The Lost Soul (20 page)

But little did he know he was too late. He had given himself away.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

A familiar smell pervaded his nose, which he screwed up in disgust as he opened his eyes but was faced with darkness. A feeling of dread flooded his body.

"Zalea?" he asked, moving his hand to the side, feeling damp stones around him.

"Are you there?"

The sound of sobbing stopped him in tracks, "Zalea, is that you?"

"Jack...I'm so sorry...."

Relieved she had survived the waterfall, he tried to reach out but the sound of chains suddenly brought him back to another time. The time when he had been chained up in the caves. He pulled his arms forward but chains prevented him from moving.

"You could have escaped this if only you'd transformed," she sobbed.

"It's all right, Zalea, it's all right. We can get through this."

"But how?"

"You just gave me an idea."

Zalea was quiet. She knew what he was doing. So she said nothing while he tried hard not to make a sound as he made efforts to transform within the chains.

A few involuntary gasps escaped his lips before silence and then, the sound of chains as they dropped to the floor.

"Did you do it?" she asked eagerly and she was met with a soft squawk in her ear.

Jack's raven eyesight was near perfect in the dark and he was shocked at what he saw.

There were at least four of them. Two had been dead for a long time while the third only a few days perhaps. The fourth, however, appeared to be breathing but was either sleeping or unconscious. They were all adult men and all four were chained to the walls of the caves.

"What now?" she asked, knowing full well he couldn't reply. "Will you change back and try and release me?" she asked eagerly and he squawked in response.

But before he could do that, he checked out their surroundings, trying to find an escape route. Spotting several tunnels that went off in different directions, Jack flew a little down each one before deciding which route to take. Once he had made his decision, he returned to Zalea's side and began his transformation once more.

It was getting easier.

"Okay Zalea, I'm back. There's another man here whose still alive. We need to try and release him too."
Zalea nodded even though he couldn't see her.

"I'll have to bash your chains with a stone..."

"What about Gwynethea's dagger? Will that help?" she said, feeling around on the ground where he had been chained.

"No, it's gone. I must have lost it in the waterfall. Unless... they took it when they brought us here."

Jack picked up one of the loose heavy stones and very carefully began bashing at the chain until, eventually, it broke, releasing her arm.

"Here, can you try and break the others while I try and help the man?"

She took his hand and squeezed it before the sounds of her hitting the chains with the stone reverberated around the cave.

As Jack approached the other survivor, he held out his arms until he could feel the man's arm.

"I'm here to help you," he whispered, "Can you hear me. Are you conscious?"

"I 'eard a bird," whispered the voice. "You ain't a bird?" he said.

"No, I'm not a bird. My name is Jack. I want to help get you out of here."

"I ain't 'eard a bird for a long time. What time is it? Is it time for tea yet, me dear?"

Jack sighed, this wouldn't be easy.

"Like I said, my name is Jack. You need to focus. You're chained up to these caves. How long have you been here?"

"Oooh, a long time, me thinks. They feed me though, they do. And they bring me water."

"When do they feed you?" Jack asked, concerned they would come face to face with their captors.

"Not for a while yet, Sir. I was just fed some fifteen minutes ago."

Jack shook his head, the man was delirious.

"Look, I need you to do what I tell you. Hold your hands out and keep them there. Don't move them. I don't want to hurt you. I'm going to bash the chains with a rock, all right?"

The man was silent.

"Is that all right?" he asked again and the man coughed.

"Where are we, Son?"

Jack sighed, "We are in the Nephilim Caves."

"Did you say Nephilim, my boy?"

"Yes, which is why we need to release you quickly."

"Then what are you waiting for? Get bashing, Sir."

Jack couldn't help but smile at the poor man's insanity while he began to bash until the chains were finally released.

The man slumped forward as Jack helped him up. Zalea rushed to his other side and they slowly began to walk through the dark tunnel out of the cave.

"Wait," said the man, "I need to say goodbye to Ronald," he said.

"Whose Ronald?" asked Zalea as they stopped for a moment.

"He was my friend, just my friend. Goodbye old boy. You were a good pal, Ronald. I shall miss our conversations. Farewell, old boy," he sobbed before telling them they could continue.

"What's your name?" asked Jack as they exited the cave.

"Me name, Sir? Me name's Eric."

"Well Eric, like I said before, my name is Jack and this here is Zalea."

"It's mighty nice to meet you Jack and Zalea," he smiled a toothy grin. Not that they could see it, mind you.

"It's so strange, we've been walking for what seems like hours and we've yet to see anyone," said Zalea.

"I just hope we're going in the right direction."

"Can we take a break, Sir, Jack, Sir?"

Laughing, he replied, "Eric, please don't call me sir. There's really no need."

"I am sorry... it's habit. I was a butler you know for years and it's ard to break a habit like that."

"I understand."

"I was a butler for royalty, you know?" he said proudly.

"Royalty? Really?" asked Zalea intrigued.

"That's right. Butler for royalty before I was ... I was ... you know, taken."

"What happened to you, Eric? How did you find yourself here?"

"Honestly, Si... Jack. I was doin' nothin' but mindin' me own business walking through Hyde Park in London when I sees this odd light. Like a mirror right in front of me. It seemed to beckon me in, if ya know what I mean? And then, the next thing I know, I'm 'ere in this rotten place. Taken by the... the Nephilim."

"How did you know they were Nephilim?" asked Zalea.

"I'd never even 'eard of 'em until I got 'ere. Ronald told me the truth. He knew all about them."

"What did he tell you, Eric?"

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

The fights continued well into the night, Calliope doing nothing more than sitting and watching. There was never any blood drawn, the fight would just continue until one of the opponents fell to the ground.

Calliope would then halt the proceedings, let them gather themselves up before she chose two more to continue the fighting.

At precisely 2 'o' clock in the morning, Calliope stood and all went quiet. The three outsiders looked across at the faces of the other men and they all appeared to be gazing up at her with smiles spread across their faces. It was the look you'd expect a man to give a woman as she walked down the aisle on their wedding day. A look of pure love and devotion. It was clear these men would do anything for Calliope and she knew it.

But Calliope was more focussed on something that was going on outside. She walked through the crowd and out into the freezing cold, staring up at the night sky... up at the moon, which was almost full.

She smiled and let out a deep throaty laugh that spread throughout the pyramid, a laugh that turned to a loud yell, echoing out into the night. When she returned inside, she didn't walk back to her throne, but she walked right into the throng of men and headed straight towards Carmelo.

"I wondered how long it would take you to join us... Carmelo," she said with a smile. "Welcome to my home."

"This isn't your home, Calliope."

"It is now," she said, dropping her head to one side and scrutinising him. "I rather like this place. Powell River. I hadn't intended to stay," she said, turning away from him and suggesting he walk with her.

"Then why did you come?" he asked stone faced.

"I was curious. I wanted to know why you were asking about me."

He flinched. "Why we were asking about you?"

She nodded, "Yes, you were asking questions and your friends were googling me. I wanted to know why so I figured I'd stop by and see for myself. Of course, when I came upon a funeral for a girl who wasn't even dead, my curiosity peaked."

"But...we'd never heard of you until you arrived here. So I don't understand why you think we were asking questions about you. I'm sorry, Calliope, you're wrong."

She shook her head as she sat herself down on her throne.

"No, Carmelo. I'm not wrong," she smiled, "and I'm staying here. I rather like it."

"What are your intentions Calliope?"

"Hm? I'm not sure... yet."

"One man has already been killed as a result of your games..."

"I have not killed anyone. No man has died at my hands" she said, looking down at her beautifully manicured hands. "Besides, man means nothing to me. He is here purely for my entertainment."

"What the hell are you?" yelled Zoltan from the crowd, approaching her.

"Zoltan the werewolf. I was wondering when you would introduce yourself. And Walter, while we're making our introductions, you might as well be included."

"How do you know who we are?" asked Carmelo through gritted teeth.

"I know everything about everyone," she said simply.

"Who are you? What are you?" asked Zoltan, scrunching his fists into tight balls.

Calliope dropped her head backwards and began to laugh, "You mean you still don't know? Oh dear... and here I was believing the Elders to be all knowing and all powerful, when really you're just the same as them," she said pointing to the men who continued to look at her lustfully.

"No, we're not the same, Calliope," as Zoltan jumped towards her, changing from a stocky muscular young man into a wolf. Before he had the chance to reach her, she merely held out her arms and flicked her wrist and Zoltan was bounced from one wall to the other before she finally let him crash to the floor.

"You were saying?" she asked.

Carmelo and Walter retaliated, trying to pounce on her but she moved even quicker than they could. The two vampires ended up crashing into each other.

Looking around for her, their eyes searched the room but she was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm up here, boys, but there really is no point in you trying to stop me. I'm stronger, smarter, faster, etc., etc. than all of you put together," she said from the second floor where a few men continued to sleep on the floor. "And if you continue your silly games, the death of all these men will be on your shoulders."

"What the hell is she?" growled Zoltan after he'd turned back into human form and donned the crazy costume he'd been forced to wear before to preserve his modesty.

"It suits you, Zoltan," she smiled down at him. "Don't mess with me, gentlemen. If you do, you will be sorry. Nobody messes with the Nephilim."

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Zalea and Jack carefully helped Eric to the ground where they sat next to him leaning against the cool rock and huddled closely for warmth and comfort as the old man began to tell them all about the Nephilim.

"The Nephilim are pure evil, they are," he said slowly, "They're the sons and daughters of fallen angels who bred with man thousands of years ago. The fallen angels passed on their powers to these beasts, makin' 'em stronger, faster and meaner than anyone else on this 'ere earth. But their young'uns are also the most beautiful beings you'll ever see. They can entrap you with nothing more than a simple look of their eye, a flick of their hair or even the mention of their name. The Nephilim might be part human, but there ain't nothing humane about 'em. It is said God was so enraged when these fallen angels mated with man, that he cast their souls to live among the caves beneath the earth for all eternity."

"Is that where we are?" asked Jack.

"Aye lad. We're trapped with em, beneath our own world."

"Hang on a second... beneath our own world?"

"Aye... this is the centre of the earth, my boy."

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

As the hours passed by, December and Lilly finally got round to reading about Jules Verne's famous book,
Journey to the Centre of the Earth
, online.

"I really do think there is something about this theory, you know Lilly."

"Hm?" she replied, devouring every word that could be found about the popular book.

"I said, there's something about our theory. I have a feeling, you know, like a gut feeling, that the Nephilim live there."

Finally, Lilly turned her head away from the computer and looked at her best friend, "I know. I do too."

"So, what else does it say?" December asked as she stretched out her body on the bed while Lilly did all the hard work.

"Something here about there being dangerous gases and giant mushrooms..."

"Perhaps we ought to contact your dad again and tell him?"

"Shouldn't we wait for the others to come back first?"

December rolled her eyes, "Okay. Read me some more while we wait."

Just as Lilly was about to read aloud, December sat upright, "Actually, look up how the characters got to the centre of the earth in the first place."

"Erm... it says 'the passage to the centre of the Earth is through the one crater that is touched by the shadow of a nearby mountain peak at noon during the last days of June."

"Right, well that's no help then."

"No, but we're not taking this thing word for word, are we? We're just accepting the theory that it is possible to get to the centre of the earth, where the Nephilim caves happen to be."

"Right," nodded December, "so, if this is the case then people are being sucked into some kind of mirror like vortex and getting stuck there."

Lilly slumped backwards into her chair, "But how? And why?"

"I don't know, I really don't know."