Chills & Thrills Paranormal Boxed Set (33 page)

An unseen force pushed at her arms, holding them back.
Maddie laughed in riotous triumph. A shrill whine filled the cavern. Instantly,
Liz's entire body grew leaden. She involuntarily sank to the ground, crumpled
at the crowing Maddie's feet, where she choked out, "Why?"

"Ankouer promise it all to me. Your daddy, your house,
the magic that once were Ellie's. I only have to give him you. It were my
pleasure. All these years I be second best. Now I get it all. I get what were
yours and your mama's. Think of that when Ankouer is chewing on you."

Liz listened with much greater surprise than she should
have. It wouldn't have been too hard to predict Maddie's actions. But despite
her hatred, Liz had never once suspected the woman of treachery. Of tempting
her father, yes, but not of being in league with Ankouer. Her love for Liz's
father seemed too great to permit her to hurt anyone he cared about.

The whine increased, and Maddie looked up. Liz forced her
heavy neck to lift so she could follow the gaze.
Le fantome noir
was
spiraling down from the overhead opening, slowly, leisurely, apparently in no
hurry.

"Za-Zack k-killed Ankouer," Liz stuttered thickly.

"Your uppity ways done get you in trouble," Maddie
replied. "Ankouer not die so easy, no, not him."

Liz barely heard the words. She felt languid and sleepy, and
wasn't quite so cold anymore. Something splashed in the background, but she was
certain it had nothing to do with her.

Then Maddie shrieked, and Liz snapped back from the lure of
slumber. In her peripheral vision, she saw her father on the ground by the
lake, heaving for breath. Above her, Zach fought Maddie for the opal. The woman
kicked him, aiming for his groin, but Zach sidestepped, then spun around,
taking Maddie's arm with him. He bent her forward, trying to wrench the gemstone
from her hand.

"Come to my side, Ankouer," Maddie cried, even as
her backward kick landed in the center of Zach's belly. "Quickly, master,
come to my side!"

Zach let out a grunt and doubled over.

The phantom boomed a macabre laugh that sent further chill
through the cavern. "You're doing well, servant. I give you the defender
to do with as you wish."

Maddie picked up a rock and threw it at Zach, then another,
and another. Her fury made her aim poor, but one glanced off his head. Blood
surged from the wound, staining his hair. His eyes glazed. He staggered.

Life was returning to Liz's numb limbs, and she reached out
for Maddie's ankle. As her hand closed around it, the woman fell and lost hold
of the opal. She rolled, yanking her leg free, then gave a kick that struck a
glancing blow off Liz's head.

But not before Liz retrieved the stone.

"Give it to me," Maddie shrieked, leaping to her
feet. "Give it to me." With dizzying speed she plucked a heavy rock
from the ground. The next instant she stood above Liz, the rock held high,
ready to crash down.

Just as the rock descended, Zach charged forward, his arm
deflecting the blow.

"Fool!" Maddie spat out. "My master will
destroy you!"

At those words, the whine in the cavern rose to a hideous
shriek. The funnel coalesced, forming a man-shape. Flames burst anew on the
surface of the lake.

A head appeared out of the formerly swirling mass, then a
torso, two arms, two legs. A man again. A man without skin or hair. A man
absent of all features but hot red eyes and a gaping hole of a mouth. A man so
tall his skull nearly reached the cavern's ceiling.

His billowing body dropped to the cavern floor, and he
walked toward them, but his red eyes looked only at Liz. As he bore down, his
footsteps made the floor shake and echo. Liz sought escape, but time had run
out.

"Kill her," Maddie shrieked. "Kill the
guardian!"

She shrank back as enormous hands prepared to close over her
body, then felt a sudden yank. Zach, pulling her back just as the fingers closed
over the space she'd occupied. But her startled reaction had jarred her fingers
open. Even as she screamed in protest, the opal fell from her hand.

Maddie scooped it up. Whirling, she faced Ankouer and
offered up the fire opal. "Your prize, master. It is here."

"
Non
, Maddie! Give it not to
le fantome
!"

"Leave it be, Frank!" Maddie stretched her small
frame toward Ankour, shaking her head at him, but he rushed forward and
snatched the gemstone from her hands.

Ankouer let out a piercing screech and lashed out, hurling
Frank toward the edge of the pool, where he slid into a boneless heap.

"Papa!" Liz screamed.

Blood trickled from his mouth, and his fingers uncurled,
allowing the opal to roll slowly over the stone floor to stop inches from
Maddie's feet.

Maddie gave it no attention. With a wail, she rushed to
Frank and fell to her knees, then abruptly jumped back up and ran to meet the
advancing monster that now blocked Zach and Liz's way to Frank.

"You promise!" she screeched. "You promise me
you will not hurt Frank!" She pounded at the creature, her fists
disappearing into the ebony swirl, then reappearing to pound again.

"Cease, foolish servant!"

"Did I not use your power as you commanded? Did I not
send the gator and the coons to destroy this guardian? Did I not create the
waters to swallow her up?" Maddie's voice rose to a crescendo.
"T'weren't my fault they still live!"

Maddie paused, glancing at Frank's crumpled body. "You
kill my man! You kill him . . . you kill my Frank." She sank helplessly to
her knees, overcome by sobs, looking up in grief-wracked defiance. "Where
. . . where is your power, puny master . . . that you d-don't keep your
promise?"

Liz caught Zach's eyes and they inched toward her father,
hoping to go unnoticed as Ankouer's displeasure grew.

"You have not the power you say, phantom," Maddie
professed heatedly. With a dramatic whirl, she bent for the opal, clutching it
to her breasts as she again faced Ankouer. "Power above, power
divine," she cried. The opal let out a flash of light, and this time
Maddie gave no sign of pain.

"Servant, you try my patience." Even as he
bellowed, Ankouer's dark shape visibly diminished in size.

Liz and Zach were nearly at her father's side when a
punishing shriek escaped the hole that served as Ankouer's mouth. "You
love your man so much," he roared. "Go to him!"

A massive arm swung back, then sped toward Maddie. When the
blow struck, she let out a single surprised grunt before collapsing beside
Frank's motionless form. The fire stone rolled gently from her grip and came to
rest between their crumpled bodies.

Liz let out a gasp. No matter how horribly Maddie had
schemed, Liz never wanted this. By this time, Zach had reached her father and
was bending over, listening for breath, but Liz's outcry had caught the
phantom's attention. An icy gaze crept down her back, chilling her soul.

Come, Guardian. Your night of reckoning is here.
Liz
didn't turn to face him. Instead she called softly to Zach, "Is Papa
alive?"

"He's breathing," Zach said solemnly, then inclined
his head toward Maddie. "But I don't think Maddie made it."

Liz nodded. The woman's neck was cocked at an unnatural
angle, undoubtedly snapped by the force of the blow. The opal rested quietly—no
flash of light, no warm, protective glow—in the small space separating the two
bodies. Liz took a step to retrieve it.

A chill swept over her and almost sent her to her knees,
warning her that if she even tried, Zach and her father would not survive.
Slowly, she turned to face Ankouer. He stood above her, a swirling mass, his
red eyes gleaming with anticipation, the black hole of his mouth forming into
something resembling a grin.

Liz reached into her pocket for her father's pills and
tossed them toward Zach.

"Take care of him," she said, then went forth to
meet
le fantome noir
.

"Liz!" Zach bellowed. "No!"

But Liz barely heard his protest over the words from the
journal echoing in her mind.
The guardian shall walk into his blackest part.
Destiny had finally overtaken her. Already she was touching the cold, cold flesh
of Ankouer. It parted for her easily. She stepped inside without the opal,
knowing certain death was ahead, but also knowing she'd just guaranteed her
father's and Zach's safety. As the wall closed behind her, she felt the rumble
of a cruel chuckle.

"Welcome, Guardian," said Ankouer. "The
battle begins."

It happened so fast Zach could hardly take it in. One second
he'd been checking Frank for a pulse that appeared nonexistent, the next second
Liz stepped into Ankouer's swirling body, and in the next, that manlike body
changed into a vortex.

"Liz!" he roared, charging the funnel, prepared to
follow her in. He hit a solid wall that sent him sprawling. He stared up, his
mind spinning in tandem with the shape that had swallowed the woman he loved.

Laboring to his feet, he approached the twister again, this
time more cautiously, but his touch rebounded so forcefully he felt it clean to
his shoulder. Again he tried, and again. In a final burst of frustration, he
pounded on the unresponsive spinning wall, only to end up staggering from the
recoil.

He gazed around the cavern, inanely hoping that Liz would
magically be there. She wasn't. A few flames still danced on the surface of the
pool, and nearby was Maddie, stomach-down, her head jutting out grotesquely.
Her dark and lifeless eyes stared at him, and the silent plea they held echoed
his own. Next to her lay Frank, his left arm also twisted. Clearly broken. Zach
had lied to Liz when he's said he felt a breath—or exaggerated, anyway, because
the faint brush of air had probably come from the phantom.

His eyes drifted to the pill vial, which had fallen not far
from Frank's feet and he stood up and went to get it. With a sense of futility
he opened the nitro bottle and took out a pill. After tipping Frank's head
back, he slipped his fingers between the man's lips and deposited a tablet
under his tongue. The instructions on the label said to wait fifteen minutes,
and if there was no response, try again.

Fifteen minutes. It seemed like an eternity.

He bent listlessly to pick up his windbreaker, which he'd
dropped on the ground when he'd gone in the water after Frank. Sitting down, he
took out a cigarette, then put his arms on his knees and hunkered down to smoke
it.

Run. He should run. They were dead, all dead. Nothing to do
but save himself. But the funnel cloud appeared to have no interest in him,
which meant he was safe for now. And leaving . . . ? He couldn't leave Liz, not
without being sure.

By his account, she'd reappeared from the dead just a few
days before, and since then he'd snatched her from death's greedy claws so many
times he'd lost count. But this time it seemed he'd finally lost her to its
grasp.

Yet there was no sense in running. Without her, he had
nothing to run to. His loss ran so deep he dared not feel it. A heavy sigh went
out on an exhale of smoke, and he leaned forward to pull his flask from his
back pocket.

It felt light in his hand, half empty at least, but he might
as well drink his fill. Maybe it would numb him sufficiently to face hauling
corpses through the dank tunnel. For that was all that was left to do. Bury the
dead and say a prayer for Liz.

He lifted the flask to his lips.

"Zacharie."

Turning, he saw that Frank's eyes were open, and he jumped
so bad he almost dropped his flask. But as soon as his heart stopped pounding,
it lifted, allowing entrance to a scrap of hope. He recapped the flask and went
to Frank's side.

"Hey, partner," he said, kneeling beside the
fallen man. "I thought we'd lost you. Looks like you broke your arm. How
bad does it hurt?"

"Izzy . ."

"She's fine," Zach lied. "Just fine."

"
Pas du tout
," Frank replied, then launched
into whispered French.

"I can't understand you, Frank. Speak English."

"Oui, oui
. You must be bold,
mon ami
.
Izzy is inside Ankouer, yes?"

Since his lie had failed, Zach nodded grimly. "Does she
got the opal?"

Zach shook his head, tilting it toward the spot between
Frank and Maddie. When Frank saw Maddie, a low moan left his lips. He reached
out slowly, and touched her now pale face. "
Adieu, mon amour."

Good-bye, my love. Even with his poor grasp of French, Zach
understood, and he looked away, unwilling to intrude on this grieving man's
moment.

"Zacharie," Frank said urgently. "You must
listen good. Izzy got no hope without the fire stone. But you . . . her
defender . . . you can take it to her."

"It's no good," Zach said. "I've tried to go
after her more than a dozen times. The funnel keeps throwing me back."

"But not when you got the stone. You pass through
easy."

"How do you know, partner?" Zach asked. "How
can you be sure?"

"I been there," Frank answered in a choked voice,
glancing briefly at Maddie.

Unspoken words hung in the air.
But Ellie died anyway,
just like Maddie.

Zach looked toward the spiral. Now and then it issued a hiss
or a wail, but otherwise appeared completely indifferent to their presence.
When he looked back at Frank, the man's eyes were drifting shut.

"Frank," he implored, panicked.

"The arm, it hurt bad." Frank put his hand over a
protruding spot. Compound fracture, Zach thought. They'd have to immobilize it
before they carried him out.

With a start, Zach realized he was again thinking in terms
of survival. His optimism was returning. A good sign. Surely a good sign.