnight coven?”
The little girl gazes up at the stone ceiling. “When the moon is high and the time changes, the witches are strong enough to fight them. They never come down here at midnight—the witches can fight back.”
“The vampires?”
“Yeah.” Her mother floats to me, drifting through—actually through—her friends. “The blood of a witch is a special thing. They can take it and use our magic.”
“But they’re vampires.”
The woman shakes her head. “Their mother was a powerful witch. Her blood flows through their veins. They can use the magical blood to make their own magic for a time and only small spells. But it fades away and they miss the feeling of the divine magic. Witches make vampires feel again. Make them feel human again. Make them strong if they have the magic in them already.”
I wrinkle my nose. “That's just peachy. Well, let me add to the fun time of all this sharing we have going on. Me being a half vampire and full witch means they can drain my blood over and over and I won’t ever die. I’m an unlimited supply of magic for the crazy bastards.”
Her eyes turn red. “You are of the Blackwater witches and a half vampire?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She screams into the ceiling, enraged suddenly. I turn to run away but she grabs my arm. “Wait!” She spins me back to face her. “Don't leave us here. Please, free us before my family comes. They’re full from the girls they just had. Their magic is at its peak! They won’t feed again for weeks.”
“You’re Whit’s momma?” He told me his momma was a vampire. I don't even know how I’m surprised he lied. The man is a liar. Not to mention, the woman wasn't at dinner. I shoulda known.
“Aunt,” she offers.
The little girl points at her. “She’s his sister. His mother is gone back up to the house. She’s keeping an eye on them to make sure they don't come down here before you free us.”
I hate vampires. I hate how detached they can be. I hate how blood driven they are and how they manage to ruin all good things. “She ain’t trapped down here?” It dawns on me the little girl must not be trapped either.
She was in the hallway after I froze Rydal.
The aunt shakes her head. “They didn't die down here.”
“Great!” I turn and snoop around the hallway, searching for other doors. The little girl comes with me. She reminds me of Tessa with all her talking and nattering on. “So you and my brother are engaged?”
I shake my head, wondering if anyone else can hear her.
“But he loves you! I can tell. I seen it in a mirror upstairs. You were kissing and hugging. I could see it in his eyes.” Her Scottish accent is quite thick.
“Boys are good at lying about their feelings to get certain things from girls.”
“He can get that everywhere. He’s liked by all the ladies. Not as much as Rydal though. All the girls like him. But Whit’s my favorite.”
I roll my eyes. “Look, kid, I get that you love him even though he murdered you and drank your blood, but stop, okay?”
She grins, exactly the same way he does. “He didn't murder me. The villagers came, burning me and Ma for being witches. That's when Da and Ma changed him, Gwen, and the boys. Ma lured a vampire here by possessing the body of a witch. The vampire followed her, excited because she said that she would trade him—his blood for hers. When he gave his blood to Ma, she killed him. Then Da, Gwen, and the boys all drank the vampire blood and Ma killed them too. She buried them in the graves out back, and when they rose she let them eat the body she had possessed. Me and Ma can be real in the house. It’s our home and where we died. So we are normal there. But down here, my aunt got stuck making the barrier. She died making it, not knowing what it was for. Da lied to her, said it was for an evil witch. But it weren’t. So my aunt died and my da saved the rest of the family from being killed by villagers. Now they’re strong enough to eat a whole village if they wants to.”
It’s almost a sad story. Almost.
Unfortunately for her and her family, my story is a lot sadder and my patience for bullshit vampires has gotten thinner. By a lot.
There is one flaw in the tale. “Your momma is helping your aunt break down the barrier after she helped make your family what they are?”
The little girl looks down, maybe ashamed-like. “Well, my da and them has all gotten addicted to killing the witches. That first girl they killed made them crazy. Suddenly, they had powers, even though before they never. Apart from Gwen, she still doesn't. She’s just a regular vampire. Ma has tried to stop them but they won’t. So now she sees it has to end. They must be stopped at all costs. Even if it means they die, they have to be stopped. The boys torture the witches. Do things Ma won’t let me see but she cries sometimes afterward. She attacked Rydal once, almost killing him at midnight. The witches all got together and attacked. That's how they know not to come down here at midnight.”
“Your family is a heaping mess of sin and hateful things.”
“Yeah, I know it.”
“Are there any live witches here now?”
She shakes her pale face. “Just you.”
We turn and stalk through the tunnels, hunting for a clue or a door to something else. I don't want to go back and be with the other ghosts. It’s too much.
“Ma says we’ll go to Heaven after you’re done breaking the binding spell. That's why she made Whit lure you here. She didn’t know you was a vampire though. That changes things.”
I sigh again. “Yup.”
I just want her to stop talking. But she doesn't.
When I get to the other doorway, the one I saw the bad thing through, I put a hand up. The little girl backs away. “I’m not supposed to go there.”
“Okay, you wait here.” That’s a relief.
When I reach the door it’s silent in the room, but that means nothing. They could be drinking a witch down quietly.
I peek my head through the frame again but there is no one in the room. The two dead girls are drained and lying on the table still.
I tiptoe inside. It’s a large room with stone walls and a large metal table with ties at the corners. The floor has a drain in the middle of it that smells of old blood.
The girls are dead and I hate to guess who’s next to be tied to the fun-time table. I can say with all kinds of confidence, it ain’t gonna be me.
Hell to the no.
No.
Nothing in the room speaks of a way out, but I smell something the room has none of—fresh air. I follow it to the corner, running my fingers along the rocky stone edge. Cool air tickles me.
I push on the corner, moving the wall a little.
So this is the way they left. They never did come to the stairs where Em and Angie left from! When I get the door open I see a long corridor with a light at the end. Hurrying along, my feet hardly make a sound on the damp stone floor. The light is a door made of what seems to be an iron gate. It’s shaped like a door and the moon is shining through the bars. There is a lock on it with a chain.
“Spooky,” I mutter.
�
��What do we have here?”
I spin, almost relieved when I see Whit but the clothes make my stomach ache. It’s Rydal. I remind myself Whit isn’t a better option at this point.
Rydal grins, making my skin hurt, and struts over toward me. His steps are slow, like he’s got me cornered. I reach my hands behind me, gripping to the lock on the door through the bars. It stings my skin—the barrier is here too.
He steps closer, towering over me the way his brother does but with far more zeal in his eyes. He lifts his finger in the dark, running it down my cheek, making me tense.
“Easy, little bunny. Don't go getting frightened. You taste so much sweeter when you’re excited.”
That statement makes my stomach hurt.
His hand runs down my neck as I chant things in my head, trying to break the lock and the spell.
If he is distracted by feeding from me he might not notice I’m desperately trying to undo his aunt’s spell.
“You are beautiful.” He leans forward and licks my throat. He lifts his gaze to mine. “You will let me have your blood.”
I nod, noticing the pull of his compulsion. But like when Marcus did it, I can bend my will against it. His is even easier than Marcus’ but I need to break the binding spell so I play along.
“No shocking me with magic then, aye?”
I nod again.
“You are easier than I imagined.” He smiles.
I grin back. “Maybe I’m just waiting to trick you.”
“Aye, I know you are.” His fangs come down on my throat and he draws a large pull of my blood.
My whole body is convulsing but I manage to mutter, “Spells of sacrifice and betrayal old, lift and free the ones trapped below. Take the hearts of those you’ve wronged, fill them with hope and powers bestowed.” I bite into his neck and whisper, “Give me back what you stole, bring with it the blood of the cold!” I suck his neck.
I pull not just his blood, but also his powers that he has lifted. I grip to the top of the gate, exploding my wealth of powers all at once.
The intensity of the gate blasting away from the tunnel wrenches me with it, making me scream as the force dislodges my shoulders with the impact. They snap as I land with Rydal on top of me. He’s dazed and unaware that I’ve just freed everyone.