Chapter 16

                         Someone shook me and I painfully opened my eyes to see Evy, Cara and Dane, surrounding my bed.  I groaned and rolled over, but Cara whipped the covers down and I sat up.  Evy swung my legs over the edge of the bed and put my shoes on my feet, a very motherly gesture indeed.  She took my hands and pulled me to my feet while Dane rummaged through my closet for something.  Dane tossed a coat to Cara, mumbling something about the weather, and Evy took it and I shoved myself into it.

            "What's this all about?" I finally managed to ask when Evy led me out into the hall.

            "Shush honey, I'll explain outside." Evy replied in a low, hushed voice.

            "What time is it?" I whined.

            "Late, really late, so hush." Cara answered.

            "Dane, did you get my note?" I asked, still groggy.

            "Yeah, try not to talk anymore, we don't want to get caught." He scolded me.

            His words stung, but I bit back my reply and silently let them lead me.  Evy, Cara, and Dane led me down the hall, down the stairs, across the front hall, and out the door without so much as a whisper or a squeak underfoot.  The night air bit my face and I held my coat closed around me tight.  Evy had her arm around my shoulder, holding me close against her and we walked swiftly across the gravel drive to a small black car.

            Cara and Dane had gone ahead of us and had disappeared inside the car.  When we drew nearer to the vehicle, Dane popped up out of the driver's side window and Evy threw him the keys without a second thought.  She opened the back passenger door and the two of us slide into the back seat.  The moment the door was closed, Dane hit the gas and we sped away from Ms. Harper's School for Girls.

            "Where are we going?" I demanded, wide awake now.

            "My house." Evy replied.  "It's not far, we should be there in about half an hour."

            "What time is it?" I asked, unable to tell by looking out the window at the endless black night, clouded by the fog from my breath.

            "It's about one, honey.  Go ahead and sleep, I'll wake you when we get there." She promised.

            "Why are we going anywhere?" I grumbled.

            "I'll explain later." She replied gently.  I napped a little in the speeding car, and Evy woke me, as promised, when the car shut off.  "We're here, honey.  Come on, wake up, we've got to get in the house."  I groaned, but I allowed myself to be taken inside without too much trouble.  The door slammed behind me, making me jump, and a light came on, nearly blinding me.

            Evy's place was nice, very richly furnished for a teacher's salary.  The walls were lemon cream, and the front hall, living room, and kitchen all opened up together.  The living room had a small TV in the corner, obviously not used much, but the rest of the room was bookcases, leather furniture, and red cabernet carpet.  Dane gently shoved me down on the couch and flopped down beside me.  I think Cara snorted, but she didn't say anything as she sat down in the nearest leather chair.

            "Would you like some tea or cocoa, Elizabeth?" Evy asked.

            "Cocoa please." I replied, and Dane and Cara mumbled the same.  Ms. Evy smiled and wandered into the kitchen, rattling pots and pans and cabinet doors.  She reappeared a few minutes later and shuffled through the bookcases, looking for something.  "So, are you going to tell me why I'm here and not in my warm bed, or did you just want to visit and have tea?" I snapped sleepily.  Ms. Evy looked up, somewhat startled by my harsh accusation.  She grabbed a book or two off the shelf and dropped them on the coffee table with a "thunk".

            "You know what today is, right?  I suggest you not be sharp with me or I shall help you no more." Evy replied.

            "I'm sorry, I get a little stupid when I'm tired, so just ignore me." I sighed.

            Ms. Evy's expression softened and she said, "It's alright, the air makes foul humors of otherwise sweet dispositions.  Tonight's air is especially bad it seems."

            "Okay, why did you bring me here?" I asked gently.

            "Cara and Dane showed me the cave, Elizabeth.  On tonight of all nights, that is a dangerous place to be near, especially for sensitive people like you and me." Evy replied ominously.  "I never told you the profound importance of this night, did I?"  I shook my head, now curious.  "Once a year, Atlanteans open the gap and walk through the Etherealm."

            "Yeah, I remember, so what?" I laughed.

            "That night is this night." She finished.  "And regardless of if someone is there to cross or not, the gap will open itself.  It may draw you to itself and suck you in.  That is why we brought you here, Elizabeth.  The cave is one of these gateway places." Evy sighed and said, "You'll thank me for this later, but you'll hate me for it now.  Cara, get the rope."

            "What, what's going on?" I stuttered as Dane grabbed my wrists.  He hauled me off the sofa, dragged me to a wooden chair sitting near the fireplace, and shoved me hard into it.  The chair teetered with my unbalanced body, but Dane settled it with one extended foot against the leg.  He circled behind the chair, and before I could react, he reached out and pinned my arms painfully behind me.  "Dane, what the hell are you doing, you're hurting me!" I growled through gritted teeth, looking over my shoulder at him.  He looked genuinely sorry, but held me tight, despite the fact that I thrashed wildly about.

            Cara reappeared a few minutes later, carrying a good amount of heavy rope and chain.  She looked pale and exhausted, but her steps didn't falter as she helped Evy tie and cuff my hands where Dane held them.  "I'm truly sorry about this, Liz." Cara sighed.  Evy and her wrapped the rope and chain tightly around my torso, tying me to the chair.

            "Then don't freaking do it, Cara!" I screeched.

            "Trust me, Elizabeth, this is for your own good." Evy promised, attempting to sooth me.  Now I know my only chance was to free myself, so I kicked and screamed and rocked the chair, forcing Dane to hold me down until the last bit of rope was tied and my ankles were cuffed.  I continued to scream as loud as I could even after tied tightly to the chair, but Evy stifled me with duct tape.  "As soon as you calm down, I'll take that off, but for now, you need to think in silence." She explained.  Then she turned to the others and said, "We must speak a bit more, follow me to the study.  As for you, Elizabeth," She said, turning back to me, "I think you need some time alone, and I'm going to give you that."

            The three of them disappeared down the hall despite my plaintive moans, groans, and finally, sobs.  I felt betrayed, used, stabbed in the back, by the most important people in my life.  My best friend and confidant, my boyfriend whom I trusted with my life, and my teacher, though she was much more than that.  I shamelessly wailed, letting the tears run freely down my face, hanging my head against my chest mornfully.  Then I felt hope when I spotted the keys to my cuffs lying nearby on a table.

            I continued crying so they wouldn't hear the noise as i hopped my chair across the floor towards that table.  I was close enough to reach out and grab them with my fingers when Dane sauntered out and snatched them up.  I let out a despondent sigh and let my head fall back to look up at him, silently calling him every dirty word I could think off.  Then I shook the chair violently, scooting it across the floor , snarling and swearing at him.  Dane stepped out of the way, but my chair landed on his toe, lost it's balance, and fell backwards, knocking the wind out of me.

            "Damn that hurt, woman, what'd you do that for?" Dane swore angrily.  I yelled at him under the tape again, and he watched me with a glint of a smile in his eyes.  "You know I can hear you, right?"  I stared at him, confused.  "You think everything right before you say it, so I've caught everything you've just said, Liz.  I didn't even know you knew those words!" He explained before he burst out laughing, a grin spread across his adorable face.

            You look so damned hot when you're mad, did you know that? He thought.  He laughed some more while I stared at him silently.  Oh damn, I completely forgot!  Dane reached out a ripped the tape from my mouth in one clear move.  Then he tipped the chair right side up again.  "Sorry."

            "Damn it, Dane, that hurt like hell!" I winced.  I took one heaving breath before speaking again, and when I did, I left him no room to reply, shouting, "You stupid, back-stabbing, son of a bitch!  I can't believe I trusted your lying ass!  And don't even think about playing nice because I will never, ever, forgive you for this!  I could kill you for this, and when I get loose, what I did to Brock will look like a pinprick after I get done with you, Dane, I mean it!  Just you wait until I -"

            I didn't get a chance to finish my speech because suddenly Dane's mouth was on mine, hot, demanding, almost painful, and all rational thought left my head.  I was dimly aware of his weight on my legs and hips, but only because he was burning holes in my skirt wherever his body met mine.  Instinctively, I lifted my hips against his and he groaned deeply, using his big hands to hold my hips down.  His tongue was driving me crazy, searing me deep inside as he barely touched it to mine.  Suddenly, just sudden as it had began, Dane released my mouth, and my hips, stood, and took a ragged, fortifying breath.

            "You drive me wild, did you know that?" He laughed softly.  I sighed and smiled at him.

            "Then I guess I shouldn't be the one chained to a chair, huh?" I began.

            His eyes grew darker, more serious, and he voiced what we both knew.  "I can't let you go, Elizabeth." He stated simply, rarely ever did he use my full name.  "You know that."

            "Why?  I mean, if you let me loose, I'm not going to kill anybody, and I'm not going to go to the cave.  No way I'd go there after what Evy said.  You could let me out, and we could go somewhere," I whispered seductively, slowly running my tongue across my bottom lip.  "You know, just the two of us.  We could have a little fun, after all, it is Halloween, and you deserve some candy for all this hard work you've done keeping little ol' me from running off."

            Dane watched my mouth, breathing heavy, hands balled up in fists, eyes black and hot with obvious longing, and then he looked me straight in the eye and said, "Don't tempt me, woman.  If I thought for one second you meant that, we'd be in my car right now, going 80 miles an hour." His words sucked the breath from my chest and the voice from my throat at the intensity of it.  "As much as I'd love to, and you have no clue how much that is, Liz, I know you too well.  You wouldn't kill me, but you'd sure as hell do some serious damage, that I'm sure of." He sighed.

            Rage boiled over and I swore at him with every word I knew for a minute before he retaped my mouth.  He rested one hand on my shoulder, the other on my hip while I drifted into silence, and it drove me crazy that even as mad as I was, he could still distract me like he always has.  He leaned over real slow, rested his cheek against mine, and whispered in my ear, "If it were up to me , we'd be dancing naked in that cave, if you know what I mean, right this second.  But there's always tomorrow."  Without meeting my gaze again, he kissed my forehead softly and sauntered back down the hall, but not before I saw his very snug jeans.  Then I regained my brain, remembered I was mad at him, and did my best to give him a migraine with my mental screaming.

            I slipped into a restless sleep shortly after.  Nothing in the dream made sense, it was all flashes of light and other things I couldn't see very well.  I felt cold, rough, wet rock beneath my feet and my hands.  The room pulsed with light and energy and vibrations.  Voices, too many to pick out any particular one, swirled through my head; some whispers, some shouts, some fearful, some sorrowful, and some angry as hell.  I tried to cover my ears, but it did nothing to restrain them, it only made them louder.

            One voice stood out, saying, "It has begun!"  It was Evy speaking, somewhere in the real world, where I no longer was.  "Dane, hold her still, Cara, get the candles."  I strained as hard as I could against the chains, thrashing and screaming wildly.  My only thought was to go to the cave because if I went there, the voices would stop.  I opened my eyes and saw Evy, Cara, and Dane standing outside a ring of candles, surrounding me.  The candles were connected by blue sand and Evy chanted softly in a language that seemed oddly familiar.  Lights flashed in my head and again I was in the cave with the loud insistent voices.  I screamed and bucked against the chair, faintly hearing a sharp command from Evy, followed by the sting of the tape being ripped off again.  I heard chanting again and realized it was my own mouth voicing loose the strange language.

            Evy replied in the language and a shockwave rolled through me as I understood it.  I looked at her in a new light; she had let her hair fall loose in the auburn curls I hadn't noticed she'd had because it was always pulled back tightly, a shadow caste across her upturned nose, and her eyes glowed in the candlelight.  They were an unnatural hue of blue, almost purple it seemed, with flecks of gray.  She stared back at me, arms outstretched, eyes swirling to deep, dark violet, and spoke again.  She had asked me where I'd learned the language.

            I stared listlessly, fascinated by the change Evy had undergone.  She now wore a loose blue robe and a large oval amulet about her neck, and had painted a strange swirling dragon shape along the shape of her face in the same blue as the robe.  The amulet was the same color as her eyes, but it changed as hers did.  She looked completely different.  She looked Atlantean.

            "Zneup." Evy commanded.  "Speak."

            "Jrk?" I asked. "Why?"

            "Raj wa kai pgaj vrez?  Jromo wew kai tov ev?  Ugzjom bo!" Evy demanded, eyes fiery.

            "E wagv pgaj!  E wagv pgaj! Zvan kossegt uv bo! E wagv pgaj jromo E tav ev! E zjeum!" I screamed, meaning, "I don't know, I don't know, stop yelling at me, I don't know where I got it, I swear."

            "Dane, hold her down, now!" Evy commanded.  Dane nodded curtly and, stepping over the candles, came over to me and put all his weight against my chest and arms.

            "Dane, stop it, you're hurting me!  Let me go, I'm already tied up." I cried, but he only stared at me, and I realized I was still speaking the language.  "Dane, please!" I whined in English.

            "Elizabeth, where did you hear that?" Evy demanded, stepping inside the ring, and walking over to stand before me.  All I heard was the soft swish of her robe, for I was still begging Dane.  "Elizabeth!" She commanded, grabbing my chin hard and jerking my head to face her.  She carefully placed both hands on either side of my face so all I could see was her, and spoke again.  "Elizabeth," softer this time, "where did you hear that language?"

            I stared at her blankly, my mind shattered.  "Language?"

            "Yes deary, it's Atlantean.  Now think hard, where did you hear it?" She pleaded.

            "I don't know, is it written in the cave?" I asked dumbly.

            "I'm not sure, but there's no way you would know how to speak it if you've never heard it, so you must've heard it somewhere." Evy explained.  "Do you remember where you heard it, or maybe who spoke it even?"

            I shook my head and let the song that had tried to consume my mind since I had left the cave, take it, and I hummed it listlessly, incapable of complex thought any longer.  Evy's eyes widened and she began humming along with me, then she began singing with it.  "Xabo ugw zoo, xabo ugw zoo, vro jagwomz ah aim jamsw.  Xabo ugw zoo, xabo ugw zoo, aim jumb zou ugw xaas sugw, U jagwomhis nsuxo va yo.  Uvsugvez ez  butgehexogv!  Uvsugvez sedoz ag! Uvsugvez sedoz."

            I stopped humming and listened to Evy's soft voice in the foreign tongue.  She finished the song and smiled wistfully.  "What does that mean?" I asked,  suddenly at a loss with the language. Evy looked somewhat startled at the sudden English voice after almost silence.  Dane hadn't released me, but he hadn't been paying attention to me, so his weight was no longer painful against me, and Cara nowhere to be seen.  Evy cleared her throat, ready to explain, when a dreadful scream echoed through the house.