The House of Grey- Volume 4 (42 page)

“What
?
” Monson
immediately realized he wasn
’
t completely
surprised.  He probably should have known
.
As beautiful as this was
,
it was a little mundane for Taris.

“Can you do me a favor?” She pointed
,
not bothering to explain what she
had
intended
to show him
, and started to walk.
“It’s a little heavy for me to lift
.
”

Taris was near the back of the enclosure
,
standing
close to
the mass of
underbrush
.
The moonlight threw the somber expression on her face into perfect relief
. It was like she was trying to hype herself up to do something. She fiddled with what looked like a rod of some sort. It was
five
or
six
feet long and about
two
inches
around.
O
nce Monson realized what she was doing
,
he hurried over to help her.

“Thanks,” she said
in
her breathy voice as he slid in next to her. His head bobbed in her direction as he picked up the
pole
. It was heavier than he had thought.

“Bring it over here
.
” Taris gestured to the mass of vegetation. She
knelt down
in front of the small hole
,
ignoring the
dirt
caking her pants as she scooted across the grass. Monson
knelt
down next to her
,
still holding the rod despite his growing sense of confusion. He
set it down,
waiting for additional instructions.

“Thanks
.
” She beamed as he helped her slide the pole into the opening at the base of the foliage. Monson was not what
people
would call a woodsman, but he knew enough about animals to know that sliding a pole
towards
a potentially unsuspecting animal was not a good idea. If there was anything living in this place
,
they were going to have a very rude awakening
;
he doubted they were going to be happy about it.

“Um
m
...Taris, I don’t know if this is a good idea.”

“Don’t worry,” she answered in a soft voice. “I
’
m just flipping the switch
.
”
“
What
…
.”

There was
a
resounding
click
.
Monson was about to ask what they were waiting for
when
he heard
the sound of
rocks
grating
against each other
as well as
a
slight humming. Monson
,
without thinking
,
grabbed Taris and pulled her back
,
tossing her over his shoulder. He did not like the sound of what was happening. To his surprise
,
Taris was laughing
heartily
.

“Hold on
,
” she
giggled.
“This is supposed to happen
.
”

“Oh
.
” Monson felt his face go warm
.
“Sorry I grabbed you
...
”

“Never mind that
.
”
S
he slipped off his shoulder
.
“Look.”

The two of them watched as the grinding noise grew louder and louder and light broke through rock
,
cutting a distinct shape in the side of the mountain. Monson shot Taris a
n
inquisitive
look
. S
he
was not
paying him the slight
est
bit of attention,
however,
but was watching the outline of light with excitement
.

“Hold tight,”
she
whispered
,
finally looking his way. His eyes caught hers
,
the beams of moonlight
highlighting
the
emotion
in
her bright green emeralds. Oh
,
did he wish he could peak inside her mind and see what
lay
behind the
facade
of independence and
in
vulnerability.  What secrets might
he
learn? Wonderful ones
,
he was willing to bet.

The rumbling started again
,
preventing
Monson
from
asking what it was that
had her
so emotional. The noise was a bit different
now;
it seemed much closer
,
and something was moving in front of them.

“Taris
...
” said Monson
,
unsure of himself
,
“
w
hat did you do
?
”

There was a
pop as light flooded the area
,
leaving Monson speechless. The greenery! The greenery that sat dormant mere moments
ago
moved,
opening
right down the middle
like the mountain was not a mountain at all but some massive mansion. Monson considered that thought. Actually, he would not have been surprised if something like that happened…he did attend Coren, after all.

“Come on,” Taris directed him
excitedly.
“
W
e
’
re going to miss it if we don’t move!”

Monson did
not bother to ask
what they would miss
;
he was not really sure he wanted to know the answer. He laughed
,
drinking in the irony. As if
t
his day
could be
any weirder.

They entered the opening
,
moving
quickly
. The
area just inside
was large, very large as far as caves
went.
L
arge enough that
there was plenty of room for five
or
six
people
to
stand shoulder to shoulder.
But
Monson did
n
’
t
have much time for observation
,
as Taris was moving them faster and faster into the
recesses of the cave
. Despite this
,
the layout of the cave struck him, as
the
surfaces
were just a little t
o
o straight to be totally natural and yet a
bit
too
rough
to be artificial. It felt like the answer lay somewhere in between, whatever that meant. 

“Almost there
,
” muttered Taris
,
tighten
ing
her grip on his upper arm. They advanced another
twenty
yards or so
,
then slowed as the tunnel started to widen.
She
stopped in front of a massive cavern.

“Yes
!
” she exclaimed
,
her voice a little shrill as she hunched over panting. “We made it
.
”

“I think it’s about time you did some explaining
.
” Monson also
tried
to catch his breath
.
“
L
ike where the heck are we and
why
were we trying so hard to get here?”

Though Monson had been expecting it, he was still annoyed when Taris did not answer. Composure regained, she was holding her flashlight
loosely
,
and
the beam
to splashed
light across her face. Her rosy cheeks gleamed slightly
.
W
ere those tears?

Monson turned
,
slightly embarrassed
.
H
e just did not know what to do in these situations. He hated it when girls cried. It should be illegal. Trying to pretend that he had not noticed, Monson
peered
into the darkness
and
for the first time
,
tried
to take in his surroundings.
High
and
deep
enough that the beam
from their light
was
eventually
swallowed by the darkness
, the space, whatever it was, was quite large.

T
he seconds rolled by, one after another
, and
their setting altered ever so slightly. Maybe his eyes were growing accustom
ed
to the inky blackness, but he could have sworn that their surroundings were becoming more visible by the second.  Suddenly and without comment, Taris stepped in front of Monson
,
squaring up to him. She
donned
sunglasses
,
hiding her eyes
,
and
placed
a second pair on Monson
,
pushing back his hair as she did. Then
,
after unfolding
the quilt, she smiled and threw
it
over both their heads.
A
s she held him close to her
, Monson was overcome by an insatiable awareness of Taris
. She was so close that
he could see the glistening tracks
from
her
unexp
lained
tears. He
felt
her breath, which
was
calmer than before. He smelled her perfume, which
floated,
soft and warm
,
in the space between them.  He
inhaled
deeply
,
trying to find
the words to describe
Taris’
scent
. Not surprisingly, any description
he mustered
left him wanting.

“Sorry for being so
mysterious.
”
S
he inched into him. “I know that you
’
re probably confused
,
but what you are about to see is kind of hard to explain unless you actually witness it.”

Monson
found he was unable to
answer. Answer? He could barely think. Taris was way too close to him. Lucky for him, the need to think became but a passing concern as a burst of auroral color
washed
over them
.

“Lean against me and close your eyes
.
” Taris buried his
cheek
into her upper chest
,
forcing him to bend down. How strange, it felt like she was trembling slightly.
They waited for
whatever unknown danger
that
was present to pass.  Stupidly, his mind
centered
on Dawn and his various warnings.
Monson turned inward.

“Dawn,”
he thought. “
Are you there?
”

No answer came.

“
Dawn
,
”
he repeated
,
with a little more urgency
.

Again
there was
no
response
. Odd
—
he could not even feel Dawn
’
s presence. Something was wrong. His thinking shifted in an instant as he became strangely aware of the girl
who was holding him very close
while the
reality
of his current situation became clear to him. He was standing
in
the middle of a dark cave with a girl he barely knew after finding out that there was much more to him and his past than he had originally thought.  Could Taris have something to do
with all the craziness? The bridge? H.U.M.A.N.E? The Being of Seven Bloods
? Could she have lured him here tonight for some unholy reason?  It was
a
terrible thought and one that he did not like.  Granted, it would explain Taris’ interest in him. Why did he not think of it sooner? Maybe he did not want to face the fact that a girl like Taris could have just about anyone she wanted
,
s
o why would she
be with
him? Then again, what could she possibly gain from dating him
instead of just being friendly
? Th
is lin
e
of
thought made him sick to his stomach and
he
wondered if he was
in
real
danger.  Before he could ponder the problem any further
,
Taris pulled away the blanket.