The Underground

Chapter 14.1: Getting Closer

Vivian was on her feet as soon as she could feel them, hauling herself out of Brienne's arms and dragging the wolf up with her. Her mind raced, struggling to process the world around her, but her limbs moved anyway.

"Don't look at the lantern," she said, then added hastily after, "Don't touch anything, either. Or talk to them. We should just run, actually."

A wide, reddened eye stared at her, tears brimming on its edges and threatening to soak1' Brienne's already damp face. "What are you talking about?"

Vivian jerked her head from side to side, examining the kitchen for signs of life but finding them alone. She took careful note of the shaded windows and the two hallways leading out of the room. "There's an alternate dimension that might be hell or purgatory, not sure, and there's a multi-soul humanoid thing that carries a lantern that may or may not send you into the other dimension, which I'm pretty sure is what happened to the harpy and the man outside the bar. Oh, and it's trying to kill me because fate, apparently."

Brienne stared at her, face devoid of any emotion aside the signs of her previous crying. She blinked one slow, solitary time.

"See, this is why I kept it simple. Just don't look at the lantern," Vivian reiterated, patting herself down to locate her notepad, phone, and not a single damn weapon. She muttered profanities to herself and took a step forward only to have her arm caught by Brienne.

"I thought you were dead," she whispered, eyebrows twisted into disbelief rather than relief. "No, you were dead. For hours. Dominic checked. His butler checked. I checked."

Vivian pulled her arm free. "Did you say his butler? Do you mean Miles?"

"I-I think so," Brienne stammered, struggling to still the quiver of her lips. The abnormal change in her usual behavior might have been a shock to Vivian if her mind would stop to think. It did no such thing. "Vi, please, slow down, I-I don't understand..."

Vivian took quick steps over to the hallway leading to the entrance of the manor, peering down it and ignoring Brienne in one easy motion. "Don't trust Miles either. Where's Dominic?" she paused, then glanced back over at the wolf. "And why are you here?"

She had expected hurt or frustration on her friend's face, but instead, Brienne's lips pursed together, her head shaking slowly from side to side as her hands came to her chest, clutching one another. "He called me. He didn't know who else to tell..." she muttered, body shaking as she stepped back and collided with a wall. "Am I losing it?"

"No, you're not," Vivian said, moving to investigate the other hallway. The lingering feeling that something lay just around the corner was insidious, even in the real world. "Strange shit is happening, but I really need you to get it together."

"You were dead. Stone, cold dead. No pulse, no warmth, no anything..." Brienne continued, muttering into the palms of her hands.

"Bri, seriously, pull yourself together."

She lifted her hands, fingers curling into her head and pulling the ponytail her hair was tied into loose. The bandage still covering her missing eye twisted and contorted as she dug her nails into her scalp. "People don't come back from the dead."

"Yeah, well, I was only mostly dead. And now I'm better so you need to focus. There's something here, something dangerous," Vivian replied, her voice cracking in both spirit and tone. The adrenaline that pushed her through the shock of the hours' events was waning and giving way to sheer, unadulterated fear. Fear that was quickly substantiated.

Vivian felt them before she saw them, courtesy of the hundreds of souls mashed together, probably. The sensation of suffocating pressure gave her enough time to snap her head in the opposite direction, protecting her eyes from the light that flooded into the kitchen suddenly and without proper warning.

The twins were just as blindingly bright in the real world. Their humanoid shape shifted and glimmered as they moved across the room, not that Vivian spared them a glance, as tempting as it was to do so. From the fracturing light and source of pressure, she could tell the twins had cut her and Brienne off, planted firmly in the center of the kitchen.

"Don't look at them!"

She couldn't be sure if Brienne understood her or the situation at hand but running for her life left her little opportunity to check. Her legs felt unsteady, but each stride gave her more confidence as she bolted down the hallway and out of the kitchen, eyes trained to the floor. She wasn't certain how the twins moved around, and she wasn't eager to take chances.

The lush red rug spread down the hallway gave way to the sleek wood of the intersection. A flicker of a glance upward revealed the pathway back to the grail's room as well as to the grand staircase at the entrance. Neither seemed too appealing, but the staircase seemed her best bet. Brienne would probably try and make it to an exit if she understood the gravity of the situation, and it didn't seem likely Dominic would be with the grail alone.

In temporary defiance of the binary choice offered to her, Vivian's attention lingered on the glass display cases lining the small intersection of hallways. Nothing seemed particularly interesting last time she came through, and that was still true, but amongst the dusty jewels and gaudy rings was a clean silver dagger, pristinely guarded by a locked case.

Vivian stared at it for a moment, giving it and herself more time than they deserved or had. She longed to breathe, to process what had happened, if she had just gotten Brienne killed, and if she had really died. Frankly, if she wasn't going to do that, she should have at least considered the consequences of her subsequent actions.

But fresh adrenaline made a poor mask for her fear and urged her onwards. So, with a fist wrapped in the sleeve of her jacket, she smashed the glass, took the dagger, and bolted towards the staircase, hoping that, maybe, the twins were deaf.