AN:This is just part of the chapt I've been working on.
38
Getting the book hadn't sounded like a walk in the park by any means but Fang hadn't thought it would be so…..
"FIRE!" Vala's warning yell was accompanied by a flaming ball the size of a disco ball.
"It's ALL fire!" Fang yelled from the ground as the ball burst against the stone pillar where she had been standing. From across the room more flames rose to finish the flaming pen the long tunnel had become. It was wide with pillars of stone set every 40ft. Precisely 40ft and not a break in any of them.
"I noticed!" Vala grabbed the back of Fang's coat and hauled her out of the way of another blazing ball heading for them.
Fang screamed, the sharp tearing sound of her coat loud in her ears as the ball exploded too close to where they had stood. She tried in vain to put out the flames sputtering into a blaze on her arm as Vala tossed her down.
"Quit kicking out!" Vala ordered as the brown boot came close to her face. She smacked it out of her way and leaned over Fang's body where she lay screeching in Japanese.
"FIRE BALL!" Fang's eyes widened, almost bugging out of their sockets which would have been funny if they hadn't been caught in the tunnel of suffocating heat.
Vala tore the sleeve clean off grabbing Fang and rolling them both out of the way. She jerked the witch to her feet and started running down the length of the tunnel to the opposite end.
Sweat poured off their faces, stinging their eyes and soaking their winter gear. The heat coming off the flames blew hot air at them. Everywhere Vala looked- for a break in the flames, a door, a conveniently marked 'Exit' which is how they'd ended up in the tunnel of hellfire-
"FIRE!" Fang screamed looking over her shoulder. She tripped, her hand latched on Vala's jacket gave a harsh tug but it was her foot tangled with the Slayer's that knocked them both down. The blazing disco ball sailed down the length of the tunnel and dispersed.
Vala rolled to her back, brown eyes staring up at the smooth expanse of stone.
"Stone." Vala sat up, grabbed Fang and pointed. "That's stone-uuhf!"
Fang panted, eyes squeezed shut as the flames shooting out towards them returned to the wall, her nose touching Vala's.
"Seriously?" Vala scowled. She shoved lightly against Fang's shoulder. "I don't swing that way, Fang."
"Neither do I." Fang glared and pushed off. "You're welcome." She motioned to the flames dancing higher and thicker.
"I'll thank you after you get us out of this inferno." Vala jabbed a finger above their heads to the stone. "Bippetty- Bop us an exit."
"I'm not Glinda-!" Fang retorted.
"Did I say Wizard of Oz?" Vala demanded. She grabbed Fang before she could retort and ducked out of the way as another flaming ball rushed towards them. "NOW!" she yelled. "Before we're flambéed."
O0O0O0O0O
Hayden came across Abby watching the Actives run through some training exercises. She looked tense, her hands were fisted and what he could see of her expression had him thinking twice about approaching her.
Curiosity won out in the end. He moved across the hall to the back of the Manor, his steps steady and loud enough for Abby to hear him approaching. The last thing he wanted was to startle her and end up with some body part flaring painfully. That was a lesson Hayden learned quickly the first few weeks at the Castle.
Hayden stopped beside her and rested the tablet in his hands on the stone ledge. He followed the Actives as they ran into the training gym.
"I'm glad that thing's finally completed." He sighed. Running drills with small groups of Actives in the dorms had been difficult. Not enough space for more than groups of 10 and then it had been limiting.
Abby kept silent.
"…that's what you are and it is your fault."
She didn't regret saying any of it. Every word of it, Abby meant wholeheartedly. She hoped they cut into Jerycho as badly as the loss of her friends hurt. Blade had told Abby to let it out. Her grief, the anger, her pain – the unfairness of it all! …..
'She's death. They all are.'
Abby kept her eyes on the girls dispersed throughout the grand back garden. They looked no different than school girls in some private school.
"…never thought it would be like this." Hayden's voice sounded hollow to her ears but his words…
"It's only ever been 1girl. Most of us never expected to- well. It's a 1 in a million chance of your girl being Called." He shrugged.
Abby's eyes narrowed slightly. The green darkening, her face flushed with heat, her body feeling like a furnace. She'd lost her family- her Father, her friends….
He spoke of it lightly, like it didn't mean death and blood and pain in the end.
He seemed to notice the dangerous glint in her green eyes, which would be the only warning he'd get and stopped the words coming out of his mouth.
'Foot in mouth. Damn it.' He cursed inwardly and tried to figure out how to get himself out of the pain Abby seemed to want to gift him with.
"Zoëy." She hadn't walked out because of Zoëy and Hayden was talking about how it had been… his tone too upbeat- Abby turned to face him, her voice sounding like a hiss in her ears as she made her threat. "If anything-."
"Blood, pain, dismemberment." Hayden cut in hastily with a nod. "I've heard it all and then some. Don't worry." he assured. "She's too young and green. Vala won't allow her to Patrol let alone Slay."
Abby just stared at him. They wouldn't be standing in Jery's little castle if they'd dealt with the threat on their own instead of dragging innocents into the fight because they needed the bodies.
"Don't you have enough?" Abby demanded harshly. Did they have to take Zoëy as well?
Hayden watched Abby turn on her heel and stalk down the steps and head towards the maze. The safest-smartest- thing for him to do would be to let her go.
"Damn it." He sighed. He tapped the screen on his tablet and brought up the maze. "Abby…!" he called as he followed the NightStalker.
O0O0O0O0O
King huddled into the Eskimo coat he'd been given when he insisted on following Jerycho from the lodge. The one he'd been comfortably and cozily tucked into with Jerycho for all of an hour before she got up and checked on the orders she'd given out.
His jaw hurt form keeping it clenched in order to prevent the chattering of his teeth. The small tent the Actives had set up did little to keep the freezing wind from trying to blow out their tiny fire.
"Why couldn't we wait inside?" King grumbled as he huddled into the over large furs he was wrapped up with.
"Because Vala said to wait here." Cassidy replied. She glanced over at Sabine who didn't hide her eye-roll.
"You're such a big baby." Sabine added. "And don't tell me to respect my elders." She dismissed Maya's open mouth before the younger Active could say anything.
Maya tucked into her coat, her gloved hands stretching towards the sputtering fire for warmth. "Ese libro es importante. Quisiera poder ayudarle más."
Cassidy leaned forward on her stool, gray-green eyes searching out Mayahuel's. "We are helping. And Vala will get the Slayer prophecy book. That's what Fang's for." Her eyes slid towards King. "We are here to keep him from hurting himself."
"You're doing great." King snarked with a slight chatter of teeth. "I'm freezing my ass off out here instead."
"You could've stayed at the lodge." Sabine pinned him with a slight glare. "Nice and warm and toasty."
The overwhelming urge to stick out his tongue was hindered by the numbing cold and the likelihood that if he did that his chattering teeth just might bite his tongue off.
"We wait." Mayahuel looked up from the flickering flames. "Como Sra Vala say."
"We weren't going anywhere, Maya." Sabine sighed, her breath a white puff of air in her face.
"So…" King eyes the girls. "How much longer, do you think?"
Cassidy's slow smile ended with a giggled laugh, echoed by Sabine and then Maya's bemused smile.
"What?" King frowned eyeing the girls again.
"It's like the brat in the backseat demanding if we're there yet." Cassidy smirked.
O0O0O0O0O
Vala peeked over the edge of the hole Fang had 'made' for them- their exit. The cavern was dark and freezing with faint amber glow along the rocks.
"Well?" Fang hissed. It didn't keep her voice from echoing up into the cavern.
Vala scowled and pulled herself out of the hole with Fang dangling from the rope tied around the Slayer's waist. On her knees, Vala pulled the rope until Fangs head and shoulders cleared the hole. She grabbed the back of the heavy coat and hauled her the rest of the way before working the knotted rope.
"I could've used that sleeve." Fang shivered, eyes skimming the cavern unable to see very far. She ran her gloved hand up and down her bare arm but the cold raised goose bumps on her flesh.
"Will you shut up?" Vala ordered in a soft voice. It only diminished the echo and no matter how they tried to move about quietly their sounds carried.
Fang glowered. "Now where?" Fang wondered in a soft whisper. She tried to see into the dark shadows of the cavern but it was difficult and the amber glow was so faint, she wanted to bring out her 'light' but they didn't know what reaction that would cause. The last thing either of them wanted was to get caught in another trap- possibly of fire- like the one they'd barely escaped from.
"Don't you know?" Vala questioned sharply, her features drawing into a scowl. It was slightly better than the one she'd been wearing in the tunnel of fire.
"I don't exactly have a map with an 'X' to mark the location of the book, Vala." Fang sighed in exasperation.
"Then how am I-."
"With me." Fang cut in then shivered. "Did you have tear off my sleeve?"
"I'll let it burn next time." Vala retorted with a glare. She ignored the stuttered protest and turned in a circle, her eyes squinting in the amber darkness of the cavern, head slightly tilted. "There." She grabbed at Fang behind her and started forward with sure steps. The dark didn't scare her anymore. Vala had seen enough and the truth was that the dark was only a cover, something for the monsters and all the scary things to hide in. Like cowards.
Fang stumbled, latching onto Vala's arm with both hands and sticking as close to the Slayer as she could. She opened her mouth to ask where they were going when she felt the barest breeze against her face. It was crisp and had her shivering once more.
Vala reached a gloved hand to the crack in the cavern wall. It was wide enough to fit her arm through but no more-
"Oh no." fang shook her head darting a few steps away from Vala. "I am not going crawl into some crack in the ground. No way, Vala."
"You can make it bigger." Vala motioned for the witch to do just that. "Bippety-Bop." She nodded, arms crossing over her fleece lined leather coat.
Fang stared, incredulous but Vala wasn't budging. "Jeez!" Fang threw her hands up, exasperated and grit her teeth. Hadn't she told Vala she would need a witch? Her, specifically and now Fang wished she'd have kept her mouth shut instead of volunteering. Fang moved to stand in front of the crack. The cold air hit straight on but she ignored it as best she could considering the freezing cold and removed her gloves. She placed her bare hands on the cold rock on either side of the crack, her face bent down, eyes closed as she tried to draw on the natural magic. She felt it flow up from the ground, through her feet and up her legs- the slight tremble of her limbs as she gathered as much of it as she could hold before focusing it out through her palms.
Vala watched the slow widening of the crack; the rock formed itself into a smooth tunnel as wide a Fang's arm length. The witch kept her eyes closed but started forward slowly and the rock continued to open up. Vala followed closely, hoping that Fang didn't tire too soon and they ended up locked inside the rock. She had never thought herself to be claustrophobic but the idea of it- of being trapped inside the earth… Vala stiffened her spine and pushed that image out of her head. 'I need to find that book.' And that's all she was going to focus on.
O0O0O0O0O
Gemma hurried to the classroom, aware that Matthias wasn't going to be pleased about being interrupted. She realized rather quickly that life as an active under her lost Aunt-thought dead by the old Council and her family- wasn't going to be easier for her than it was for the other girls. It was just the opposite. Because Vala was her aunt and the oldest surviving Slayer even if she wasn't the current one Slayer in charge, there was more expected of Gemma. She'd complained to her Father, that it wasn't fair but it was as far as he'd let her get.
"Life isn't about being fair." Luis had sat down in the plush chair of the room he'd been given in the manor, his dark eyes resting on his daughter and thinking of how his little sister had been able to hide all of it from them. No, life hadn't been fair – it never was. "You're never going to get it easy- especially not from Vala. She didn't have it 'easy' and nothing in life is worth having if it comes 'easy." He'd certainly given Vala a piece of his mind- angry with her for playing dead and then dumping the harsh truth of the short life expectancy of his only daughter because they'd called the line. He couldn't believe her, that there was a greater power-or in their case 'Powers'- that would do something like this to an innocent girl. And Vala had done it to his little girl.
"But I'm-."
"Going to be an example for the other girls." Luis had cut in. "You're a Rey. You have a responsibility now…" he hadn't thought Gemma would be ready for the life of a Slayer, he certainly hadn't been prepared. "Eres mi niña, Gemma. This isn't the life I pictured for you. It's not the life I had thought Vala would live either but we never get the life we dram of, chiquita."
"So…" Gemma had sighed; she'd known what her Dad was trying to tell her without actually going into a lecture. "Life gives me lemons, huh." Her lips quirked up in a smile her Father knew well. "Guess we're having lemonade."
Gemma stopped outside of the door to her classroom. She could see Matthias' shadow through the frosted glass and hear him, as always, lecturing. Before she could turn the knob the sound of hurried footfalls from the opposite end of the hall caught her attention. Turning the corner she saw Zoëy running as fast as her shorter legs would go.
"I'm soooo late!" Zoëy hissed as she hurried towards Gemma.
"You're not the only one." Gemma assured and beckoned her. "Come on, he can glare at us both."
Zoëy grinned. The door opened and Matthias turned a frown on them both as they hustled into the classroom.
"Did you ladies have a nice chat in the hall?" he questioned dryly. "May we continue with the lesson or should we wait on you some more?" he followed them as they each found an empty seat.
"Nope." Gemma shook her head and sat behind Zoëy. Being late wasn't a habit for her but she'd lost track of time talking to her Dad who had gone to stay with his Father. The old man had arrived in StarCity but hadn't been well enough to stay at the Manor. Vala and Luis had decided it would be best-and safer- to move the old man somewhere he could be properly cared for.
"We're all ears." Zoëy piped up as she opened her book. Both girls were unlikely friends. The difference in age… Gemma at 16 being 5years older than Zoëy would normally have nothing in common with the young girl. But they weren't ordinary girls and Zoëy had spent two years with Vala before being activated. It was Vala who'd brought them closer- or rather questions that Gemma hadn't felt comfortable asking of her lost aunt that she could ask Zoëy. And the stories…?
Gemma had grown up believing the monsters were made of fiction and existed only on TV and the Movie screen. Smoke and mirrors, that was all. Only Vala had burst that bubble with Varana's help and the other Actives in her care. There were issues with her Ffather and aunt that had been brought up but so far Gemma thought they were dealing rather well with it. Even if Luis still tended to get over exited during Gemma's training.
Zoey was different. She had learned at a young age the monsters were real and to fear them. But she'd had the NightStalers- King and Abby all that was left of the little family that had offered her some sort of whacked out stability. Still, it was better than not having them at all.
O0O0O0O0O