The Demon's Grave (11 page)

Everyone turned and froze.

Aidan raised the flame and revealed a human-shaped shadow without a source. Defying all physics, the shadow didn’t disappear when struck with our candlelight. It remained perfectly still. There were no features other than the human shape. It seemed two-dimensional and it was definitely male. Broad shoulders and narrower hips, short hair (I think) even the stance seemed masculine rather than feminine.

“What the hell is that?” Phoebe’s eyes were wide and feral.

Robin was sobbing so hard that Cody shushed her.

Read inched forward. “This is a nightmare,” he whispered. “Just like early this week. It’s all just a dream.”

“Then it’s my dream,” My lips felt numb.

The perfect shadow had remained still against the bricks until I spoke.

Lifting off the wall it began to shift. The darkness within the shadow swirled like a living mist, reflecting Aidan’s light.

Read looked to us. “What do we do?”

That was a good question but no one answered.

As he turned back to the spectacle, it began to gain color, texture. Morphing from a shadow into the shape which held it dormant.

Faded at first I strained to see more, wanting to see every piercing feature before it manifested itself fully. My fingers had dug deep enough to peel skin near my elbows.

Then the shadow was gone, replaced by a man.

There were few explanations for what I was seeing.

I was either crazy, or bat-shit-crazy. I’d have to decide later.

Instead, I peeked at my friends to see the same shock.

It was a minor relief but it proved that I wasn’t completely mad. Right?

Blinking rapidly as if it could clear the illusion, I realized I’d just watched a shadow morph into a solid man who didn’t appear much older than us, though I doubted that was the case. Nothing that rolls out of shadows could be like us.

He was breathtaking and as hard as I tried, I couldn’t look away.

I’ve never seen a day-old-corpse before but I wouldn’t be surprised if it had skin like his; deathly pale and flawless. It made a shocking contrast to his midnight hair, like he was digitally remastered instead of real.

Without thinking, I stepped forward and spoke past the awkward lump in my throat. “Who are you?”

Even his voice sounded dark, low and resonating. “The question is, who are
you
?” His obsidian eyes sought me out and I unexpectedly felt violated.

Read was the first to recover and knocked on the bricked-up window. “
We
are just about to leave.”

I glanced at the strange man dressed all in black. The t-shirt beneath the vest subtly revealed broad shoulders, chest and arms. One had to look to notice and I was quite sure every female in the room noticed.

The man could have been dreamy if he hadn’t just popped out of shadows. Nothing that beautiful should exist, except maybe in a fairy tale, to tempt stupid, young girls into some perverse, sexual game.

“You can’t leave,” the shadowed man rumbled, “yet.”

Before any of us could stop him Read stepped in front and shouted. “Hey, man, what’s your problem? We don’t belong here! Let us out.”

The man in black smiled without showing teeth. “Well
man,
as an illegal transgressor you became my problem.” He managed to mimic Read so well, I had to replay the scene in my head several times to register what shadow-man said.

Gritting his teeth, Read lurched forward, fists white and tight. If it hadn’t been for Phoebe’s firm hand, he might have made a move he’d regret. “There’s six of us and one of him,” Read hissed at Phoebe.

“Yeah, one of him,” Phoebe echoed, “but I don’t suppose you noticed that he used to be a friggin’ shadow that came out of a four-foot door?”

With a violent jerk, Read pulled free. Phoebe looked ready to grab him again, but bit her bottom lip and stopped.

Vibrating, Aidan sounded indignant. “Trespassed? This is Birket property.”

The shiny, black hair that fell over the man’s forehead shook and he motioned to the marble door. “This is my place. The doorway to my world.”

He was darkness. I could
feel
it. I was certain he was responsible for the wind, what else was he capable of? He’d paralyzed my body, forced words out of my mouth and basically scared the crap out of me. What could we possibly do about him?

“You opened a forbidden gateway.” He said in a low rumble, practically a seductive purr.

“We didn’t know.” Robin’s usually loud voice was numbed.

“Yes, I see that. Now, you will have to come with me.”

I shook my head and noticed everyone else was too. “You can’t make us,” I said. It sounded feeble, even to me. Of course he could make us. We were helpless flies in honey.

The man in black laughed, actually threw his head back and laughed for several heartbeats. “If you stay, you’ll starve.” He swiped his hand as if he were decapitating all of us with his fingers. “I’ve given ample warning.”

Blinking away the numerous questions, I focused on one. “What warnings?”

Phoebe’s arms slapped to her sides. “Oh God.”

I thought she was going to mention the messages I had received, but instead she said. “I’m so sorry, I thought I was just imagining things…‌”

Read grabbed her shoulders, facing her before demanding. “Imagined what?”

“I thought…‌” Phoebe swallowed so hard I could hear it.

“When I got up here and shouted for you guys, I thought I saw myself, sitting in that chair.” she pointed to the one Cody had fallen in when we’d first arrived. “I was strapped in and there was blood.” She rubbed her forearms and hands. “And the writing on the wall…‌” her eyes shifted to me.

Read glanced at me before saying. “It’s ok, Phoebe, you didn’t know.” Turning his attention to the man in black he tried to take charge. “We didn’t know, alright? Just let us go, we’ll never come back, I promise. We’ll board up the room and never come back.”

Nodding in unison, our little group tightened together.

The hungry smirk on the beautiful man’s face gnawed at my insides.

“It’s too late for that,” he said. “Not only did I give a standard warning…‌”

“A
standard
warning?” Phoebe’s hands dropped from her mouth, her eyes filled with flames. “That was terrifying!”

Calmly, as if he hadn’t been interrupted, he continued. “A standard warning in accordance to the rules. Also, some of you sensed the doorway the minute you stepped into this room,
my
room.”

The dizziness and nausea…‌

I glanced at Cody who returned my pointed stare, affirming my suspicions.

“Then my grandpa didn’t write those words on the walls?” Aidan asked under his breath.

“Let me get this straight!” Phoebe’s demand overrode. “We opened a doorway to your world and now we have to go with you because of some rules we don’t know or even care about?” She paced the room but kept a safe distance from the shadow-man.

His eyes stalked Phoebe’s every step. “Because you opened the door you must face the Challenge.”

“A challenge?” Aidan repeated, strained.

The man in black nodded, his hair sweeping across his low brow as he did. “If you win, you can return home safe and sound. If you fail, you belong to me.”

“To you?” Aidan asked.

I twisted to see if Aidan was trying to piss him off. Instead I found myself staring at someone entirely different.

Aidan’s eyes were glassy. His mouth hung open and his already pallid skin had been drained of all conceivable color, including his lips.

“Yes, mine for eternity.”

“Yours?” Aidan’s echoed so soft that I barely heard him.

“Aidan?” My hand touched the top of his fingers and I prepared myself for the tingling sensation. When it didn’t happen, I curled my fingers around his hand, waiting for the sensation to shoot up my arm like before. I didn’t realize I was squeezing until he flinched and looked to me. Those vacant, pale blue eyes didn’t seem to be seeing me though.

My heart plummeted. Pulling my hand away, I forced myself to look at the man in black. “You didn’t answer my question about who you are.”

To my sickened horror, I realized he had been watching me before I’d turned. “I am the darkness between worlds.”

Something about those words rang a warning in my head. My eyes flickered to the words,
Dismal is the Demon’s Grave
behind him.
Dismal and dark…‌

I had heard this before. But, where? It was like the day I found the note. There’d been a cold chill of recognition but in my mind the memories remained misty.

“You’re from the Demon’s Grave then.” I pointed to the messages. “We’re the braves?” I hoped not.
Offered death for once the brave.

Phoebe snapped. “But, that still doesn’t tell us what you are.”

That cold stare left me, finally. “What could possibly live in a Demon’s Grave?” He mimicked her tone.

It was shocking to hear something so perfect say something so condescending and so…‌human.

“A demon,” I blurted.

Phoebe whirled to face me.

The demon clapped his hands two or three times, beaming at me as if he were a proud teacher and I his pupil.

The demon gestured to the marble door at his back, seemingly bored. “In each world there is a doorway, but not everyone can enter. You cannot.”

“This is bullshit, we weren’t going to anyway,” Phoebe hissed, glancing at the rest of us.

Somehow, the demon had heard. “I am also someone you don’t want to upset.” Despite the calm politeness there was a black inferno in those eyes.

Phoebe snapped her fist up with a single distinctive finger ready.

“Phoebe, don’t,” Read jumped forward and clasped her wrist, swinging her around to face him.

She stopped on command and her gaze fell on Read, eyebrows furrowing. “We can’t just go,” she whispered. I could see the worry sinking into her, inch by inch.

My hands balled into fists.
If this were all in my head, then I should have some control, shouldn’t I?

Before I could think through a plan of action, his voice interrupted my thoughts. “If you don’t go and take your chance, you forfeit and lose.”

A chance to promote my delusion.
I hid the smirk behind my hand. Feeling a little giddy, I held back the laugh. I really,
really
just wanted a hysterical release.

I bit down on my lips harder, praying the pain would take the hysterics away.

I glanced at Robin. Her face was buried in the crook of Cody’s arm and she was holding very still while I was vibrating on the inside.

“What do we call you?” Cody spoke for the first time.

Sighing through his nose, shadow-man finally said. “Call me Damien, for now.”

Like the little demonic kid in
The Omen?
Of course I’d pick that name for a demon
. That movie scared the crap out of my sister and me as kids. And against my protests she named her stuffed bear after him so it wouldn’t scare her anymore.

Read’s grey eyes narrowed. “Why should we be ready? No one else got these warnings.”

Damien gestured to the wall. “I sent these, to be specific.”

Phoebe glanced at me again. “What if only one of us got them?”

Sucking my cheeks in, I tried to will her eyes away from me.

Damien raised his straight eyebrows. “You all received the messages. The subconscious is a path of communication.”

I wondered which was more impressive; the part about everyone having nightmares or the part about different worlds.

Phoebe’s eyes were trained on me. “And what about people who saw them without dreams?”

Damien’s eyes followed Phoebe’s to me.

The hysterics were shattered by the wrecking ball that was his stare. I coughed to try and hide my unease.

“What exactly is the Challenge?” Phoebe continued.

Read was still holding onto her arm, but neither seemed to notice. They were a pretty couple, I decided. The exact height and nearly the same build. Phoebe with her full lips and flawless olive complexion and Read with chiseled cheekbones and thick, dark hair. An hour ago they would have barked at each other rather than be that close.

Just another pair who had someone to lean on
, I thought and glanced at Aidan who was still looking stunned.
Nuh uh
.

“It is simple.” Damien said, gaze sweeping. “You survive six Challenges and you’re set free. If you fail, you’re trapped.”

“What kind of challenges?” Read and Phoebe asked together before glaring at each other.

“Once you pass through this door, your thoughts will be open enough for me to know certain…‌” he paused, taking a moment to gauge us, “…‌nightmares and longings.”

Snorting, Phoebe was already shaking her head. “This is disgusting.”

I tried to give all the information ample time to sink it, but it wasn’t absorbing well. It had hit us so fast. We were having a good time just a half an hour ago and now…‌Now, I’d gone off the deep end.
This couldn’t be real. A demon, a Challenge and a secret doorway in an attic. Yeah, right.

I wonder where it started? Was I hurting people outside of my mind right now? My stomach clenched at the idea. I tried to plead with Phoebe with my eyes.
Please, knock me out, throw me out of the house, tie me down, take me into the hospital‌—‌anything to make this stop
.

“Join the Challenge or die here.” Those were his last words. As swift and smooth as his former shapeless shadow, he faded out of sight.

I gazed into the darkness of the small doorway. Sometimes lightning would flash through in purple, blue and yellow colors. Soundless bolts without a pattern, without thunder.

“What do we do?” Aidan croaked.

When no one answered, I replied. “I don’t think we have a choice.”

Phoebe started cracking her knuckles and was the first to move. Shuffling closer to the door she stopped cracking long enough to extend one hand, palm open to the darkness beyond. Legs bent, she positioned herself into a fighting crouch.

“What are you doing?” Read hissed, embarrassed. He always hated it when she showed off her fighting poses.