10 July 2012
The necklace continued to tug and strain the other direction, nearly choking me as I turned to follow Gabriel. I grabbed the green glowing thing in my hand to stop it and Keary put his arm around my shoulders, "Lets follow him, I think we should trust him more than that locket." I nodded and gripped my arm around his waist. I'd been worried about how he would really handle being around Gabriel. Since he kind of stole his mother away, in a way, but if he meant any ill will towards my father, he didn't' show it. Rather he showed complete trust and compliance. In his position I might have been angry, but then i was always angry, so that didn't mean much. We followed Gabriel down the road, the huge black and red caverns rising around us. So many little nooks and crannies in those rocks, so many places for little demons to hide and shoot us down like sitting ducks. But it was quiet. All was quiet. Eerily so. The necklace in my hand started to grow brighter, the green light shining thorough my fingers. Gabriel stepped through an archway, following the road and continued into the darkness ahead of us when the necklace jerked itself from my hand and flew in the other direction.
I flew backwards, hitting the rocky ground hard and the chain wrapped around my neck as the pendant shot across the cavern in the way it had been pointing. I grasped at my neck, trying to grab the tiny chain as it wound tighter around my neck while the rocks and ground tore at my back. I heard Keary yell, and a second later he landed on top of me like a giant lumpy boulder. He pinned me down with his whole body and the chain just wound tighter, cutting my air off completely. My vision went hazy, black and white, but I still saw Keay's arm reaching over my head as my lungs burned and stars burst in front of my eyes.
The weight around my neck suddenly lessoned, then disappeared entirely. I opened my eyes to a fuzzy face. "Wake up Ava." Someone slapped my face. "OW" I shoved at whoever was above me, and my vision snapped back into place. My throat felt raw though as someone pulled me up to a sitting position. I shook my head, and found Keary and Gabriel both kneeling in front of me. Keary was holding my necklace, and it was passive in his hands. Gabriel was peering down at something else in his hand, something tiny. "What is that?" i asked.
He looked up at me, a worried look on his face as he held his gloved hand out to me, revealing a tiny green rock in his palm. I reached out and touched it, meaning to pick it up and look at it myself but as soon as it touched my bare skin a searing pain raced up my arm, and my finger burned like acid. "FUCK". He nodded as I cradled my hand. It felt numb. "Its petrified demons bane," he said, "its been in your necklace this whole time, and it was taking us the wrong way. It led us into the trap in the tunnel." he sighed, and tossed the thing away to land in a dusty corner. "You've been walking around with it around your neck for months. It could be why you feel and act so shitty all the time lately." I glared at that. "I do not act shitty." Keary laughed, and covered it up with a cough, covering his mouth.
I glared at him to. Gabriel reached out and took my hand, "This is going to heal slower than human healing" he said with a sigh, "They why'd you let me touch it?" I asked. "Truthfully i wasn't sure it would hurt you. Its poisonous to angels alone." He hauled me up to my feet, careful of my hand and Keary rose with us, handing me back my necklace, "Its safe now, and it does belong with you." he said. I reached out and took it, but as I wrapped my fingers around it it began to glow, chain and all, a bright shining blue. The tiny red gem on the front flared bright white and it lifted into the air, out of my grasp. It hovered before us for a moment, and a look came over Gabriel's face, a peaceful look as he let out a sigh. He looked almost...happy. The necklace took off, leading us the way that Gabriel had wanted to go.
we followed it.
It led us across the cavern and into the tunnel Gabriel had disappeared into earlier, its glow illuminated the way, chasing away every shadow. A tiny demonic looking rat appeared before us as we crept down the tunnel. As soon as the glowing light touched it it shrieked and tried to run, but it burned to a crispy skeleton before it could go even a few feet. The cavern was quiet, there were doors on either side, huge wooden and rusty metal doors. But the necklace kept going, and Gabriel urged us to follow it this time.
The silence weighed down on us like the weight of a thousand thousand men sitting on our backs, it was becoming unnerving, but the necklace and gabriel continued until finally, after what could have possibly been a mile, or two, down the tunnel it stopped, hovering in front of one of the doors. The glow suddenly dimmed and went out, and we heard the necklace hit the ground.
It left us in darkness, but my eyes adjusted, for the most part. Even vampire eyes couldn't pierce every darkness. But I could see enough to pick up the necklace. "Can you open the door?" This from Keary. I grasped around for the handle and pulled, twisted, turned, pushed. I shook the damn thing. "Its stuck." "Let me try," this from Gabriel. I felt him beside me as he ran his hands over the door. A soft light came from his palms as he did, and whatever bolts and chains that were holding the door shut fell away with clunks and clatters.
The door swung open on rusty hinges. The necklace flickered but went out again. Gabriel and I stood rooted to the spot, peering inside the darkness of the room beyond when Keary appeared beside us. I didn't even know he'd left. Flames sprang to life at the end of the torch he'd found. He looked at us and shrugged. "It was on the wall." he said, and he stepped inside first. The room lit up like someone hit a switch.
The room was dank, and musky. Dirty and grime covered the walls, but beneath that you could smell the sweet metallic scent of blood, some old, some fresh. Nothing could ever truly cover that metallic smell. There were chains on the wall, hanging from hooks. Another of those rats scurried along the wall. I almost thought the room was empty, but against the far wall, huddled in the corner was a tiny figure. At first I thought it was a child, a dead child. But it, she, moved, lifting her head until her matted hair fell across her blue eyes. Gabriel rushed ahead of us, crouching down around the figure. She shrieked and tried to pull away, her hands flailing, but Gabriel hugged her to him, rocking back and forth until she calmed down. He murmured softly to her, and pulled his cloak off his back and wrapped it around her. She huddled within herself and stayed quiet and passive, like she was in shock, or just didn't care as Gabriel picked her up and held her close, Keary went up beside him, but made no move to touch her, simply nodded to Gabriel, and he nodded back.
Keary turned with the torch and led us from the room, back down the tunnel.
excerpt 2 (Ava's Story) • Opuss № I