Dust and Roses: Book Two of the Dust Trilogy (15 page)

I groped at the door, but like other doors
in the lair, there was no handle. No way to open it, at least from the inside.
In one corner of the room was an old beat up mattress. In the other corner, a
tiny room which contained a toilet and a sink. That was all.

I banged on the door, screaming until my
throat was raw, even though I knew there was little chance anyone down there
would help me. Maybe Dad would make Mason release me. There was no way he could
be okay with this. One thing I knew for sure, I was going to lose it being
stuck in that room for two days.

Exhausted from the banging and yelling, I
collapsed onto the mattress. The thin sheet that covered it smelled
surprisingly like the dryer sheets Mom used.

I clutched the sheet to my chest and
leaned against the wall. There, I spent hours sitting in silence, wondering how
my life had become so insane, until someone finally came to the door.

It must have been night by then. Cadence
entered the room with a steaming bowl of something. She was the last person I
wanted to see, but I was starving. I snatched the hot bowl gratefully.

Whatever is was, it looked like oatmeal.
“What is this?” I asked, sniffing the contents.

Cadence rolled her eyes. “Cornish hen
mash. It’s delicious. Or would you like us to order a pizza and caviar for her
majesty?”

I stuck my spoon into the bowl and sighed.
I wasn’t about to give Cadence the satisfaction of rattling me. She wanted to
see me break. If anything, I was about to pretend that this solitary
confinement was perfectly okay.

 “This is fine.” I tasted a tiny
mouthful. “Hmmmm.” And it was good. I hadn’t tasted anything in the lair that
tasted bad even though their food was different from what I was used to. I
guessed I had the taste buds for Taker food.

I waited for Cadence to leave but instead
she crouched in front of me, staring me down as I ate.

“Do you need something?” I asked.

She had a mischievous glint in her eye.
“Tomorrow night is not going to be a picnic for you.”

I straightened my shoulders to show her I
wasn’t nervous. She would feed off that. “I don’t expect it to be.”

Then Cadence did something unexpected. She
reached out and lay her hand on my cheek. Her touch was ice cold—so cold, it
almost stung. “What’s it like?”

I shivered. “What’s what like?”

“Being able to pass. To be one of them. To
do whatever you want to do. To be beautiful.”

I wasn’t sure how to answer that or how to
take Cadence’s demeanor. She didn’t seem angry as she usually did. She seemed
like she genuinely wanted to know what it was like to be me.

“There’s not much going on outside of
here,” I lied. There were millions of opportunities out there, but they would
never be available to Cadence, so what would be the point of bringing them up?
“What do you think you’re missing?”

She shrugged and picked at a loose thread
on her jeans. I knew right then what I would do with my lilac fabric; make
Cadence a dress. She needed to feel beautiful and a pretty dress always did
that for me. Cadence let out a deep breath. “Choices. Options. The world is a
big place, Arden and you have access to all of it. We don’t. We have no choice
but to stay hidden. And . . .”

“And what?”

“Never mind.”

“Is it about Hollis?” I knew I was taking
a risk asking that, but I wanted to know. I had a feeling Cadence was overdue
for some girl talk. As far as I knew, she was the oldest girl in the lair and
she probably didn’t have many people to talk to. I sensed a lot of her anger
stemmed from me being able to live like a normal teenager, when she couldn’t.
Even though she would never admit it, I knew Cadence wanted that.

She looked at me sharply and then back down
again. “Hollis and I are friends, nothing more.”

“I know, but I think you’d like to be more
than friends, but you can’t because he’s an Aswang and you’re a Harpy.”

Mixing across species was strictly
forbidden in the creature world. My biological parents had done it and the
result had been me. Now according to creature law, I could never mix with
anyone.

I placed the bowl on the floor beside me.
“Listen, Cadence, love and dating aren’t all it’s cracked up to be. As a matter
of fact, it sucks for me. I like one guy who won’t like me back. Another has
this creepy obsession with me that I can’t even go into, and just the other day
I was forced into a date with the person I hate the most in this world. Trust
me, you’ll probably be much better off pairing off with a nice Harpy.”

She stood, brushing her jeans off with
broad swipes. “Maybe so. I don’t care much anyways. I’ll see you for
breakfast.”

Then she left me alone to wander what my
family was doing and if they were missing me. For the rest of the night it was
just me, my bowl of mush and the rumbling of the beasts in the sixth tunnel. I
longed for my own bed where I felt safe and didn’t have to listen to the
constant roaring of vicious monsters.

In the morning Cadence didn’t bring my
breakfast as I expected, Violet did. I had to admit I was much happier to see
her.

She handed me a metal plate. “Scrambled
pheasant eggs. They’re the best.”

I dug in hungrily as she settled herself
on the mattress beside me. “I asked if I could bring you breakfast because I wanted
to see you.”

“Why?”

“People still call me Cuddle Bug.”

I wished I had more advice for her, but I
didn’t. “Keep at it. Stay strong on your demands and don’t answer to it.
They’ll come around.”

Violet stared at her hands as I ate. I had
been meaning to talk to her about something for a while. “Violet, you know how
we’ve been having a lot of storms and raining recently? You wouldn’t have
anything to do with that, would you?”

She made a face as if I had just stated
the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard. “Yeah, right. I wish I could do
something so awesome. I make shapes out of clouds, that’s it. The other day I
made a unicorn for the first time.”

She clearly wasn’t ready to tell me the
truth so I dropped it. We sat silently for a moment while I ate. “I hope this
day goes by really slowly,” I said between bites. “I’m not looking forward to
tonight.”

Violet nodded. “I put my name on the list
to go. Nobody really volunteers. It’s usually just a punishment, but if you’re
going, I want to go. I’ve only been once when I forgot to do my lessons. Mr.
Mason is very strict about that kind of stuff, but it’s good for us, I guess.”

“What was it like, going to hunt for those
whatevers?”

“Snapperwhips. They’re awful. They sting
and bite and we have to catch so many of them to feed the Chupacabras. We can’t
come back to the lair until we’ve reached our quota. That’s why I’m going
tonight. I figure the more people to collect Snapperwhips, the quicker you can
come back.”

I grinned. “Thanks, Violet. I appreciate
that.” Violet had always accepted me for who I was, even from the beginning.
Unlike some of the others, she’d never held my mistakes against me.

The door slid open and Cadence stood in
the doorway with her hands on her hips, glaring at Violet. “Hey, I told you to
bring her food and that’s it. You’re not supposed to be visiting with her.
Solitary is called solitary for a reason.”

I wanted to point out to Cadence that
she’d had a conversation with me the night before, but I didn’t. It wouldn’t
help anything. Violet gave me a small smile and then scurried from the room.
Cadence looked me up and down before slamming the door shut. I guessed the
moment we had shared was buried and forgotten.

Nightfall came way too soon. Another
Cecrops came into the room and flung a black hooded cloak at me. This Cecrops
had the top half of a blond-haired boy but from the abdomen down he was a snake
covered in olive green and brown scales. “Put this on. We can’t be seen,” he
said tersely. He tossed me a pair of thick, padded gloves. “Wear these at all
times if you want to come back with ten fingers.”

He stood there watching me expectantly, so
I moved to throw on the cloak and the gloves. Once I was ready, he led me from
the room to the sliding wall that led to the janitor’s closet where several
pairs of black galoshes were lined up. “Put on a pair. The others are on the
way.”

He slithered away to yell down the hall
for the others.

Cadence and Violet emerged dressed in
their gear. The Grims joined us soon after wearing their usual attire plus the
special gloves.

“You guys are coming?” I asked.

“Yes, Cousin. Of course we will help,” one
said.

After all this time, I felt horrible not
knowing their names. “What are your names?”

“Grim,” they said in unison.

“Yeah, I know but what are your individual
names?”

“Grim is the name for all of us, Cousin.”

I hated that. Maybe the only thing worse
than not being called your name was not having your own name at all.

Cadence checked her phone and then slid it
into her pocket. “Well, look at you, Dust. You draw quite the crowd for
snapperwhip hunting,” she said bitterly.

I ignored her because jealousy was a
personal problem I couldn’t help her with. She hated that Violet and the Grims
were fond of me.

Moments later a few more creatures joined
us: three Zombies and two Gorgon girls with matching, snake-like hair. The
Cecrops handed us each a large, filthy bucket which had a disgusting odor like
nothing I had ever smelled before, while Cadence rattled off last-minute
instructions.

Myself, Violet, the Grims, the Zombies,
and the Gorgons stood against the wall listening silently. There were fourteen
of us altogether. I didn’t know how many usually went out, but I hoped fourteen
was enough to make this go by quickly.

“You are not done until your bucket is
completely full, even then you’re not really done because you should be helping
others fill their buckets. Of course those of us that are a little more
inexperienced when it comes to snapperwhip collecting, it might take them a
little longer so make sure to help them out.”

Why didn’t she just say me?

Cadence continued. “As usual, move as
quietly as possible.” She looked directly at me. “No screaming for any reason.
The woods are still being watched after those Wendigo attacks so govern
yourselves accordingly. Everyone understand?”

No screaming? What would there be to
scream about?

 Cadence led us from the lair, off
the school campus and to the nearest wooded area. No one spoke a word as we
ducked and dodged to stay in the shadows. The streets were completely empty so
I figured it had to be after midnight. I had no sense of time after being
locked in solitary.

Once my shovel clanged noisily inside of
my bucket. “Shhhh,” Cadence hissed, shooting me a dirty look.

Our group entered the woods. “Okay. Split
up and meet back here in an hour,” Cadence ordered. I didn’t like the thought
of splitting up at all. I had been under the impression that we were going to
stay together as a group. Besides that, an hour seemed like an awful long time.

“We will stay with you, Cousin,” said one
of the Grims.

“No!” Cadence snapped. “You know the
rules. We’ll collect faster if we split up.”

The Grims ignored her and pushed me
forward with them. Violet followed. I liked the way the Grims marched to their
own drums and I was grateful for their support. Cadence said nothing about
their disobedience and I hadn’t bother to look back to see her face. I didn’t
have to do that to know she was pissed.

Violet whispered beside me. “Snapperwhipps
like to live under tree roots so we usually dig there.”

Once we were at a far enough distance from
the others, we found a large tree and started to dig. I had no idea what we
were looking for. No one had bothered to show me what a snapperwhip looked
like. Violet told me I would know one when I saw it.

The others got to digging. The ground was
cold and hard but once I through the top layer, it got easier.

“Got one,” announced one of the Grims in a
hollowed, raspy voice.

I moved over to where she was to get a
glimpse of the thing she had just thrown into her bucket. Using the light from
my phone, I shone it on the creature.

The snapperwhip looked like a scorpion on
steroids. It had a catlike head with tiny sharp gnashing teeth. Its tail
thrashed back and forth as it snapped at us. I couldn’t believe something so
incredible had been living under the soil all this time.

“Can’t they just crawl out of the bucket?”
I asked the Grim.

She picked the creature up and squeezed it
until it stopped moving. “No. Don’t squeeze too hard and let the juices out.”
The Grim let the creature drop back into the bucket.

I wanted to throw up in my mouth but I
resisted the urge. Everyone had found snapperwhips but me, so I had to kick
things up a notch. Digging deeper, I finally found one.

It poked its tiny head out of the soil,
snapping its teeth at me. I went to grab it, but hesitated. “It’s okay,” Violet
said from behind me. “They can’t bite you through your gloves.”

I took a deep breath, snatched it up, squeezed
it lifeless, and then tossed it into my bucket before I could really think
about what I was doing. I felt slightly accomplished, but that was only one. I
couldn’t imagine filling that huge bucket. We would probably be out there all
night. I didn’t know how Cadence expected us to be back in an hour. Before an
hour had seemed too long, now it seemed impossible.

Just then a Zombie named Harris dashed by
us, swinging his bucket wildly. He was surprisingly playful and lively for a
zombie. “Hey guys,” he shouted which was totally against the rules. “My
bucket’s already half full. Let’s have a contest to see who can fill their
bucket first.”

The Grims grumbled, mostly ignoring him,
but Violet wanted to take him up on his offer. “You’re on,” she said.

Harris laughed. “Not with you, Cuddle Bug.
I want a real challenge.”

Violet stepped close to him. “Don’t call
me, Cuddle Bug and I
am
a real challenge.” Even though Harris towered
over her easily, she didn’t seem afraid at all.

The Zombie laughed again, but not so
heartily that time. It was more of a mocking laugh. “That’s real cute, Cuddle
Bug.”

“My name is
Violet
!”

As soon as the words had left her mouth,
the sky rumbled, releasing a huge boom of thunder. We all jumped at the noise,
Violet included. Had she done that? Of course not. She could move clouds and
change their shape, that was it. The crash of thunder had been a weird
coincidence, but no more came after that.

Everyone froze, staring at Violet. She
looked down at the ground as if suddenly ashamed of herself. “I just don’t like
when you guys call me Cuddle Bug, that’s all,” she said in a tiny voice.

Harris frowned and backed away. “Just
trying to spice things up a bit. Snapperwhip hunting can be very tedious.
Anyway, carry on.” He disappeared into the darkness, probably to get back to
the other zombies.

The rest of us went back to work. By the
time everyone in my group had full buckets, mine was only a quarter full. I was
proud of myself for collecting even that much. The others helped me fill my
bucket and we went to meet up with Cadence. We ended up being ten minutes late
which had totally been my fault because the others had had to help me.

From the look Cadence gave me, I could
tell she knew the tardiness had been my fault. She looked into my bucket, at
the dead snapperwhips, most of which I didn’t catch myself. “Cool, let’s go
back. Dust and Cecrops, you’ll help me deliver the buckets to the Giants.”

I was about to ask her why I had to do it,
but there was really no point. I kept my mouth shut until we got back to the
lair.

The others placed their buckets on the
ground against the wall of the lair’s entrance. Cadence and Cecrops grabbed a
bunch at once. Although I was stronger than I usually was, the most I could do
was carry two buckets in each hand.

“Are we really taking these to the
Giants?” I asked. I had no desire to go near that sixth tunnel again.

“No,” Cecrops said. “We drop them down the
chute and the Giants collect them that way.”

We went to the chute, poured the disgusting
things down, and the Cecrops took the buckets back where they belonged.

“Follow me,” Cadence said, “I have to put
you away for the night, but first I have to report to Mr. Mason that we’re back
and that we reached our quota.”

We took the elevator down to the bottom
level. As we stepped off the elevator, we heard voices. Mr. Mason speaking to
someone. Cadence stepped forward but I placed my hand on her wrist and she
stopped. I wanted to hear what he was saying.

“Think about what you’re doing because
once you do it, it can’t be undone,” spoke an unfamiliar voice.

“They haven’t left me much of a choice,”
Mr. Mason said to his unknown companion. “They want to impose this curse. They
think it’s going to take us out. I have to show them that we have a much more
powerful weapon in our arsenal. What happened at that carnival the other night
was just the tip of the iceberg.”

Cadence and I locked eyes. She didn’t
blink. What did Mr. Mason have to do with what had happened at the carnival?
Had he let the creature out? Was he responsible for the death of those two
people?

“What about us?” the other person asked.
“We will be in danger ourselves.”

“No, we won’t. All Takers will be warned
and given a safe haven down here. This place will be sealed like a vault.”

My heart thudded. A safe haven from what?
What was going to happen that people needed to hide from?

“My mind is made up, Jeremiah. Take them
my ultimatum. A week from today, unless they revoke this Gemini Curse, the
sixth tunnel will be opened and our family will be set free.”