The Screaming Stone: The Otherworld Series Book 2 (18 page)

She drew in one long breath for encouragement as she braced herself to take one more gigantic step further down the tunnel and away from the relative safety of the basement and her friends.  Her foot landed hard on the dirt beneath her and her feet crunched something beneath the sole of her hot pink sneakers.  She cringed.  Then the internal argument began.

“What had she stepped on?” the child inside her asked.

“Oh it’s nothing probably just a bug,” the grown up inside her replied.

The teenager just screamed in girlie shock.

The old lady that had, until now, remained quiet chose to speak her mind as well.  “Maybe it’s a bone.  You are under a graveyard after all.”

With that thought firmly etched into her mind she spun and ran, like a coward, straight into a fleshy wall.

“Faerie princesses should no’ wander aboot dark scary passage ways without an escort,” growled an angry voice as an unseen hand clamped around her mouth silencing the scream that threatened to erupt out of her throat.

She was suddenly shoved, hard against the wall of the passage and lost her grip on her phone, as well as the only light source in the passage, which fell to the floor face down.  The passageway instantly became dark as her eyes struggled to adjust to the sudden change in light.  Panic seized her.  She had been so stupid to wander off on her own.  She should have waited, should have told the others what she had found, but her innate curiosity had driven her to take just one more step.  That one last step had led her straight into danger. 

All of this happened with in the space of a breath.  Then her brain suddenly stopped working and started acting.  It recalled every self-defense class Kat had dragged her to.  It recalled every kung-fu theater she had seen as a kid.  It recalled every kick ass female she had ever seen in an action movie and moved.  Her knee rose up and came into contact with the soft exposed male parts that drove every man to the ground as her hands clapped hard over his ears and her teeth bit deeply into the hand that was covering her mouth. 

Then she screamed.

It wasn’t a scream queen scream.  No she powered her lungs with the one word; the one name that she knew would come to her rescue as her feet moved fast carrying her away from her attacker.

“Duncan!”

She managed to take one faltering running step away before her legs stopped working at the sound of a voice laced heavily with pain rolling around on the ground behind her.  “I think I would’ve fared better had ye stabbed me Annie.”

She spun around and dropped down to her knees feeling around in the darkness for her phone.  Her shaking, adrenaline fueled fingers finally found the rectangular shape a foot away.  She raised her hand and a tiny pool of light illuminated a writhing Duncan.  His bleeding hand clutched at his more sensitive areas while he continued to scream at her, unable to hear his own voice over the deafening blow she had delivered him.

She scrambled towards him kicking up dirt and dust that made both of their lungs cough in protest.  She reached out a tentative hand afraid of touching him again.  At least he had stopped screaming, and probably cursing, in Gaelic.

“I think ye’ve beat the fight out of me luv,” he muttered a few octaves higher than his normal pitch convincing her that it was safe to touch him.

“Duncan, I am so sorry I didn’t realize it was you.  When you get angry your voice changes slightly and you accent becomes thicker and harder to understand.”  She was rambling and she knew it she just couldn’t think of a way to apologize for de-manning someone.

“It’s alright.  I may have deserved that one,” he grunted as he heaved himself up to a sitting position.  He took a few slow deep breaths before speaking to her again.  “But ye deserve a thrashin’ for wanderin’ away on yer own!”

He was waggling a finger under her nose like she was a child and her own anger swelled inside of her. She stomped down on it hard.  They had both been foolish, and she was willing to admit her own stupidity if he admitted his first.

“I thought you said you deserved it?” she challenged.

“Annie,” he growled at her.

“Don’t you do that,” she warned pointing her own waggling finger at him.  “Don’t you growl at me!  I took twelve steps down a dark hallway yes but it was only twelve steps.  It’s a longer trip to my bathroom from my bedroom and I do that on a daily basis without your assistance!”

His chin jutted out in stubborn anger and he inched closer to her stopping just as his nose brushed the tip of hers.  “Aye,” he acknowledged.  “But that was before half o’ the Unseelie were huntin’ ye!  From now on ye’ll no’ take more than one step from my side!”

“If you are both done venting we really need to get a move on.  The sun is setting fast,” Griffin calmly informed both of them.

Annie used her periphery vision unwilling to take her angry eyes away from Duncan’s.  He was angry, but he was scared too.  She hadn’t heard the others approach and wondered how much they had witnessed and how much they had overheard.

Kat, the only human not blessed with psychic abilities spoke out first.  “We’ve heard and seen enough.  Annie you should have never wandered away without us.  We thought you had been attacked or worse!” she chastised.

Annie lowered her eyes and closed them as the realization of Kat’s words penetrated her stubborn brain.  She could just imagine what it looked like when they stumbled on the darkened room with Rian crying in the corner and the oozing sack laying a few feet from him.  The sight must have been…horrifying.

“I’m so sorry everyone.”  She was sorry and knew that words would never fix the few moments of terror they had all had to live through.  They had all; every one of them, given up so much, sacrificed so much to protect her.  She had taken their loyalty and squashed it when she allowed her curiosity to override her safety.

When Kat was convinced that Annie had understood and had accepted her wrongdoing she turned her attention on Duncan.  “And you!” she said pointing an accusing finger in his direction.  “I have spent over a year training her in self-defense. You never, ever approach a woman like that.  You are so lucky she only bruised your balls.  I’ve taught her to do much worse.”  Duncan was not willing to give in so easily and tried to protest but Kat clapped a hand over his mouth silencing him.  “See, it’s not very nice is it?” she challenged.

Duncan held up his bleeding hand as an answer.

“She bit you too.  Good she did some real damage,” Kat said with a satisfied smirk on her cherub-like face.  “Now knock it off both of you.  We have a matter of minutes before the sun sets and then all the planning we’ve done is out the window.  I don’t mind flying on my broom by the seat of my pants but this is cutting it close.”

With that Kat had taken control and become both the general and the dictator as everyone quickly followed her down the darkened passage.

        Chapter Seventeen

Superstitions

Kat had taken exactly two steps before she spun around; the flashlight on her phone blinded all those with the misfortune to be standing directly behind her.  She used the blinding light like the police use a spot light to search for a criminal.  The light swept by Annie then swung back and remained focused on her.  Annie, like the good criminal she was, raised her hands in surrender.

“I give up.  What did I do now?”

“Booby traps,” Kat whispered to her.

“I didn’t even think of that,” Annie replied in horror. 

“I am canceling your Friday night movie parties,” Griffin informed both of them as he shook his head in disbelief.

If this whole excursion was ‘just like the movies’ how had Annie not thought of booby traps?  The answer, she was the stupid heroine in those movies.  No one thought ahead, no one stayed upstairs where it was safe, no one stayed with the group (because at least one idiot wandered off), and no one thought that the creepy secret passage way they had just found would be rigged with booby traps. 

“We’re supposed to be the experts!” Annie hissed as she slapped her thighs in frustration. 

“I am the expert,” Kat corrected her.  “You’re the one following the script.  I’m the one who said we needed a blonde.  I’m the one who stayed with the group.”  She used her free hand to count out her points while Annie, Griffin and Robert rolled their eyes.  Kat was invested in proving her point and they knew there would be no stopping her until she had reached the climatic conclusion.  “And,” she said dramatically warming up for the grand finale.  “I thought of the booby traps before it was too late.  Ha!” she shouted.  “Three strikes and you are out,” she finished by giving everybody her best impression of a major league umpire.

“No, you’re all out,” Robert chimed in.  “I have spent too many hours underground and honestly I miss the sun.  This dank hallway and basement are playing havoc with my allergies and my nose is so itchy that it’s driving me mad.  Kat make way I’ll lead.”

When she tried to protest he held up his hand and surprisingly silenced her.  “I will take the hit if and I stress if, we find a booby trap.  Then you can say I told you so.”

Kat sighed dramatically before stepping aside and allowing Robert to take the lead.  Robert wasted no time assuming his position at the head of the group, followed by Griffin and Kat.  Annie and Duncan remained in the back with Knackers, Autie and Failinis sandwiched between them.  The line had just begun to move again when Autie decided to speak up.

“Ye ken that an itchy nose means we’re headin’ for a fight right?” he whispered loudly to Knackers

Annie saw Knackers nod his head in agreement as he shuffled his combat boot clad feet in the dirt.  “Me nose itched for days afore the battle at the Wharf,” he informed Autie.

“It did not,” Annie challenged.  She had heard of the old superstition.  It was one her father used whenever she had wanted to plant a small plant.  He claimed his allergies would be bothered and cause his nose to itch and he did not want to get into a fight, especially with his know-it-all students.

“Did so,” Knackers volleyed back.  “Thought it would never stop.  Then again,” he mused absently scratching his heavily whiskered chin.   “It could have been stinky Pete.”

“Who be stinky Pete?” asked Autie.

Annie was happy for the distraction.  They continued idly chatting as they ventured further down the passage that Patrick had told them existed.  Autie was fascinated by Pete and his three stench producing brothers.  “Never met a Fir Darrig,” he admitted.  “Least not that I be aware of.”

“Trust me, you’d remember,” Annie muttered.  “It’s a smell thing,” she explained when Autie shot her a questioning look over his shoulder.

“Aye,” Duncan agreed.  “But Pete was smellier than most.”

Annie was glad he was speaking again.  Ever since Kat had taken control over the group he had been silent.  Annie had tried talking quietly to him, but he would only nod and grunt in response.  She hoped he was just concerned about Finn and not still angry at her.  Finn had not looked good when she had seen him when they first entered the basement.  He had not fared well in his battle with the Nightflyers and if Finn had not been able to defeat them what chance did a handful of humans, two tiny fae, and a puppy stand?

Duncan was fierce in battle.  Annie remembered well the hordes of goblins, hell hounds and the ferocious Redcap that he had defeated, seemingly single handedly.  According to Knackers Duncan was second in combat skills to only one person, Finn.  After his display at the Wharf Annie thought that was unlikely; Duncan was more skilled, stronger and definitely quicker than Finn.  Even with Duncan fighting on their side she still couldn’t help but think that in this fight they would be massively outmatched.

Fear was beginning to creep into her thoughts.  She was afraid, not for herself, but for everyone else.  She came to a quick and silent decision.  Once they reached the end of this unending tunnel she would run for the hill of Tara herself leaving everyone behind, and hopefully safe.  She couldn’t risk them encountering one of those vicious sounding Nightflyers, they would never survive.  She would either make it to the hill, or not.  She just hoped if she died the rest wouldn’t be stupid enough to get killed themselves.  She was convinced that the plan they had come up with earlier that day would not work.  She was so wrapped in her own thoughts that she hadn’t felt someone grab a hold of her hand until she was being pulled to a stop.

“Yer thinkin’ too loudly princess,” Duncan whispered down into her ear.

Knackers realized that Annie was no longer directly behind him stopped and looked back at her. Duncan waved his hand at him, encouraging him to continue on with the others.  Knackers needed no further encouragement and turned around pushing Autie further down the passage and out of earshot when the Knocker tried to protest Knackers resorted to shoving which started a minor dispute between the two old friends.

“Don’t call me that,” she whispered angrily up at Duncan once the curious ears of Knackers and Autie were out of the way.

“Doona call ye what?  Princess?  Alright how a‘boot
bhanphrionsa
?” he said slightly mockingly.  Annie sighed in agitation and crossed her arms defensively over her chest in response to his tone.  “Doona forget that is exactly what ye are.  Ta them,” he said pointing to the steadily disappearing line of her friends. “An’ everything else that may or may no’ be waitin’ for us out there.”  His accent was thick with anger and Annie had to struggle to understand what he was saying to her.