The Demon's Grave (30 page)

“This long?” I hissed his last words, my voice dripping with venom. “This is bullsh…‌” I choked as hot saliva moistened my gums, forcing me to swallow.
I’m going to ralph right in front of Damien…‌son of a bitch.

“Your nightmare,” Damien mused. “Did the spiders and scorpions turn out well? I see that you’ve been stung without much consequence.”

I didn’t bother following his gaze and glared at him through the tangle of loose hair. The warmth in my stomach fought alongside the nausea. I remembered it from our last encounter but it wasn’t making things easier.

“Control your emotions,” he advised coldly. “Humans are so weak with their feelings. It’s an enigma how your race made it in your realm.”

Gritting my teeth. I choked down the anger, taking his advice even if I stubbornly didn’t want to. As I took a deep breath, I felt my heartbeat begin to slow, just a little, the heat in my belly quaked but didn’t squeeze.

Uncomfortable, I shifted against the wall. “We didn’t trespass, did we? You made us come in because you were, what? Lonely? Psychotic? I didn’t tell Aidan to open that door, someone else did.”

Damien’s smile disappeared. Something tenebrous flashed across his face and I realized I may have hit something. He recovered quickly, the pretentious expression dancing back in place. “I didn’t make Aidan open the door. You spoke those words not of your own free will?”

At first I thought he must be pulling my leg. Blinking back the surprise, I shook my head. “It was like someone else was controlling me.”

“I’m insulted you’d think I’d stoop so low.”

My eyes narrowed. “You shouldn’t be. All of that crap that you just threw us into…‌” My stomach clenched with the return of the heat against my insides and I swallowed the building saliva, desperate not to vomit.

“That
crap
was what the Challenge offered. May I remind you that, you received the messages and you still opened the door despite the Keeper’s warnings plain on the wall,” Damien said and stepped closer.

The instant he did, the meager control I held over my stomach loosened.

I twisted in time for my stomach to convulse and the first wave of vomit slapped the floor. My eyes teared and I gagged when I saw the long, dark hair amongst stomach bile.

Before I could blubber my horror, another throe struck and I was subjected again. Wave after wave hammered into my stomach until I was left with a sore throat and a mixture of tears and snot dripping off the end of my nose.

Spitting, I rocked back, kicking myself away along the wall. The smell was overwhelming and I held my hand to my face to try and protect myself from another attack.

My entire body was shaking and my skin prickled with a chill.

My head felt inflated and I asked through my hand, my voice high pitched and shaking, “Whose mistake was that? Shit, Damien, shit!” I choked on the bitterness; I’d rather lick the floor than taste what was left in my mouth but I thankfully restrained myself.

Damien didn’t answer. Bridging the gap between us, he knelt.

The back of my head smacked against the wall when he reached up, but didn’t stop him from placing a hand on my forehead. It was cool and inviting compared to the throbbing heat. I could almost imagine steam twisting off my skin when his chilled fingers cupped over my forehead. Part of me was scared, letting the demon touch me, while the other was relieved that the torture was ebbing.

How bad was the mistake to lose their hair? It had been long and dark, which could have meant Robin’s, but her hair wasn’t that long. The worst part was that it had been in my stomach. My hand still up to my mouth, I tried to disguise a popping gag reflex with a cough.

Damien’s touch soothed the heat in my skin and I met his eyes.

Shaking, I felt the tears welling, this time not from the strain of vomiting, but from the fear bubbling to the surface. I didn’t want him to see me like this. It was like giving him some inappropriate compliment for getting to me. But that’s what he did. He got to me.

When we spoke last, he said I was a threat and he wasn’t sure about me and here he was. He was comforting in a twisted way, but it didn’t make sense. He gave me this punishment, he shouldn’t be trying to make me feel better. But he was.

I tried to read what he might be thinking, but his eyes were just black and watching mine, as if trying to read me at the same time.

Sniffling, I looked away, to the messy floor. “Was it Robin? Was that her hair?” I licked my lips behind my hand and tried to hold back the wave of emotions. I struggled to keep them deadened, like him. “Is Robin dead?”

Placing three fingers on my wrist, he lowered my hand from my mouth, making me look at him. He said soberly, “Robin is not dead.”

My eyes narrowed, searching for a sign of a lie. His lips didn’t twitch, his eyes didn’t brighten in amusement or look away.

He got to you again, Nora
, a voice whispered in the back of my mind.

Pulling my arm from his touch, I latched it around my stomach. “Why are
you
here?” I demanded, blinking back the watery vision. “Was it just to watch me play out the punishment?”

Damien removed his hand and stood up fast enough I’d have gotten dizzy. Turning away, he said in a calm, even tone. “There is a game you mortals call ‘hide and seek.’ It is very simple and I know that you all know how to play. I think that will be your next Challenge.”

I shook my head confused. “Why are you telling me this?” I asked, happy to feel the swelling in my head evaporating along with the dizziness. My stomach still felt as if it had taken a beating, but it could have been worse. It could still be in the beating.

Damien spoke with his back to me, facing the banister overlooking the entrance below. “Don’t let him catch you in this one.”

“Concerned?” I mocked, though the smug smile wouldn’t surface. It could have been such a good hero moment but let’s face it, I’m no hero.

He didn’t answer, didn’t move, just stared at what lay below.

“Great. Thanks,” I mumbled, then added quickly. “Damien?”

He looked over his shoulder at me as I sat up slowly, testing out my shaky limbs. The chills were leaving me but I was still feeling weak.

“When we were in the last Challenge, what was that little cube?”

“The crystal that disintegrated the mummy?”

I nodded once, afraid I might set off my stomach again.

He seemed pleased at the question, though didn’t smile. “That was a technological device formed in the Brenhenos province. It will first destroy all life visible then it will count down for an explosion to destroy the area of the kill, to leave no evidence. Activated by a…‌” he paused, “…‌a certain touch, it has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of Brenn tribes. Nearly knocked them into extinction.”

I frowned. “So, I activated it.”

He didn’t respond.

“Did…‌” I rolled onto my hands and knees, easing back onto my haunches. “Did you come here to help me?” It didn’t make any sense, unless he felt guilty. Did demons feel guilt? Or, maybe he wanted me to trust him.

The broad shoulders rose as he looked me over, distaste crinkled his nose and lips up. “I don’t…‌know why I came.” He said, sounding earnest.

“To watch a punishment?” I offered.

His eyes flickered away from mine and he started to speak, eyebrows pinching together. “There’s something about you.”

“That’s rich. First you insult my family and tell me I’m a threat,” I tapped my head against the wall to shake the marbles loose. “Then tell me that I can’t say anything about Nell.”

“You won’t.”

“I won’t?” I felt the smile before I could stop it and snickered, hearing the edge of hysteria until I coughed.

“No, you won’t,” Damien’s jaw twitched and he crossed his arms over his chest. “If you truly feel the need, know that there’s a blonde I’m particularly fond of. Her death would more than suffice for your lapse in judgement.”

Stiffening, I stared at him, afraid to move.

Damien nodded as if we’d come to an understanding, but I don’t think it was the same one. “What about Aidan?” I asked. “You didn’t seem to like his last name much.”

“That is between him and me.” Damien said in a way that ended the conversation.

Pushing off of the wall, I tried to get up but my rubber legs kept me from getting past my hands and knees. “Just a second. What does Nell have to do with anything? Does she have something to do with Aidan?”
Something important to this Challenge
, I thought.

Damien’s dark eyes narrowed and I realized my mistake.

I shook my head. “How?” I swallowed trying to find the words I didn’t want the answer to. “How is this supposed to end?”

At this, he raised his eyebrows. “Don’t you know? You’ll end up staying.” The obsidian eyes flickered over my shoulder. “I think it’s time your friends returned.”

The gruff scream from the hallway was my first hint of a presence. I struggled to my feet but needed the wall for support.

Aidan limped from the shadows, eyes wide and frightened. He grabbed my camisole and dragged me down the stairs without waiting. I stumbled, my balance still off.

Damien was nowhere in sight.

“Where’s Cody?” I cried, looking over my shoulder waiting for our friend to emerge from the shadows.

Aidan didn’t reply, breathing heavy enough to wheeze. He yanked me around the staircase where a new door stood beside the old one. I didn’t get a chance to see the carving on the front before we were stumbling through in a blur.

Aidan let me go and slammed the door shut. He locked it using the large dead-bolt above the doorknob. Twisting around to face me he leaned against the door gasping for air.

“Aidan!” I cried, feeling the weakness in my arms as I grabbed his shoulders.

He flinched at first, raising his hands to fend me off.

“What happened to Cody?” I burst, panic rising. “We just locked Cody in that Challenge, Aidan!”

Hitting the back of his head against the door behind him, he gritted his teeth and wouldn’t look at me. “
Railing torment lies within.”

The words from the wall, the only message I didn’t get before entering the Demon’s Grave. They sent a chill down my spine and I wasn’t sure why.

Stepping away from Aidan as if stung, I noticed the new room for the first time. It was like stepping back in time.

A brown, stain-glass lamp shone light into the room revealing an old seventies style couch and matching chair decorated in orange and brown flowers against the wood-paneled walls. A flattened, brown shag carpet cushioned my feet but there was a foot traffic trail from the couch to a small room across from a set of stairs.

It appeared we were safe for now. Turning back to Aidan I asked again, trying to make my voice sound rational. “What happened to Cody?” Maybe there was something we could still do to save him. The door hadn’t faded out of view yet, there was still time.

Aidan took a deep breath, wiping away the sweat on his brow. “Cody and I found ourselves outside. We looked all around and finally found the door that we apparently came through. We were about to open it when it began to rain and snow at the same time and hard. Cody began to get panicky and told me not to open the door. So, I didn’t.”

I realized my legs were shaking and led Aidan away from the door. Circling a brittle-looking coffee table with a single lit candle in the middle, we sat down on the couch.

The ease of sitting made my muscles sigh. “Then what happened?” I urged, cupping Aidan’s arm hoping it was comforting but I could strangle him for stalling.

“Then we just stood there and suddenly we heard these whispers. They just came out of nowhere. They began to get louder and louder. They told us all of the messages that spelled DOOR and said that we were going to die. Suddenly, Cody began to scream and shouted that they would not get him just like in his dream. Then this shadow…‌” Aidan made a wavy motion with his hands imitating claws, “…‌it came from nowhere and stopped right in front of Cody. I didn’t know what to do so I opened the door and grabbed Cody to pull him in. But he was gone. He was just sucked into the shadow.” Aidan rubbed the front of his face with his hands as if to rid himself of the image. “Like it ate him.”

His last words struck me odd. The shadow man had swallowed Cody up without a fighting chance, just like the others. Damien was picking them off one by one, but not killing them. Why?

Aidan moaned. “I couldn’t save him. I ran.”

“It’s okay, Aidan. It wasn’t your…‌”

“It’s not okay,” he hissed through gritted teeth. “I got scared and ran before it could get me. If only I didn’t listen to Cody. Maybe he’d be here with us instead of in that…‌that…‌” Aidan shook his head, unable to continue. Instead he turned to me, face red. “Where are we?”

I stiffened, and glanced left and right pondering our escape routes.
Hide and seek, don’t get caught
, I thought.

Aidan asked. “What?”

Oh crap, did I speak out loud?

“I, uh…‌Damien told me about the next Challenge,” I said, eyes darting from the stairs to the little room that looked like a bedroom from my angle.

Aidan’s spine straightened so quick his arm jerked from under my hands.

I wanted to change the betrayal I saw on his face and spoke quickly. “He told me that we were playing a game of hide and seek.”

Aidan’s pinched mouth opened just enough to say, “Now the demon is giving you personal attention. We were out running into shadows and he was talking to you?”

I hesitated, it wasn’t like that.

“He…‌” I suddenly decided not to tell Aidan about the punishment. He was worried about Cody, he didn’t need to be thinking about who else could be hurt. “He just told me about the next Challenge.”

Aidan stared at me, his gaze swimming with suspicion. “What is going on, Nora? What is it he knows about you? And don’t say ‘nothing,’ because I know you’re lying.”

“Aidan,” I pleaded, feeling the urgency of our situation.

“
Don’t
,” he snapped, glaring at me. “You’re going to tell me how you know Damien.”

My lips formed a thin tight line of disapproval. Breathing through my nose I tried to calm my initial reaction, which was to start yelling. Damien brought it all up and left me to deal with this. “I barely remember what happened. He’s tricking you by saying my past is somehow involved and that I had met him before. I would have remembered.”