Finders Keepers (25 page)

           
This time Ellie wasn’t taken back to the nice walnut paneled room to complain about the stiff scratchy Persian rug.
 
Instead she was dragged down under the house and thrown into a dungeon.
 
It wasn’t a real dungeon, but close enough.
 
Having gotten there by being tossed down steps leading from a trapdoor in the old-fashioned kitchen, it was most likely a cellar.
 
Moisture hung so thick in the air, Ellie felt like she was literally drinking her breaths.
 
The ceiling was lower than Ellie’s actual height and the first time she tried to stand she conked herself a big goose egg on the top of her head.
 
The blackness was so complete that she could see nothing, not even her fingers when she wiggled them in front of herself.
 
But she was getting used to that.
 
The floor above her creaked and all around her seemed to moan as it shifted and settled.
 

I am not afraid
.
 

Much
.

Ellie attempted to find a place in the middle away from where she imagined all the spiders and rats and other creepy crawlies might have nests.
 
She wrapped her arms around her shins and laid her head against the tops of her knees.
 
He’ll come back.
 
He did before.

           
The dank cold seeped into Ellie’s clothes and through her skin until she felt the bitterness in her bones.
 
Her back and arms and legs and neck ached.
 
The seconds, minutes, hours
creeped
by.
 
Her discomfort made it impossible to sleep, although she dozed off a few times just to wake with a jerk when something groaned in the darkness.
 
Her fatigue gave room to her fears, and they gnawed at her.
 
Did Gibbs love her?
 
He’d never actually said he cared for her.
 
Maybe she meant nothing to him, just like
Jalx
said.
 
A conquest?
 
A fling?
 
Or maybe he did care about her, but not enough to risk his own life.
 
She was doomed, he was free.
 
He could be a hundred miles away already.
 
Maybe further if he was racing away on his red and black demon bike, laughing that laugh that cracked like glass.
 

           
The squawk of the rusted trap door tore Ellie from her thoughts and she focused on the dim light from above the stairs.
 
A familiar blonde head popped through.
 
Blond ringlets hung down disappearing into the darkness .
 
“Ellie?” Taylor said.
 
“Can you hear me?
 
They won’t let you out and I don’t think I am going to venture any further.
 
The humidity down here will make me break out, and you know what my mom would say about that.”

           
Ellie’s instant high at seeing Taylor dropped as quickly as a plunging rollercoaster.
 
“So you’re not here to get me out?”
 
Her voice squeaked out tight and scratchy.

           
“They say you were helping Gibbs blow up people!
 
Ellie, I thought I knew you.
 
I thought you liked Manny.
 
Then I was sure it was Sky.
 
And although I had my reservations about him, I didn’t see this thing with Gibbs at all.
 
He’s a total psycho.
 
Lola’s dad thinks you might know where he is.
 
Or Sky.
 
He said they’d let you go if you told him.”

           
Ellie stood up so suddenly that she forgot the height difference and smashed her head into the ceiling again rewarding her with an explosion which resonated inside of her skull.
 
Through clenched teeth she said, “And you believe them?
 
You’ve known me since I was seven years old!”

           
“Maybe it’s like Manny said.
 
Stockherd
syndrome or whatever.
 
Come on, just give them what they want and we can go home.
 
You realize the dance is this weekend?
 
I haven’t finalized my dress choice yet.”
 
She paused and then continued, all uncertainty erased from her voice.
 
“You’re right, Elle.
 
I’ve known you since you were seven, that’s why I am the best one to tell you that Gibbs was just using you.
 
You’re not even close to his type.
 
You were a way to torture and manipulate his brother.
 
It’s sad and it hurts, but you’ve been through this before.”
 

           
Hot tears burned Ellie’s eyes.
 
Taylor was referring to Luke
Dunclan
who had only gone to Homecoming with her last year to ingratiate himself with Taylor, which had prompted Ellie to swear off couples’ dances for the rest of her life which was the reason preceding the argument between she and her mother over prom dresses at the thrift store which all seemed so incredibly long ago.
 
She let her tears fall knowing Taylor couldn’t see them.
 
Fighting to control the waver in her voice she said, “What exactly is his type?”

           
“Oh come on, Elle.
 
Don’t torture yourself.
 
You’re cute, you know that.
 
But he could be on the cover of GQ Magazine.
 
He could have anybody, and probably has.
 
Just put him out of your head already and get yourself out of this mess.
 
They said they’re going to report you to the FBI, CIA, and DEA.”

           
Ellie snorted and plopped back down onto the cold, dirt floor.

           
“They’re telling me I have to go.
 
Please, Ellie.
 
He’s not coming for you, you’re just not that important.”
 
The noise from above her started to retreat.
 
Something soft thudded in the dirt.
 
Taylor whispered, “Oops.”

           
It was easy to believe that what Taylor said was true as the hours stretched on endlessly. Ellie’s fingers stiffened.
 
Her head throbbed.
 
He wouldn't come.
 
She wasn't worth fighting for.
 
Her tears made icy rivulets down her face.
 

But when the door finally creaked open again, Ellie’s shoulders were straight.
 

           
She kept her shoulders straight as they marched her through the vaulted ceiling hallways and out the front door.
 
She continued to keep her head up when they pushed her through the streets, followed by an ever growing crowd of jeering goblins.
 
Only once did she tremble when the platform with the noose appeared in her view, and then she shook the bangs out of her eyes and advanced up the steps purposefully.
 
She stood perfectly still as a large rotund goblin dressed all in black slipped the rope around her neck and cinched it until her skin rubbed raw.
 

The three robed figures stood in a triangle formation around her—Lola’s father on her right,
Xaneth
on her left, and the third unknown goblin who had declared her sentence, directly behind her.
 
Over whatever Lola’s father was telling the crowd, Ellie could hear
Xaneth’s
whispers to himself.
 
“Treasure.
 
My treasure.
 
What they throw out, I collect.”

           
Ellie’s heart seemed to stop in her chest.
 
He was still going to get her.
 
Ellie’s brave resolve crumbled as did her legs beneath her.
 
The rope cut into her neck and she gasped at the pain.
 
The robed figure behind her stepped forward, steadied her, and moved her back into position.
 

           
“Wait!
 
Stop!”
 
Sky pushed through to the front of the crowd, carrying a small, writhing creature by the waist.
 
Sarah
.
 
“This is
Xaneth’s
granddaughter and she has information the council must hear!”

           
Granddaughter?
 
Well, that explains some things.

           
Sarah continued to struggle until she caught sight of Ellie.
 
The sheer ferocity on Sarah’s face startled Ellie so much that she stepped backward and bumped into the third council member again.
 
Sarah stopped struggling with Sky and cat-like swiped the air that separated she and Ellie.
 
“You!
 
You ruined everything you stupid little human girl.”
 

           
Ellie looked around to make sure Sarah was pointing at her and not, for example, at
Xaneth
.
 
She wasn’t.
 
The shock of Sarah’s anger aimed directly at her was enough to keep Ellie backing up in spite of the obstacle that blocked her.
 
She finally stopped when the rope pulled taut and dampened her ability to breathe.
  

“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,”
Xaneth
said cheerfully.
 
Ellie stopped staring at Sarah for a moment to glance at the robed figure next to her.
 
All Ellie could see under his hood was the lower half of his chin.
 
The corners of his lips curled into an evil smile, bizarrely similar to Dr. Seuss's Grinch.

“All he wanted was to finish his dumb collection.
 
He knew Sky was shape-shifter.
 
He’d been after him for years, but his father was too good at protecting him.
 
Wouldn’t let him play alone, always had his brother fiercely guarding him.
 
He even moved him aboveground to hide him.
 
That didn’t do any good because
Grandad
easily managed to eliminate
Blackturn
.
 
If you hadn’t noticed, skill in explosions runs in the family.”

Even Sky seemed shocked to hear her confess so freely.
 
He asked, “So you
are
the mole, but why?
 
Why are you mixed up in all of this?”
 

“Because he promised me anything I wanted if I helped him infiltrate Gibbs’ circle.
 
But over and over, the little newt-hater got in the way!
 
She saved you when you should have been dead.
 
She provided Gibbs leverage to keep you under his thumb, squelching every opportunity I had to get to you.”
 
Frothy bits of saliva spewed out of Sarah’s mouth.
 
“I told Gibbs she would be trouble.
 
If he didn’t have such a foolish heart, Ellie would have been dead at the thrift shop.”
 

           
After Taylor’s betrayal and Sarah’s revelation, Ellie wasn’t sure she could be more shocked.
 
If it weren’t for the rope around her neck she would definitely consider sitting down.
 
Sarah lent her clothes and helped her get out.
 
She’d been worried about Sarah.
 
Sarah had decorated their dining room table and eaten turkey with her parents.
 

A movement from Lola’s very chagrined and more than slightly miffed father set off the following chain of action.
 
He stepped forward and
Xaneth
, quick as lightning, struck out at the stool Ellie balanced on, knocking it out from under her.
 
Sky jumped forward, letting Sarah go.
 
He rushed for the platform but was washed back by the surging crowd.
 
Jalx
lunged for
Xaneth
, but
Xaneth
, with his evil grin dove into the crowd mosh pit style and disappeared.
 
Everything happened in an instant, including Ellie’s hanging.
 
She had just enough time to gasp before the rope caught her.