13.
3878 Words
“Quick! Over here!” Pitt yelled, pointing to the opposite side of the corridor we had come from. “Follow me!”
Within seconds, Gwen, Simon, Rufus, and Pitt parted with some of their clothes which they left on the ground. They found themselves shirtless, ready to fly as soon as they stepped outside if needed. Lightning fast, Rufus slipped Rucker over his shoulder to carry him. Finally, all five rushed into the corridor.
As still as a stone, I saw them rush for the exit.
I wouldn’t leave without Elgin. I wouldn’t leave this place without bringing him back with me. I don’t think about it a second longer. I picked up Gwen’s amulet from the floor and ran into the darkness of the dungeons, having no idea of the precise direction I should take.
“Scarlett!” Gwen yelled behind me.
They had reached the first level, but I wasn’t listening, I wouldn’t stop. Only Elgin mattered. I drew my strength from adrenaline and determination. They compensated for the weakness of my battered body which was regenerating itself faster than ever as my willpower was great.
Even though Elgin’s scent still didn’t reach me, I was sure he was hidden in the lower cells, where the Moroi lurked. What I was about to do was very dangerous, I was aware of it. I could die here, but nothing could stop me from going. Nothing.
In a very short time, I reached the mouth of a passage. It overlooked a stairwell leading to the extreme depths of the castle.
“Scarlett!” Gwen repeated in a distant voice.
A low growl answered her immediately. They were coming.
There was no need to wait for them to fall on me. I turned around and hid in a recess. Right under my feet, I felt the presence of a trap door. With a quick and flexible gesture, I shifted to lift it silently. Given the system of pulleys and chains screwed to the stones, this arrangement must have been used to move objects from one floor to another. The shaft seemed wide and deep, enough for me to sink into it. I could make out the faint glow that escaped from it, it would lead me straight to the lower level.
The Moroi approached with heavy, noisy steps. Without waiting, I carefully entered the conduit. I remained on the ledge for a few seconds by the sole strength of my arms and spread my legs to find a point of attachment. I wanted to avoid using the ropes, they had probably been there for so long that they would have broken under my weight. With a sure movement, I contorted myself so that my back was propped up against the wall. At the same time, I bent my knees and powerfully pushed my feet away. I stood there for a moment before taking care to close the hatch behind me. Hidden here, I hoped my scent would be lessened.
The oozing moisture made the stones slippery. Sitting in the void, I began to descend carefully against the wall. It wasn’t so much the fall that I feared, but being discovered before I found Elgin. The still vivid memory of Rucker’s tortured body gripped my heart violently. Perhaps Elgin had suffered the same, or even worse because he was a Were. Who knew in what state I was going to find him and I was consumed with anguish.
I came to a halt in my progress when I heard the Moroi pass just above, carrying a putrid smell with them. Instinctively, I held my breath, closed my eyes, and lowered my chin as if I wanted to bury it in my neck.
I waited.
Several seconds passed before their scent and the sound of their footsteps died away. They were slow and I was counting on taking advantage of that. I tilted my head to gauge the distance to the bottom, about four meters. Throwing myself into the void would be faster, the passage was wide enough for that. I put my palms forward in search of rubble that I could have clung to. With my fingertips, I spotted several holes allowing me to insert my hands. I leaned against it and slid my legs against the wall. Finally, I gave my body a slight back push and, arms along my thighs, I let myself drop.
I landed loosely on my feet in a dimly lit hall. I glanced around to locate myself in relation to the stairs that went up to my left. To the right, the corridor continued so deep that I couldn't see the end of it. I grabbed one of the two torches hanging on the wall and sank into it.
The corridor distributed several cells. The first was empty. As I went further, I discovered others from which an unbearable stench escaped. From the open gates, I saw straw mattresses, excrement, and bones that I refused to identify. The Moroi lived here like wild beasts that would have been locked up and fed occasionally. I couldn’t remember having known a more macabre and unsanitary place than this one. Even the rats seemed to have deserted it.
I continued to the end, checking each cell, but finding nothing there. Elgin wasn’t here. There was no other level, no other place to look for him.
Had Grigore seen him? Had he succeeded in negotiating his release? It was useless to give myself false hope. I turned around and walked back to the hall. Almost instinctively, I lifted my head to look at the opening I had come through. As I turned, my eyes immediately slid over a large wooden door that replaced a whole section of wall, just below the duct. My heart quickened. There was another place. Elgin might have been confined somewhere behind that door.
I looked at it for long seconds before deciding to pull it towards me; it was ajar. With as little noise as possible, I opened it further to get an idea of what to expect. I stopped and took the time to sniff the air. I could sense nothing more than the lingering scent of Moroi. Like everywhere else.
It was dark. Much more than where I was, but I couldn’t keep the torch with me. If anyone other than Elgin was there, I would be spotted in less than a second from the bright glow. I hung it on the ring against the wall and rummaged through the pockets of my coat to get my cell phone. Finally, heart pounding, I took a deep breath and silently plunged into the dark depths with the light of my phone as my only ally.
My eyes slowly grew accustomed to the darkness. The floor was covered in shiny tiles of moisture and grime, and despite the balance I had developed over the past few months, I nearly fell several times. On each side of this new corridor was another series of empty cells that I systematically inspected. Some of them had wall rings and chains that spoke volumes about their usefulness.
Almost blindly, I quickened my pace and turned desperately right, left, then right again, without detecting the slightest clue that would have indicated Elgin’s presence at any given moment. My chest was shaking with spasms, I only realized it now. In truth, I had been like this ever since we found Rucker. I would have preferred to find Elgin in an identical state rather than find no trace of him. I was afraid of what his disappearance might mean. I was terrified at the thought of never seeing him again. Every bit of my skin reacted to his absence, I was burning, I was crackling with anger, sadness, and worry.
What if he’s dead? No! I got that idea out of my mind and focused on the one valid goal: to find him no matter what. But this place was more hellish than a labyrinth, darker than darkness, more hostile than a volcanic abyss. And I had to walk a good ten more meters looking in every nook and cranny to admit that I wouldn’t find anything. Elgin wasn’t here.
As I resolved to turn around, a slight noise caught my attention. I stopped and listened. As if out of nowhere, distinct scents of tar and putrefaction reached me in waves, wringing a shiver from me mingled with terror and repulsion. Instinctively, I leaned against the wall behind me and turned off the light so I couldn’t be spotted, which, in the end, was ridiculous. If these creatures lived in the dark, it was probably because they could see very well. Besides, none of the St Andrews murders had been committed in broad daylight. Darkness was their element, it served as their protection, it was their ally.
Almost immediately, a hot, foul-smelling breath came straight across my face. Heart on the edge of my lips, it took a few seconds for me to realize that a Moroi was just inches away from me. Part of my mind screamed at me to run, the other, much less lucid, urged me to turn on my light and look. The feeling that inhabited me then was fiercely contradictory. I had to escape from here, tear myself away from this fear that wanted to subdue me and condemn me here, but I refused to do so without knowing what I was running from, without seeing who had taken Elgin from me. What from my brain or the depths of my unconsciousness ordered me to turn on the light? I couldn’t say it, but as endowed with a will of its own, my hand went towards my enemy. I immediately stopped breathing, totally appalled by this thing staring into the whites of my eyes.
Tall, massive, and slightly bent, the monster standing in front of me was from afar the most abominable thing I had seen. Like his body, his impressive head, topped by two pointy ears, was covered with long, greasy brown hair that reinforced the horror of his large, crushed muzzle. Its mouth, with several rows of thick, tapered teeth, seemed unable to close and from that powerful jaw flowed a white, viscous, foamy liquid. I couldn’t, or rather, didn’t want to determine if this substance was the manifestation of his hunger or the ferocity that glowed in his eyes redder than blood. He was terrifying.
I didn’t know where our abundance of imagination came from, but I was sure mine had always been as infertile as a barren desert. In all my life, at no time could I have believed in the existence of such a creature. The Moroi radiated power and evil energy. Without a doubt, it was a predator, a machine programmed to kill, the embodiment of destructive force. It took my breath away.
Suddenly it hissed and sent its putrid breath right in my face. Almost at the same time, it raised a hairy paw and, horrified, I narrowly avoided the five huge talons similar to those of dark angels that should have torn my head off.
While I was in the duct, hearing their heavy footsteps, I understood that these creatures were heavy and moving slowly, while I was light, agile and swift. I dropped to the floor and, simultaneously, I tilted to the side to destabilize it before running away faster than I thought I could.
As silly as it may sound, I hadn’t let go of my cell phone. While beating the ground with my long strides, I buried it in my coat pocket and rushed into the corridors.
It was because I was now a wolf and had a keen sense of direction that I easily found the direction I had taken. I quickly reached the door, ready to leap out of this hell, when the creature came up behind me and grabbed my ponytail to pull me back. I cried out in surprise more than in pain and, unbalanced, I slumped on the floor. It dragged me like this for a meter or two before I came to my senses. Before killing me, the animal first wanted to play. I twisted my hips and gripped one of its heavy paws with both hands. Caught off guard, it let go of my hair. I got to my feet without delay and blindly lifted my leg to kick it, with all the power I was capable of. I could tell from its gargles that I had reached its stomach and that it had doubled over without falling. Immediately, I rushed again towards the exit. I had barely set foot in the main hall when two Moroi appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
In the light, they were even scarier. They walked on two legs, but there was nothing human about their appearance. Their large feet rattled on the ground, while their bent knees seemed unable to unfold. Their long, strong arms ended in a gigantic hand whose claws were made to tear apart. Their chest stretched and rounded; they were endowed with an impressive musculature. It was also the only part of their body that was not covered with hair. They also had a long tail at the end of which rose three black spikes. But their faces, if you could call it that, were their most horrific, with that mighty jaw made to rip and crush flesh. These creatures were monstrous.
I could sense the vibrations of their excitement.
A panicked fear then wrapped around my muscles, immobilizing me completely. Breathing chaotic, I tried to pull myself together. Without quite knowing what to do, I slowly stepped back, not taking my eyes off them, until my previous opponent’s footsteps echoed. I was trapped. With a quick glance, I assessed my chances of making it through them to reach the stairs. They were thin, too thin. I looked up hoping to find something on the ceiling I could have hung on. Nothing. Nothing except the conduit that led to the upper floor. If I rushed into it, maybe I would have time to get to the exit before them? They were slow, and I was flexible and agile.
Suddenly, like the Strigoi, the one I had left behind materialized next to the other two in a cloud of black smoke. Horrified, I realized that if I had had any hope of escaping by rushing them, I could give it up. The Moroi walked awkwardly, but no one was able to move as quickly as they did if they moved like that.
Anguish and fear made my veins throb painfully against my temples. It was too hard, too heavy to bear, I was losing my mind. My nerves were under pressure, ready to explode. I wanted to take a side step to stabilize myself and only succeeded in causing a cataclysm. The three creatures opened their mouths wide and let out a terrible cry before rushing towards me.
In a split second, I thought of one of the reasons I had to come here: Elgin. No matter where he was, I’d be more useful to him alive than dead. Not to mention that we didn’t separate soul mates. Never! Adrenaline at the highest level, I let the survival instinct take hold of me, take over my brain by forbidding myself to think about what was achievable or not. As they stuck to each other to block their bodies and keep me from passing, I caught them by surprise by jumping abruptly into the air. Arms raised in the sky, I managed to grab one of the ropes hanging inside the conduit and began to climb with the energy of desperation, as fast as I could. If it broke, I would die. In less than five seconds, I reached the hatch. But as I expected a Moroi brutally pulled my ankle. I screamed at the breaking point of my vocal cords, kicking my feet violently and clinging with all my might to the metal pulleys that threatened to be torn from the wall. Then the hatch opened.
When I saw Pitt’s face leaning over me, I felt like crying, although I was still not out of the woods and still didn’t know his intentions. Would he take this unexpected opportunity to kill me quickly or…? I had no time to go through my thoughts, Pitt put his forearms under my armpits and lifted me sharply as the Moroi pulled. A sinister crackle sounded in my pelvis, but Pitt had freed me. I was alive.
“Can you run?” he asked, realizing that I had just dislocated my bones.
I shook my head, on the verge of tears. I would heal quickly, but it would take a little more than the handful of seconds we had for that.
Without wasting a minute, he slid me over his bare shoulder and rushed up the stairs. Time to count to three and we were there.
Pitt was quick, as were all dark angels, but I couldn’t help but glance worriedly behind us. At the last glance, I saw them. They were moving, dematerializing in spurts. It was then that I realized that they were unable to cover long distances in this way without making micro-stops. It was a good point for us, but as long as we were here, in these places they knew by heart, we would be in danger.
“Quick, quick!” I yelled. “They’re coming!”
Horrified, I felt he was slowing down.
“What are you doing? They’re coming, I tell you! They are there, look!” I bawled, twisting around to point my index finger at them.
Pitt moved to check, then suddenly stopped. I looked up at him and examined his expression. He didn’t see them. He didn’t see them!
There were only fifteen yards left before we reached the cell we had all entered through, but the creatures were gaining ground. What was he doing?”
“By the Spirit, Pitt!”
I tried to pull away, but he was holding me tight.
“Run, run!” I sobbed, more panicked than ever.
Pitt heard me gasp, but he didn’t move.
So, the first Moroi came in front of us, bringing with him his pestilential scent, stronger, more concentrated as he was stimulated by the scent of our blood. The other two followed, driven by the same desire for s*******r, snorting like a bull in an arena. In only three confrontations, I understood how they worked. They didn’t immediately jump at the throats of their prey, they liked to observe them for a short time. It looked like they were feeding off their fear. Pitt didn’t see that. He seemed overwhelmed by what he smelt, heard, but didn’t see. At the cost of a painful effort, I let myself slip behind him. Pitt was blind, so when the Moroi attacked, I would be his eyes. My waist, hips, and pelvis were still in pain, but I could stand. We didn’t have to wait long; the monsters opened their mouths and filled the dungeons with their cries. A moment later, Pitt was reacting, but it was too late.
The first one raised an arm that he wanted to strike down on Pitt. I screamed to warn him. Then everything went very quickly. Pitt leapt back and, as if recharged with new energy, he grabbed me by the waist and carried me with him through the galleries at a dizzying pace. I could no longer make out what was going on behind us, but as he walked the few yards that separated us from the cell, the door opened on Simon. We rushed into it and threw ourselves on the rock blocking the exit to make it move. At the same time, the door of the jail shattered, letting in the three creatures of the night. Gwen, Simon, Rufus, and Rucker who had vaguely regained consciousness of the world around him were speechless in amazement seeing nothing but pieces of wood strewn on the floor.
“Move that rock, move it!” I exclaimed.
Pitt and Rufus busied themselves with me as the Moroi entered.
“No!” I heard Gwen scream just as the rock toppled over.
I turned when the rays of the sun invaded the cell, immediately pushing back our opponents who melted into the darkness of the corridors.
They couldn’t stand the light of day!
“They’re leaving! Get out, get out! I shouted.
But no one moved.
It was then that the metallic and salty smell of blood rushed into my nostrils. Then I opened my eyes wide in a flash of lucidity. Simon’s lifeless body lay on the ground. The Moroi had taken his head with them. I hadn’t seen anything.
“Simon…” I whispered, bringing my hands to my lips.
I couldn’t believe it. He had helped to save Rucker and he had died.
“We can’t stay here,” Pitt warned, his expression as cold as a block of ice. “The Strigoi are coming.”
Pitt was much more affected than he looked. He and Simon had known each other for decades and whatever their differences were, he was a friend he had lost.
I glanced at Rucker; he didn’t realize. He was there without being there. He was staring at Simon with the blank stare of a man who had just spent three days in hell. My blood had invigorated him. He was standing normally and some of his wounds had miraculously closed. His body would get better and better, but his mind, what would become of it? They had broken it, bruised it, destroyed it. In just seventy-two hours, they had crushed part of his soul, and looking at him, I felt he would never be the same again. I would have liked to take the time to hug him, to tell him that I would always be there for him, but I couldn’t.
Nothing was finished, I had to be strong. That’s why I just looked at him, stretching my lips gently over a mirthless smile. He didn’t even see me.
Rufus knelt in front of Simon’s decapitated body, where Gwen was already, horrified. He gently stretched out his arm and put his hand on Simon’s heart.
Together, they had shared much more than a simple collaboration within the Circle. They were almost inseparable and showed, one towards the other, a fidelity that many dark angels would have envied.
Dully, he whispered a few words that no one could hear distinctly. Hurried by time, he wiped a tear of rage that ran down his cheek and stood up.
“Let’s go,” he said, rushing outside, without looking back.
We started after him, while my step was limping, definitely turning my back on this place where I had only found half of what I had come to seek.
We were there for an hour, but it felt like a whole life in hell.
We walked a few yards in the frozen grass of the moat before coming to a stop. About ten Strigoi joined us, escorting Grigore and the members of the Council.
- Writer
