Drawing Bloodlines (34 page)

Over the sound of his pounding heartbeat, Nathan heard Malick calling after him. He entered the dark opening in the hedge and stopped at another hedge wall in front of him.
Left or right?
He thought to himself.

Nathan turned his head to the left, and then to the right. Both passageways were dark, narrow, and long. He looked down both corridors again, trying to see to their end, but there was no sign of Leah. He couldn’t b
elieve how fast she had disappeared, vanishing with no signs of a struggle.

Nathan started to trot to his left, but then, he heard a scream
. “To the right,” he muttered.

He ran past the hedge opening and caught a glimpse of Malick and L
afonda. “This way!” he yelled.

“Wait!” he heard Malick
say, but Nathan kept running.

The passageway went on for several feet, but soon n
oticed a difference in the monotony of the green, leafy walls. “Another opening,” he muttered.

Carefully, Nathan walked inside. Another hedge wall barred his way.
Quick, Nathan, left or right?
He urged himself.

Nathan looked around, searching for any sign of Leah. The hedge walls on both sides were tall, casting dark sha
dows that eclipsed the moon light.

Nathan decided to go left again, but heard the sound of footsteps to his right. Quickly, and as stealthily as possible, Nathan pr
oceeded toward the sound. He lowered his head, keeping his ear close to the hedge wall as he followed the narrow passageway.

It sounds like the footsteps are coming from the other side of this wall,
he thought.

Nathan quickened his pace but, abruptly, he stopped. Swirling at the base of his feet were clouds of fog. They seemed to drain away i
nto an opening in the wall.

The sound of Nathan’s heartbeat swelled inside his ears as he peered into the dark pa
ssageway. Sweat accumulated at the edge of his brow and he thought he felt a trickle of it run down his arm.

Nathan was surprised. He expected to see someone wal
king or running alongside the wall on the other side, but there wasn’t a path to the left or right of him, only a long pathway.

I could have sworn I heard someone running alongside this wall,
he thought. Nathan heard a scream again and it sounded like it was right behind him.
What is this place? These sounds, are they just echoes? They’re playing games with my mind.

With each gust of wind, the leaves that made up the hedge walls appeared to move up and down like waves in the ocean. Nathan co
ntinued to make his way down the pathway, until he met a corner.

To his surprise, the narrow passageway opened up to a larger area. The four hedge walls formed a box around him. Suddenly, Nathan’s stomach dropped after he noticed the three dark passageways cut into the longe
st hedge wall in front of him.

“I’m in a maze,” he muttered.

“You’ve gone too far,” he heard someone say, behind him. He soon recognized Malick’s voice. “I tried stopping you.”

Nathan spun around to find Malick red-faced, and out of breath. Jonath
an and Lafonda were behind him.

“I tried to stop you,” he said again. His hands were on his hips as his chest labored. He began to pace the area. “But it’s too late now … we’ve gone too deep. We’re in the heart of the maze now. Now it’s either become the hunter, or be ca
ptured.”

“What!” blurted Lafonda. She quickly moved the long strands of black hair from her face, while trying to hold her swor
d. “What kind of maze is this?”

“I believe it was first created as an elaborate maze ga
rden, but later transformed into a training ground for the Order,” said Malick. “Only the most skilled members of the Vanguard, those who have mastered the art of Pneuma Novo, are allowed to enter the maze. And of those, most of them are highly-trained trackers.”

Lafonda took in the space around her. “And let me guess,” she said, “you guys train by tracking each other in all thi
s….”

Malick nodded. “And not just each other,” he said. “They have different kinds of Sha
dow Creatures in here. And this maze is just a taste, compared to the other one.”

“What!” she
blurted. “Are you guys crazy?”

Nathan felt a trickle down his arm again. He looked down and found a constant drip of blood; running alongside his arm and poo
ling at his feet.

“Oh my, God!” yel
led Lafonda. “You’re bleeding!”

Malick eyed Nathan’s shoulder as blood continued to ooze. “The center of the maze,” he said abruptly. He a
ppeared to be thinking aloud. “There’s supposed to be a safe haven. I’ve never been this far inside the maze before, only on the fringes, and that was only on a dare from Liz, when we were younger.” He grew quiet for a moment. “But at the center, there’s supposed to be a safe haven. From there we can exit. That’s where we need to go.”

“We have to find Leah,” said Nath
an, holding up his bloody arm.

“Well, it won’t help her any if you bleed to death,” said Lafonda. She handed her sword to Jonathan and then ripped the already torn sleeve from Nathan’s arm. “Hold still while I tie this around your arm. Hopefully,
this will stop the bleeding.”

Suddenly, what sounded like an angry voice echoed at them. “Traitor!” they heard som
eone say.

Nathan, Lafonda, Jonathan, and Malick frantically looked around, trying to ascertain fr
om where they heard the sound.

“You’re going to pay for this,
Firewalker!” someone screamed.

“W–
who is that?” asked Lafonda, her voice shaking.

Nathan and the others slowly drew closer to one another, as if they we
re trying not to make a sound.

“She trusted you!” the voice reverberated angrily across the area. N
athan immediately spun around.

“It’s coming from over there,” he whispered, pointing toward the longest hedge wall. “One of the dark passag
eways.”

A gust of wind swept through the space, carrying with it an ominous warning. “The A
ngel of Death is coming for you!”

After the passing of the wind, there was silence and, su
rprisingly, there was a stale scent in the air. Nathan began to relax his shoulders and then, inquisitively, looked at the others.

“Hello,” said a soft and s
ensual voice from behind them.

Startled by the subtlety, the group spun around. Standing in front of them was a woman dressed in what appeared to be an 18
th
century ruby-red gown. It appeared to be quite brazen for that era.

The lace that ran in front her gown was tied in a shoelace pattern, from top to bottom. It appeared to be the only thing holding the top portion of the garment together, revealing m
uch of the already low bodice.

The rest of her gown flared out dramatically from her tiny waist. There was a soft rustling sound from underneath her dres
s as she strutted toward them.

Her ruby-red lips pouted at them as she eyed them susp
iciously. Her milky-white skin appeared with the touch of perfect rosiness in her cheeks. Her long hair, also ruby-red, was tousled and curly, as if she had just awakened from sleep.

“No swords, no shields, and no armor?” she spoke flirt
atiously. She continued to walk toward them, her hands placed firmly on her hips as they swayed from side to side. “You aren’t my usual visitors.”

“Back away!” warned Malick firmly, and he raised his hand, instantly f
orming a raging blue fireball.

“Oh,” said the woman, appearing caught off guard. Her facial features started to change as the pitch in her voice grew higher and higher. “No swords, no shields, n
o armor — it’s just a trick!”

Malick and the others started to back away and the wo
man in red screamed. Everyone in the group cowered, covering their ears. The high-pitched sound was deafening, cutting through the air like a piercing whistle.

One of Jonathan’s lenses formed a crack and, before he knew it, he was dangling in the air. The woman had sprouted enormous wings, and her hands and feet were now ta
lons. Abruptly, the screaming stopped. With only three flaps of her feathery wings, they soared through the air.

Jonathan struggled to get free, but together they flew through one of the three dark pa
ssageways, vanishing out of sight.

“Jonathan!” Lafonda yelled. They started to chase after but, suddenly, echoing down at them, they hear
d more head-splitting screams.

“More Screeching Sirens!” shoute
d Malick, pointing in the air.

Swooping over the tall green hedges, like hawks in the nig
ht, they barreled down at them.

“Duck!” yelled Lafonda.

Quickly, they crouched down. When Nathan looked up, the last thing he saw was Lafonda’s flailing arms and legs as they disappeared through the second dark passage.

“No!” Nathan yelled. He started t
o feel like he did in the Space-In-Between, after Lafonda fell over the cliff that over-looked Lake Charleston.

“Come on, Nathan!” Malick yelled. He tugged at N
athan’s arm, forcing him to follow. “Let’s go before we lose Lafonda. Quickly, before the sirens make another pass.”

Malick entered the dark passageway, pulling Nathan b
ehind him. After several feet, Nathan pulled away from Malick, freeing his arm.

“This is too much!” he yelled, and his voice reverberated through the tight passageway. “First Leah, then Jonathan, and now Lafo
nda? I just, I just … I can’t!”

“Nathan, snap out of it!” shouted Ma
lick, shaking him by the arms.

There was a brief silence, and then Malick looked at N
athan intently. “Remember earlier?” he said, trying to connect with his eyes. “We need to go on the offensive.…”

Slowly, Nathan nodded.

Malick gave him a quick pat on his good shoulder. “Come on,” he said, with a reassuring nod. “It’s our turn to bring the fight to them.”

Nathan followed closely behind Malick. Their pursuit turned from a walk into a brisk jog. They turned a corner and had to backtrack a few times, after e
ncountering several dead ends.

“Let’s try this way,” said Malick. His voice was choppy and he sounded as if he needed to catch his breath. “I know the Screeching Sirens have wings, but I also know they didn’t go far.” He gave a quick glance over his shoulder at Nathan. “See, sirens are usually in service of the Scarlet Priest and when they’re not … they like to haunt old ruins, mystical places of worship — practically a
nything that has power.”

Abruptly, Malick stopped. They had reached a fork in the passage. “Sirens love power, and will practically do anything to lure people away from it, especially men,”
explained Malick. “Okay, which way? Left or right?”

Nathan peered down the left corridor. When he stepped right, he caught a musty scent in the air.

“Let’s just go right,” said Malick and Nathan took ahold of his arm.

“Wait,” he said. Nathan looked down the long, dark co
rridor again. “Maybe we should just go left.”

“Then we should definitely go right,” said Malick, firmly. “If you’re having a bad fee
ling, and with our friends gone, it’s probably where we ought to go.”

Nathan nodded and they continued down the right pa
ssageway. Nathan’s stomach twisted in knots as they walked. The green hedge walls, with leaves that protruded here and there, were just like all the other walls they had seen. Something here, though, was different, and darker.

“I need to tell you something,” said Malick. He paused, peering down a connecting co
rridor as they walked. “It’s something that I didn’t tell the others.”

Nathan’s mouth twisted to the side as his eyes scanned Malick’s face. He tried to discern about what his friend
could be talking.

“Do you remember what I said about the night James Grimm broke into the vault?” asked Malick. “That he had written som
ething in the diary?”

Nathan nodded.

“Well, what I didn’t say,” explained Malick. “Is that I actually know what he wrote. After my father and James Grimm left, I took a look inside the diary.”

“And w
hat did it say?” asked Nathan.

Malick hesitated. “I can’t believe I’ve never told anyone this,” he said, with a grin. He shook his head. “But anyway, written all over it in red, were the words, ‘don’
t speak ill of the dead for.…’”

“For the dead shall rise again,” finished N
athan, softly.

Abruptly, Malick stopped walking, his mouth open. “Yes,” h
e said. “But how did you know?”