B008GMVYA4 EBOK (45 page)

The bright chandeliers that hung from the stone ceiling,
rocked back and forth from the movement of the shaking building. A few of the
bulbs had blown from where small chucks of broken stone had hit them as they
fell. Small pieces of glass scattered the corridor and the corridor was much
dimly lit then before. A few chandeliers flickered on and off, leaving parts of
the corridor in darkness.

Madison ears pricked at the sound of people talking loudly
from the opposite end of the corridor. The noise from the great hall echoed
around the corridor, where the elders were deciding Trace, Gabby’s and the
twin’s fate. Cheering and boo’s echoed the corridor as an argument erupted
within the Great Hall. The Coven and the elders did not seem to notice the
violent shaking which had just occurred either.

Slowly, Madison got to her feet. Her head throbbed as the
blood pumped quickly around her skull. She was unnerved, peering cautiously up
and down the corridor. Her mind wondered as she stepped down the corridor
towards where the corridor veered towards the right back to towards the main
hall. The broken light bulbs cracked and shattered under the weak souls of
Madison’s Ugg boots.

Her eyes scanned the corridor ahead as her heart thudded in
her chest. She was past the halfway mark, there was no point turning back now –
all that faced her back in the vine room was death. At least now she felt like
she had a small chance of getting out alive.

BANG!

A bulb in the chandelier above Madison’s head exploded.
Shards of glass showered down into her hair, Madison jumped forwards quickly as
the glass cut at her scalp. She squinted up at the chandelier; the brightness
from the remaining bulbs hurt her eyes. One bulb was clearly missing from the
four corners of the chandelier were the bulbs stood. There was no sign of loose
debris which could have caused the bulb to explode. The rest of the corridor
remained quiet; the Vampires seemed unaffected by the loud explosion.

Madison’s eyes directed back down to the corridor ahead, a
strange feeling lingered at the back of her mind – something wasn’t right.

Madison had been so sure that the end was here and now it
seemed like the end was nowhere in sight, that the finale was still to come.
The feeling that there was worse to come clouded her like misty clouds hanging
around a peck of a stormy mountain. In the past Madison hadn’t been such a
perceptive person, but since moving to London and being introduced into a world
of vampires and other mythical creatures, her senses had adapted and changed –
informing her when something wasn’t quite right.

She moved slowly ahead, her eyes scanning the corridor,
searching for anything that looked out of place.

BANG!

She was showered in another down pour of glass. Another bulb
in the chandelier above her head exploded. This time the explosion definitely
wasn’t a coincidence, something very strange was happening here.

Madison shielded her eyes to prevent any glass from going
into them as she shifted her head up towards the chandelier hanging directly
above her head when she was sure there was no more glass. Madison scanned the
stone ceiling surrounding the base of the chandelier and the metal frame that
held the three remaining light intact. It was clear; there was nothing that
could have caused the explosion apart from an electrical impulse. There was an
empty space were the light bulb had been before it exploded, but there was nothing
to suggest that part of the ceiling had collapsed on it and blown the light
bulb.

Her heart fluttered in my chest, she couldn’t control the
fear forced its way from the back of her head.

Madison widened her eyes as the remaining three light bulbs
on the chandelier began to dim slowly. She almost rubbed her eyes, unsure of
whether her mind was playing tricks on her.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The three remaining bulbs exploded above her head, showering
her in more glass shards.

She screamed in surprise, covering her head with my arms.
Quickly, she leaped forwards dashing down the corridor, her arms wrapped around
the top of her head.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

More bulbs from the chandeliers that Madison passed exploded
over her head. The glass scratched at the skin of her arms, breaking her flesh.

She sprinted down the corridor as more and more bulbs
exploded above her head. Gasping as her lungs tightened, forcing the air out
just as quickly as I sucked it in as she struggled to quicken her pace under
the exploding lights.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Big fragments of glass fell from the Chandeliers onto the
stone floor. Her Ugg boots slipped and slid on the glass as she tried to stay
ahead of the exploding bulbs.

Madison tried to lift her head up, she had no idea how far
along the corridor she was and where it veered off to the right.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

More bulbs exploded. Madison strained to see ahead, covering
her head with her arms to protect herself from the glass as she sprinted down
the corridor.

The turning came into focus, Madison screamed as the
exploding above her head became more forceful and louder. A black tunnel stood
out from the right wall, sucking the room into its pitch black hollowness.

Her heart thudded loudly in her chest from the strain of
running and the ever present fear that hung around her like a bad smell. She
was disoriented, causing her to feel like she was running all over the place –
like running over sea waves. Motion sickness brought on through dehydration,
panic, fear and being thrown around like a rag doll. She felt like she was
running in slow motion, every shard of glass which hit the floor seemed to
bounce and clatter a hundred times louder than it should as it collided with
the floor in slow motion as it hit the ground.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

The glass scratched at Madison arms, blood trickled down the
length of her arms and splashed onto the concrete floor. If she had not
attracted The Coven before, the smell of her blood certainly would.

She sprinted quickly past the last chandelier before turning
to the right, entering the darkness. She stopped abruptly as the darkness
sucked her in. Gasping she tried to catch her breath, her head throbbed as the
blood rushed around her body causing her head to feel light.

The corridor Madison had just escaped from was now silent
and the exploding bulbs had stopped as soon as she vacated the corridor. The
darkness unnerved Madison even more, something strange was occurring and it was
related to the Vampires and The Black Orchid.

Light from the corridor ahead did not penetrate the
darkness, the darkness from where Madison now stood provided some kind of
invisible door where the light and dark did not mix – a window where Madison
could see into the outside but the outside couldn’t not get in. Normal light
overpowered darkness, piecing through it with streams of beautiful golden
light. Banishing the darkness in every corner until it was illuminated, but the
darkness in depths of The Coven was different. It was a predator. The normal
rules of nature did not apply down here.

It was unnatural for a human to leave past their normal
lifespan, feeding off the life forces of humans, never aging another day. Most
of them forced to live in unnatural darkness that surrounds them - becoming one
with the darkness. It would be only natural for the darkness to obtain some of
the Vampire’s unnatural powers.

Madison’s legs wobbled beneath her, making my whole body
shake as she grabbed the damp stone wall to balance herself. She was completely
helpless in the darkness, frantically Madison began to feel around on the stone
walls searching for a lever to ignite the torches.

Panic began to set in again, causing her to scramble around
in the darkness, feeling the wall for the hard iron leaver.

Madison could feel every edge of the sharp rock, every
crevice, everything little indent or crack.

The darkness began to pull itself around Madison, wrapping
itself around her, drawing her in – urging to suffocate her – consume her
completely.

Madison panicked as her mind told her she was not alone in
the corridor. She tried reasoning with herself but she could not shake off the
darkness that now hung around her neck like a noose and a pending danger with
her subconscious was lurking around her waiting to strike. What occurred in the
corridor had troubled Madison and now the darkness clinging to her increased
the fear and panic which already gripped her.

Her eyes began to adjust slightly to the darkness, a sharp
rock scrapped at the tips of her fingers, scratching the skin. Frantically
Madison continued to finger the wall. Gasping, her fingers touched the cold
hard iron of the lever. She instantly began to relax as her hands wrapped
around the hard metal and pulling down the handle that stuck vertically in the
air.

Madison gritted her teeth as she used all her strength to
pull the lever down towards the floor – it clicked loudly.

Madison sighed a sigh of relief as the first torched
exploded to life, igniting and illuminating that part of the corridor in an
orange glow one. The next torch ignited then the next and the next until the
corridor was fully a light.

A cold sensation tickled at Madison’s elbow, she lowered her
gaze to see what the cause of the sensation was.

A twisted face stared up at Madison. Its mouth hung opened
relieving a large hole of pure blackness that could swallow the whole world if
it was big enough.

Its face was pale and transparent, purple and pink veins
were visible through the thin layer of skin which stretched across its face.
Its eyes were hollow and clouded by a black cloud that hung down over each eye
socket. It looked like a boy no older than 15 years old, but under the black
hood of a hooded Jumper it was something much worse, a demon - The Black
Orchid.

The boys pale fingers with razor sharp, brown finger nails
cupped Madison’s elbow.

Madison screamed instantly, shocked by The Black Orchids
presence and the face of the boy before her. The boy stretched his head up
towards Madison’s, her heart jumped into her throat and he streaked in fear.

Leaping forward, Madison darted down the corridor. The boy
allowed her to slip through his grip, cocking his head to follow down the
corridor.

Blind panic gripped her. Her mind was in over drive, she
only had one aim and that was to escape him.

Her scream echoed down the corridor behind her as she ran,
the tingling sensation from the boys grip on her elbow now beginning fade. She
urged to look behind her to see whether the boy was pursuing, but the thought
of looking upon the boys horror stricken face once again made her feel sick to
her stomach.

His face would haunt her for however long she had left to
live, it was the type of face that you never truly understand or recover from.
Human that saw the true face of The Black Orchid by chance would take the
memory of their faces to the grave, repeating to anyone what they had seen
would only lead them towards a mental hospital. 

Her Ugg boots slipped on the stone floor throwing her
forwards, stretching out her hands to stop herself she landed in an arched
position. Quickly pushing herself back up straight, she continued to sprint
even faster down the corridor.

She continued to slip and slid on the floor, but she did not
stop, she was too blinded by panic and fear to stop now.

Again Madison was hit by the sensation that she was running
on rough waves, as motion sickness and disorientation setting in once again.

A loud
click
sounded behind her. Madison twisted her
body too reluctantly to see the cause of the sound.

The corridor behind was empty. There was a soft
hiss,
and
then a torch slowly died leaving one section of the corridor in complete
darkness. Then another
hiss,
another torch slowly died. The darkness
stared to creep in behind her.

Panic crept in even stronger, Madison straightened up and
speed up her pace.

Hiss…
She was clouded in darkness as the torch on the
wall beside her went out.

Madison whimpered in the darkness, but didn’t stop – pushing
herself forwards towards the orangey glow of the next ignited torch.

The darkness approached, hot on her heel, pushing up
forward. Her legs aching as she pushed them harder to keep ahead of the
creeping darkness.

Hiss
… Another torch was extinguished.

A shiver flew up Madison’s spine as the darkness touched her
back as she was barely a step ahead of the darkness – the light protecting her.

Madison could see the large candle lit hall at the end of
the corridor, she aimed for it, continuing to quicken her pace, fearful of the
pressuring darkness.

Hiss…

Madison was covered in darkness. Taking a big leap forward
she escaped the darkness again. Instantly she was covered by the brilliant glow
of the last remaining torch, escaping the darkness which stalked her yet again.

Madison glanced up at the last remaining torch that was
attached to the right stone wall. This was the last few feet for her to escape
the darkness completely.

Her heart thudded hard against her ribs, fear still gripping
her.

Hiss…

She stared up at the torch at it began to go out, the yellow
flame around the hot orange centre slowly died down, leaving the tip of the
torch illuminated orange for a second then disappearing as the air cooled the
wood.

The darkness suffocated her, covering her in its pitch black
cloak – wrapping itself around her. She was paralyzed with fear for a second,
stopping and spinning around in the corridor searching each direction for any
sign of moment. A shuffling sound in the opposite direction startled her,
without a seconds though, Madison turned and sprinted towards the candle lit
hall.