Hey guys! so this is the next chapter! :D its extra long haha so i hope you like it! pls pls pls VOTE!! COMMENT!! FAN!! thank you!
<3 crazymeltzar
21/01/18
Edited version. Hope you guys like it :)
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The library was dark and only the light form the street lamp was illuminating the hall. I looked around me at the gothic paintings and shelves stacked neatly against the wall. It was exactly as I remembered it from my childhood days. The mahogany floors and the marble walls gave the whole place a majestic yet eerie feel to it.
Suddenly the floor started to rumble again. I turned just in time to see the two marble doors swing shut. The loud bang of the doors echoed throughout the room, dust rising around us.. The room was now pitch black, not a speck of light to be seen.
"Angel?"
The moment we stepped into the library, my demon had begun shoving at me, demanding release. There was something odd about the Library that was making my demon agitated. I gritted my teeth, pulling back on the reigns viciously.
Et cessabit-be calm, I snapped.
My demon backed off slightly, growling and hissing the whole time but I felt my senses sharpen. My skinned pricked with awareness and my nose flared with the woodsy scent of the library. My demon lifted its head and scented the air, pin pointing to me the exact location of my two companions. Taking hold of their hands, I took a bold step forward. The moment I moved, a loud sizzling sound could be heard. I froze and took a sniff around me. It smelled like... oil.
Suddenly, there was a loud pop and the room blazed with light as fire raced across the ceiling of the hall, lighting small torches along the way. I watched amazed as one by one, the torches were lit, the fire engulfing everything in its path, lighting up the whole room. The fire hissed and spit, the sound loud in the dead room.
The room itself was huge. Its floors were old almost ancient looking. There were creepers growing out from the cracks of the walls and moss eating away in the dark corners of the room. In front of me were five doorways all of similar height and shape.
On the top of each doorway, there were carvings of an animal. The first one was a lion, followed by an eagle, a snake, a bear and a horse. The carvings of the animals started down at us, an evil gleam in their eyes that sent a shiver down my spine. I gulped as I looked into the eyes of the serpent. I swore its eyes glowed red at me, its mouth twisting into an evil smirk. I shivered involuntarily and closed my eyes, trying to compose myself.
"Which one should we take?" mused Lucas who had taken a step nearer to the 'bear' doorway.
I fished out the map from my bag and studied it. On the map, it showed that both the snake and the lion doorways were filled with death traps. Black dots were placed diagonal to each other on the map, their spacing not very far from each other. I counted it to be at least ten in each passage. I shook my head, definitely not those two passages.
"This way," I said pointing to the 'horse' doorway.
The frame of the doorway itself was filled with carvings of grass and flowers. I was amazed at the craftsmanship of the art that was so precisely and beautifully done. The horse was equally beautiful with a majestic head, nostrils flared out and its mane in a wild disarray.
The horse looked down at us from its superior height and I felt the weight of its stare on me. I had a feeling that those stone carvings were more than just head figures. I bit my lip. Knowing what this place was, I wouldn't be surprised if they came alive.
But when I stepped into the doorway, a strange feeling came over me. It was suddenly cold, the air icy and heavy. The corridor ahead of us was pitch black but the light from behind us provided some illumination. The walls of the corridor were blood red, the bricks smooth as if they were made with glass. The floor itself were grey slabs arranged in a diagonal manner.
I shivered as my skin pricked, sensing blood lust coming out from behind the walls. I stilled myself and scanned the path ahead of e. Nothing but darkness.
"Be careful, one wrong step and we might trigger the traps," I whispered to Havoc and Lucas.
They nodded to me. I took in a deep breath and started walking down the cold, dark corridor. As we walked, torches on the stone walls of the corridor would light up as if by magic. I frowned. The fire did not provide much illumination yet the heat from the flames radiated so strongly, it made me suspicious of it.
We walked silently, the tension taut in the silence. Sweat beaded my forehead and I couldn't help but glance to my sides to assure myself that my companions were still fine. Lucas and Havoc were prowling silently, their eyes scanning the floor and the walls occasionally. Their hands were free and they walked a step behind me, a reassuring presence at my back.
The corridor stretched on endlessly and the heat from the torches were beginning to make my head fell light. Sweat poured off my body and I licked my parched lips. It felt like I was walking in the Sahara desert.
As we walked on, it seemed like the corridor was beginning to get narrow. I frowned. No, it wasn't my imagination. I gritted my teeth as a slight sense of claustrophobia hit me. My stomach dipped and nausea rose.
I was thrown back into the nightmare where Fiona had thrown me into a dry well after breaking my arm when she found out I refused to have sex with a slut she 'chose' for me. She had closed the opening to the well and left me there with no food and water for a week. The only thing I had was the occasional water the dripped from the walls, and the moss that grew at my feet.
I shuddered and tried to breathe past the nightmare. My nail dug into my palms as I fought against the mental strain. Suddenly, a strong arm wrapped around my waist and I was pulled into the shelter of Havoc's shoulder. Instantly my breathing eased as the nightmares we pushed back by the force of his aura.
The tendrils of his aura curled around me, stroking my demon into calm. His hand gently stroked my waist, the action intimately calming. His body was positioned close to me yet gave me enough room to move comfortably. My heart swelled and I clung to him, grateful for his strength by my side.
The corridor was like an endless road that stretched on forever and ever. Suddenly, my demon roared, making me stiffen in Havoc's arms. We jerked to a stop, an ominous feeling shadowed us. I looked around me but everything was as it was.
Hissssss
All of a sudden, there was a shift in the air, like something was sucking the air out of the room. The air thinned and my lungs strained under the sharp pressure. I gasped as my demon roared out a warning again. It was edgy, the need to get away from danger was strong in both of us.
I gripped Havoc's hand, pressing it tighter against my waist. I felt him shift closer to me, his stance edgy. His chest was heaving, his breathing shallow and so was Lucas'. Things were taking a turn for the worst.
Forcing calm, I tried to slow down my breathing, allowing my demon free reign. It sniffed the air, sensing the uneven distribution of pressure, trying to home onto the source but to no avail. The cracks in the wall were also vibrating with air, dust and debris shaking off the walls. There was a trap here and it had been sprung. I squeezed Havoc's hand gently before letting it go, moving slightly away from him.
We had to move fast but I knew we couldn't stop being cautious. I crouched down and hovered my hand above the floor. Taking a pocket knife from my pocket, I slit a small cut on the back of my hand.
I didn't want to do this for it took up too much of my energy but the situation was desperate enough. Blood pooled above the cut but instantly evaporated as my demon went seeking out of my body. It mapped out the way before us but it couldn't penetrate the walls. And that worried me.
If my demon could not sense what was beyond the walls, then we could only rely on what we could see in front of us. And we could barely see anything.
"There's a door up a head. 200m," I said. "Let's hurry."
A sharp pain as my demon shoved at me, throwing me off balance.
"Watch out!" I cried in warning and used the momentum from the impending fall to throw myself flat against the wall, just in time to watch a bullet wheeze past my face to punch a hole in the ground where I last stood.
I heard Lucas growl as his eyes took on a green glow, eyeing the spot where the shot came from. Havoc on the other hand had drew out both his hunting knife and dagger out, his blue eyes glowing. His eyes raked my frame. I knew he was checking me for injuries. I shook my head and took a quick scan of him and Lucas. Both seemed fine.
But it was too soon for relief.
At the heels of the thought, another blast of bullets whizzed pass us to hammer holes into the floor. I heard a bone chilling growl and faster than one could consider humanly possible, Lucas threw his knife into the darkness. A muffled thud and the sickening crack of bones before silence fell.
"There're more," Lucas growled, his eyes glowing a vivid green. I watched slightly amused as he fingered his other throwing knives, staring into the darkness intently.
I nodded but the air was thinning more. Breathing was getting harder and we needed to get out of there fast. So I motioned for us to move along. I picked up the pace, sliding along the surface of the floor, avoiding the dislodged tiles that increasingly littered across the floor.
Just when I thought nothing else was going to happen, a deafening roar that shook the walls and floor blasted through the corridor. I winced, covering my ears but the sound penetrated into my brain, lancing it with pain.
"What the heck happened?" Lucas growled.
He was on the floor, supporting himself with his hand. My eyes widened in horror when I saw the tile that was pushed in because of Lucas' weight. When he followed my horrified gaze, Lucas started to swear like a sailor.
"Aw hell! Let's go, go, GO!"
When the floor started to shift again, I took it as our cue to leave. Swearing under my breath, I pushed forward, swerving aside to dodge the rocks that pummeled down at me. The dust clouded my vision and clogged up my throat. I coughed to relief the burning in my throat but to no avail. To add to my problems, the ground shook and groaned beneath my feat. I could feel its tremors all the way to the tip of my head. The unevenness of the ground was a challenge to run on. I swore under my breath and gritted my teeth in frustration, trying to keep my speed in check. Suddenly the tremors turned more violent. Small rocks could be seen being dislodged from the ground, and more dust came falling from the ceiling. I coughed as dust entered my throat and blinked to clear my vision.
"Angel run faster!" Lucas screamed from behind me.
I turned around and my eyes widened in shock when I saw what was happening. The walls of the passageway was collapsing, the rocks falling inwards, attempting to crush us beneath their deadly weight. I moistened my crack lips and pushed forward, confident that the two guys could keep up with my speed. The rocks crashed to the ground like dominos. I couldn't help but smile when I heard screams behind us. Fiona's men were buried alive in the sudden rock avalanche, their screams of pain drowned by the roaring of rocks that fell. I leap over boulders, knowing that with the speed I was travelling at, I was bound to activate another trap.
Just then, I saw a ray of light though the dust haze. I clenched my fist and ran full speed towards the opening before me where light was bursting through it. All of a sudden, I felt a sharp pain run up the length of my arm. I looked down in shock to find a dart buried deep in my arm. I cursed silently to myself. Another trap had been activated.
"Watch out for the arrows!" I cried in warning, just in time before an arrow could hit Havoc. He dodged it easily and kept running after me.
Clamping a hand below the point of pain, I pushed myself forward, jumping and ducking to avoid darts and arrows launched in my direction. I risked a glance over my shoulder and almost laughed-cried at the predicament we were in. Lucas and Havoc were valiantly trying to keep up with me, following my footsteps. I raced forward, using my arm to deflect the weapons coming to me. I swatted the arrows aside and occasionally caught darts with my hand and slotting them into my pocket. Never know when they might come in handy. The rough cover of the weapons scrapped my hands but I didn't care.
I knew that things were just getting started. I cursed when I saw the opening before me start to close. I called forth my demon, and pushed my legs faster, sliding under the slab of stone. I used my legs to cushion me as I slammed against the brick wall of the room. Cursing I rubbed my sore shin before jumping aside as Lucas and Havoc, one by one, slid under the 'door' and into the room. We were all panting heavily, sand dust sticking to our sweat-coated skin.
"Whoa, shit man," Lucas breathed, leaning forward, supporting himself with his hands on his knees, his breathing coming in harsh gasps.
Havoc who was crouching next to him was breathing heavily too. I surveyed him and found a part of his mask had been chipped of. My heart jumped in my chest but luckily, upon further inspection, he was not injured.
It was then that I registered the sharp pain in my arm. I looked down to see that the sleeve of my shirt was soak with blood. Shaking, I sank to my knees, my back to the two of them.
"Angel?"
Biting my lip, I quickly ripped the hole open in sleeve. Grabbed the dart by its protruding end, I closed my eyes and pulled. The excruciating pain made me pause and double over. Tears burned behind my eyes and I down hard on my lip. The darn dart was half buried in my arm.
I let out a muffled sob as I yanked the dart out of my arm. I tucked my head to my chest, the tears streaming down my face, the dart slipping from my numb fingers to drop to the floor with a clank. Tears streamed down my face as a wave of nauseousness hit me. The energy left my body and I could feel myself falling. Instantly, Havoc was at my side, catching me before my torso hit the floor.
"Angel!"
"Havoc," I whispered to him through the pain. "My arm.."
My eyes has started to blur around the edges but I tightened my grip on my injured arm, the pain jolting some clarity into me. I saw that his eyes were trained to where my hand was clamped over the wound on my arm. Blood was oozing out between the seams of my fingers.
"Damn it!"
He lowered me gently to the floor and brushed the the damp strands of hair away from my face. He then tore a strip of cloth from the hem of his shirt and wrapped it around my wound that was bleed profusely. His hands were shaking but he gently tied the cloth together. When I winced in pain, his head snapped to me, his eyes blazing with worry. Using my good arm, I reached out and gently brushed some of the dust away from his mask.
"Hey," I said, gripping his hand in mine. "It's going to be okay."
He said nothing. He just cradled me gently to his chest, tucking me close to him. I nuzzled his neck, holding the hand the I gripped to my chest. His warmth stole into me, and his heartbeat a steady rhythm that lulled me into a sleepy state.
"We should rest for awhile." I heard Lucas say.
A caress to my hair as Havoc murmured a response that was loss as I drifted into sleep.
~
Once I woke, we made our way to the other side where three doorways stood. Now on the top of the doorways, instead of animal symbols, there were symbols of a fang, a sword and a book. I consulted my almost torn map once again.
I frowned.
On the map, there weren't such symbols but instead shapes. A square, a rectangle and a octagon. I studied the map again. The shapes were oriented such that they were slanted at an odd angle.
I traced the tip of each shape, all of which were pointing to one common room. On the map, there was a symbol of an arrow in the room. My frown deepened as I cracked my brains for answers.
"What do you suppose those shapes mean?"
I stared harder at the map, my brain filtering through the different possibilities. Lucas' question was a good one. Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to study the map harder, ignoring the persistent throbbing in my arm.
"I think based on the sequence of the shapes and the doors, there's another symbol for the ones at the door. But I can't figure out why. There must be a clue to why the shapes are placed instead of the actual symbol like previously. And from their orientation, they must all be leading to the same room," I said, tracing pointing to the arrow room.
"Well maybe it's a sign for danger. Look at the passageways, there are no dots indicating the presence of a trap," Lucas said, as his finger traced the paths on the map.
I frowned. He was right.
Then it occurred to me.
"Maybe the shapes are meant to indicate the danger. Look here. The square has four equal sides which means that there are four death traps evenly spaced out in the passage way. But it is the longest amongst the three. Also the fang looks to be one of a snake, which would also mean poison. The traps inside the passage way could be poisonous," I said, tapping my chin.
I saw Lucas nod. He scooted closer to me to study the map.
"Yeah, that makes sense. But the rectangle, also has four sides, doesn't that mean these two passages are the same?" He asked, scrutinizing the map.
I shook my head.
"I don't think so. You see, the rectangle doesn't have sides that are all equal in length. The breath is shorter than its length, meaning that the traps may not be evenly spaced out. I don't know about poison but seeing as the symbol of a sword is right there, it would mean more weapons are going to be thrown our way," I mused.
"What about the octagon then Angel? Since it has eight sides does that mean this passage has the most traps?" Havoc asked, his silky voice suddenly very close to my ear.
Instantly, my heart began beating way too fast in my chest.
Havoc hadn't said a word to me ever since I woke up. It seemed like he was loss in thought. He felt so distant from me. I knew he was upset over my injury, but he felt unusually cold. He never shut himself from me before.
So I glanced at him worriedly from the corner of my eye. He looked to be frowning at the map, but when I touched his aura gingerly, it burned me with icy coldness. I stiffened. It was like he was rejecting me.
Why beloved? Pain speared my heart.
"Maybe but it has the shortest route," I replied past the lump in my throat, tracing out the path. I immediately struck down the negative thoughts that had started to take root.. Maybe it was his way of coping with the situation...
I frowned. But I didn't like this cold shut down.
"And based on what you said, books would probably be thrown our way right?"
Lucas shot me a worried look even as he attempted to lighten the mood, aware of the tension between me and Havoc. I laughed softly.
Thank you, Lucas.
"No, I highly doubt so. I bet this passage is more complicated. Needs us to think more. But since the passage way is short, we'd probably get there faster," I said, pointing to said destination with my finger on the map. The arrow room.
"But I think we should take the middle route," Havoc murmured, tracing the route with his finger.
I frowned and studied the 'sword' route. Indeed it was not as long as the 'fang' route nor was it short like the 'book' route. And it seemed like the traps would be rather manageable.
"I think you're right," I agreed.
He nodded and stood up, dusting his cargo pants, a remote look in his eyes. I'm right here beloved...
I glanced away from him, my chest tight, and rolled up the parchment, my movements sluggish.
"Angel." I looked up at Lucas who had offered his hand to me.
I took it and he hauled me up, careful of my injury. He silently helped me pack the map back into my carrier before helping me shrug it on.
All will be well, Elizabeth.
I know Lucas. It's my own fault that I'm hurt and no one else. You at least should know that.
He nodded at me but said nothing in reply. He just grabbed my hand, tugging me towards the middle passageway.
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