Marked in Shadow's Keep Page 6

  Justin’s voice couldn’t have been more unwelcome. “There it is, I think I see it.”

  I swiveled my head, as if being pulled by an unseen force. He was right, a large stone structure jutted up from the forest floor. It looked like the stone fire pit my mom and Tyler had built in the backyard three summers earlier. But something ominous billowed out from the top. The strangeness about the well filled my heart with dread, as if the nightmares with black, creeping shadow serpents were somehow real.

  My voice shuddered, and I inched even closer to Justin. “That’s it,” I whispered.

  “You can do this,” he said, his eyes bright with excitement. I stared at him curiously. He seemed almost elated to be here. I brushed it off as a supportive response; Justin only wanted me to face my own demons, as he once had. “We should get a little closer, don’t you think?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know, maybe this will be good enough,” I began, until the image of Justin flopping along the street filled my thoughts. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Justin helped me trudge cautiously toward the well’s mouth.

  The diameter was wide enough for two large men to fall through without hitting the sides. The stones were cold and gray. Deep cracks from years of damage created a haunting feel, as if the well entombed an ancient, dark creature.

  The scar on my palm ached the closer I came. I clenched my hands into fists, feeling the warmth from the scar on my hand radiate through my fingers. It was as if the scar had a mind of its own and was awakening to the place it was born.

  “How do you feel?” Justin asked, his voice raspy and strained.

  I glanced over my shoulder to check if he was okay, grateful to take my focus from the depths of the well. His jaw was clenched, and the muscles in his neck throbbed as if he battled a discomfort I couldn’t see. His bright eyes, seemed to glow in the dark, and a wave of fear washed over me like a heavy cloak.

  “I…uh…I’m not sure I want to stay anymore,” I admitted, reaching for Justin’s hand.

  His eyes narrowed and watched me in the darkness. Clasping my hand tightly, he pulled me back to the edge of the well. “You must look closer,” he commanded.

  My heart pounded against my chest so loud I was certain it could be heard from town. “Justin, stop. Let go, I just want to go home.”

  His clenched face whirled around until his nose was inches from mine. “No, we aren’t leaving. I have waited for this moment for too long.”

  “STOP!” a desperate cry echoed through the forest behind us.

  I flipped around toward the path, the urge to run filled my legs, but Justin held my body tightly. I cried out once I recognized the person sprinting toward us as the man with the leather jacket.

  Justin laughed, but not in the same hypnotic, sweet laugh I’d grown accustomed to. He sounded like a villain from every horror film I’d seen just as they were about to attack. “You’re too late,” he shouted.

  Before I could move, I felt his strong arms squeeze against me. I twisted and screamed, feeling my feet leave the ground. Pounding my fists against Justin’s chest caused him to laugh harder. His body seemed to be made of steel. I stopped breathing for a moment when I realized he was lifting me over the edge of the well. My body froze in fear and stopped fighting. I couldn’t survive falling into the darkness again, it would take me. I winced as my palm seemed to catch fire, the scar ignited in burning pain as tears fell onto my face.

  “Please, don’t,” I squeaked.

  Justin’s face pulled back in a wicked smirk. His eyes glowing almost yellow with satisfaction. With a sadistic kiss on my forehead, he released me from his arms. And then, I fell. The torrent of wind whirled around me as the never-ending blackness swallowed me whole. I was going to die; I knew it as I closed my eyes waiting for the darkness of my past to claim me as its prize.

  Chapter 8

  Whatever I’d expected to feel when I eventually slammed against the bottom of the well, wasn’t a spongy, heated surface. The soft earth gave when the force of my fall pummeled me downward. I was enrobed in the dank, smelly soil, which seemed more like foam blocks you’d find at the bottom of a gymnastics pit.

  I gasped, surfacing from the moldable soil. The pit smelled like rotting leaves and moldy wood which had been submerged in water for too long. It was cold, but not crisp cold most people welcomed in Autumn. No, it was frigid, as if I’d slipped into an underground glacier. But the coldness brought with it a sense of helplessness. I remembered the feeling well; it was the same sense of doom and dread I had experienced as a child. Dark thoughts of dying alone or freezing to death bombarded my conscious thoughts like a sledgehammer.

  My head pounded with sharp pricks of pain surrounding my entire crown. As I’d fallen, my elbows had banged against the stone, and a bit of warm, sticky blood trickled from a cut on my forehead. My breathing was shallow and rapid, and was the only thing I could hear. At the bottom of the well, it seemed everything above was cut off from my senses.

  My hand ached on my palm where my scar was, and everything was dark as pitch. As I took in my surroundings, I noticed my throat was dry and raspy from screaming as I’d fallen. I couldn’t see anything, except a distant circle of light above my head. The well was deceivingly deep, and I had no idea how I would ever get out.

  I displayed everything that had happened up until I’d fallen like a slideshow through my mind. Justin. How could he do this? My lip quivered angrily thinking of how foolish I was to invest so much of my heart into someone who was so sadistically twisted. He’d behaved as if this was a shining moment in his life, but what could this possibly mean to him? What were his last words?

  I’ve waited so long for this moment.

  I kicked the ground in an angry tantrum, feeling my stomach clench uncomfortably as sobs racked my body.

  “Help me!” I shouted desperately, though I was certain no one would come. For a moment I’d imagined I had seen the man in the leather jacket, but there was no sign of him now. I must have imagined it.

  The top of the well was shadowed, as night was falling upon the forest. My heart palpated viciously, as if trying to escape through my chest. Glancing around, I covered my ears as the scratching and groaning from my nightmares began. I convinced myself my eyes were simply playing tricks on me in the dark, because for a moment it seemed like the ground was moving. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, all around me slithering shadows spurted and pawed toward me like dark eruptions from an abyss below. A looming shadow rose from beneath and reached a wriggling tendril toward me. I couldn’t pretend any longer. Slapping my palms against the buoyant earth, I scooted against the side of the well, desperately trying to escape the outstretched shadow.

  The moment my hands touched the earth, a rush of warm air burst from the soil. I closed my eyes as bits of dirt blasted into my face with each puff of air. The well shook, and the sound of cracking stone sent a dreadful chill down my spine. Something was happening underground, and the well was collapsing.

  I clamored against the stone walls, desperately trying to find my way to the top, but the stones were slick with water, and I ended up slamming onto my back at the bottom of the well again. Something heavy pummeled my shoulder as it broke free from the side of the well, and if I didn’t know better, I could have sworn the well was splitting in two.

  I screamed as a jagged crack widened in the stone wall. Rocks, dirt, and deep roots moved like a tectonic shift was occurring in the exact spot I had fallen. I had nowhere to go as the groaning and scratching I’d heard earlier loomed nearer. Veins of flashing color split along the sides of the stone; ribbons of beautiful crimson and gold as if I’d unlocked a pit of powerful energy waiting to erupt. The pressure was mounting, but my heart burned as a spark of light escaped one of the crevices, reaching a burning line of power toward my chest.

  I should have backed away, all logic screamed for me to move, but something deeper held me in place. Something inside urged me to be still, to allow the light in. My l
ungs screamed as I held my breath, waiting for the ribbon of energized power to wrap around my body.

  A strong grip on my elbow caused me to shriek. I gasped when I met the dark, brooding eyes of the stranger in the leather jacket. His face was pulled in a tight scowl as he dangled from a rappelling rope, occasionally glancing at the coming light.

  “Come on,” he demanded, his voice filled with urgency. “Grab ahold, the warped energy is too powerful, it will tear us apart. And whatever you do, don’t let it touch you!”

  My eyes widened as he forced me to take his hand. In a fluid movement, he wrapped me on his back as he scaled the stone wall carefully, using the thick rope to guide us toward the surface as the pulsing power below cracked and split the walls chasing after us.

  “What…what will tear us apart?” I shrieked.

  He said nothing, apart from a few strenuous grunts as he lifted us both toward the bright circle at the top of the well. When my lungs breathed the fresh air of the forest I thought I might cry with relief. That was before he tossed me off his back, and I landed with a thud next to a dark lump of flesh which looked too much like a severed hand. I scurried away. The skin was bluish-gray, and the appendage had four digits, with black curved fingernails. I gagged at the sight of the boney prominence jutting out the end and the oozing gray liquid I could only assume was blood.

  My dark-haired savior stepped out of the well, coiling the rope around his shoulder. He glared in my direction as if this was my fault completely. “Come on, what is it with you and just sitting there. Let’s go!”

  I snapped into action, forgetting to ask him about the bloody hand. He took my hand in his and darted back toward the decrepit ranger station. He kept a stirring pace, one I found harder and harder to keep up with, but I pressed forward. The man’s firm grip only tightened on my hand, as if he feared I might bolt in the opposite direction.

  “What is going on?” I cried as he pulled me toward a silver coup, popping the trunk before we arrived, though I saw no key in his hand.

  “Just get in,” he snarled.

  Despite the situation, I couldn’t help but feel slightly affronted. “I’m not getting into this car until I know what’s going on.”

  He shrugged, dipping into the driver’s seat and rolling down the passenger window so I could hear him. “Suit yourself, but you might want to avoid the cryptfiends,” he said pointing behind me.

  I slowly turned around and gulped. My knees buckled under my weight. Along the path, through the darkness of the dense trees, a swarm of horrid beings were creeping toward the car. Their eyes were solid yellow, and their skeletal bodies were jagged, with sharp protuberances along their shoulders and hips. They had no jaws, only a wide black hole where a mouth should be. Their movements were jagged and twitchy, as if they had never learned to move properly, and to my benefit they moved slowly.

  “They are attracted to dark energy, and they’re pretty vicious,” he finished.

  I struggled to open the passenger door as my fingers kept slipping from the handle until finally, the stranger pushed the door open and I dropped inside. I watched the displeasure of the cryptfiends at my escape. Their demented faces pulled in anguish, and the milky yellow in their eyes blazed in fury. I shuddered as their shrieks filled the night. The animal-like screams sounded like a haggard wolf’s cry with the strange echo of an eagle’s call. The dark stranger placed his hand on the dashboard and the car roared to life. My eyes widened, I was positive I had seen him start a car without a key. It could possibly be a keyless vehicle, but a strong feeling told me otherwise.

  The tires squealed against the gravel, blasting us away from the forest. The ride was rough, as he drove against the gravel road, never seeming to mind whether he slammed the tires into a pot hole or drove on smooth ground. I nervously dragged my seatbelt across my lap, bracing against the dash for the dips and pitches of the car. Either he was a terrible driver, or he had only just learned how to control the machine.

  “Who are you?” I shouted, as his hands clenched the wheel. His eyes were narrowed, and his face seemed frozen in a perpetual scowl.

  “The person who is saving you,” he hissed. “Although you may have created a rift so large there is no escaping the ramifications.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about or what just happened back there,” I shouted in return, feeling my voice crack with emotion.

  “Just let me get us out of here,” he snarled, silencing any further questions.

  I huffed and glanced out my window. I could have sworn there was a hazy bluish mist swirling around in the forest as we sped off Shadow’s Lake road, back to the main highway. He seemed to notably relax once the city lights of Shadow’s Keep came closer, and the spectral trees of the dark woods were in our hindsight.

  “Where is Justin?” I asked, when we’d driven in silence for several moments. I’d come to this place with someone I’d cared for to save him from what I believed to be a fatal accident. Never in all my wildest fears would I have imagined that same man would betray me in such a horrible way. “I think I should call the police or something.” For all I knew, Justin could be a twisted serial killer. I felt empowered at the idea, but soon my thin confidence shattered like a pane of glass when the other passenger began laughing.

  “The police can’t do anything against your imp. I tried to warn you.”

  My eyes blazed. He wasn’t making any sense. “No, you didn’t!”

  Looking annoyed, he nodded, running his strong hand along the surface of the steering wheel. “Yes, I did. A couple of times.”

  My emotions were preparing to spill out, I could feel the rising heat in my neck. After falling into the well, watching the side of the pit open with what looked like hellfire, and then be chased through the woods by skeletal, yellow-eyed freaks, I was close to losing it.

  “WHO ARE YOU!” I bellowed, my heart thudding and hands sweaty in frustration.

  I must have surprised him by my sudden outburst, since his face softened and he looked at me in a different light.

  “I’m Finn,” he responded, though his tone was still chipped toward me. “And I did warn you. Once when you were finishing your meal and the other at your dwelling.”

  My head was spinning, as I tried to remember any type of warning which would say to me, Laney, don’t go to the well with your kind-of-boyfriend. He’s going to try and kill you. “You mean, stalking me and shaking your head slightly was meant to be a warning?”

  Finn glanced incredulously in my direction. “Yes. My presence alone should have presented you with the gravity of your choices to align with an imp.”

  “Why do you keep calling him an imp? I get the feeling you aren’t using it as an insult.”

  Finn chuckled darkly, his lips tugging in a smile, which surprisingly made his chiseled face even more handsome. I shook the distracting thoughts away; it didn’t matter how good-looking Finn was, he was a stranger who seemed to know something I didn’t. And I didn’t trust him.

  “Being an imp is an insult in itself,” Finn said arrogantly. “It is beyond my senses why you would make such an alliance.” I opened my mouth, my face scrunched in confusion, and Finn seemed to take notice, because he watched me with thoughtful eyes and spoke slower. “Unless, you did not know who you were keeping company with.”

  My eyes welled with tears from the overwhelming night. “I have no idea why any of this is happening. I don’t understand why Justin would throw me into the well, I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what those things were—ˮ

  “Cryptfiends,” Finn replied, nonchalantly.

  “Whatever! Tell me what is happening,” I begged, wiping the hot sting from my eyes.

  Finn sighed, his shoulders sagging as he turned into a suburb of the city. The houses were tall colonials with pale, neutral shutters on each window. The yards were manicured with perfectly hedged bushes and blasts of color from the changing trees. He pulled us into the parking lot of a playground which rested in the c
enter of the community.

  With a tap to the steering wheel, the car shuddered as it turned off. I closed my eyes pretending I wasn’t seeing this man control the car with a tap of his finger. Finn relaxed in his seat, staring straight ahead at the red twisty slide. I looked out my window, risking losing complete control of my emotions as I waited for him to speak.

  “Are you telling me you do not know anything about your connection to Ama’s energy?” Finn asked, as if it were impossible.

  My fists balled as I swallowed the heavy lump in my throat. My hair was messy in my face, with bits of twigs and leaves stuck in the ends, but I didn’t care, I met his shadowy gaze with my own burning fire.

  “No. I didn’t know Justin was taking me back to the well to kill me. He’s twisted, since he knew I was afraid of it because of something that happened when I was a little girl. What happened at the bottom, it was like the earth was splitting?”

  “You keep calling it a well,” Finn ignored my question, watching me dubiously. “Why?”

  I slammed my fist on the edge of the seat in frustration. “Because it’s a well!”

  He shook his head, ignoring my tantrum. “No, it is a dark energy vein of Ama.”

  I plopped against the headrest closing my eyes. “Are you vague on purpose?” I asked. “Or do you take pleasure in teasing me with terms I don’t understand.”

  Finn shook his head. “I was certain since you were marked you were enlightened to Ama, Tala—everything.”

  “Marked? Tala? Please, believe me when I tell you I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Finn cleared his throat, and leaned against his door with an air of arrogance. “I shouldn’t be surprised. Of course, I would be sent to rescue a foolish woman who had no idea what kind of forces she was messing with.”

  “Excuse me,” I snarled, feeling the heat of anger billowing beneath my skin.

  Finn waved away my protest and continued speaking. “Do you believe there are powers that you cannot see in your world?” he asked.