A table with benches lining the sides of it stretched across the center of the room. A cafeteria food line was ten feet away from the table. Heat lamps hung over metal containers; she couldn’t see inside the containers, but her mouth watered as the scent of cooking food wafted to her.
“Food,” Mario breathed.
“Should we go in there?” Talia whispered.
“I don’t see why not,” Eric said. “None of us have nightmares about cafeterias, right?”
“Right now, I wouldn’t care,” Mario said.
“We don’t have time to eat,” Reid said.
“It will take twenty minutes and if we don’t eat, I’m going to drop.”
“He has a point,” Sandra said. “I don’t want to stop either, but we’re going to need something to fuel us since I don’t see nap time in our future.”
“True,” Avery said.
“Five minutes,” Reid said.
“Fifteen,” Mario said and didn’t look back as he entered the room.
Avery stepped into the room and lifted her arms before her. The color of her skin was a stark contrast to the gray of the cafeteria. Staring at her arms, she felt as if she’d stepped from colorful Oz and into black-and-white Kansas.
“I don’t like this,” Talia whispered.
“There are some drinks,” Sandra said as if Talia hadn’t spoken. She pointed toward the cooler against the left wall.
“A bathroom!” Karen cried when she spotted the restroom sign hanging over the doorway next to the cafeteria line. “I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t go by yourself!” Avery shouted before Karen made it three feet.
She hadn’t meant to shout, but despite the promise of a reprieve it offered, she hated this room. Karen halted in her dash toward the bathroom.
“I’ll go with her,” Isla offered.
“Me too,” Talia said, and Isla rolled her eyes while Karen’s mouth pursed.
“I’m coming too,” she said. “I’ll be right back,” Avery told Reid before following the others toward the restrooms.
Karen reached the bathroom door first. Avery rested her hand on Karen’s arm to keep her from entering. “Let me check it out first.”
Karen opened her mouth as if she were going to protest before she closed it again. Avery propped her toe against the swinging door and pushed it open to reveal a colorless bathroom with two stalls and two sinks. Avery strode inside and pushed open the stall doors before pulling the lid off the trash can to make sure nothing was hiding inside the room.
“It’s safe,” she said, and Karen rushed into one of the stalls.
Avery used the bathroom and washed her hands before leaving the three of them and returning to the cafeteria to make sure everyone there was safe. Reid smiled at her and waved her over to where he stood by the food counter. When Avery saw the array of food laid out before them, her eyes widened. Whereas gray encompassed the room, the food was in vivid color.
Something about it made her skin crawl even as her stomach rumbled and her mouth watered greedily. Reid handed her a gray plate and a tray as Mario started heaping food onto his plate and Karen, Talia, and Isla returned from the bathroom. She had no idea why Regan granted them this reprieve, but she’d take advantage of it while she could.
Lifting a ladle, she piled spaghetti onto her plate before moving on to the salad and bread. By the time she finished, food was spilling from her plate and onto her tray. She eyed the breakfast food before deciding she’d come back for the eggs, sausage, and bacon.
She chewed on a piece of bread as she stalked over to the table. She saw no sign of an impending attack, but she didn’t relax as she set her tray down and settled onto the wooden bench. Sandra had piled soda and water into the middle of the table; grabbing a bottle of water, Avery placed it on her tray.
She didn’t trust Regan or anything in this place, but cramps twisted her empty stomach, and she couldn’t bring herself to turn down the food. Still, she searched for something within it or waited for it to vanish as she twirled spaghetti around her fork before shoving it in her mouth.
Regan must have decided to feed them before they collapsed. He wouldn’t want his game to end early because his contestants weren’t capable of continuing. Still, Avery waited for something awful to happen while she ate.
“You know,” Sandra said as she lifted a forkful of scrambled eggs, “I’ve been thinking—”
“That’s never good,” Mario said.
Sandra shot him a disdainful look and tossed back her tangled blonde hair. Avery had never expected to see her cousin look anything less than immaculate, but dirt streaked her cheeks, chips marred her red nail polish, and her clothes were wrinkled and filthy.
“Since we know Avery is the one member of the coven who didn’t free Regan, she should be in charge of the coven,” Sandra said.
Avery froze with her fork halfway to her mouth to gawk at Sandra. She felt the eyes of the others on her, but her gaze remained locked on Sandra, who didn’t appear to be kidding. Was she trying to piss Landon off by suggesting Avery lead?
But that wasn’t likely as Landon wasn’t here to hear Sandra’s suggestion.
“I don’t want to be in charge,” Avery finally said.
Sandra shrugged and broke a piece of bacon in half. “And I don’t want to be here, but we all do things we don’t want to.”
“Avery leading would make sense,” Eric said and smiled when Avery shot him a look.
“I don’t know any of the rituals or how to do a lot of the things you all know how to do,” she protested.
“But you’re the strongest one of us and the only one we can all trust,” Eric said.
“We can trust Landon.”
“Can we?” Isla inquired. “I don’t see her sitting here.”
“She was with us the last time Regan attacked us,” Reid said tersely. “But you weren’t.”
Isla glared at him. “No, I wasn’t, but then we knew that none of us had set Regan free; we can’t say that now.”
“Landon would never do that,” Reid protested.
“So you say, but who do you see doing it?”
Reid opened his mouth to respond before closing it again.
“Exactly,” Isla said. “None of us can picture anyone in the coven setting Regan free, but someone did it, and no one can be trusted until we know who.”
“Except we can trust Avery,” Sandra said as she popped a piece of bread in her mouth; her eyes never left Avery’s as she chewed and swallowed. “At this point, you’re the only one I trust. Knowing rituals, spells, crystals, herbs, and all that other crap is secondary to what we’re facing with Regan.”
Avery started to tell her again that she didn’t want to be in charge, but she stopped when she saw the expressions on all their faces. They had to be able to trust someone in this mess, and they all believed they could trust her.
“We can discuss it when we get out of here,” she said.
“I don’t think there’s anything to discuss,” Sandra said.
Avery disagreed as she didn’t want to step on Landon’s toes or upset her. Landon wasn’t the official leader of the coven—that role would be elected after everyone turned eighteen—but she’d pretty much been running the coven for years. Because Sandra hated being told what to do, Landon and Sandra butted heads, but Landon was the one who made sure they observed all the rituals, studied their Books of Shadows, and learned as much about their powers as they could.
Avery understood they needed someone they felt they could trust to follow, but she didn’t want to do the things Landon did. And she definitely didn’t want to be the one who made sure the others did those things too. She’d rather pull her teeth with pliers and no Novocain.
Avery lifted her fork to her mouth again and froze when, from the corner of her eye, movement caught her attention.
CHAPTER 20
No. NO. NO!
Her mind screamed denials at her as she tried not to look more closely at th
e movement, but her eyes fell to her fork and the worms wiggling on it. Some of the worms rose on the air toward her as if they were sniffing her out. Bile heaved up her throat, and she released a gurgled scream as she flung her fork away. Throwing herself away from her seat, her breath rushed out of her when she landed on the tile floor.
Screams of surprise and disgust erupted around her as anarchy broke out around the table. Thick brown worms had burst from the plates of spaghetti to spill across the table. White bugs crept from the eggs, and the slices of bacon had become thick black leaches.
Avery’s stomach revolted, and she flipped over to retch onto the floor. Sitting back, she wiped her mouth with the back of her arm and gazed down at the spaghetti she’d regurgitated. She was greatly relieved to see that what she’d eaten remained food. She didn’t think she could handle it if the food had turned to worms in her belly.
A thick worm fell off the table and plopped onto the floor beside her. On her hands and knees, she scrambled away from the table and anything else that might fall off it. Launching herself to her feet, she spun back toward the disgusting mess covering the table and spilling onto the floor. She kicked at a leach slithering toward her sneaker and sent it spiraling across the cafeteria.
Stumbling further away from the table, her back connected with the metal serving ramp and she spun to find more creatures spilling from it. Avery gagged but stifled the urge to vomit again as sweat poured down her cheeks.
“Are you okay?” Reid demanded as he clasped her arm and pulled her against him.
Talia released a high-pitched, hysterical scream as she grasped her hair and started pulling on it.
“Stop!” Mario yelled at her. “We can’t hear if something else might be happening!”
Grasping Talia’s hands, Mario tugged them away from her head. Strands of hair hung from her fingers as she screamed again, and Mario covered her mouth with his hand. Muffled shrieks continued to erupt from Talia while her eyes spun wildly over the top of Mario’s hand.
“Let’s get out of here!” Karen shouted.
The room shifted and blurred as the thick gray of it closed in on them and blocked out the entrance. From behind the counters, fog poured over the food and across the floor to block out the tile before rising to encase her ankles. When her sneakers vanished, Avery had the unsettling feeling something hidden within the fog would eat her feet.
“Where’s the door?” she gasped.
“Here!” Eric cried. “It’s over here!”
Avery strained to see him, but he’d vanished within the mist. She could barely make out Reid standing beside her as the fog rose higher. Reid slipped his arm around her waist and braced her against his side as Eric called to them again, but now it sounded like he was shouting at them from under water. She held her hand out before her as they stumbled forward blindly.
Then, the fog parted and released them. She staggered into the carpeted hallway and crashed into the wall across the way. She slipped from Reid’s hold and slumped to the floor as a wall replaced the entrance to the cafeteria.
“Wait!” Avery cried and lurched forward with her hand outstretched. “Is everyone out?”
Her gaze darted over the people gathered around, and her hand fell to the floor as she realized they’d all made it to safety. Mario released Talia and stepped away from her to sit on the floor. Talia stood, shaking and pallid as tears streaked her cheeks. Avery worried this might be the thing that broke her as Talia fell against the wall before sliding limply to the floor.
“Talia, are you okay?” she inquired. Talia may not have been thrilled to see her alive, but Avery would never forgive herself if Regan destroyed the girl.
Talia stared at the wall before finally looking at Avery and then Reid sitting beside her. He’d turned so his body was positioned protectively in front of Avery’s while he searched the hallway.
“I’m fine,” Talia said and looked away from them.
Avery glanced at Reid, but he hadn’t been paying attention to them.
“Was that a nightmare?” Karen asked.
“I don’t think so,” Avery said. “I think Regan was just having some fun with us.”
“His idea of fun and my idea of fun are completely different,” Mario said as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Maybe someone should teach him how to ride a dirt bike and how to have some real fun. Then maybe he wouldn’t be such an asshole.”
“Or maybe we should get him a girl,” Eric suggested.
“Yeah, a little action…” Mario’s voice trailed off as his gaze flickered to Avery and he sheepishly ducked his head as he seemed to recall why Regan had trapped them here. “A dirt bike would be better than a girl.”
“I agree,” Eric said quickly, and Avery couldn’t help but chuckle as they exchanged sheepish glances.
“At least we got some drinks,” Sandra said as she pulled a couple of cans of soda from her pockets.
“Yeah,” Karen said and pulled two more cans from the pockets of her hoodie. “We’ll have to split them, but they’re better than nothing.”
“We’ll make sure its soda before we drink it,” Eric said.
“Definitely,” Isla agreed.
“We should go.” Reid rose and extended his hand to her.
Avery would have preferred to sit here for a few more hours, maybe even sleep, but she took Reid’s hand and let him pull her to her feet.
CHAPTER 21
Avery leaned against the wall and accepted the can of soda Reid held out to her.
“What time is it?” Eric asked.
“Almost eleven,” Reid answered.
“This is hopeless,” Talia griped and sat on the floor.
“No, it’s not,” Mario said. “We have thirteen more hours.”
“We will make it out of here,” Avery said as she braced her hand against the wall and used it to help her rise. “Come on; we’re not going to find more nightmares by sitting here.”
Avery turned away, but a flash stopped her from going any further. Throwing her arms up, she stumbled back as the light burned her irises and a circle of purple, pink, yellow, and orange materialized in the hall. From the center of the circle, Landon, Rosie, Shawn, Alex, Tina, and Lila slowly emerged.
“Oh!” Avery cried, and forgetting her misery, she ran to embrace her friends. “I knew you’d find us!”
Rosie beamed at her before waving at the group gathered behind her. “It took some convincing to get them to believe me, but eventually they did. I think all of you being missing helped convince them.”
“I bet it did,” Avery said.
“What’s going on?” Landon asked. Her lips compressed into a tight line as her gaze ran over the hall before settling on her twin.
“Regan’s free,” Reid said.
“How is that possible?” Landon demanded.
“Obviously, someone let him out!” Sandra retorted.
“But why? And who would do such a thing?” Tina demanded.
“It has to be someone in the coven,” Eric said. “We’re the only ones who have the power to release him from the skull, and we all knew where it was located.”
Landon, Rosie, Alex, and Shawn eyed all of them warily, and their looks were returned with open hostility. Months ago, before they fought Regan, there had been more friction within the coven and what Avery considered two sides—Landon’s side and Sandra’s.
After Regan, the coven had grown closer, and the divide between the sides nearly vanished, though Sandra and Landon continued to butt heads on occasion. Now, Avery could see those lines reforming, except the anger between them had intensified, and Shawn was standing with Landon instead of Sandra.
“We’re the ones stuck here!” Sandra spat. “So don’t look at us like that.”
Landon glanced guiltily away before focusing on Avery. “What is he making you do?”
“We have to make it through a maze filled with our nightmares, and other fun surprises, by twelve tonight.”
“Otherwise,
we’re stuck here,” Isla added, “until we die.”
“Stuck here?” Lila squeaked.
“Yes,” Avery said.
Tears filled Lila’s eyes before she flung her arms around Avery; struggling not to cry, Avery returned Lila’s rib-cracking hug.
“Okay, so we’ve been through this before; we know what to expect and how to deal with him. We’ll stay and help you,” Tina declared.
Avery would have really liked the extra support and power of the coven, but they couldn’t stay here, especially not Tina and Lila. They would just be more targets for Regan to torment.
“No,” Avery said. “It would be better if you went back and located the skull. We have to know who did this, and we don’t know how to stop Regan without the skull.”
“How many nightmares do you have left to face?” Alex asked.
“Four,” Mario replied. “And the clock is ticking.”
Determination and anger burned in Mario’s forest green eyes as he surveyed the other group with a distrust that made Avery’s stomach churn more than the bug-infested food in the cafeteria. The hostility between the two sides simmered on the air, and she had no idea how to ease it.
“We’ll search for the skull,” Landon said, “and come back later.”
“Conveniently.” Isla’s muttered word earned her dark looks from the others.
“We said we’d stay to help,” Alex said.
“I’d prefer you didn’t,” Sandra replied, and the tension between the groups mounted.
“You should get going,” Avery said. “The sooner the skull issue is resolved, the better off we’ll all be.”
They had to learn who freed Regan before the coven tore itself apart.
“Be careful,” Lila whispered as she hugged Avery again.
Tina came forward and embraced her when Lila stepped away. “Good luck.”
The Maze (The Coven, Book 2) Page 11