A Shade of Vampire 23: A Flight of Souls (11 page)

T
ime lost
all meaning as I lay at the base of the pool. I was vaguely aware of Chantel and Nolan drifting over to me again after a few hours, gazing into my eyes and asking if I was all right. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to respond. I was sure that other ghosts also approached to take a look at me, but I barely saw them. My eyes glazed over even as I knew that I needed to keep them open. I needed to keep alive whatever spark of consciousness I still had within me. I couldn’t become a victim of The Underworld. That was what the ghouls wanted.

But even now that I was out of the coffin, away from the ghoul’s poisonous touch, and although my intelligence told me that none of the things that I’d witnessed in there were real, my mind still latched onto the visions as though they were the gospel truth.

My eyes closed, and I drifted in and out of awareness. Even the quiet mutterings of the ghosts surrounding me disappeared as I lost myself deeper and deeper into a pit of despair and hopelessness, a depression like I’d never known before.

And I would’ve sunk deeper still had a familiar voice not forced its way into my mind. A female voice, shouting my name right near my ear. It was so loud, I couldn’t ignore it. In my semi-conscious state, I’d thought that perhaps it was Chantel, but there was no French accent to this voice, and it sounded too young to be Marcilla’s.

“Wake up! Wake up!”

Finally, unable to quell my curiosity, I lifted my leaden eyelids, and found myself staring up into a pair of light blue eyes framed by locks of wild, curly, blonde hair. She might’ve shared the same hair color, but this was definitely not Chantel. My vision came further into focus and in my shock, I found within me the strength to sit bolt upright.

“Kailyn?” I breathed, my eyes bulging. She was a ghost, like me.

I couldn’t believe it. Was this another dream, albeit a more pleasant one?

She looked just as shocked to see me as I felt to see her.

“Oh, God!” she gasped, moving out to touch me… though of course, her hand just passed through my cheek.

The sight of Kailyn—a relic of my old life—brought with it a rush of relief. A sense of grounding. Of belief that yes, there was another world beyond this dead realm. And I had been a part of it, once, not so long ago… And I remembered now how she’d died.

“What happened to you?” she urged.

“What happened to
you
?” I managed, even though it was hardly difficult to guess how she’d gotten down here.

“Th-There was a fire in my and Aiden’s cabin—a fire that sparked so abruptly and spread so furiously, I didn’t even have a chance to escape. And I became… this.” Kailyn cast her eyes down upon her wispy form. “I hung around The Shade for a while, but it was”—her voice broke—“just so painful to stay there. To watch your grandfather mourn for me. I felt a beckoning of my soul, elsewhere… beyond. I left The Shade and drifted across the ocean. I found some other ghosts who told me likely the same myth you were told.” Again she gaped at me. “What happened to you, Ben?”

“Ben?” A voice spoke behind Kailyn. It was Marcilla floating nearby, a look of confusion on her face. “I thought his name was Joseph.”

Kailyn turned to Marcilla and spoke to her with familiarity, explaining that my name was Benjamin and not Joseph. The women must have met already.

Kailyn turned back to me. “What happened?” she pressed.

As with my uncle, I was not in the mood to recount my story… a story that was slowly returning to my mind after the torture I had endured. Perhaps there would be time to explain it all later. For now I just replied in a voice that was far lower than usual, “I’m not ready to talk about it.”

Kailyn nodded slowly, understandingly, although there was heartbreak in her eyes. “That’s all right,” she whispered. “But would you tell me what happened to you just now? You tried to escape?”

I eyed her warily and nodded.

She shuddered. “I tried too,” she murmured. “I also got caught.”

From the horror behind her eyes, I could see that she’d had a no more pleasant experience than I’d had. “How did you try to escape?” I asked, my voice still sluggish, although my mind was clearing.

“I headed for the exit—that strange whirlpool—despite what everybody warned me against.” She nodded her head toward Marcilla, who stood watching us, her lips pursed. “They caught me and took me to the coffin room.”

Now that reality was returning to me, as I stared at the werewolf my mind began to race.

Kailyn. Lucas.
Who else could be down here?

Kailyn… she would’ve died a sudden, abrupt death for sure. Having been caught by a fire, she had nowhere near been prepared to die.

I thought back to others our island had lost, both recently and in the distant past, even before my birth. Benjamin Hudson was the first person who came to mind, though I doubted he would’ve stayed behind as a ghost. From what my mother had told me of him, he had been prepared for his death, willingly given into it even when my father could have attempted to save him with his blood.

Then I thought of Samuel. Another man I’d never met. Samuel had been Ashley’s old lover. Then again, from what my parents had described of his death, he might have also been prepared for it. It would not have been sudden, that was for sure; the two had been possessed by Elders and forced to fight to a bloody end. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had already accepted that one of them would die, and that it could easily be him…

Then I thought of my grandfather, Gregor Novak… I didn’t know an awful lot about his death, other than he had been found skewered on a stake in the town square. The exact circumstances of his death were a mystery even to my parents, though they suspected the Elders had been behind it…

As I trailed my mind back in time to all our lost souls, I felt an unexpected surge of energy.
I need to find out who else is here.
I lifted myself to my feet.

Kailyn stood up with me, still staring at me.

“Do you know who else is here?” I asked, realizing that it was probably a stupid question to ask her. Kailyn had been one of the newer recruits to The Shade, and she had not been around to witness many deaths.

Still, she replied, “I haven’t seen anyone I recognize… Though to be honest, I have not explored much since my first failed escape attempt. I’ve only roamed the ponds on this level, to talk to people and ask them what’s going on. That’s how I met Marcilla in this pond—a fellow werewolf. She mentioned a new arrival in here. I never would have dreamt that it would be you.”

“I want to explore this place some more,” I murmured, my eyes falling on Marcilla. “So… ghouls really torture even those found roaming within the confines of these chambers?”

Marcilla let out a dry laugh. “It doesn’t take much of an excuse for them to torture us,” she replied darkly. “Though, typically, you would be punished less for roaming about inside than if they caught you trying to escape again.”

“Right,” I said, grimacing. I turned back to Kailyn. “Well, I’m going to risk it. Would you like to come with me?”

“Yes,” she replied almost without hesitation, her eyes resolute even as her eyebrows twitched uncertainly. She looked frightened but, like me, there was still a fire of hope burning within her. She had not been in The Underworld long enough to have given up yet.

“Be careful,” Marcilla said, her eyes digging into me and then fixing intensely on Kailyn. “Remember that most ghosts only have five strikes—that is, five visits to the coffin chamber before they completely lose their minds. And that’s five at the most. Some lose it after only three.” She paused, letting her warning hang in the air for several moments before continuing, “So… I would advise you to choose your battles wisely.”

I nodded curtly, her words settling on me like a chilly mist. I’d had one strike and although it had been hell, I seemed to have recovered thanks to Kailyn’s appearance shaking me back to reality. I wasn’t sure how long it would have taken to come to my senses without her familiar face. But my mind was already spinning over all the possibilities, all the people who could possibly be here. I couldn’t help but venture out.

I wasn’t yet ready to attempt escape again—I had to give myself a little more time to build up the mental fortitude—but for now, at least I had Kailyn by my side, and together we could explore this place.

Then, after the search, we would have to make it out of here—with or without Lucas… and whoever else we might find along the way.

M
ore slowly and
cautiously than ever before, I lifted myself out of the pond, followed closely by Kailyn. Hovering above the path that ran down the center of our cavern, we gazed around at the almost dozen glowing pools. Although these were all supposed to be new recruits, I still wanted to check them just in case…

This was definitely a less nerve-racking experience than previously. Not only because I had someone accompanying me to keep a lookout, but also, we were constantly dipping into ponds, lessening our chances of being seen. We found nobody else familiar in this chamber, and so we moved to the next… and then the next, and the next. Once we’d searched every pool on our level, we decided to move downward. Each level we passed, the pools became duller and duller, the ghosts more and more lifeless. Until eventually, it appeared that we had almost reached the level where I’d found Lucas.

So many of the chambers looked the same—with identical morbid decorations and a similar number of pools—but I was able to recognize Lucas’ as we passed it. I felt strangely anxious about what state he might be in now as I hurried to the edge. But as I drifted inside, to my shock, I couldn’t spot him anywhere. Fear gripped me—a fear that was surprisingly strong given Lucas Novak’s history. I feared that maybe his time had come, and the ghouls had dragged him down to The Necropolis. But why only him and not the rest of the ghosts who still lay comatose on the floor of the pond? They were in more of a fog than him.

Whatever had happened to him and wherever he’d gone, Lucas wasn’t down here and there was no point in dwelling on it. We continued searching the pools on this level, then ventured even further downward, until eventually the chambers became pitch black, with not even the slightest aura emanating from the ponds. As I moved to the edge of one, I could barely even see to the bottom… and that was probably a good thing.

Shuddering, Kailyn and I stepped away from the edge. We shared a silent understanding that it was better to leave these pools unexplored.

By now—unless there was a whole other wing of The Underworld that we had somehow missed—it seemed that we had explored all the levels that were worth exploring. We failed to find another familiar face.

“I think we should head back,” Kailyn whispered, her eyes fearful.

I couldn’t deny that I was curious about traveling even deeper—until we reached The Necropolis, whatever that even was exactly—but I agreed with her. Neither of us had a clue what we’d find down there, and it was better not to risk it. So we embarked on our slow but steady journey up to the higher levels.

As we made our way back after our failed mission, disappointment gripped me. Those I’d been looking for—Gregor, Sam, Benjamin Hudson and others whom I’d thought would qualify to become ghosts due to the nature of their death—I guessed must have “passed on” after all, or maybe they simply hadn’t been caught by fae or ghouls. I guessed the fae could not catch all ghosts, even those who ventured near the portals. Maybe some of those old souls had even found a way to the elusive other side… The
real
other side, whatever that was.

In any case, it was time to let go of the fantasy of finding more familiar faces here. For now I just had Kailyn, and Lucas… wherever he had gone to.

We reached our pool—welcomingly bright after the darkness Kailyn and I had just left—and sank inside.

Marcilla, who was sitting in her usual corner, spotted us instantly.

“I’m glad to see the two of you back with your minds still sound… How did it go?” she asked, moving toward us along with Chantel and Nolan.

“We didn’t find what we were looking for,” I muttered, sinking down to a spot at the base of the pool that wasn’t swarming with other ghosts. This was the first time in many hours that I could genuinely relax a bit, not worrying about being caught by a ghoul while out of my designated pond.

“How far down did you go?” Nolan asked.

I glanced at Kailyn. Neither of us had kept count of the levels. I shrugged. “Until all was black.”

Nolan nodded, gulping.

Kailyn and I retreated into a corner by ourselves, away from Marcilla, Chantel and Nolan, and rested a while in silence. I was sure that the same thought was running through both of our heads:
What now?

After having successfully traveled through the layers without being caught, I felt ready—at least as ready as I could possibly feel—to turn my thoughts back to escape. Catching Kailyn’s eye, I raised a brow. “What are you thinking?”

“How on earth we’re ever going to escape this hole,” Kailyn replied hoarsely.

I nodded. Lowering my voice, I said, “Then I think it’s time to try again.”

She had reached the same conclusion as me on her own, though that didn’t stop her looking terrified at the thought.

“But how exactly?” she asked.

I paused, mulling over the matter. “To start with, we could just head back to the entrance cavern and watch for a while… Observe who comes in and out. The ghouls will still be there of course, but if we’re extra careful, and keep our distance from the exit, we should be able to go unnoticed.”

Apparently having no better suggestions, Kailyn agreed. We drifted away from our quiet spot in the corner and moved up to the surface of the pool again. I caught Marcilla’s eye before raising my head out of the water. And then Nolan and Chantel’s. I expected them both to cast me the same concerned looks as the last time I’d left, but this time, Nolan launched toward me.

“I’ll come with you,” he said, courage sparking in his eyes—a courage I’d never witnessed in Nolan before—even as Chantel looked horrified.

“No! What if they catch you?” she said, hurrying up to him.

“They have already caught us,” Nolan replied in a surprisingly even voice. “With whatever life we have left in us, all we can do is try. Otherwise, we are already as good as gone, are we not?”

He appeared to be addressing his wife, yet his gaze fixed on me steadily.

To this, there was nothing Chantel could say. She pursed her lips, and looked from Nolan to me, to Kailyn, then back to Nolan. “Then… I will come too.”

She moved closer to her husband, although the petrified expression never left her face.

Truth be told, I would’ve preferred that the couple stay here. Two ghosts wandering about was manageable, but all four of us? I feared we’d run a greater risk of getting caught. Still, how could I deny them? I couldn’t ask them to stay here when I myself was going. They yearned for the light in the outside world just as much as Kailyn and I did. I found myself eyeing Marcilla again, though she made no move to follow us. Apparently, she really had been caught too many times to dare try again. As bitter as she was about this place, she seemed to have already resigned herself to her fate. Something we newer spirits couldn’t yet bring ourselves to do.

And so the four of us lifted our heads above the surface of the pool, gazing around the cavern to make sure that there were no ghouls present, before drifting out and zooming toward the exit. We traveled through the walls mostly, trying to find our way through the solid stone, and eventually emerged in the narrow tunnel that led directly to the main door. As the four of us poked our heads out through the wall, slowly at first, and then more boldly as we spotted nobody around, I whispered to my companions, “Wait here while I check that there’s nobody on the other side of the door.”

I did not wish to make the same mistake as last time.