The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (43 page)

I heard a noise and when I looked up the vines were now wide awake a
nd alive with the new blood they
had fed on. The part
which had tasted my blood had turn a
lush green colour and it
grew thicker b
efore retreating back behind its
stone
brothers
that lay behind i
t. Then I stagg
ered backwards as
the whole wall
became
alive with motion that reminded me of
light grey snakes all slithering
to get away. It all pulled back at once, as if my blood had been acid and the vines needed to get away from the infected area.

I don’t think my eyes had been held op
en so wide or my mouth been hung down
in shock as long
ever before. I gasped as the retreating vines revealed a huge wooden door that belonged at the
back
of a castle draw
bridge. Well that was just great…. I had revealed a door
,
yes
,
but I would have to
be the size of a two story building
to open it!

Then, as if
my thoughts held some greater meaning
,
the door started to sp
li
t in the middle and allow an opening big enough fo
r the giant from Jack and the B
eanstalk
to pass through
. But this didn’t just allow me access to go in, it also allowed the girl
’
s screams access out. This spared me any hesitation as I ran inside to
find
the crying girl I had t
o
save.

I ran until my eyes
adjusted to the dim light that ca
me from the end of a tunnel
I had been granted entrance too. My legs felt like jelly as it felt as though I had been walking all night but I didn’t want to think about it now, I
could rest later. Now I had to find her and considering now her voice could be heard
,
crying little sobs
,
I knew the next room would be where I would
finally
find her.

I walked through a bright light that I thought came from the room but when the energy made my body tingle I knew it had in some way acted as the door.
I stepped through to the other side blinking, to clear my now
blurry
vision.
It was like someone had taken a picture and the flash had me seeing nothing but black dots.
When it cleared I wanted to screa
m at what the next room held….I
was
now,
clearly
,
in
side
a prison!

The walls held heavy metal doors with only small barr
ed windows in arches. The locks
were strange and instead of holes for the keys to fit
,
they held little flat dishes that looked re
ady for a liquid to be poured in
to. They were the weirdest looking locks I had ever seen. But this was all small factors compared to the banging and screeching sounds that my presence was causing.

“I smell human sweat upon flesh
!
” One gargled voice spoke and I shivered before nearly running back through the brightly lit portal.

“I smell a ripe fruit ready for plucking!” Another voice spoke, only this one made my bones near to shaking as it
s
deep demonic edge continued
,

“One I would gladly tear apart, skin from flesh
, flesh from bone
!
” I wanted to start screaming myself but then the girl
’
s sweet voice brought me round from my own nightmare and reminded me of her own.

“Help me
,
please
.
” Her voice sounded strained from screaming and again the memories hit me harder than any
of these
monsters threats. I walked towards the door I thought the voice came from cautiously
,
knowing the
other creatures did not think
kindly
of
my interference or maybe they did
,
considering
they seemed to
be
think
ing
of me as a happy meal!

The doors went on and on
,
but the voice led me to her. I hesitated before going up to
the
door, remembering all my other mistakes I had not long ago made. But
,
when she pleaded one last time
,
my sense
s
left me
,
being replaced by my guilt and memories. The metal door was cold and I
noticed a bluish light filtering
through the window in the door
. I thought this must be from a window inside the cell but when I reached up on my tiptoes I was wrong. The blue light came from the silhouette of a young slim girl that only wore a long white muslin gown.
She had her
back to me and her black
hair hung straight down her back like black beauty’s tail.
For a second I was like a deer caught in
a
car
’
s headlights. I was frozen at the sigh
t and the blue glow deepened a
shade at my reaction to her.

“Are you human?” I asked the figure that still sobbed quietly.

“Yes and I am very afraid, will you not help me?” Her voice floated over
to me like a warm blanket of re-
assurance. How could such a velvet voice be immoral?

“What can I do, I don’t know how to open the door?” She began to cry more and I knew the sound well. It was my cry. The same hopeless cry I had once been unable to stop. I pulled on the door with every ounce of strength
but it was u
seless, I wasn’t even making the metal rattle.

I pulled my body upwards to the window again but now I saw something only the deepest
,
darkest corners of my mind knew about. The vision made me want to die from the pain it inflicted.

I looked through a watered vision at myself sat down on the floor by an inflated bed. I wore dirty clothes and my hair knotted from weeks of neglect fell
in front of my face, which hid
my misery. I began to pull up my sleeves and feel the smooth skin there on my inner arms. I rattled
my own body
against the
door at the vision.

“Stop it! Don’t!
Don’t do it!
” I cried out as the girl produced a small wooden box from behind her and w
hen opened, the music that filled
my mi
nd with hate and revulsion played out.
It was my very own private
death song and
I cried
louder being now the one full of plea
s.

“Please don’t do this
!
”

“There is only but one way to save those that I love
.” She spoke
my words before continuing on with my
hyste
rical
actions. She smashed
the box to t
he floor and the mirror shattered
into a life ch
anging weapon. She took
the largest
piece to her pale arm and drew
the first
red line across near to her elbow.

“STOP IT!” I scream
ed
before looking away in my own disgust.
It was like watching my own destruction being carried out in a dark, gothic play, by a
girl I didn’t know. But I couldn’t
look away for long and
the darkness of my past compelled
me
to
see it through as I did years ago.

I raise
d my head but now my scream wa
s for a different r
eason. The black haired beauty wa
s now inches from my face and her
features we
re covered
,
only showing me the whites of her eye
s through the black river that was her hair. Her hands we
ren’t h
olding onto the bars like mine we
re
,
so she was rather very tall or floating.

“You are my last hope, they come to kill me…stop them…stop them
now!
” As soo
n as she said it there were
foot
steps and voices that could be heard. I had to move if I was to help in anyway
.
I would have to see who it was that held h
er here and more importantly, who
wanted to kill her.

“I will
be back, I will do what I can
.
” Before I
let my body fall down
I saw her mouth
,
something that seemed far too familiar than I would have liked but at the same time my mind was coming up with a bl
ank wall. I got the feeling that
she was trying to warn me against something or was it someone?

M
y hands hurt
and my knuckles cracked
from holding most of my weight for so long. I
could hear the footsteps getting closer and panic set in as I searched desperately for a place to hide. My head whipped round for some dark corner
,
when I saw a pillar thick enough to hide behind. Once there
,
I could still hear her plea for me to help and tears filled my eyes at how hopeless a saviour I was. If only I knew where Draven was
,
then he could help, he could stop all of this and one thing was for sure….people would
sur
e
ly
get punished!

I tried to stay completely hidden but the need to look was far greater than the warnings that were ringing in my head. The pillar I was frozen behind was in the shadows, so when I peered round to see
,
I wasn’t no
ticed. There stood three figures
covered from head to foot in
long purple robe
s
which had a strip of gold symbols running down t
he middle like a racing strip
e
.

It looked like ancient scriptures, like hieroglyphics
or Mayan text, but without being close enough I couldn’t tell.
The appearance of the men caused a reaction with the other inmates a
s shouts and bangs against their
cells erupted. This was short lived as with one blood curdling command from the man in front
,
the room grew silent
. He had spoken a langua
ge I had
never heard and one that sounded as if it
was very unlikely to have still been used to
day. 

I watched as the taller one in the middle approached the door as the other two stood back to await the prisoner. I presumed the one in the middle to be the leader as he seemed to order the others to be ready. He then raised his wrist to his mouth and to my disgust he bit down hard on his own flesh. I swallowed hard at the sight of him taste his own blood before allowing it to drip onto the lock. I now knew
what the little dishes w
ere there for, as I heard the lock start to move and click open. I let my shoulders fall as I realised I would never have been able to open them as they required the blood of the supernatural.

I watched the leader lick his own wound like a dog
,
while he waited for the door to
swing open. Once it did the young innocent girl came screaming out like a ban
shee showing her other side….a
desperate one. However the two guards were ready
for her and caught her body as she
tried to kick and scratch
her
way to freedom.
I so wanted to run to her but I knew I was next to useless up against these three. I felt the tears release down
my cheeks as I watched them drag
the screaming girl away down the corridor they had come from, the very corridor
where
I
must now
follow.

I tried to compose myself before I continued. I inhaled deeply and wiped my wet face with the back of my arm. Half of me wanted to run away and find a corner to curl up into, till I was found but I knew the half of me that willed me to do good in life would win. So with my
overbearing need to help the girl
I didn’t know,
I stepped from behind my hiding place and followed the path to w
h
ere, hopefully death would not
greet
me.