The tunnel extended far ahead of us, light almost nonexistent. Edgar's flashlight was the only thing that kept us from getting lost. The tunnel twisted and turned as if it never ended.
When it finally reached a conclusion, it split off left and right. We had no clue which direction led to Sam or if both even led to the same place. Allan pulled a flashlight from his bag and handed it to Michael as we split up. Michael and I went right while Edgar and Allan went left.
The farther we walked into the tunnel, the deeper the pit in my stomach became. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
"Do you feel that?" I muttered, my voice cracking in the process.
Michael nodded slowly. "Yeah, this whole place feels like…"
"A coffin," I interrupted, finishing his train of thought.
"Exactly."
We readied our stakes and squirt guns filled with holy water in case anything jumped out at us. We walked for what felt like hours until the tunnel finally came to an end. It opened up to a large space, round in shape with high dirt ceilings.
I scanned the area with my vampiric vision and noticed something that wasn't dirt against the far wall. I pointed as Michael shone the flashlight on the object to reveal it was a bed. It was a huge mattress covered in blankets and pillows galore.
I ran over to it as fast as my speed would carry me, Michael running out of breath when he caught up to me. The bed was empty but the blanket was disturbed, blood staining the fabric in several places. The pit in my stomach grew deeper still and I knew what scent I'd find.
Regardless, I leaned forward and brought the blanket to my nose. The scent wrapped around me like an exotic perfume. My stomach flipped as I recognized it. I'd recognize that scent anywhere.
"Sam was here," I said, clutching the blanket tight in my hand. "And he was bleeding."
"Where is he now?" Michael asked.
Almost as if to answer his question, the room filled with the light of hundreds of candles that had lit all on their own. We both squinted at the sudden brilliance of light and looked around the room, trying to find how the candles were ignited. We found Celeste standing on the other end of the large space, holding someone by the back of their shirt, their body slumped toward the floor.
"Are you looking for this?" she asked.
Celeste pulled up on the person, so they would stand. Sam was paler than I had ever seen him. His eyes were sunken caverns, his lips almost blue, and he was covered in blood from several bites on his neck, arms, legs, and even his abdomen. He was almost completely bled dry.
"You son of a…" I yelled, running forward to attack her.
Michael placed his arm out to stop me. I could've broken right through the barrier and taken Michael's arm with me but I knew he was right. Attacking with emotion would get us nowhere, even if I so dearly wanted to wring her perfect little neck.
"I've taken what was rightfully mine," Celeste said with an amused tone. "He needed to be punished for what he's done."
"And what has he done to you?" Michael asked, trying to keep his cool but failing miserably to do so.
"Not to me but to my kind," Celeste admitted. "David and the others were my friends. I don't take kindly to those who kill my friends, which is why I'm glad you didn't come alone."
Celeste put her finger to her mouth and whistled, the sound carrying throughout the space like a shrill scream. Michael held his ears at the uncomfortable sound and even I was tempted to do so. It was almost like a siren's scream.
I heard movement off to the left as Michael and I turned toward the sound. Out of another tunnel came the Frog Brothers held down by Celeste's companions Tatiana and Alice. Their arms were held behind their backs and the weapons they brought with them were nowhere to be found.
They came to stand beside Sam and Celeste. When the Frog Brothers saw Sam, Michael, and I, they struggled harder against their captors, but even then they did not have the strength to break free, especially weaponless.
That's when the last of the group, Silas, appeared behind Michael and grabbed his arms, twisting them behind his back. I didn't realize what was happening until she already had him. I took one step toward her but she shook her head slowly, twisting Michael's arm even harder, causing him to gasp in pain. I moved back as she smiled in triumph, dragging him over to the others.
"Hurting them is not going to bring David and the others back!" I yelled, gritting my teeth.
"Not entirely true."
The voice made every hair on my neck stand on end. I would recognize it anywhere as it had haunted my waking days for a year. I felt him before I saw him. He stood behind me, his breath on my ear.
"David."
He grabbed my arms as the girls had done to the others. I could feel him laugh against my skin, causing me to shiver. "I'm not easily killed."
"I saw you die!" Michael yelled, struggling against Silas' grasp. "I killed you."
"I just made it look that way, Michael. As you saw, my death was a lot tamer than my fellow lost boys," David admitted, his breath hot on my throat. "I escaped as you lot took on Max. His blood was in that bottle you drank from, so when he died you became human, it didn't matter if I slipped through the cracks."
"So you teamed up with vampire biker chicks?" Edgar asked sarcastically.
Tatiana who was holding onto him twisted his arm a little tighter, causing him to gasp in pain. David smiled at the bought of pain as he nodded.
"I escaped and knew the girls were only a few states over. I told them of the betrayal and they agreed to help me get the revenge I so rightfully deserved. I thought we'd start with Sam and go from there, but now that you're all here we might as well get this party started," David sneered. "I can always get Laddie and Star later on."
"Leave them alone!" I snapped, fighting against him. "They never did anything wrong."
David grabbed my hair, pulling my head back so I'd face the dirt ceiling. "Laddie no, but Star … she didn't fight to save us. She chose her side and that deserves punishment. I'll get to them once I'm through with all of you."
I felt his teeth graze my skin as I struggled harder against his grasp. It was no use and once his teeth were in my neck I was trapped. I fought against him but with each sip, I grew weaker. The others tried to break free and help me but they couldn't get their arms loose and Sam was barely conscious as it was.
When he ripped his teeth free, my limbs felt like they were tied down with cinderblocks. He threw me into the dirt, my head bouncing off the surface. I tried to pull myself up but my arms shook too harshly to move more than an inch before falling back down.
He crouched before me, tilting his head so he could meet my gaze. "You destroyed everything, Dawn. Now I'm going to return the favor."
"Are you going … to kill me?" I weakly asked.
"Not yet. Not until you watch everyone you hold dear die. If you can find them in time that is."
I felt my eyelids grow heavier with each passing moment. David rose to his feet and turned to the others, motioning with his hands. They began to drag the others toward another entrance to the room, the others screaming my name. I tried to get up, to help them, but I didn't have the strength. The last thing I heard before everything went dark was David's echous laugh.
