Blood Oath (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book Two) (4 page)

I felt the anxious presence of Jessica, Rosalinda, and Zora surrounding me as they watched with horror. Instantly, we all knew the balance of our fairly new world was crumbling beneath our feet. Tears rolled down Jessica’s cheeks as I wrapped my arms around her comfortingly, but there was no way that I was going to allow myself to be sucked into sadness. I just had this sinking feeling that I shouldn’t— that I couldn’t.

My mind steeled itself as throngs of pajama-wearing Vineswell girls, none of them daughters of
Circles
like us, streamed out of Rose Hall dormitory screaming with sheer panic. They scattered aimlessly across the lawn as darkly clothed figures mysteriously swooped in from the shadows, grabbed them savagely by the throat, and bit into it with pure hunger. The pure savagery and brutality was heart wrenching as their flesh was ripped and their drained bodies slumped to the grass with a lifeless thud. It was like watching a horror movie, but in awful slow motion.

Rosalinda’s face turned sickly green as she gagged. "
Dios
, they’re drinking their blood like vampires. Who are they?"

We looked at each other anxiously because we instinctively knew who they were, the
Banished
, the enemies of the
Eternals and Elementi
. Grossly deformed, they stood waiting with clawlike hands and reptilian tongues darting out, tasting the air as if searching for more victims to drain.

"We can’t just stand here. We have to do something." Jessica’s voice was husky with emotion as she nervously rubbed her now-glowing scarlet pendant.

Zora quickly pushed up her eyeglasses that fell familiarly to the tip of her narrow nose. "Like what? Our scarlet pendants are not strong enough to conjure up ample magic to cast a strong spell to hurt them," she said with frustration, "so logically, there is nothing that we can do, and fighting is not an option. We’re just not ready."

Rosalinda’s face looked green, like she was one step away from puking on the floor. "In other words, you mean that we would end up dead like the rest of the
Normals
out there," she responded coldly.

I gave her a dirty look. She could act so cold and heartless when she wanted, and that seemed to be a lot lately. This was very concerning because if she wasn’t willing to fight for the
Normals
right now, when push came to shove, and death came knocking on our door, would she be willing to fight for Jessica or Zora or me? I didn’t even want to think about that right now because I knew that I would not like the answer.

We watched as
Circles—Eternal Warriors
, and our protectors— sprinted out of the building, pulling out the two glowing swords from the leather sheaths attached to the slings on their backs. My heart pounded with relief. Everything would be all right now. They would use their combat skills to defeat the
Banished
. This was what they were trained to do, fight, defend, and protect us until we were trained to protect ourselves.

I pressed my palms against the icy cold window with anxiousness because they were depressingly outnumbered. Their tall, nimble, and athletic bodies surrounded the
Banished
as they swiftly whipped their hands in the air, conjuring up huge white balls of energy that sailed through the wind, ripping into the
Banished
, and shattering them into pieces on impact. They circled the carnage, squatting proudly in Warrior stance, bouncing on the balls of their feet as if anticipating another attack. And like clockwork, more
Banished
streamed in from the edges of the darkness and stalked them menacingly.

I banged on the window, yelling at them. "
Get out of there! Run!
" My stomach plummeted with fear and dread as the
Banished
pounced on them greedily, mowing down the
Circles
maliciously before they got to wield their magic. We watched in horror as their bodies dropped one by one with a heart-wrenching thud and the
Banished
swarmed over them, biting into the
Circles
’ necks, drinking until the bodies were completely drained. The
Banished
howled to the sky, their bodies glowing from drinking their blood.

"No! This can’t be happening!" Zora screamed as if her heart was breaking.

I just stood there in shock. My brain was numb, my body cold.

Our doorknob rattled frantically, followed by thunderous banging and kicking on the door. Then we heard grunts, like fighting, then a thud.

Rosalinda let out an ear-piercing squeal, grabbing my sleeve frantically. "They’re here and going to kill us."

I gave her an evil look. "Stop it, Rosalinda. You’re freaking us out." We looked at each other with panic-filled eyes as the banging became more insistent.

I silently evaluated our options. There was no way to escape through the window without breaking our legs. And our basic Warrior skills were just that, basic, and definitely no competition for the brutal
Banished
.

The door banged again.

"Open the door. Now."

We all sagged with relief; it was Thallo.

Zora bolted for the door and unlocked it. The door swung open harshly, barely missing hitting her. Thallo stood in the doorway with ripped and very bloody clothes. Two huge glowing swords were grasped in her hands; her eyes were alert and face grim. Her ivory skin glowed healthily, and nestled against her heaving chest was the huge, glowing, magic-laced scarlet stone pendant similar to ours.

What in the world? It was like she astonishingly had transformed into an amazing kick-butt
Eternal Warrior
raring for battle. Her hands were covered with small, delicate, glowing white floral patterns mixed with vines and flowers; an etched vine wrapped around her wrist and spiraled up to her forearms.

"
Neophytes
, we have to go. Now!" She looked at them impatiently. "Let’s snap to it. Time to put all that stuff you’ve learned into action."

We stood paralyzed with shock because all we’d learned were basic combat skills, emphasis on
basic
.

"What’s happening out there?" Rosalinda’s voice trembled with fright.

Thallo’s eyes narrowed icily. "There is no time for questions. Move it."

From what we saw outside on the lawn, combined with her battered appearance, we knew this was not a test. After scrambling, quickly dressing and shoving sneakers onto our feet, we bolted toward the safety of Thallo.

Her eyes narrowed shrewdly. "Stay behind me at all times, and do not stop for any reason. If anything happens to me, run, and run fast. And if attacked, use all of the hand-to-hand combat skills you learned so far." Her eyes flashed with worry. "It will at least give you a fighting chance."

Now I was really worried. Did she seriously expect us to fight off the
Banished
by ourselves? There was no way; our hand-to-hand combat skills were horrible, in fact, downright embarrassingly clumsy.

Thallo abruptly stepped into the dark hallway, and we fumbled to get behind her, gasping with shock at the lifeless bodies of Vineswell girls scattered along the hallway, all with their throats ripped apart. She quickly held a finger to her lips, indicating silence, as she tiptoed along the hallway with her glowing swords held tightly.

We huddled behind her as she glided down the stairs with alert eyes. A cold, prickly sensation ran down the base of my spine as I looked around the darkness with unease. I knew that something was wrong when a whiff of rot filled the air. Trouble was definitely coming. Thallo’s swords went from a white glow to a fiery red-hot color as if sensing something dangerous in the air, and each of our scarlet pendants began to glow. She abruptly held up her hand, gesturing to stop. The moonlight streamed through the wide-open front door as she looked around the foyer sharply. Her body tensed as she raised her swords in anticipation.

A tall, darkly clad figure quickly emerged from the shadows with a blur of superhuman speed. He smiled coldly, causing the ragged scar that completely covered the left side of his face, snaking down and completely disappearing under his shirt, to crinkle from the sheer effort. His black hair was matted, body was frighteningly deformed, with half of it slimy, green, and crusty like a reptile, and his right hand had webs between his fingers.

"Thallo! How did I know that you would be the last
Circle
standing? You were always tenacious to say the least," he said in a low, guttural voice, licking his lips with a bright pink lizard tongue. "Did you miss me much?" he spat sarcastically. He looked at her seductively as he muttered something in a language that I didn’t understand, but apparently Thallo did by the way her body tensed angrily.

Thallo looked at him coldly. "You have no business here."

He hissed at her menacingly. "Oh, that’s just not nice. Is that any way to greet"—a slow, icky smile spread across his face as his black, soulless eyes slowly crept up her body—"a close friend?"

His voice sent a nasty chill straight down my spine.

Thallo sneered, "That close friendship phase has come and gone a long time ago." She flicked her hand, sending from her fingers a whoosh of shimmering sparks aimed straight for him. She gasped with shock when the sparks sputtered and fizzled like defunct fireworks.

He looked at her mockingly. "Don’t waste your time or precious magic,
Eternal
. Your magic has no effect on me." He smiled, but it never quite reached his eyes. "It’s such a pity that it has to be this way. You were always such a passionate
Circle
, and we’ve always had such good times."

Thallo actually blushed before regaining her composure.

"But now, I’m on a very important mission and have no time for games." His tongue flicked out quickly. "Give me what I came for, and I will take pity on you and let you live."

Thallo looked at him with distain. "Demon, go back to the pit of darkness you came from, and I’ll let you live."

His eyes narrowed. "You know that I can’t do that, not without what I came for—the Akasha. Where is she?" he spat.

Thallo’s mouth dropped open with shock.

His eyes were calculating as he leisurely looked from Jessica, to Zora, to Rosalinda, and then to me. Long, thin, pointy white teeth glistened as his lips curled into a cold smile.

"Ah, there you are." He sniffed the air loudly, shivering with delight. "Delicious, your blood absolutely reeks of innocence and the magic of the ancients, how refreshing."

His eyes glazed over hypnotically as he stretched out his gross webbed hand. "Come to me, Akasha. Your chariot is waiting." His voice vibrated through the air, then hung there like a thick black cloud, literally choking the air out of the room and filling my lungs like thick sawdust.

Instinctively, I clutched my throat as it constricted painfully. My body twitched as if I had no control of my limbs. My scarlet pendant pulsed like the wings of a bird frantically trying to flee. I closed my eyes, calming my nerves. Mercifully, my body slowly released. This man absolutely terrified me, and I didn’t know why.

Thallo raised her glowing swords. "You cannot have her," she barked.

"I’ll give you a choice. Either step out of the way or I will be forced to kill you—and then all of them." He smiled cruelly.

"I choose neither." She looked at him shrewdly.

He sneered. "How did I know that you would say that? Oh well, you can’t say that I didn’t ask politely." He raised his arms in the air, chanting loudly. "Warriors, come to me. Cerberus, I call thee."

The floor rumbled like we were on the verge of being swallowed by an earthquake, and a putrid smell filled the air. It was absolutely dreadful, like the smell of decay and death. Darkly clad figures emerged from the shadows with superhuman speed, circling her menacingly with large swords in their hands. These men were horribly deformed with webbed, slimy, and gnarly hands that gripped their swords. Their skin was pale, glowing sickly white, and they had eyes the color of coal.

I choked back the bile that gushed up my throat. A loud snarl pierced the air, revealing a giant black-and-gray three-headed hound that snapped and snarled at Thallo. Saliva dripped from its mouth as it opened unbelievably wide.

He laughed coldly, motioning the darkly clad figures in our direction. "Grab the Akasha, and I’ll take care of my lovely Thallo." He smiled sadistically.

The Cerberus ran toward her with lightning speed. Thallo windmilled her swords so fast that the air whooshed frighteningly. She looked at us with panic-filled eyes. "Run!" she screamed, slicing her swords swiftly through the air, connecting viciously with its head.

The
Banished
looked at us nastily, moving toward us with unbelievable speed, swarming us like deadly ants on the attack. Icy fear raced through my body, but in a blink of an eye, survival mode kicked in. I held up my hands as if to push them away.