The Vaga (26 page)

My heart races. I try to stop drifting, but my body keeps floating. A chill suddenly penetrates my skin and I wrap my arms around myself to ward off the cold.

Where am I
?
Am I dead
? No, I can’t be.

My brain is foggy and I’m unable to hold onto a clear thought.

One of the vines to my right starts to move. It pulls itself away from the wall, creaking and groaning in protest as it wakes from its long slumber. I cower as its mossy dark green stump reaches towards me, drawing closer. Before it can make contact, a mottled crimson flower emerges from its stem, spitting out a green mist that causes me to choke on its vapours. As I fan away the mist I hear a voice crying out from behind one of the iron doors to my left.

‘Hello?’ I call out.

The sound of shuffling can be heard, and then a grimy hand reaches out from the speakeasy window, clawing at the air in panic.

‘Help!’ the voice cries out.

All of a sudden voices begin to ring out from all sides of the dungeon, desperate in their attempt to be heard.

Oh my God
!
People are trapped in here
!

Their voices become more urgent as I reach out to grab their hands. My hands slip through theirs as the forces at work keep moving me forward.

‘No! Stop!’ I cry, trying to grab onto anything that will help me save these people.

I cry out again but there is nothing I can do. Their voices become muffled as I move further along the dungeon. Then the voices go quiet and I am standing before a large, double stone door. Its surface looks medieval—time-worn and faded. Claw marks and patches of dried colour scar its face, the two massive brass handles at its centre staring back at me ominously.

My pulse quickens as I reach out to touch them, compelled to feel them, to open the door. An icy shiver courses through me and I pull back my hand quickly, trying to get my body to run, trying to escape this place, this hellhole. But whatever is holding me in its grasp won’t let me go.

I have to get out of here
.

‘Uncle Jo? Magi?’ I yell.

My arms flail helplessly around me as I try to fight off the invisible force holding me in place.

‘No! Let me go!’

The vines come to life. Their thick stems pulse with hunger as the red flowers sprout out of their dormant spines. They reach towards me, eager to taste me, to feed off my fear. I can’t hold them back. I’m helpless. Nothing can save me now.

And then a faint stirring above me causes me to look up. I hear someone talking, the voice calling to me—chanting, beckoning.

It becomes louder and more insistent. A light appears above me, breaking through the darkness of the tunnel, and the vines shriek in pain, snapping back into place against the dungeon walls. The light becomes brighter and the voice clearer.

‘Ama?’

‘Elena!’

‘Ama!’ I yell.

‘Elena, reach up!’

A bubbling scream escapes me and I use all my strength to reach up into the light. A hand reaches through, pulling me out of the darkness.

A violent rush of air escapes me as I wake up in my room, Ama’s hand wrapped firmly around my own.

‘Shem, are you alright?’ she asks, gently placing her other hand on my forehead.

Am I? I don’t know. My mind feels murky, like I fell down and cracked my head. My fingers squeeze hers in desperation while my other hand is clasped firmly around my locket.

‘What happened?’ My voice comes out muffled, my throat dry and raspy.

Ama grabs my hand more firmly. ‘Listen to me. You need to tell me where you were.’ Her green eyes are fixed on mine with purpose.

Fear rattles through me as I remember the long, dark passageway. The ancient door scarred with blood and pain. There was the feeling of someone waiting behind that door, someone who was keeping all those people prisoner. Someone so dark and evil that fear fed on his…

Erebus
.

Uncle Jo moves forward and kneels down beside the bed, placing his hand on my shoulder. ‘You’re safe now.’

I shake my head like a crazy person. ‘Not safe, not safe.’ My eyes dart around the room, stopping when they reach the worried face of Julian. ‘He’s going to bring about the apocalypse. He’s going to kill us all.’

Julian moves forward, his luminescent eyes hovering above me. ‘Who, Elena? Erebus?’

I nod as a sob escapes me. Julian’s eyes wash over every inch of me, his dark eyelashes beating rapidly as he mumbles something in Latin.

Without thinking, I reach for him and his arms enfold around me.

His hands gently stroke my back. ‘It’s okay. Everything is going to be alright. I won’t let him hurt you. I won’t leave you.’

Tears cascade down my cheeks as I burrow my face into his warm chest. He cocoons me in his arms, the pounding of his heart intensifying as I press my cheek harder against him. His warmth flows through me, drying my tears, the beating of our hearts becoming synchronised.

Ama clears her throat, the room suddenly deathly quiet. As I reluctantly draw myself away from Julian’s embrace, I find that everyone is watching us. Ama is looking between us, her smile sincere but her eyes worried, and Uncle Jo is…well, Uncle Jo is scowling but there is a certain level of acceptance in his hazel eyes.

Julian stands up, avoiding my uncle’s glare, and squeezes my hand before taking up his position by the door. Ama flashes Julian a wary glance before sitting back down on the bed, her dress effortlessly accommodating her position.

She pats my hand. ‘Are you alright, Shem?’

I quickly glance at Julian. ‘I’m okay.’

She sighs, her delicate features pinched with concern. ‘Can you tell us what happened?’

The dream returns and I pull the blankets up tighter against my chest. Without knowing how or why, I am almost certain that I astral travelled. The weightlessness, the feeling of really being there in that place, hearing the cries of those poor people locked away in that morbid dungeon. Nothing else could explain it. I’ve astral travelled before, more so when I was younger, and it always happens during sleep, my soul leaving my body and taking flight to other realms and places that would seem unbelievable to anyone else.

Usually I’d wake feeling euphoric and dreamy, but not this time. This time was wrong, like I shouldn’t have been there, like I was sneaking into a forbidden place hidden from human eyes.

I stumble over my words as I relive the experience. Five sets of eyes follow my every movement, five sets of eyes show a range of emotion as I explain what I saw and felt. The last words out of my mouth involve my suspicions about Erebus being behind that door.

Julian steps forward. ‘You think Erebus was there?’

Ama stands up protectively, her energy expanding, commanding everyone’s attention. Her aura emits a rose coloured light not usually seen within her energy field, and I sense there is something different about her. I just can’t quite put my finger on what it is.

‘You were in
his
world. You must have astral travelled, Shem.’

My suspicions exactly.

Something Ama just said startles me. ‘Whoa,
you
know about Erebus?’

‘Yes.’

‘But…how?’

‘Josiah filled me in on all the information you’ve acquired.’

If Uncle Jo filled her in while I was under, then I must have been gone a while.

‘How long have I been out?’

‘For the last three hours,’ she says.

‘What?! But it felt like only minutes.’

‘You know time is different in other realms. It may have only felt like moments there, but here time is slower.’

‘But…you can never stay here that long. How is it possible that you were able to pull me out of there?’

Confusion swirls around me as I try to gain my bearings. There was a reason I was there in that place and I need to try and understand what the purpose was. If it wasn’t for Ama pulling me out I could still be stuck there, helpless and unable to resist opening that door. A niggling feeling scratches at my brain, making me feel like I’m missing something. Something important.

She gently folds her hands in her lap. ‘There are many things we need to talk about.’ Ama clears her throat. ‘Could everyone give Elena and I some time alone please?’

Uncle Jo, Sam, and Julian pass me worried glances before they exit my room. She waits for everyone to evacuate before sitting back down.

Magi remains.

‘Come here, girl.’ I pat the bed and she jumps up without hesitation.

I silently ask Magi if there has been any disturbances overnight. She assures me that all has been quiet, which is a bit odd considering the new threat we are facing.

Ama’s eyes wander over my face. ‘Shem, last time I was here I gave you something. Do you still have it?’

The parchment
. ‘Yes, of course.’

‘Good. You must keep it safe.’

‘I know, Ama. You told me already.’

She nods her head, but her features are pinched tight as if she’s eaten something bad.

I grasp her hand. ‘What is it? What’s wrong?’ Her green eyes focus on me and I notice speckles of purple and gold light flickering around her. ‘What’s different about you?’

She gives me a sad smile. ‘You always were an intuitive little thing. You know when you were five, you and I were talking one day about garden fairies. And all of a sudden you jumped up and said “Mummy needs me”. You raced out of the room, your pretty lemon dress trailing behind you. I couldn’t follow you back then, I didn’t know how, so I waited for as long as I could. You returned a little while later and said “Mummy was hurt, Ama, but I fixed her all up. Now what was that about the fairy lights?”’ She laughs, a soft tinkle that sounds pretty to my ears.

I smile. ‘I don’t remember that.’

She waves her hand in the air. ‘Well you were only little, and you were so cute!’ Her gaze wanders off, remembering that time.

My brow creases. Where is she going with this? Ama isn’t usually the sentimental type.

‘Ama, you’re starting to scare me.’

Her smile falters and she nods her head. ‘I know, sorry.’ She grabs my hand. ‘Things have changed, Shem. After I saw you last time I was…detained.’

I sit up. ‘Detained?’

She pats my hand. ‘Now don’t get upset, I’m fine. I just need you to listen. I stole those parchments, which in hindsight wasn’t the best move I’ve made, but I felt it was important for you to have them. Trackers detained me on my return and I was taken to the Elders. Let’s just say they were not happy with me. Apparently I have been a thorn in their side over the years and this time I overstepped the mark.’

‘I’m not sure what you’re trying to tell me…?’ I say, confused.

She flattens out her dress. ‘Well, to put it bluntly, I got in trouble and they gave me an ultimatum.’

‘An
ultimatum
? What do you mean?’ I ask, not liking where this is headed.

She shrugs her delicate shoulders, attempting, and failing, at being indifferent. ‘It was either help them, or be kept bound to The Other Side.’

‘Bound? As in…you can’t come and see me anymore?’

She nods.

‘But…but they can’t do that! Did you tell them to jam it?’

A soft smile graces her lips. ‘No, I didn’t. Although it would have been fun to see their reaction if I had.’

I fling the covers off, throwing my legs over the side of the bed. ‘So what do they want you to do?’

She looks at Magi sadly before meeting my eyes. ‘They want me to help you stop Erebus.’

I jump off the bed. ‘Whoa! They
already
know about
Erebus?’ She nods. ‘But you just said Uncle Jo—’

She puts her hand up. ‘What I said was that Josiah had filled me in.’ A sigh escapes her. ‘They have their own ways of finding out this information, as you can imagine, so yes, they know about Erebus. But only very recently did they discover his plans, and some of their information isn’t as thorough as yours, if truth be told.’

Well that doesn’t surprise me. Uncle Jo is the most intelligent person I know. His uncanny ability to uncover information and decipher it with such intuitive perception astounds me all the time. I’d like to think that after all these years some of it has rubbed off on me as well.

‘So you know how he wants to use me and Isis?’ I say, embarrassed and angry at the same time.

I never thought about my virginity as something that was truly precious. I just thought that I would wait until I felt like it was something I really wanted to explore with somebody. The fact that it hadn’t happened yet didn’t bother me, well…maybe a little, especially since my hormone surge recently kicked in, but knowing that Erebus wishes to just take it from me and abuse it with such malice makes me physically sick. It’s not his to take.

Her aura turns a dark red. ‘Yes, I do.’

I turn away from her, feeling angry and resentful that not only does Erebus want me, but even The Other Side wants a piece of me now as well.

‘Ama, this is ridiculous! They seriously want me to stop him? How do they think I can do that? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing better to do than be at the beck and call of Heaven itself.’ I choke out a laugh. ‘But what do they expect? Would the
Elders
like me to wear a chastity belt?’