Dark Days (The Childe Series, #2) (60 page)

 “Face it, Duffie, we’re lost!” Leif stated exasperatedly.

“I realize that, Leif,” Duffie replied, continuing ahead. “Wait did you hear that?” she whispered.

“What am I supposed to hear?” Leif whispered back in frustration.

“Voices, coming from over there,” Duffie replied, pointing down the tunnel.

“I don’t hear anything, Duff, just face it, we’ve got nothing!”

Duffie put her index finger to his lips, “Will you shush and listen?” Leif rolled his eyes while humoring her. She smirked as the faint sound of a female voice came from in front of them. “Let’s move,” she ordered, pulling the black hood of her jacket down and over her face.

 “Why does she always have to be right?” Leif muttered under his breath, following behind her.

“Damn, he locked us in here,” Amy growled as she tried to push open the gate that led to the next chamber.

“Why did Andrei leave us? I don’t think he’s coming back,” Becca whined.

“Oh shut up, Becca! All you do is complain! And would it kill you to put a smile on your face, Linda? You act like you just lost your best friend or something…oh right, I guess you did,” Amy sneered. Linda grew angry.

“You’re just mad because Becca’s right! Andrei’s not coming back! He’s left us here to face that thing back there!” Linda yelled.

 “Oi!” Duffie called out drawing the three’s attention. “Evening, ladies, so we meet again,” she said coming into their view.

“Oh look, girls, it’s our mystery guests, right on time,” Amy said snidely. “Come here to protect your little Cat, huh?”

“No, we’re just out for a nice little stroll.” Leif nodded. Duffie watched the three girls, noting the angry flush on Amy’s cheeks, the shock on Becca’s face, and the tears drying on Linda’s. “So are you three going to come quietly, or are we going to have to force you? Either way, it doesn’t matter to us,” Duffie remarked, watching Amy clench her fists and bare her fangs.

“This won’t be like the last time!” Amy roared.

“I agree, I came prepared,” Duffie replied, pulling out a syringe. “A combination of nightshade, silver, and a splash of holy water. The perfect vamp tranquilizer!”

“Is that supposed to scare us?” Amy laughed.

“Let’s find out shall we?” Duffie stated smugly. Amy growled and propelled herself forward.

Duffie waited until the last minute and sidestepped out of the way, sending Amy flying past her. Landing on her feet, Amy yelled in frustration as she whipped around to face Duffie again.

“Quit playing around and fight!” Amy demanded. Duffie smirked. Amy lunged at her, swiping at her face with her long black fingernails. Duffie ducked and swiftly moved behind Amy, shoving her away. Shrieking, Amy leaped into the air toward Duffie. Again Duffie dodged her attack. “Why won’t you fight me?” Amy asked angrily. Making her way toward her, Amy began to stumble and her vision became blurry. “What…did you…do to me?” she slurred and then fell to the ground unconscious. Duffie held up the empty syringe, twiddling it between her fingers.

Looking over to the other two girls, “So who’s next?” Duffie asked. Becca pushed her hand forward in a sweeping motion, sending Linda flying into Duffie’s arms, and then tried to run. Becca’s exit was blocked by Leif who quickly grabbed her. She let out a scream of protest as she bared her fangs and tried to bite him.

“We’ve got a wild one here, Duffster,” Leif commented. As he fought to keep Becca restrained, Duffie tossed him a syringe. After a moment of struggling, he was finally able to plunge the syringe into Becca’s neck, making her collapse to the ground.

“Now, are you going to tell us where Cat is?” Duffie asked looking sternly at Linda. Linda nodded.

“Follow that tunnel and it’ll lead you straight to her,” Linda replied, pointing as her voice and hand shook. “Please hurry.”

“We will, thanks,” Duffie replied. Linda flinched as Leif proceeded to stick the syringe in her arm. He cushioned her fall and he laid her down next to the other two.

“Come on, Leif, we need to find Cat.”

“I can’t believe I killed him,” Cat murmured to herself in a melancholy tone.

“He would’ve killed me if you didn’t do anything,” Matt replied, his eyes fixed on Edgar, his mind still not comprehending what he just witnessed.
Werewolves are real?
He thought to himself. Chains clanking in the distance drew their attention. “What’s that?” Matt asked panicked.

“I don’t know.”

“Cat, we need to get out of here! It’s probably another one of those things!” Matt yelled, pointing at Edgar’s body.

“
Help,
” a faint cry rang through the tunnels. Cat rose to her feet.

“Melvin! Is that you?” Cat called out.

“Melvin? Mr. Pierson’s down here?” Matt asked confused.

“
Help,”
the cry sounded again, followed by chains clanging.

“It came from that direction,” Cat said, looking at one of the tunnels. Matt slowly stood up with the assistance of the wall as Cat began moving cautiously toward the tunnel.

“Wait, Cat, you have no idea what that was!”

“It’s Mr. Pierson, it has to be!”

“We should go get help, not investigate it ourselves!”

“Then stay put, I’ll be right back,” Cat replied.

“You’re not supposed to say that! People never come back after saying that.”

“This isn’t a movie, Matthew. This is real life!”

“Well, if you’re going, could you at least wait up for me?” Matt asked, hobbling over to her. “I want to go on the record and say I think this is a terrible idea.”

Two sets of eyes watched as Cat and Matt went farther into the tunnels. Duffie and Leif caught the tail end of the confrontation. They witnessed the death of Edgar Girven by Cat’s hands in self-defense.

“Come on, Leif, we’ve got to go wrap our packages,” Duffie stated.

“Well, shouldn’t we help them?” Leif asked.

“They’ll be fine, there’s no more danger here,” Duffie said while looking at Edgar’s lifeless body on the ground.

Retracing their steps, Leif and Duffie found their way back to the woods. Pulling out her cell phone, Duffie called Gerard.