Haven: Revenge of the Viper (12 page)

“Be quiet, all of you, and get down!” she ordered.

They all moved to the side of the bed and crouched down next to it, catty-corner from the doorway. The blue glow from Nara was the only light in the room.

“Nara, be silent,” Alisa whispered, and the blue light of the gemstone went out. Sam looked at his mother and then at Sarah. He had so many questions and he knew Sarah did too, but he didn’t know where to begin. There was only one question that mattered now.

“Mom, why can’t you make us disappear out of the house?”

Alisa looked over at Sam and met his gaze. His eyes moved rapidly, searching her face for answers. Alisa could see her son was confused, but he was holding it together.
Just like his father,
she thought,
always calm under pressure.
For a brief moment her heart sank. This was not the way she intended for them to find out about their past. Sam and Sarah deserved better than this.

“I can’t. The Viper has placed a Binding spell on the house. No one can get in or out.”

Sarah frowned and shook her head in frustration, “A what? What’s a Binding spell? Mom, what does that even mean? You’re not making any sense. None of this is making any sense!” she said.

Alisa looked over at Sarah, who had just about reached her limit. She needed to keep her calm before she brought the whole house down around them.

“Honey, I know it doesn’t, but there isn’t time. That thing out there is a hunter, and right now it’s hunting us. The only way we stay alive is if we keep moving. Do you understand me?”

Sarah didn’t say a word. Her face had gone white now.

“Sarah,” Alisa said again. She reached out and shook her shoulder. “Do you understand?”

Sarah eyes blinked in acknowledgement, but as she opened her mouth to speak the room erupted in flashes of green fire that exploded on the wall next to them. Quickly, Alisa planted Nara firmly in front of her and the staff came to life once again in a blue blaze. Streaks of green fire shot through the darkness from beyond the doorway, heading right for them. It was too late to move, the fire was upon them in an instant. Sam closed his eyes and braced himself for impact. Sarah screamed and Travis turned, placing himself between the oncoming fire and Sarah. The sheer force of the explosion rocked the confines of the small room. Green sinuous flames curled around the huddled mass like long fiery tentacles. Sam felt the jolt beneath his feet but nothing more; he had expected to feel the hot flames engulf his body, but nothing happened. He opened his eyes and suddenly he became very still. Just inches away, shimmering in the darkness was a magnificent blue transparent shield that radiated from his mother’s staff. Sam’s lips parted in amazement, Sarah’s body stiffened, and Travis glanced around to see if the others were seeing the same thing he was.

Alisa was down on her knees. Both her hands were gripped around her staff, which was braced against the side of her body. Before anyone could speak another barrage of fire balls exploded against the shield, which began to crack with the impact of the attack. Sam flinched and watched in amazement as the pieces of the magical shield fell away like shards of broken glass, dissolving into thin air.

“Sam!” his mother yelled. He was barely able to hear her over the explosions against the shield. “When I give the word, you and Travis take your sister and get to your room.”

“What? No!” Sarah yelled, “We can’t leave you!”

Sam’s eyebrows drew together. “Mom, what are you saying? What about you?” he asked desperately.

“I’ll hold it off. We need to buy time! If I know Xavier it won’t be long before he breaks the spell!”
And Xavier
is
here
, she told herself. There was only one person she knew that ate Becker’s Famous Chocolates, and he was not from this world.

Sarah grimaced, “Who? Who’s that?”

But Alisa did not reply. Her focus was on Sam.

“Sam, ready?” she asked. Her pained stare caught Sam off guard. He didn’t know what to say.

“Sam, answer me! Are you ready?”

Sam swallowed hard and nodded in agreement.

Three oncoming fire balls struck the failing shield like missiles. Alisa flinched, her muscles straining as she tried to keep her grasp on Nara, who trembled violently under the onslaught of explosions.

“No, Mom, no! PLEASE!” Sarah screamed.

Alisa gave Sam one final look. “NOW!”

Alisa spun Nara in her hand like a large baton, sending the hilt of her staff crashing down on the bedroom floor. A shockwave of billowing blue flames erupted, obliterating the bedroom wall between her and the Viper, and hurling shards of wood, wires, and sheetrock in the monster's direction.

Sam and Travis took Sarah by the hands and sprinted toward Sam’s room through the hole in the wall. Flashes and sparks of electricity skewed their vision as they dove into the bedroom.

The house shook violently and the floor began to crumble and crack beneath Alisa and the Viper. She tried to brace herself but it was too late. The floor buckled and gave way, sending Alisa and the Viper tumbling into the dark abyss below.

Chapter 10

S
am, Travis, and Sarah slid to the back wall of Sam’s room as the rest of the second story collapsed behind them. The house shook with such force that the floor beneath them rumbled and large plumes of dust billowed in through the doorway. Sam straightened himself against the wall, wincing as he moved his shoulder in a slow circular motion. A few scratches from the other night at the caves had opened up again and were bleeding now. Travis had positioned himself against the wall and was trying to help Sarah to a sitting position. It was completely dark, except for the small traces of moonlight that penetrated the tattered blinds.

“Sam, what about Mom? We have to go back!” Sarah said, trying to catch her breath.

Sam looked to the doorway and tried to steady his racing heart. From where he sat it looked as if the entire second floor had disintegrated in the blast.

“Mom,” Sam gasped. The thought of losing his mother made his stomach roll and his chest tighten.

“Guys,” Travis said, his voice cracking, “I … I think we have a bigger problem at the moment.”

What could be bigger than his mother trapped downstairs with that monster, Sam thought. He looked over at Travis; his eyes bulged and his mouth was gaping open. Sam’s eyes met Sarah’s and together they followed Travis’s gaze.

In the opposite corner of the room was a huddled mass. At first Sam was not sure what it was, and then he realized it was a man. But how was that possible? Sarah had been in the house all day and he and Travis had been in the garage. There was no way he could have entered their home without someone seeing him. The man was trembling and his hands covered his head. His knees were tucked so close to his chest that it was hard to tell exactly how big he was. The outline of his body was clearly visible in the shadows, but what caught Sam’s attention were his shoes—they looked familiar. They were ragged leather boots that were cracked and weathered. The left boot was missing the front part of the sole, revealing a filthy red sock. It was that boot in particular that Sam remembered.

Sam swallowed hard. Sarah reached across Travis, who sat between them, and nudged Sam’s arm.

“Who … who is that, Sam?” she whispered. Her voice was quiet with panic.

Sam stared for a moment at the crumpled man. What he wanted to say was
How should I know,
but the truth was that he did know.

“I …” Sam hesitated. It just sounded too bizarre. It didn’t seem possible. How could he get in here when nobody else could get in or out? Sam swallowed again. “I think it’s Ernie.”

“Who?” Sarah asked.

“Dirty Ernie?” Travis said.

“Yeah, I think so.” Sam replied.

Travis let out a sigh of relief and put his hand to his forehead. “Holy crap, dude, I thought it was one of those Grim Reaper things. I was about to have a heart attack.”

Sam didn’t say a word. He agreed with Travis though, a Grim Reaper would be worse. He continued to stare at Dirty Ernie. Something was not right. Ernie began to whimper, repeating the same word over and over.

“No … no … no …”

“Sam,” Sarah whispered again. “How did Ernie get up here?”

Sam leaned forward to get a better look at Ernie. He wanted to see his face, but that was impossible because of the way the man was cradling himself in his arms.

“I don’t know …” he replied.

“I thought Mom said something about a spell and that no one could get in.”

Sam lowered his head, staring at Ernie as he answered his sister. “She said no one could get in or out.”

Travis slowly inched himself closer to the back wall. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” he muttered.

So did Sam but he couldn’t wait around to feel better about things. He needed to find his mother. He braced himself against the wall and got to his feet.

Sarah frowned. “Sam, what are you doing?”

“I’m going to talk to him,” he whispered.

“Are you crazy? ’Cause I’m pretty sure Dirty Ernie is!” she hissed.

Sam didn’t answer; he didn’t have time to explain. All he knew was that he was running out of time. His mother was out there somewhere, possibly injured, and he had to find her.

“Where are you going?” Sarah said again. She was trying her best to keep her voice down but was failing miserably.

Sam looked down at his sister. “Shhhhh, I’ll be fine. I’m just going to see if he’s okay. Besides, we’ve got to find Mom. I’m not going to just sit here.”

Travis got ready to stand too but Sam put a hand up. “No, stay with Sarah, just in case.”

Travis looked up at Sam, frowned and shook his head. “Sam, Sarah is right. Dirty Ernie is crazy. He eats trash for a living, for God’s sake. That says something about a person!”

“I know, I know,” Sam replied. He was becoming frustrated now. “But I’ve got to do something. Stay with Sarah.”

Travis sighed. “Then here, take this.” He reached over Sarah, grabbed a piece of the charred banister that was lying on the floor next to her and gave it to Sam. “And buddy, whatever you do, don’t miss,” he said.

Sam smirked and took the charred piece of wood in his hand. It was heavy, about two feet long, with three broken sharp spindles attached to its end.

Sam hid the piece of wood behind his back and turned his attention to Ernie, who was still muttering “No” under his breath. Sam took one careful step forward and then another, slowly inching his way through the darkness to the other side of the room.

As Sam approached, it became clear that the man before him was definitely Dirty Ernie and that he did not look well. Dressed in a tattered black t-shirt and frayed jeans, Ernie was dressed the same as he was most days. The only thing missing was the long black coat he normally wore.

“Ernie,” Sam whispered. “It’s me, Sam. Sam Dalcome.”

But Ernie wasn’t listening; his harsh voice kept repeating “No, no, no,” like he was slowly going insane. As Sam got closer, thin wiry muscles contracted in his arms, pulling his head down lower to his knees. Trembling, he began rocking back and forth.

Sam almost felt sorry for the man. Maybe he’d had an episode and lost his memory or something. But that didn’t explain how he got in Sam’s house, or in his room for that matter.

“Ernie, how, how did you get in here? Do you know where you are?” he asked softly so as to not frighten the man. Sam felt like he was talking to a small child who had lost his way.

Travis and Sarah craned their necks to get a better look. From where they sat they could only see Sam’s back. Sarah was gripping Travis’s arm again.

“I can’t see a thing. What’s happening?” she asked.

But Travis couldn’t see much either. “I don’t know, but Sam’s getting closer,” he whispered.

Ernie was breathing harder and rocking faster now. He seemed to be getting more agitated the closer Sam got.

“Ernie, can you hear me? Are you okay?”

Then the man abruptly stopped as if he had heard his name for the first time. Sam froze and his pulse quickened.

Slowly, Ernie began to unravel his arms from around his head. His emaciated limbs unfurled like thin spider legs emerging from a deep dark crevasse.

Sam stood rooted to the spot. His hand tightened around the piece of wood he was holding behind his back.

Ernie slowly lifted his head to face Sam. The tendons in his neck strained and a visible pulse throbbed just below his ear. A long open gash ran down the side of Ernie’s jaw line. Dried blood covered his chin and the right side of his face. His gray dreary pupils twitched from side to side, as if he was searching for something or someone in the empty room.

Sam struggled to catch his breath. He felt his skin tingle as every hair on his arm stood at attention. Ernie’s mouth opened, exposing gray elongated fangs that dripped with saliva.

“Nooo,” he hissed.

Alisa opened her eyes to a haze of dim lights. At first she couldn’t tell how many lights there were. Her right temple throbbed; a trail of pain seared its way across to the back of her head. She closed her eyes once more and then opened them again. Now there was only one dim light in the distance.