Within The Shadows (22 page)

“
That lot there.” I pointed to my clothes and toiletries
lying on the bed. “Bring it with you. Now, are you going to show me
where I can wash, or do I have to figure it out myself?” I asked
the second shadow. His eyes glowed as though they were on
fire.

He looked at
the one behind me
, and without pausing
for more than a moment, he walked out into the dimly lit tunnel. I
followed him with a feeling of déjà vu. Eerily, the tunnel reminded
me so much of the dream I’d had where I found Nikita. I put her and
all of my problems to the back of my mind, and concentrated on the
present. I had to figure out the layout of the tunnels.

I was
escorted through a stone built corridor that eventually brought us
to what seemed to be a building of some sort. Once we were through
the door, it was closed with a bang. I was led further up some
stairs that spiralled round and round. Looking down over the
handrail, I felt dizzy. We were so high up.

“
Where is this place?” I whispered as I looked up. The
stairs seemed to go on forever.

There were
no windows, and the air was hot and sticky. I did not like it one
bit. Finally, we came to a stop. The shadow in front of me turned
around. His gaze met mine. The menacing look he’d first bestowed
upon me had mellowed to a mere amber glow.

“
You will
find everything you need through those doors,” he said.

The other
one handed me my clothes and wash bag. I did not hesitate. As soon
as I was through the door, I collapsed in a heap on the wooden
floor. The dizziness was the worst than it had ever been. I felt as
though I was on a boat in the open sea, waves tilting it back and
forth, but the sickness that followed was uncontrollable. Each time
I thought I had finished, more would come.

I can
honestly say I had never felt so sick, ever.
I lay on the floor for a while, waiting for it to pass, and
eventually, it did. I looked around me, trying to gather the
strength to get onto my feet. I was in a big bathroom. It was
pretty basic, but to me, it was luxury. I picked up my clothes, and
set them on a mahogany bench beside the bathtub. I unpacked my
shampoo and conditioner, and set them on the bath.

Turning on
the taps, I heard a noise coming from the pipes. They creaked as
the water came spitting out. Lovely hot, steamy water began to fill
the bath. The mirror above the vanity unit began to steam up, but I
was still able to make out my reflection. I looked a mess. My hair
was dirty and tatty. My face was pale, and I was pretty sure I
could see the beginnings of a pimple. I looked gaunt, and the
shadows under my eyes made me look decidedly unhealthy.

Shrugging my
shoulders, I began to peel off the filthy clothes I had worn ever
since I had arrived here. They smelt bad, and my underwear was
useless. I threw them towards the corner of the room, adamant that
I would never wear them again.

I turned
around, and picked up a soft blue towel from the sink. As I looked
down at my naked body, I was startled by the growing dark stain
that had now spread from my breast down to my navel.

Trying to
reason with myself, I put the ever-growing darkness down to me
being held against my will, but I was denying the truth. I knew
what it meant, and I was only too willing to forget that I was
destined to be some kind of Queen for these shadow
creatures.

Sinking into
the hot water eased the ensuing nausea. My head felt light, and I
could hear my heart pounding, its pace increasing as I fought to
stabilize my breathing with long, deep breaths. Finally, it passed,
and I could relax again. Letting the water spill over my head, I
sank down under the water. It cleared my mind of all its woes.
Momentarily, I felt normal, or at least as normal as I could be,
given my situation.

A knock at
the door brought me to my senses. I swallowed a mouthful of the
water as I bolted to the surface, drenching the wall and
floor.

Coughing, I shouted towards the
door, “Yeah?”

There was no
response, only another knock. “Jesus Christ,” I muttered to myself
as I hesitantly stepped out of the tub, and wrapped the towel
around me.

Upon
opening the door, I saw that an envelope had
been slipped underneath it. I picked it up, and held it in my right
hand as I peered out into the poorly lit hall. There was no one.
The only sound I could hear was me, my breathing, and my pounding
heartbeat. I closed the door behind me, and sat down on the bench.
When I tore the envelope open, out fell a key, and a small piece of
paper.

I read the
letter
.

Dear
Sweet
Giselle,

Here is a key, a tiny piece of a puzzle that is much bigger
than both of us.
I know you
did not ask to be involved in any of this, and I reverently regret
what I have done to you.

Now you must find the courage to seek the door that bares
the mark of Eve.
There, you
will find the doorway that will lead you back home, but beware of
the dark ones. They mean you harm, and do not believe you are the
daughter of Samael.

Please, be vigilant on your journey.
I will try to keep a watchful eye over you.
However, I must remain here, opposed to your freedom. I must fulfil
my side of the deal.

Be safe, child, and may the
Goddess be with you.

Your
Friend,

Afanas

Sitting in
silence, I held the key
, and stared at
it. Its oval-shaped head had pretty red flecks sparkling through
it. Pondering on what Afanas had instructed, I dressed quickly.
Storing the key in my pocket, I left the room, and proceeded to
find the door that would take me home.

It was all
like some bizarre illusion. Never in my wildest dreams would I have
ever imagined anything like this happening to me, your average girl
next door. I was never one for vivid dreaming. To be honest, I
thought for a moment that maybe my mind had been playing tricks on
me, and none of this was real.

Maybe it was
post-traumatic stress over the Marc and Evie
‘thing
,’ but then again, the way my
stomach turned was all too real for me. The dizziness and nausea
just kept on coming. One moment, I was fine, and the next, I was
heaving my guts up against some wall. All I wanted to do was crawl
into my bed, and have my mother bring me some of her homemade
chicken soup. To have those special moments back would be worth
every bit of pain and torment I had gone through.

My eyes
filled up when I thought of my mother. She was going through her
own hell, and I was not there to help her, to look after her. I had
been denied that the instant Leonid had stepped inside our home.
Nothing would ever be ‘normal’ again, and that was something I was
going to have to learn to accept.

I soon found
the stairwell I had been escorted up from my cell. I looked down,
and was instantly shocked by the height. I was at least a hundred
feet high. The thought of falling down into what seemed like an
endless stairwell scared the hell out of me. It wound down like a
vortex, and as I looked upwards, it was exactly the same way, an
endless spiral that continued upwards further into the
darkness.

Ignoring the
urge to give in, and wait for whoever would come for me, I thought
about my mother and Marc, and, of course, Leonid and Alex. I could
not help but to wonder as to whether this had all been my destiny.
If it was, why had it taken so long to materialize?

I kept this
line of thinking as I wandered further up, searching for doors,
until I came to a stop four flights up. I could hear the murmurs of
voices coming from further down a corridor. As always, curiosity
got the better of me. I tiptoed towards the door, and, holding my
breath, I listened in on the conversation.

“
You’ve felt the mark for yourself. You know she is the
chosen one,” Afanas said.

“
I still am not confident she is strong enough. She is too
emotional. I don’t think she will be able to let go of her human
form very easily.”

A voice I
didn’t recognize answered. “Ah, but you forget, old friend, she has
the capabilities of my people. She is unique. Do not underestimate
her power.”

“
Yes, Afanas, we are very well aware of her newfound power.
After all, she did send us the corrupt soul of that poor girl. What
was her name?”

“
Nikita,” Afanas replied.

“
Oh, yes, Nikita. The vampire whore who thought she would be
turned in favour of her essence. What a silly little girl she was,”
he quipped.

“
Then what is
the problem, Xavier?” Afanas asked.

“
Old friend,
I believe you know the answer to that one yourself.”

“
Given time,
we will know if the seed was planted.”

“
Time may be one thing we have, but in order for us to bring
her to her rightful place, she must fulfil the final phase. She
must bear the child.”

“
Then we must proceed with methods that are unknown to man,”
Afanas murmured glumly.

“
Indeed, Afanas. It is time for methods of the old. I shall
send Rimane to bring the girl to me,” Xavier said as he made his
way to the door.

I scurried
back down the corridor, and fled up the next flight of stairs.
Breathless, I stopped, and tried to gather my thoughts. Afanas told
me to look for ‘the mark of Eve.’ This was something that
completely stumped me.

What was the
mark of Eve? Did Afanas mean Eve as in the biblical Eve? I guess
that was something I was going to have to find out.

I hid in the
darkness as the shadow creatures rushed past. They were too busy to
notice me lurking in the corner. I held my breath, trying not to
exhale. Once the commotion had finished, I ran towards the next
flight of stairs. This time, I concentrated on each floor,
searching for some kind of symbol that reminded me of Eve. I
decided that it was most likely to be the biblical form of her.
Although that really left me none-the-wiser, I thought that maybe
it would be something like the image of a woman upon the door. It
was as good a guess as any.

Climbing
further up the stairwell, I came to a large circular-shaped hall. I
noticed four white doors positioned like the points of a compass.
They were very different from the dark doors I had seen below. The
hall was completely empty. Being cautious, I crouched down behind a
wide iron mirror that was oddly placed just to the left of the
first door. I waited for a few minutes, eager to see if anyone
would pass by, but nothing happened. Not one person or shadow
passed through any of the doors.

Finally, I
decided I had waited long enough, and walked out from behind the
mirror. It was a bright hall, beautiful and angelic looking, which
was bizarre, considering I was in some kind of Hell. Light
glistened around the room as I strolled towards the first
door.

Looking at
the faces of the doors, I noticed that they were all identical, the
only difference being their handles. Although all were round and
brass, a different letter was engraved on each. Closer inspection
revealed that the first door directly behind me had the letter ‘S’.
To the left of me was the letter ‘E’. Directly opposite that one
was ‘W’, and the door to the top of the hall had the letter ‘N’.
Perhaps my idle comparison of the doors being points of the compass
had not been so idle after all, but none of them had anything else
that I could see on them, and certainly no symbols that matched the
description Afanas had given me. I felt jaded.

Sitting in
the centre of the hall, I dropped my head into my hands, and
sighed. I had been defeated. There truly was no way of escaping
this place. With the key in my hand, I was ready to give up, and
take the long journey back down to face whatever was coming to me.
Giving in was now something I was getting used to, and it
definitely sucked to be me.

Chapter
Eighteen

FROM THE
CORNER
of my eye, I could see something
in the reflection of the mirror. It sparkled and danced across the
glass. Turning my head round, I was both shocked and excited by
what I saw.

It was the
reflection of a woman, her modesty protected by leaves. Her hair
was long and golden, and she was unlike any woman I had seen
before. She stood in front of the door that had the letter ‘N’
carved into it. Looking back at the door, I could see nothing was
there, but through the mirror I could see Eve.

I used the
mirror on the three remaining doors.
The
door with the ‘W’ carved into it had the image of fire, shadows,
and screaming faces. Opposite it, the door with the letter ‘E’ had
images of spirits, their faces were white and god-like, but the
door that bore the letter ‘N’ remained blank. Nothing showed
up.

I fiddled
with the key between my fingers, and toyed with the idea of looking
behind each door, even though I knew it was a risk I could not
afford to take, especially now that I might be so close to breaking
free. I remembered Afanas’s warning not to trust the dark ones, and
I did not want to take the chance in running into any of them any
time soon.