Shadow People (The Forbidden Darkness Chronicles, #2)

Thirty-Two: Hayden Williams

"Where is that coming from?" Philip asked quickly.

"It's right beneath us!" Frostbite shouted. "We need to get down there now! Ash, can you get us down there?"

"You can't poof us?" I asked.

"No," Ash replied. "Something is blocking us out. We have to get down there manually. Everyone move out of the way."

Philip, Frostbite, and I stepped out of the way. At Ash's fingertips, I saw fire dance, and it got bigger and bigger. After a few seconds, she threw it at ground, leaving a huge crater. But it wasn't big enough. Dirt and rocks flew into the air, and I coughed, trying not to inhale it all.

"It's not working!" Ash shouted.

I heard more screeching. This time it was closer.

"The Darkness knows we're here!" Frostbite screamed. "Hurry up! Use more force!"

She didn't even hesitate. In awe, I watched her regather her strength and throw more fire at the ground. Dirt and rocks exploded in all different directions from the same spot, and Philip and I fell to the ground. I couldn't see anything for a few moments, but finally, I heard Frostbite.

"She did it!"

We didn't have much time to celebrate. Another loud screech came from below us, and I screamed when the Darkness shot out of the hole and swarmed into the room. It was like an explosion of black snakes, shooting out and landing on top of us. A scream came out of Philip's throat. He was covered in it.

Frostbite shot out a cool draft across the roof, hitting the Darkness on Philip. It froze and fell right off. Philip got up as fast he he could, ready to fight.

"Stay behind Hayden!" Frostbite shouted. "The Darkness doesn't like Hayden!"

Philip did as he was told and quickly got behind me. We backed into a corner and watched the battle unfold before us. Frostbite launched into the air, his legs disappearing behind him, and sent out more cool breezes of air. The fire in Ash's hands was thrown at some nearby Darkness, and it screeched in pain.

"We have to get down there," Philip said. "We need to get Heather."

"Are you crazy?" I whispered. "We have no freaking idea how much Darkness there is. There could be more down there."

"I don't care! We can't let her die, Hayden." He sounded desperate.

I was afraid, too. I didn't want Heather to die, but we needed to think rationally.

"It'll stay away from us," Philip said. "If you don't come with me, I'm going down by myself."

He really wasn't going to give up on this. Frostbite and Ash were distracted enough that I figured we could probably slip by. "Fine. But if we die, it's your fault."

I started walking toward the crater in the floor, with Philip standing behind me. We got pretty close when Ash screamed.

"Look out!"

We dove to the floor as flames flew by our heads, into Darkness that had been sneaking up behind us. Philip crawled across the floor and dove into the crater. I screamed for him to stop, but he didn't wait for me. Thankfully, no Darkness noticed this. I stood up, running over to the hole, and stared down inside. It was pitch black.

Philip better hope he was worth saving.

I jumped inside, expecting to fall forever, but hit the ground a few seconds later. There was hardly any light around me. "Philip?" I asked.

"I'm over here!" he said, but I couldn't see him. "I think I see a light."

"Where?" I asked. I did a one-eighty, and right behind me, there were small flickers of light. It looked like another passageway.