Occult Suspense for Mothers Boxset: The Nostalgia Effect by EJ Valson and Mother's by Michelle Read (2 ebooks for one price) (16 page)

She paused ahead of us, staring at what I eventually saw to be a fork in our path.  When I caught up to her, she was completely still.  Her face was so hauntingly pensive that I didn’t dare speak, although I had plenty of questions.  Instead, I turned to Charlotte, who just shrugged.  We waited silently while Azura thought about which way we should go.

“I’m trying to decide,” she finally said.  “Whether to announce that we’re here, or to surprise them.”

Then, without a word, she veered to the right and waved to us.

“Surprise.”

“Azura?”  I almost whispered, after we had walked for some time.  “Who did he meet?”

“Me.”

FIFTEEN

“I don’t have to have special abilities to guess that you’re both disgusted with me.”  Azura sighed a deep, painful sigh.  She continued to jump lightly and easily from each rock formation to the next, and her frequent silences told us she was getting lost in memories we couldn’t imagine.  “I’m not proud that I helped create this mess we’re in.  But I was young, and he was a powerful man who, by the time I met him, had developed very powerful methods of persuasion.”

Azura’s voice was hollow, and full of pain from the past.  She fell silent for several minutes, and I felt the urge to catch up to her and comfort her, but I didn’t know how.  There were obviously real terrors in her life that I wouldn’t know how to sympathize with.  Suddenly, my life in suburbia seemed downright easy.  I vowed silently that if I made it home, I would never take anything for granted again.  Not John, not precious Violet.

“Sssh
hh,” Azura hissed at us, though no one had been talking.  We had stepped underneath another green light and she waved her arm at us, instructing us to get against the wall.  We found an area next to a large formation that would fit all three of us.  As we pressed ourselves closely to the wall, we were completely hidden in the darkness.

My heart raced. 
Was this it?
  Would we have to defend ourselves
here
?  In this rocky hallway, where I could barely manage to stay standing up?

“Azura.”  A low voice, one that reminded me of John’s and made my heart ache, came from the other side of the path.  His voice was warm and kind – wholly non-threatening.  And I allowed myself to inhale and exhale quietly.

“Azura,” he repeated.  “It’s me.”

She didn’t speak.  All I heard was a deep sigh from our hiding spot and, with a few well placed steps, Azura bounded effortlessly to the middle of the pathway.  Directly under the weak glow of the light.

Out of the darkness emerged a man, small in frame, but clearly well formed and muscular.  He was dressed in dark, drab clothing that hung neatly on his tanned skin.

His face was attractive, but his features were hardened.  He looked like a soldier, for some reason.  It was the way he carried himself I supposed, because there was no evidence that he was one.

“Manny,” Azura sang when he was close enough for her to embrace him, which she did with delight.  Her body language changed completely as she threw her arms around him.  She looked like a schoolgirl, wholly involved in this moment of recognition of a friend.  I was sure she had forgotten for a moment that Charlotte and I were still lurking in the shadows.  They eventually stepped away from each other, leaving only their hands intertwined.

“Girls,” she called.  “This is Immanuel.”  I could see in the meager light that her features were bright.  She was as elated as I had ever seen her, and she waved for us to come forward.

Immanuel bowed slightly, which immediately reminded me of Azura.  Quite proper.  Charlotte and I smiled at each other, and I assumed she was thinking what I was thinking.  They were a perfect match.

“Nice to meet you,” Charlotte offered.

“You as well,” he said with another nod.  “Please call me Manny.”  Then he smiled.  My goodness, did he smile.  His hard, handsome face softened, revealing crows feet from years of laughing and a perfect dimple on each side.  His thick lips pulled back over brilliantly white teeth in a wide grin.  He looked as kind as a Sunday school teacher, and strong as a lion.

After introductions, the four of us continued walking.  Manny and Azura stayed well ahead of us for the most part, whispering non-stop.  They eventually let go of each other’s hands, but continued to stay very near each other.  Azura would often put her hand on his shoulder for support, and Manny would offer his hand to her when she stepped off of large rocks – even though I knew she needed no help at all.

They moved swiftly and comfortably together in their surroundings, and were growing increasingly impatient that Charlotte and I were struggling to keep up.  They turned around simultaneously several times to check on our progress, only to grunt in disgust and force themselves to wait.

The giant rocks and impossible formations hanging from the ceiling were becoming more frequent.  Charlotte, who had been mostly silent up to this point, stayed close to me now and took to commenting on how ridiculous it was that we were
“Who knows how deep in some God-forsaken cave, marching to our certain death”
.  Just the sound of her voice was beginning to have its old appeal to it.  Its ability to calm me and make me laugh.

I had been watching my feet so intently that I ran into Azura, who was standing perfectly still in the middle of the path.

“You really should warn us before you just stop like that.”  I pulled my ankle out of a painfully jagged crevice and righted myself.  “I’m sorry I fell on you.”

“We’re nearly there,” she answered, ignoring my apology.

“Oh,” I murmured, rubbing at my ankle.  It was wet and, considering the throbbing, I figured it was bleeding – though it was so dark that I couldn’t see to be certain.  Charlotte pulled up behind me and steadied herself on the rock I had just slipped off of by putting her hands on my shoulders.

“From this point on,” Manny said, “they will know you are here.”

“Of course,” Azura agreed.  “I expect that Gabriel will allow us to speak first, but to no real avail.”  She was speaking to us now.  “In a moment, you will see some small panels on the walls of the cave; they are windows.

The eyes and ears of this place will be watching, and they will undoubtedly announce our arrival.  The good news is that our path will be easier soon.  We will begin traveling on commonly used ground, which has been refined.  Until now, we’ve been using a path that only a few of us know about, which is why Manny was waiting for us.  How long were you waiting, anyhow?”

“Almost two days.  I couldn’t be sure when you would come.”

“Were you able to sneak enough supplies away without being noticed?”

“I had only just run out of food, and rationed my water well.”

“Here.”  I hadn’t noticed until now that Azura was wearing a knapsack;
that
must be what she was rummaging around for after we parked the Jeep.  It was khaki colored, pretty worn, and fit neatly under her arm.  She pulled out a bottle of water and a package of my Pop-Tarts for each of us.  I forgot that she had grabbed them before we left and my stomach growled loudly at the sight of them.  I didn’t realize how hungry I was until Azura produced something to eat.

“Eat quickly, please,” she instructed.  We each inhaled our snacks and drained our water bottles.  After I had finished, I felt like I could have eaten a steak dinner or two as well.  Apparently caving was hard work.

“Ready?” Manny chimed energetically.

“Ready as we can be,” I whispered.

“I’ve called on a few other women for help,” Azura assured us.  “They should be here soon.  Assuming they can follow directions.  But let’s see if we can’t take care of things before they arrive, eh?”

She grabbed Manny’s hand and set off through the cave. 
If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn I saw a twinkle in her eye, as if she were about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.  Her confidence soothed me a bit, but the good feeling didn’t last long.  It still troubled me that I didn’t know what to expect, and that my stupid, self-righteous decision to come here would result in me never seeing John and Violet again.  Nausea crept quickly into every pore as I pictured Violet without me.

Manny and Azura
walked and climbed at a leisurely pace, and in complete silence.  The terrain became progressively easier, as promised, so Charlotte and I could eventually keep up without trouble.

“Hey,” Charlotte whispered as soon as the path was wide enough for us to walk side by side.  “Do you think they’re conserving energy by not talking . . . or just enjoying their last moments together?”

“Dunno,” I shrugged.  “I think it’s no fair that we’re no more prepared than we are for whatever’s at the end of this trail.”

“Yeah.”

“I mean—”

“Erin. 
Look
.”  Charlotte nodded her head upward.  Five feet from the top of the cave, nestled smartly in the dips and bends of the rough wall, was a small rectangle.  A one-way window.  My mind raced with the horrors that were certain to be on the other side and I broke into a sudden sweat.

“Do you think they are watching us?” Charlotte asked, barely audible.

“I think . . . yeah.”

“Oh,” she whispered.

As soon as we were in view of the window, Azura straightened her back and walked decidedly upright
, looking almost cocky.  I nudged Charlotte and pointed at her.  We both immediately adjusted our posture to match, although we were far less convincing.

As we passed under another light, Azura dropped Manny’s hand and reached into the pocket of her slacks.  I could hear the faint click of her cell phone button and realized that she was turning it off.

After about forty five minutes of walking, we stepped into what looked like a
very
creepy movie.  Out of nowhere, we traded our smoother – but still difficult – ground for something more polished.  Charlotte and I stopped to take in the oddity laid out before us, but our tour guides kept right on going, as if nothing were out of the ordinary.

Azura and Manny stepped simultaneously onto a thick concrete slab.  A
floor
.  The organic path we had been on for hours stopped abruptly – replaced by a concrete floor, concrete walls, and a ceiling.  The stark hallway that had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, was quite a bit brighter than the cave.

“Ladies,” Azura called, glancing over her shoulder, not a trace of fear in her eyes.  Charlotte stepped up onto the platf
orm and waited for me to follow, which I did with some difficulty.  Stepping onto a flat surface after so many hours of tripping and falling over myself seemed very odd.  Like I had sea legs.

As soon as we began our easier-on-the-feet journey, I became increasingly more terrified with each step.  True, I had not seen many scary movies, but I knew enough to be weary of the unknown – especially in a place like this.  Our situation was certainly bleak at best, and the reality that I could not turn back was sinking in.  I would never be able to find my way back to the Jeep, even if I
did
have the crazy notion to turn around and run.  The fear that I had managed to keep in check up to this point now consumed me.

Azura and Manny led us down the first corridor we had stepped into and weaved us through numerous hallways.  All of them looked exactly the same.  The same dim, green lights as before, though having them every few feet now made it much easier to see.  The floor and walls were dusty concrete, and there was an ominous one-way window looming every so often.

Once we made it deeper into the compound, the halls became lined with doors.  No signs, no windows, just considerable doors that looked strong enough to hold back a grizzly bear.  This is what I feared the most. 
What was on the other side of those doors?

Surprisingly, there were no other people in the hallways with us.  We were walking at an almost leisurely pace through barren hallways with rows and rows of doors, but this facility that could easily house thousands of people looked positively uninhabited.

Eventually, after traveling in silence for far too long, we rounded a corner and came to a stop in front of yet another large door.  I immediately thought of the school, and I was reminded of the first time I had met Azura.

Here, among all these plain doors, stood a massive wooden one.  It was the definition of beauty – ornately carved and ridiculously clean.  Every grey, concrete square inch we had seen thus far was covered in a dusty blanket.  This door, however – which stuck out like a sore thumb, just like Azura’s office door – had been oiled so well it was actually shiny.

Azura raised her hand to knock, but the door opened before she had the chance.  The four of us stepped through and a guard, who was dressed similar to Manny, shut the large door behind us.