Preternatural (Worlds & Secrets) (47 page)

Robbie twitched his fingers before shooting his arms out.
Streaks of white light shot out of his fingers like stars and speedily formed his usual wormhole in the distance. We were almost there, but the demon was going too fast.

Aemilia
raised her hands to her face; she blew on them and threw her hands back. The white sand suddenly became covered in frost and the monster slid and fell backwards. Robbie looked back and stopped for a mere second. The monster, on his knees, was attempting to get up with all his strength.

“
Aden, vines – now!” Robbie instructed, standing his ground and facing the demon. I shot out my fingers and vines whipped out into the air. The monster had gotten up, sprinting forward towards Robbie and almost colliding into him. Robbie grabbed the two vines by his sides and jumped up a few metres high, encircling the demon’s head and choking it with the thick roots. He landed further behind it, pulling on the cords whilst the demon choked. Robbie’s eyes lit to hazel and the vines instantly changed into a thin, malleable Tartalum rope. The demon tried throwing his hand to me, but Robbie gave one powerful and forceful tug. The thin Tartalum rope whipped through the monster’s neck, decapitating it as its head slipped of its body. The monster dropped to its knees and plummeted to the ground. Jordan rushed to its corpse like an angry fury with all the strength and speed she could muster, her hair reaching a blood red colour so thick that it looked as if the very substance itself would start dripping to her back. She picked up the demon with her two hands, as if it was weightless, held it above her head and threw
it into the distance. Its mangled body pathetically crashed against the Vernaescian version of the Cavern wall and splashed into the now still waters. “TAKE
THAT
,
YOU SON OF A –”

“It’s okay, it’s okay; there’s no need to drag its mother into this!
” Robbie said, pulling her back as she continued flailing her fists about.

It was bizarre to see the Cavern doors from
our
side of the world now. We knew that there was probably nothing more than tropical fish in those waters, but on the other side, more evil than could ever be imagined resided.

Jordan panted heavily as we dragged her
away and non-hesitantly backed into the wormhole Robbie had opened to take us to the office. We were clouded by white light before we finally regained consciousness again.

CHAPTER 15.

What Occurs In the Cavern, Stays In the Cavern

We were all wrecks; our skins had been bruised, our faces had been beaten black and blue, our lips were all chapped and cut, our noses were slashed and a fair few of us had scars on our arms. But nothing beat the dust we had been powdered in.

We
blinked and looked around dizzily as we stood up. We were safe. All I could think about was the fact that we were safe – away from their evil. I didn’t know whether it’d be for an eternity or just long enough for me to outlive – but all I cared about is that we had managed to evade them when we were told we couldn’t.

We were back in the office
. The regular one, not the one that was in that godforsaken Traversing Realm. We slowly rose from the floor painfully, having fallen through quite roughly. On the floor, all I could see was a shoe in front of me. I looked up and saw Tantrus, sat calmly with a leg crossed over the other and a martini in his hands. We stood up guiltily with embarrassment printed on our faces, making us cower in silence. Jojo’s was the worst; her light bronze skin burned with shame. He didn’t look at us – was he disappointed, upset? All I knew was that he couldn’t look at any of us in the eye.

“
I walk into the classroom and you’re not there. I wonder why that is and then I suddenly get a call from Lina. I teleport home and I find Jojo’s teleportation embers still lingering in the atmosphere. I follow them, they take me here – but I was too late –”

“
Dad, I’m
so
sorry we didn’t tell you. Please don’t tell mum; we –”

“
But I told them I snuck you out for a lunch and that I paid you all to keep your mouths shut about our “museum trip”.” Tantrus finally looked up at us and a corner smile grew on his curved lips.

“
You covered for us?” Jojo asked, filled with surprise.

“
Wait –
you knew
?” Jaden and I asked simultaneously.

“
You still have a
lot
to learn about hiding in Vernaescian terms. Cover your tracks, children,” he added. Jojo leaned over and hugged her dad warmly, practically losing herself in her father’s torso. This hug wasn’t a hyperactive hug Jojo gave her father when she had been given something that she manipulatively got from him, but rather an embrace that showed how much she appreciated him, knowing she could have lost her father and be thrown into a world of unfairness, sadness and confusion just like we had by growing up without ours.

“
But I was never here,” Tantrus added. Jojo retracted herself.

“
Wha – what?”

“
I was never here. Meaning
you
weren’t either because by now,
you would all be having classes
.”

“
He’s hinting. We have to go, come on, let’s finish the school day,” Robbie spoke.

“
What about your shoulder?” Jordan asked.

“
I’ll just go to the welfare for it.”

“
Wait
,” Tantrus said. He waved his hands in front of us and a few
green embers rotated around our dishevelled bodies. They renewed our clothes and appearances to an earlier
point in time when we were clean and untarnished. The marks that clearly showed on us were now merely ghosts, invisible. But the pain was still terribly there; all the scratches, bruises, and in my case, wounds, were screaming on our bodies. Unfortunately, my shoulder’s wound couldn’t be hidden, but Tantrus didn’t need to know that.

“
And, Aden, don’t forget your blazer.” He took it off the chair and threw it to me. Finally, we teleported out of here in less than a minute and so had Tantrus.

The others went their separate way
s and it was just the usual gang left. We came trudging in through the majestic front doors as the Celtic patterns assembled in the middle and carved the gap into the wall, letting the doors glide open as the afternoon sun descended. Mum glided down the staircase casually and met us at the entrance.

“
Hello, boys. How was school?” she asked us.

“
Tough,” Liam spoke as he went on upstairs –

“
Troubling,” Jojo continued –

“
Rather thrilling, actually –” Jade carried on, following the other girls, walking carefully as she still felt an ache in her bones. Robbie, Jaden and I remained in front of mum.

“
What about you three –
how was it
?” What was she referring to?

“
Any
trips
you’d like to share? Robbie, Jaden, Aden?” Oh
goodness
no. I hope Tantrus didn’t tell her.

“
The next time you’re breaking away for a trip you don’t need to hide it from me,” oh thank God – she meant the lie or “adjustment” Tantrus had fed her so gullibly.
“Go on upstairs and get changed. Dinner’s almost ready,” she said rather joyfully. I didn’t understand why she shouldn’t
have been; it was all in all a good day…until she called us back.

“
Oh,
boys
,
could you come in here please,” she called from the living room.

“
What could it be
now
? Cross check, have you done anything wrong?” Jaden asked out of sheer paranoia. Robbie scoffed. I felt a stabbing pain in my still fresh wound in my right shoulder.

“
Relax, we were careful. She doesn’t know anything. We traipsed downstairs towards the open arch entrance of the living room. All I could see were the heads of the tall figures that were sat down.

“
Come and say hi,” mum said next to Anne, all with cups of coffee. My two Samhain stalkers were here. They turned their heads and looked at me with two devious smiles.

“
You know Lloks and Tiah Fenregard from the ball don’t you?” Anne asked.

“
It’s a pleasure to see you again,” Lloks spoke, his voice regal and sending quavers down my spine, striking the same amount of fear in my chest that Trailian’s had. Robbie and Jaden politely extended their hands out to greet them.

“
Likewise,” Robbie and Jaden individually replied. They both looked at me with awkward smiles whilst I stared back underneath my slowly crimson-turning hair. I clenched the bead I had gotten from the Cavern tightly in my pocket.

“
Aden!” mum’s voice said in my head. “We can
tell
by your hair, change your attitude,” it hissed again telepathically.

“
Maybe it’s the weather – it does that sometimes,” I lied as politely as possible, deliberately saying it aloud so that Lloks and Tiah could start questioning themselves on who I was talking to and about
what
. Their indigo eyes drifted off to my right shoulder and they both looked as if they detected something. Their expressions funnily changed towards me but not towards the others. However, they managed to somehow maintain their smiles, making me feel uneasy.

“
It was nice to see you again anyway,” I answered back civilly before running off upstairs with Robbie and Jaden on my tail.

“
Have we done something wrong?” They asked mum, confused.

“
No, no – don’t worry.
He’s probably just tired
,” mum drifted her sentence into another slurp of coffee and the creepy twins let their eyes linger after me.

“
Are we late?” Elisedd wondered.

“
We
must
be. The Cavern doors are closed. And the guard’s been awoken – but it’s dead. Someone eluded them,” the hooded stranger answered. They kept their hood firmly over their head but was undoubtedly shocked and confused as to how this was even possible.

“
Surprised, I thought
you
would have ended them – I always pictured you as a vigilante,” Elisedd bantered lightly, without so much as a laugh, however.

“
I told you not to call me that.”

“
I’m sorry. On a more serious note, what do we do about –
this
?” the stranger sighed.

“They didn’t dispose of the demon properly.
It’s still in Vernaescian territory. What if they find him,” the stranger questioned, more to themselves than to Elisedd, their companion.

“Shall we get rid of it? We could incinerate it,” Elisedd suggested.

“No. I think we’ll leave it there. Send out a warning.”

Suddenly, the stranger’s
eyes dropped to something on the floor and their expression changed. They bent down, examining the white sand in the middle of the gleaming blue Caribbean seas and saw gleaming drops of inky black blood next to a few drops of crimson liquid. The stranger’s eyes widened in dread as they gulped.

“Someone’s been injured,”
they stated quaveringly.

“How do you know it’s not just a Baron that escaped?” Elisedd asked curiously.
His companion stood upright.

“Because the doors have been closed and the guard is dead. And also because o
f the red substance next to it, Elisedd, that’s Vernaescian blood. It is not Hescathem like us. And if I’m right in believing that the person I’m thinking of is injured, we are all in trouble,” Elisedd’s companion ended calmly as their purple eyes swept over the scenery in front of them.

“It’s just a little
injury. Can it not be healed?” Elisedd asked his accomplice as he moved closer.

“Elisedd,
back then, when we wanted to kill someone slowly and
painfully
, knowing there was no way to cure the infection…we would inject them with our blood.”

Upstai
rs, I sat on my bed as the last dying beams of light stretched in from the Vernaescian window and clawed at the carpets before distributing uneven patches of light on my pale skin. Liam, Robbie and Jaden were unfastening their ties and barely spoke. Probably too traumatised by the swift actions that had occurred what felt like a second ago. I could still see the graphic sceneries, as if they had been glued to my inner eyelids. Sure, we may have prevailed. But these were events we shouldn’t even have
had
to prevail from at such ages. Which brought me to my next haunting thought. Age. The daunting, unsettling, mind-boggling fact…of my age. Trailian could have very well been lying. He’s known for that. But the facts added up. As much as I tried to believe they were untrue. Now, I was left questioning mum and what her means of protection were.

I hadn’t noticed that the entire time I was speaking, I was staring mindlessly at the Celtic patterns on my duvet and tracing them mind-numbingly with my finger. The girls walked in. They weren’t perky as usual. Not flamboyant. Not even a ‘hello
’ like they normally said. They simply filed into the room, still in their uniforms, and stood along the wall whilst shutting the door behind them. I sighed and got up slowly, gently walking to Jade as she lost herself in my torso in a lengthy embrace. I let go of her and she smiled weakly. I walked back to my bed and seated myself with a heavy thud whilst the others guilty walked on over to me, scratching their elbows and avoiding eye contact with me. They crowded around my bed and sat themselves down as the patches of amber sunlight transformed the room to a core of glowing fire.

“Are you okay?” Jojo asked. It took me a while to wonder actually.

“I think so,” I muttered.

“How’s your shoulder?” Jojo nodded to my injury covered by my school shirt. How could I have forgotten? The pain had been squirming in my shoulder close to my collarbone as it tried to reposition itself. It was excruciating to the point I wasn’t bothered to do anything concerning it. It felt more like metal pliers being jammed into my shoulder and like my tissues were undergoing severe cramps. I looked to Tammy, Liam and Robbie in suspense.

“Guys…why didn’t you tell us. Why?” I croaked undertone. I felt no anger towards the Roxeths, but they definitely knew the time my father had died and left it undisclosed to us.

“Aden, we weren’t sure when your father died. Plus, we didn’t feel it was in our place to tell you. It would have been better for it to have come from your mother,” Tammy answered guiltily. Jaden let out a puff of hair and blew up on the strands of black and white hair in front of his face.

“Blimey, two thousand, six hundred and fourteen years. Wow,” he uttered through the silence.

“Why can’t we remember?” Jade asked. Jojo sat up perkily.

“Do you remember what Trailian said? In the Cavern?” she asked. We looked at her, lost as her green eyes scanned mine in this glowing orange, yet darkening, room.

“He said you three still smelt of
magic
. As if it had some sort of relation to your ageing and as to why you can’t remember.”