Drop Dead Demons (10 page)

Okay, not a pit. Just a small, circular windowless alcove in one of the many towers and turrets of the Flint mansion. I hit the stone floor with a painful blow to my elbow then tumbled sideways. Then the door swung shut, and I was left in pitch black.

I scrambled to my feet using my hands on the rough, uneven stone of the walls to steady my progress, then made my way to the door. I breathed with relief when the handle opened easily and I peeked out. No one in the hallway seemed to have noticed my exit. I eased the door shut and waited for the boys to pass.

The darkness was absolute. I blinked, eyes aching for a shred of light. A rushing sound whispered around the room. I cocked my head. Wind? But I didn’t feel a breeze.

The sound grew louder, building into a mechanical
whirring
, as if a large machine was lumbering to life after a long hibernation. Gears clicked in a slow rhythm then picked up the pace. The floor rumbled beneath my feet. An oily scent drifted from above, wilting the floral aroma that had followed me in.

Lights of various colors flickered to my left. Just above the door handle, like new buds bursting through the earth, a series of blinking buttons, knobs, and switches appeared on a metal panel which all emerged from within the solid wood of the door. 

I sucked in a breath and retreated, back pressed against the wall, heart jumping into double-time.

“Ohhh, no.”

The glow from the controls lit up the room. The stone walls seemed to blur. I rubbed my eyes but instead of clearing my vision, I watched the stone shimmer out of existence, replaced by large rectangular sheets of metal. Dark bronze. Shiny. Heavy bolts rimmed the seams holding the pieces together.

I tensed. Someone in the wall stared at me. A black-hooded figure. Wide-eyed and slack-jawed and looking like they were ready to freak out and attack—

Oh. Right. My brain finally calculated the obvious. It was my own reflection in the glimmering walls.

“Please enter destination request.” A woman’s voice echoed against the metal-lined space.

I ducked, covering my head with my arms, looking for the threat.

Nothing happened. Other than I had the heartbeat of a canary, and my vital organs had turned to mush.

“Please enter destination request,” she droned.

My gaze roamed the empty room. “How about the heck outta Dodge.”

My head jerked back to the door where, just beyond the hinges, with a loud metallic
clankity-clank-clank
, a wall of one-inch wide metal lattice rolled out from the side and started covering the door.

Caging me in.

The lattice traveled smoothly. Was halfway across the door.

I launched my body up, came down with my full weight on the handle, felt it resist, thought I might break the whole thing off. The lattice rolled into my back, pressing hard.

I braced my foot on the slim edge of the door frame and used my full weight to push back, struggling against the metal threatening to shut me off from freedom.

The lattice kept coming, forcing me forward. I banged on the door.

“Help!”

There was less than eighteen inches before the moving wall would shut me off completely from the door. I was losing ground. And I’d be losing a hand if I didn’t let go of the handle which in the next few sec—

The handle dropped, the door opened, and I spurted through.

Careening into another body and bringing us both down. 

Light from the stained glass windows stretched a rainbow of colors throughout the elaborate acres of books in Flint’s cavernous library. It was as impressive as the rest of his estate with high ceilings, ornately carved wood bookcases, polished and shiny, many built into the walls and reaching two stories. Spiral staircases led to narrow walkways along the higher level. Heavy carpets blanketed the hardwood floors, muffling students’ footsteps and any attempt to break the reverent silence.

There were open areas with tables for studying, some casual seating arrangements with comfy chairs and sofas, and several cubicles that housed computers. The place smelled lemony. Surfaces gleamed.

The librarian, Mrs. Caviezel, took her job very seriously, running it like a military contingent, keeping it shipshape using her dogged determination and an army of student volunteers.

Of which my sister Luna was now one. A fact she wanted to keep from my parents — wouldn’t tell me why — and the reason she’d agreed to help me find the wall marked with the spirals that was on the parchment.

She’d been looking for me when I fell out of the alcove and knocked her over. Couldn’t explain what I’d been doing. Was it one of Flint’s gizmos? So much for being turned off. But she was more interested in complaining that I damaged her dangly ear cuff.

Once at the library, she led me deep into the labyrinth of books to a remote room way in the back with no windows. The dark interior had a small rectangular table and desk lamp which provided little illumination.

“This is the section with local info,” Luna told me. “All the books are about Gossamer Falls’ history and stuff about Flint. Did you know this place was an insane asylum?” She gave a shiver and lowered her voice. “Rumor has it they never got rid of the patient wards in the basements and all the vile torture chamber treatment machines. That’s why the lower levels are off limits and locked down tight.” She spoke in a haunting, supernatural wail. “Ghosts of the crazies are still trapped down there, wandering secret passageways, fated to relive their torment over and over, and in the dead of night their screams of horror still reverberate through the very foundation.”

“Yeah, right.” She loves drama. 

“You have no imagination.” Luna rolled her eyes, then pulled a set of keys from her pocket. “I wonder if my library keys would open up the basements.”

After she scurried away, I studied the wall marked on Rose’s map. It was about fifteen feet long and ten feet high and had a solidly built-in bookcase.

The wall behind it was made of stone. I ran my hand over all the wooden shelves and then the spines of the thick volumes, many made of smooth leather and all very dusty. I was scanning for…not sure what…the double spiral? But I came up empty.

Something flashed bright white at the corner of my eye, to my right and high up. I jumped and whirled. But nothing was there.

“See,” I said to no one, “my imagination’s working just fine.” I scratched my head and studied the shelves. “What am I supposed to find?”

The books didn’t answer. And my spidey senses weren’t tingling. So I squatted down, pushed up my sleeves, and started pulling out books from the bottom shelf, moving methodically up to the next shelf, hoping one of the texts turned out to be a lever that opened a secret passageway.

Hey, you never know.

I climbed the shelves to reach the higher levels which made the book pulling slow and awkward because I had to simultaneously hang on. But I kept at it and eventually, behind the books on one of the top shelves, something caught my eye. An etching in the stone wall itself. 

A double spiral. Like the one drawn on the parchment.

I smiled. “Bingo.”

I scooted closer, moved books aside, and reached out, hovering my hand over the spirals. Something tingled on my palm. I thought I saw the etching move. Weird. Then I felt some kind of heat which didn’t make sense. Not that much did these days. I reached my index finger closer and—

“I just left the principal’s office.”

Matthias stormed in.

My toe slipped off the bottom shelf. I grabbed one edge and hooked my elbow on another to keep from falling. At best, it was precarious.

The Aussie had his back to me, pacing, a phone pressed against his ear.

I held my breath and tried to hold tight, hoping he’d disappear.

No such luck.

He inhaled deep and lowered his voice. “She’s fine but…yes, the training worked but now it’s a big spectacle and…I don’t know, but…uh-huh…right…” His shoulders relaxed and his voice softened. “You’re right. Thanks.”

Layers of polish on the wood made it slick, which was why my elbow was slipping toward the edge. I tried to scoot it back, squirming as quietly as possible, muscles straining, but for every inch I gained I lost two, and finally, I lost altogether.

I fell with an utter lack of grace. Matthias, on the other hand, in one smooth motion grabbed a book, turned, and flung it. He couldn’t have had time to aim, yet the thick hardcover jettisoned straight for my head, ready to conk me into oblivion. His only mistake was not anticipating my stealth maneuver of falling, so it sailed over my skull and crashed into the bookcase as my butt hit the carpet. Not as cushy as I would’ve liked.

“Bloody hell!” Matthias’s eyes blazed. “Are you following me?”

“Of course not.” I rubbed my behind and pushed to my feet. “Be quiet or Caviezel will have us both in detention.”

Matthias glanced over his shoulder then seemed to remember the phone and ducked it behind his back. “Then what are you doing here?”

“Nothing. What are
you
doing here?”

“Nothing.”

We stared at each other for a long moment.

Then I asked, “Who’s on the phone?”

He paled. “My…uh…dad.” He brought the phone around and spoke into it. “I’ll have to call you back…
Dad
.” He shot me a nasty look. “No, I’m with Aurora…What?... I’m not
with
Aurora…Don’t be…”

I squinted. “Is that a new phone?”

“No.” He looked offended. “Same phone. The only one I have. Why would I have a second phone?”

“I happened to get a good look at your phone when you were out cold last night and that’s not it.” 

“You’re wrong. Moron. It’s the only phone I have.”

A phone rang. And not the phone in his hand. Another phone. In his jacket pocket. His regular phone. I recognized the ringtone.

Matthias locked his gaze with mine. I smirked. He closed his eyes and sighed, chin dropping to his chest.

After a moment he spoke into the first phone. “Gotta go.” Then he shoved that phone in one pocket and pulled out his regular phone from his other pocket. “What!”

I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I sensed I had just gotten some leverage on the Aussie.

“Wait, Ayden.” Matthias’s irritated expression cleared, and he actually smiled. “What about Aurora? She
ditched
you and you don’t know where she is? That’s interesting because I think I might be able to help you out with that.”

So much for leverage.

I waved my hands and shook my head whispering a frantic, “No, I’m not here!”

Matthias held the phone against his chest and whispered, “And I don’t have another phone, right?”

“Fine.” I gave him a look. “No second phone.”

Matthias got back on with Ayden. “Yeah, I found her.”

I stomped my foot. “Really?!”

He rolled his eyes. “She’s in the library. She didn’t ditch you. Luna needed her help. Everything’s fine. Go to class. I’ll make sure she gets to P.E.” He ended the call and turned his attention back in my direction. “Do I need to know what you’re doing here?”

“No.” I brushed past him. “But you might want to check out a certain alcove on the second floor. I think something of Flint’s still lives.”

“Great. What did you do now?”

“It wasn’t me.”

“It never is.”

I made my way out of the library and down the hall toward the gym, Matthias right on my tail.

“I can get there myself.”

He didn’t answer, didn’t look at me, just made a dismissive “keep going” gesture.

If he didn’t leave, I couldn’t double-back and figure out what was up with the spiral. Usually wasn’t hard to get the Aussie to keep his distance. There had to be something I could …

I flipped my hair back and smiled over my shoulder.

“Just can’t get enough of me, huh? First the kidnapping then following me to the library and now the gym.”

“I didn’t…do any of that.”

“Jeez, Matthias. I get it. You adore me.”

He snorted. “You are a certifiable loon.”

“But you keep following me which just proves how deeply you’ve fallen for—”

The lights went out. People screamed and raced around in the total darkness of the windowless hallway. The walls and floors shuddered and groaned, like the entire building was some stone giant waking from a deep slumber.

Something slammed me up against the wall.

“Get off!” I pounded my fists, fighting for freedom, but the monster was made of brute force and brawn, and rigid as rock.

And it wasn’t letting go.

“Shut it!” Matthias hissed in my ear. “Stay still.”

Oh. The Aussie had me pinned. His chest was rising and falling at a rapid rate, muscles flexed into granite. At first, he got jostled from the running crowd while protecting me from the fray, but then he used his power of seeing in the dark to shove off people before they even got close. 

“Did you do this?” I tried to scratch my nose.

“No,” he snapped. “I said
stay still.”

“Then quit moving your head. Your hair is tickling my nose. It’s getting really long.”

“Well sor-
ry
, but I’m scanning for threats trying to save your worthless hide.”

“If it’s so worthless, why are you trying to save it?”

“Because I’m an idiot.”

“Finally we agree.” I sniffed. “Are you wearing cologne?” It was nice, but I wasn’t about to tell him that.

“Shut—”

The school stilled. Lights came on. The crazed crowd froze, looked around with anticipation, then as the lights stayed on, they relaxed. Someone starting hooting, others clapped. Matthias kept me covered, his hair still wisping across my face. I thought I was going to sneeze.

Three girls in my P.E. class walked by and one of them, Katie, our local basketball star, who towered over even me, lightly backhanded Matthias’s shoulder.

“Jeez, you two. Get a room.”

Matthias looked as if he’d just drank sewage. He quickly shoved off the wall — and me — but kept monitoring the immediate area.

“What was that?” I asked.

“Don’t know, but I don’t like it. I’ll get Blake or Jayden and check it out.” He grabbed my bicep and gave me a forceful push. “Right after I drop you off.”

We walked for a while then I said over my shoulder, “Why don’t you go take care of it now? Could be serious. I can get myself to P.E.” 

“Just keep moving.”

He dug his fingers into my back and shoved me forward.

“Ow!” I grabbed my calf, hopped a few steps to the side, and leaned on the wall. “Shoot. Must have pulled something when I fell in the library.” I massaged my leg. “But, hey, don’t let me slow you down. Get the guys and take care of things. I’ll, uh, rest a minute then get to the gym. Unless,” I reached out a hand and grasped his wrist, my look pleading and pathetic “you want to carry me the rest of the way?”

He looked at my hand on his arm, then back at me, his grey eyes cold and flat. “I don’t think so.” He shook off my grip. “You can manage.”

“Yeah, sure. You go…save stuff.”

I waited until he turned his back before I smiled. Such a sap. My phony damsel in distress routine got him every time. Brilliant. Now I just had to double-back and—

Matthias whirled around and scooped me up into his arms so fast my lungs
whooshed
out all air.

He caught the look on my face and smirked. “Not this time.”

I glowered. “Think you’re so smart.”

“Smarter than you.” He headed down the hallway.

I squirmed. “Let me down.”

His grip became steel. “Oh, no. You wanted to play this game. Let’s play.” He picked up the pace and pushed through the crowd speaking very loud. “Excuse me! Watch out! Coming through.”

We got a lot of looks and several wolf whistles as he carried me through the halls.

“I hate you,” I muttered under my breath.

That made him smile.

“I said I’d get you to P.E. and now,” he shouldered open the swinging door to the girls’ locker room and literally threw me in, “you’re at P.E. Whatever you do from here, don’t make it my problem.” 

As my butt
thumped
to a stop on the cold linoleum, I ripped off my shoe and threw it at him, but it only hit the door which had already closed behind the annoying Aussie.

“Jerk.” I got up and found the three girls that had seen us in the hallway staring all moony-eyed where Matthias was last seen.

“He is so cool,” said Mika, a short brunette who seemed incredibly shy but worked diligently as the editor and photojournalist for the school paper, and all around Gossip Central. The other two girls nodded.

“You can have him,” I muttered. 

“Don’t we wish,” sighed Katie. She picked up my shoe, handed it to me, and gave me a hand up, smiling easily. “But when Mika asked for an interview about saving your sister in L.A., he shut her down cold. She did manage to get a few photos before he ditched her. Keeps them on her bedroom wall.” She turned to Mika. “Aurora might not appreciate that.”

Mika blushed.

“Don’t worry about me.” Jeez, did everyone in this town have a stalker wall?

The third girl, Natasha, was our head cheerleader who also happened to be captain of the debate team, founder and captain of the archery team, president of the chess club,
and
class president. Such an over-achieving configuration I figured she had to be some sort of supernatural being.

Or I was jealous.

Behind her thick black frame glasses that somehow managed to be cool instead of nerdy, she narrowed big, dark Indian-from-India eyes at me. “I thought you were dating Ayden.”

“So did I.” Although at this point, it may not be as exclusively as I thought.

The girls circled me.

Natasha pushed her not-nerdy glasses up on her nose. “Because he denied my request for a dance at the Spring Fling. Said they were all for you.”

“That’s what he told me too,” said Mika.

Katie rolled her eyes. “That’s what he told
everyone
.”

I found myself smiling. “Oh, well, that’s good.”

“So if you’re dating him, what’s going on with Matthias?” Natasha asked.

Mika cooed, “And the other dreamy Hex Boys?”

Then just because she could — stupid taller-than-me girl — Katie gave me a playful tap on the head. “Yeah, when are you going to share? Give up at least one of them.”

“Trust me,” I laughed. “It’s not like that.”

Katie’s blonde ponytail swung as she tilted her head. “That’s what you keep saying, but you never tell us what it
is
like.”

Natasha removed her glasses and began nibbling the end of one ear piece. “Come on, Aurora. Give us
something
.”

Mika smiled slyly. “Or some
one
.” 

There was a collective gigglefest.

I folded my arms and smiled. Usually, I brushed off the questions I got from girls about the Hex Boys, but today a delightful thought slipped into my head.

“Okay. Actually,” I looked over my shoulder and lowered my voice, “there is something you might be interested in.”

The girls eagerly huddled around and minutes later as I finished giving my new BFFs
The Scoop
, the gym door opened and another girl poked her head in, face flushed, eyes bright. 

“Oh, my God!” she squealed. “You have got to see our substitute teacher. He’s so hot!” Then she disappeared.

The rest of the girls in the locker room dashed to the door and peeked out.

“She’s right!” Katie confirmed.

“Ladies, please join us.” The deep voice came from within the gym.

The girls shoved and fought each other for who would get out the door first.

I ran too, but stopped short when I looked out the door. “Oh, no.”