Chapter 36
(Alex)
It d been too long. But there was nothing I could do about it. Laylen and Aislin were watching me like hawks, afraid I d do something stupid and barge into Gemma s room and wake her. I probably could have taken both of them down, although Aislin and her magic might have been a match for me.
Quit fidgeting,
Aislin said sifting through her herbs.
You re driving me crazy.
The TV was on and I flipped through the channels, which were all the same: madness, chaos, death. It was depressing. I clicked the TV off and picked up my knife to sharpen it across a piece of metal.
You re driving me crazy,
I retorted.
Just decide already if you have the stuff or not.
These aren t marked.
She opened a baggy and picked through the green flakes.
It takes some time to sort through them.
I dragged my knife down the sharpener.
Where s Laylen? I thought he was going to check on things.
He barely went upstairs a few minutes ago.
She sealed the baggy shut.
You need to relax.
I pointed the tip of my knife at the stairway.
Relax? You know she s dead up there, right? And her spirit s wandering around in the Afterlife.
She shook a baggie and then picked up another.
What is that?
You tell me,
I said.
I m no herb expert.
She narrowed her eyes.
Not this.
She motioned over her shoulder.
That banging. It sounds like it s coming from the basement.
My eyebrows furrowed.
This place doesn t have a basement.
She sniffed the baggy.
Well, then it s coming from under the house.
My ears perked, detecting a faint nose.
Yeah, what is that?
I stood, knife out as I headed for the kitchen. When I turned the corner, it was obvious the noise was coming from underneath the floor. I bounced on the tile, searching for a lose one, wondering if there could be a trapdoor. The center stone, right in front of the table, caught slightly. I squatted down, digging at the grout with my knife. It shifted and sure enough, there was a trapdoor.
I contemplated what to do. Who knows what could be down there? Anything really. And how it got there was puzzling. I tapped my knife on the tile and the banging stopped. Frozen in the silence, I heard a voice.
Hello.
I backed away.
Aislin, could you come in here?
The tile grinded as it was forced from the rest of the floor. After a second past, a hand appeared out of the dark hole.
Hello.
I almost dropped my knife at the familiar voice.
The person heaved themselves out of the hole.
Alex,
the auburn-haired woman said.
What s going on?
I moved at the terrified woman and dipped my knife, resting it at her throat.
Who are you?
She blinked wildly, scared to death.
It s me Sophia, Gemma s grandmother.
I shook my head.
Sophia s dead. You what are you? A Banshee? A witch?
No, no, no.
She raised her hands in surrender.
I swear I m Sophia.
She searched helplessly around the kitchen, looking for something that would prove who she was.
Better hurry,
I said, pushing her to her breaking point.
Tears slipped from her eyes.
I don t know what to do.
I felt kind of sorry for her and considered moving my knife back, to let her breathe, when a pan went soaring through the air and smacked the woman straight in the forehead. Her eyes crossed and she collapsed to the floor.
I turned, finding a wide-eyed Aislin, breathing heavily.
What was that? A zombie or something?
Zombies don t exist. You know that.
I bent down, examining the stranger. A cut on her head trailed blood down her cheek.
No, she s alive. But did you really have to throw a pan at her?
I panicked.
She came up behind me.
So if she s not a zombie, then what is she?
I picked up her wrist, checking her arms for marks and then tilted her head, checking the back of her neck. Beneath the collar or her shirt, I spotted the tip of the Keepers mark.
I think it might be Sophia,
I stated.
It can t be,
Aislin breathed.
I did a Tracker Spell. It said she was nonexistent. And Marco too.
Well, then something went wrong?
How? I never mess up.
I let out a snort and she smacked me in the back of the head.
Even if it is her,
she said.
Why was she down there?
I shrugged, heading for the hole, wanting to see if anyone else was down there.
When she wakes up, we re going to find out.
The trapdoor was empty and it reeked too, like someone had been down there for a long time, stirring in their own filth. I climbed back up and filled a cup with water. Aislin had left and I bent down over Sophia.
Wake up.
I sprinkled some water on the woman s face and she stirred but didn t wake. I patted her cheek, not very gently. I was really curious where this was going to go. Sophia had been missing for months, vanishing without a trace. And suddenly, she showed up a few days before the portal opened. Just a coincidence?
Another splash of water and her eyes opened.
Alex.
She croaked, touching her head.
What happened?
You jumped out of a hole in the ground,
I said simply.
And then Aislin threw a pan at your head because she thought you were a zombie.
She winced as she touched the cut.
A zombie?
Yeah, apparently you re supposed to be dead, but clearly you re not.
She eyeballed my knife resting next to my foot and I picked it up.
Choose what you do really carefully. I won t hesitate to kill you, if it comes down to it.
She shook her head. The once perfectionist woman had bags under her eyes, dirt on her clothes, and knots in her hair.
You re just like your father.
My jaw tightened.
That s the kind of thing that s going to get you killed.
Sorry, but I m so confused. The last thing I can remember is Gemma vanishing.
Her eyebrows knitted together.
And then Aislin and that vampire showing up.
What,
I stammered.
Aislin and Laylen were here?
I cast a cautious glance over my shoulder, making sure we were alone.
When?
I don t know.
She massaged her temples.
My brain is so foggy. I remember Gemma disappearing, Stephan yelling at me for letting it happen and then he went on this rampage, murdering Keepers. Marco and I were going to run, but then Aislin and that vampire showed up and sealed me in that trapdoor with some sort of magic spell. They said they needed my gift Unus quisnam aufero animus so I could detach Gemma s soul again when he finally caught her. He came for me once, but I guess she escaped and he threw me back under the house. And he &
She began to sob.
He killed Marco.
Why didn t you just climb out?
I asked.
It s a one-way door that can only be opened from the outside.
She blubbered.
And you didn t think about banging on it earlier.
She rolled up her sleeves, showing me a triangle mark on her arm.
This kept me quiet & and I think I have to & I &
As if a sudden energy surged through her body, she lunged for me. With one move of my fist, I knocked her back out again.
Aislin,
I called out, gripping my knife.
I need to talk to you.
She bounced into the kitchen, Laylen at her heels.
How s it going? Did you find out who she was &
She caught sight of the unconscious Sophia.
Oh, not good huh?
I think you two have some explaining to do.
I aimed my knife at them and they exchanged puzzled glances.
What s wrong?
Aislin asked.
She says you two are the reason she was stuck down there,
I said.
Can you tell me why she thinks that?
Aislin scratched her head.
She s lying. She has to be.
What happened that time you two disappeared?
I asked.
When we were in Colorado. Where were you guys?
We told you. We were running from the Death Walkers in Nevada.
Laylen leaned against the doorway, crossing his arms, looking perplexed.
That s where we were & weren t we?
Aislin s expression twisted.
I don t know.
You seemed pretty confident when you showed up to save us,
I told them, remembering that day at the cabin in Colorado, when they arrived abruptly, almost out of nowhere.
Well, you seemed pretty confident when you told us the Death Walkers just picked up your dad and left,
Laylen countered.
Seems just as suspicious.
Why are we even arguing about this?
Aislin complained.
It s in the past.
It s important because we might have a traitor in our midst.
I could almost hear my father laughing.