The descend into the lower parts of the coven seemed to take forever, or it was Madison’s own dread and fear that seemed to make time move slower than usual.
“Listen up, the first floor was the easy part, down here it’s going to be a hell of a lot harder. We can’t evade the guards. They patrol every corridor and they are posted at every door. They know our faces. We’ve worked alongside them for many years. Act normal. Don’t make eye contact and don’t attempt to make any type of communication unless you are spoken too. Stay hidden if possible, but if necessary show yourself, but don’t arose suspicion.
Gabby, keep Madison at a distance from anyone in the Coven. If they smell her, then it’s game over! Do you understand?” Trace asked.
Gabby nodded. Her eyes were soft but lustful as she watched Trace take command. It was clear from her body language and features that Gabby was the kind of women that enjoyed being ordered around by men; she got off on men throwing their dominants over her.
“And the devil twins, its best if you stay out of sight all together. Head towards the corridor on the right, follow it to the very end until you come to the white room. This is where the coven keep all their most expensive and dangerous artifacts. It‘s heavy guarded so stay hidden until we meet you there.” Trace added, turning to look towards the two hooded boys at the back of the elevator.
“As you wish” they said together, their voices ghostly unnatural.
“We will bring the key to you” Trace said his voice becoming strangely amused.
The elevator jolted to a halt, Madison’s stomach felt like it was being pulled down to her feet and then sprang back up again to its rightful place.
“Just act normal. Any funny business and you’ll lose a finger, okay?” Gabby whispered, leaning towards her ear.
Madison made eye contact with Gabby. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying and her lips were chapped and blistered. She wiped her face and nose on the back of her hand, removing some of the water stained tears.
Gabby winced in disgust, grabbing hold of her left elbow, but holding it loosely as if they were friends rather than hostage and captor.
Madison stared as the two golden doors as they sprang to life and slid open. Her eyes widened as the room outside the elevator came into focus – it was the biggest room Madison had ever seen in her life.
The room was the size of a football field, the walls and ceiling made grey stone. The floor was a beautiful grey marble with white and yellow swirls in the granite, which sparkled.
Chandelles which held dimly lit candles hung from the stone ceiling, lighting the dark room up in a beautiful golden glow. Hundreds of candles lined the floor around the grey stone walls. Two large white statues stood in the centre of the room opposite one another. The statue on the right wall was of a Woman in a long flowing dress, her arms stretched out by her side as if she were welcoming you into her arms. Her head was thrown backwards, her eyes closed and her mouth open wide relieving razor sharp teeth. Her hair flowed down over her shoulders and down her back. Candles burned at the base of the statue, illuminated her in a brilliant golden glow. Enhancing the smoothness of the stone and shadowing the craved waves in her dress. The statue looked eerily lifelike, every inch of it was beautiful.
The statue on the left was of a man dressed in a robe with the hood pulled up over his face. His face was masked by the shadow that was casted by the long hood that curved over the top of his head. His arms down by his side, five thin bony fingers with fingernails sharpened to a point, pocked out from the sleeve of the stone robe. This statue was also illuminated in a brilliant golden glow from the candles that surrounded the base.
The texture of the statue of the man appeared coarser than the statue of the lady in the long dress, the stone darker and cracked in some areas.
The whole room looked like some posh abandoned cave that had been redecorated to create a type of shrine for the Vampire species.
At the far end of the room was a long corridor which was covered by a thick layer of darkness. From where Madison stood it appeared to be a black hole consuming that end of the room.
Trace stepped out of the elevator, the heel of his black leather shoes tapped on the marble floor. Gabby pulled Madison out of the elevator as she followed Trace eagerly. The twins quickly followed standing beside Gabby.
After Trace’s speech in the elevator, Madison had expected to see several guards scattered about, however, the entrance to the lower levels of The Coven was deserted. Madison stared up at the stone ceiling of the room. The room was about 100 feet high, the height of the ceiling caused Madison to feel slightly dizzy.
On the right was a long corridor like Trace had mentioned when he had thrown instructions at the two hood boys. On the left was another corridor that mirrored the corridor to the right.
Madison turned her gaze back towards the elevator, the two hooded boys were no longer stood inside the brightly lit up room of the elevator. She hesitated for a second, before slowly turning back toward the Vampires. The hooded boys had vanished again, staying hidden as Trace had instructed.
Gabby squeezed Madison’s arm, her French manicured nails digging deep into her flesh, small half-moon shaped bruises began to form at the surface of her skin. Madison made eye contact with Gabby, this time she did not flinch or try to shake Gabby’s grip off. She allowed the Vampire to take her frustrations out on her, after all Gabby wanted to prove some kind of point to Madison, and Madison was beginning not to care what that was. Gabby threw Madison a frustrated look. Her eyes widened slightly in pain as Gabby proceeded to force her fingers into Madison’s flesh deeper, but she did not respond.
Trace looked around at Gabby as he heard Madison flesh beginning to break and she instantly removed her fingernails from her flesh and smirked at Trace shyly.
Madison looked away from Gabby, swallowing hard and taking a deep breath as the pain began to ease. She refocused on the room ahead, examining every detail and feature.
The room was beautifully elegant in a gothic fashion; it was almost like somewhere you would expect Dracula to live in one of the movies based on him. Although she was terrified of who or what she might come across down in the depths of the coven, Madison felt oddly at home down in the damp, darkness. Only the company she kept and the pending danger ahead stopped her from feeling completely at ease.
“Let’s go!” Trace said, eyeing Gabby.
Trace began to walk down the long room followed closely by the twins.
Gabby pulled Madison alongside her. The tapping sound of Gabby’s stilettos echoed throughout the room. Their shadows danced on the stone walls from the dimly lit candles. The uneven surface of the walls and the flickering of the candles increased the size of the shadows, making them giant-like.
Madison couldn’t help but stare from statue to statue, as they approached them in the center of the room.
The detail which was carved into the statue of the woman was astonishing; every strand of her hair was in place, every eyelash curled perfectly. The flickering flames of the candles beneath the statue danced over it, giving the impression that she was moving slowly. However, the statue of the cloaked man seemed eerier then before. Half of the statue was cast in shadow that seemed threatening to her and the Vampires below. The other half was lit up in an orange glow which was inviting.
Shivers flew up Madison’s spine and she couldn’t help but gaze up underneath the hood of the statue of the man as they passed underneath it. The face of the statue was at first covered in darkness but as they passed the statue further, the light from the candles moved direction - illuminating the face of the cloaked man. She gasped as she caught a glimpse of the distorted face of a man. His facial features twisted and his skin scaly like a serpent. His eyes were large and angry piercing out from underneath the stone hood of his cloak. His forehead creased with deep brown lines and his mouth hung open, flashing a set of razor sharp Vampire teeth.
Gabby eyed Madison carefully, feeling her fear. Madison caug
ht her gaze and slowly lowered her eyes.
They continued to walk down the marble floor towards the growing darkness from the corridor ahead. Trace scanned from wall to wall, his posture was straight and rigid as if he was expecting some type of aerial attack.
The twins slinked along behind Trace, their heads lowered towards the floor, but their eyes dotted around the room in the same manner that Trace’s did.
Gabby held onto Madison tightly, her cold hand rubbing against her skin as she bounced across the room in her high heels.
As they approached the dark curtain that covered the corridor ahead of them, Madison began to realise she was running out of hope and chances. She was reaching the finish line and this was the last hurdle left.
Chapter Fourteen: Into the Darkness
Madison stood in the entrance of the darkened corridor before her. Her toes touched the broader into nothingness, an eatable darkness which would surely consume her if she was sucked in. Madison stared into the deep black and strained to see anything within the black curtain that protected the corridor.
Gabby pulled at her upper arm, urging her to dive into the nothingness that lay before her. Gabby’s smoky scent burnt Madison’s nostrils. With the anxiety and stress running through her, she found it difficult not to gag at Gabby’s scent.
Madison winced and swallowed the mouthful of saliva that had been produced due to her nausea.
Trace stared at her from beside Gabby. He studied every inch of her expression, trying to understand her emotions.
Alex and Andy lingered around the entrance of the corridor, their backs towards the black hole, staring back towards the other end of the room – keeping watch.
Gabby ushered her towards the darkness.
Madison stretched out one leg and placed it into the blackness, the darkness instantly consumed her body. Gabby’s hand wrapped round her arm - keeping a tight hold on her as they entered the darkness together. She was blinded by the darkness – it had eaten her completely. Gabby pulled her along, as a Vampire she could see perfectly in the dark, but as a human Madison was now vulnerable. She shuffled along the marble floor, trying to balance and protect herself against the blinding darkness and the tugging of Gabby at her arm. Madison’s sense went wild, she almost want to get down on hand and knees and crawl, she couldn’t find her footing nor did she know where she was walking in the thick darkness. Suddenly, she tripped. Gabby released her grip of Madison as she fell to the floor. Her knees screamed impacted with the marble floor with a thud, she fell forwards, her chin bouncing off the marble floor. She wailed quietly in pain, she couldn’t stop herself. An intense pain surrounded her knee caps and ball of her chin. Her chin felt tingly, like a flap of skin was hanging down from the impact on the marble floor. It was almost definitely bleeding. Madison lifted her head from the marble floor and she rolled onto her back – not to put pressure on her injured knees.
Gabby and Trace whispered in the darkness. She couldn’t see them, but she still blinded by the darkness.
Panting through the pain, Madison picked herself up from the cold marble floor. She looked wildly around for any of the Vampires which were hidden in the corridor with her. Panic pulsed through her like adrenaline. The thought of escaping crept into the back of her mind and the thought of being free blinded her just as much as the darkness around her.
The darkness only confined Madison further and she had little chance escaping when she had no idea which way to run or to run blinded when the predators which followed her could see clearly in the dark. Madison was disorientated by the fall and the lack of food or drink. She couldn’t remember the last time she had had a sip of water or even the last thing she had eaten.
Madison struggled to stand on her injured knees as she pressed her back up against the right wall, using her hands to feel her way down the pitch black corridor.
Gabby whispered in the darkness, louder than before. Madison couldn’t hear what she was saying and the more she tried, the more the pounding in her head grew louder.
Click. Madison froze on the spot, she searched frantically for whatever or whoever had been the source of the noise.
Frames erupted from the darkness. The frame flowed out of a wooden torch that was fixed to the wall by the entrance of the corridor. Suddenly more flames erupted a few feet away from the first torch – another torch had ignited. Then another and another, gradually torches which lined along the left wall of the corridor began to ignite - Illuminating the corridor in a warming glow.
Both walls of the corridor were the same dark grey stone that surrounded the entrance room of the lower depths of The Coven. The floor was the same dark marble with white and yellow swirls.
Madison directed her gaze down toward the endless corridor, the lit from the flames of the torches danced on the opposite wall.
Quickly Madison spun around towards the entrance of the corridor; she looked nervously around as her eyes focused on Gabby who was lent against the wall a few feet away from her. Her posture calm and relaxed, one leg bent and placed against the wall. Trace stood across from Gabby, his eyes burying into her.
The twins stood at the entrance of the corridor, Alex’s arm was stretched up and his hand clutching an iron metal lever.
Both of the twins stared at her their faces soft and features blank. Each Vampire eyed Madison, examining her, studying her movement like she was a science project – a pet everyone couldn’t take their eyes off.
“Let there be light…” Gabby smirked.
Trace clenched his fists at his side, anger flashing through his eyes.
Madison wasn’t sure whether Trace was angry at her for falling and making a noise or Gabby’s stupidity. Either way, it caused her heart to beat rapidly in her chest and her head become dizzy from her accelerated pulse. Movement distracted Madison from eyeing Trace cautiously. Gabby shuffled along the wall towards her, her hands scrapping against the jagged stone. The tapping sound of her heels echoed throughout the corridor.
“Where were you off too?” Gabby whispered her mouth close to Madison’s ear.
“No…nowhere” Madison replied, stuttering with fear.
“Well, we could see you and it sure looked like you were trying to get away, now why would you want to get away from us?” Gabby said her works soft and humiliating.
“No, I wasn’t. I just…couldn’t see you!” Madison lied, but her eyes sincere.
“You know, you’re not a very convincing liar. I thought we had already worked that one out?” Gabby said, pressing her lips together and rubbing her forehead in frustration.
“Gabby, we haven’t got time for this” Trace said sharply.
Gabby threw Trace an annoyed look, but quickly softened her features as she caught Trace’s eye.
“Whatever…” she muttered underneath her breath.
Trace lunged forward and grabbed Madison’s arm, his fingers dug into her flesh. He caught her off guard. She jumped at his sudden movement and almost cowered as he went for her. Trace was stronger than Gabby and Andy, the skin on Madison arm turned instantly white from Trace’s strength. And the pain was worse than when Gabby had dug her nails in.
He instantly began pulling her down the corridor, frustration now cracking the cool, calm exterior he had before. Madison stumbled several times as he dragged her deeper into the damp and musty corridor.
Gabby slumped away from the wall reluctantly and trailed behind Trace, Alex and Andy following silently behind Gabby.
Madison’s Ugg boots slipped on the damp stone floor, but Trace did not stop or slow his speed – he continued to pull Madison faster and faster down the corridor. She gritted her teeth at the pain of her twisted flesh where Trace continued to tighten his grip. Her heart thudded in her chest as the end of the corridor came into sight.
A dark wooden door stood at the end of the corridor, an eagle with its wings spread out in mid-flight was carved into the door. Its body was stretched out and each individual feather was carved out perfectly. The eagle
s head was positioned to the side as if it was watching them approach.
Two figures dressed in black robes with their hood pulled up over their heads floated silently across the door at the end of the corridor.
Madison gasped and jumped against Trace. He caught her and stared down at her, his eyes were completely black in the dim light of the burning touches. Madison’s eyes widened and she jumped away quickly, realising she was perched against the dangerous vampire. She had been so overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of the calved animal; she hadn’t noticed the hooded guards patrolling the corridor. Trace nudged Madison in frustration and she had unconsciously stopped dead in her tracks. Gabby huffed behind her, shifting her weight and throwing her hands to her hips.
Madison shuffled awkwardly forwards, along the slippery wet stone and holding out a hand towards the stone wall stopping her from falling over. She stared stiffly down the corridor, fear flowing through her like waves breaking over her fragile body. Madison’s heart jumped into her throat every time one of the Vampires stepped on a broken pave stone and it crunched underneath their feet. She couldn’t take her eyes of the hooded guards at the end of the corridor. The thudding sound of Madison’s heart beat against her rib cage grew louder and louder as they grew closer and closer to the end of the corridor. Trace glared at her from her left. Madison’s racing pulse would almost certainly draw attention to them as soon as she became within ear shot. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her beating heart.
Her thoughts were uncontrollable; Brendan’s and Stephanie’s face whirled round her mind. She was now deep in panic and all the events that had occurred up until this point now seem to be blurred and hazy. She was broken, she had lost her best friend due to the circumstances she had gotten involved in and now she was going to lose Brendan. Madison knew that this kind of pain would stay with her in this life and the next. Guilt also rumbled heavily inside her for unknowing dragging Leon and Fred into her tangled web of pain and destruction. She suddenly became coherent again and the deep thought that had gripped her slowly diminished - they had reached the end of the corridor.
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