Phoebe Wren and the Vortex of Light (8 page)

“
What is the fate of those who let me down?
” Abaddon pondered the question, and Schnither wondered whether it was rhetorical or whether in fact the Dark Master sought his answer. In the end, he decided it best not to speak – there was nothing he could say to make things any better and in all probability opening his mouth would only make things worse. Schnither shuddered. His instincts told him to get up, to run for his life, to fly as far away as he could get and never come back. But he knew that this was not a viable option – there simply was no escape, nowhere to hide for those of his kind who had sworn allegiance to Abaddon. The thought was sobering and Schnither clenched his jaw, causing the muscles along his jaw line to pop.

Abaddon the Defiler now stood up straight to his full nine feet, his four black wings unfurled to a span of eight feet – he was a terrifying sight, and Schnither was sure that his fate had been sealed. He gulped, and closed his eyes – maybe it would be swift and he would feel no pain…

“
One… more… chanc
e.” Abaddon’s voice was soft and compelling once again. “I will give you one more chance to get it right. Yours is not a difficult task – I ask you only to rid me of that pesky girl. She is a
human
, a mere mortal. How difficult can it be?” He paused as if the words pained him, then spat, “
Phoebe Wren
, and her do-good parents, and that boy who encourages her so. The Atoner has assigned seven of His finest. He obviously has big designs for that little girl. But He has not reckoned on what
I
have planned!”

Abaddon’s face had contorted into a freakish mask of twisted glee, and his eyes blazed with zeal at the thought of scuppering the Atoner’s plans.

“Now,
Captain Schnither
, go. Leave me. I have assembled a team – a stronger,
smarter
team – for you. They await your command. But
do not
fail me again
. You will not find me so lenient a third time…”

As quickly as he had appeared, Abaddon the Defiler vanished back into the gloom – it was as if he had been swallowed up by the murkiness, never to re-emerge. But Schnither knew better than to assume that Abaddon was ever far away, and he wasted no time in scrabbling to his feet and backing towards the massive doors of the Dark Master’s chamber. He scurried backwards, arms extended behind him, until he felt the unyielding weight of the doors behind him, then spun around, grabbing frantically for the door knob. Schnither heaved the door towards him with all his might and as it swung open, both guards tumbled through and fell at his feet.

“
Eavesdroppers!
” Schnither hissed, and he wasted no time in kicking them both back out through the doors, which he pulled tightly shut behind him.

“How dare you listen in on a private meeting!” Schnither raged. “I should have you sent to the Abyss for such an act of treachery!”

Schnither lifted a clenched fist and struck one of the guards square across the side of his head. The beastly figure, who had been struggling to his feet, went flying across the marbled floor, and thudded into the wall at the opposite side of the hall. Schnither was about to exact the same punishment on the second guard, when loud footfall heralded the arrival of his new troop of demons, who marched up to Schnither, halted sharply a few feet away, and saluted their still fuming captain.

“Captain Schnither, sir,” snarled the first fiend. “I am Lieutenant Garshwell. We have been despatched to your command to assist in overseeing the demise of Phoebe Wren and her interfering parents. What are your plans, Captain?”

Garshwell was intense and unwavering, his bulbous eyes fixed on Schnither, awaiting his Captain’s command.

Impressed by the efficiency of Lieutenant Garshwell, and with his ego suitably stroked by such respect, Schnither was full of his own importance, and entirely believing of his own hype. How quickly his re-inflated pride helped him to forget the humiliation he had felt in Abaddon’s chamber!

“Follow me,” Schnither commanded, his voice sounding more confident than he felt, since in the pit of his stomach he was still smarting from his encounter with Abaddon the Defiler. “We will put a stop to this hope and redemption nonsense once and for all.”

And with a
whoosh
of his powerful black wings, Schnither bolted upwards and exited through the ceiling with his evil cohorts following obediently behind.

There was an unmistakable sense of urgency in the speed at which Phoebe, Demetrius and their Heavenly escort were moving towards Medical Miracles Hospital. Although the hospital was not far away, it felt to Phoebe that she had hundreds of miles to go. Ordinarily, she would have enjoyed her surroundings, taken time to appreciate the beauty of the sky and the trees and the wildlife around her, but today she barely noticed these things and was focused only on reaching her destination as quickly as possible.

“What if we’re too late? What if
they
get to Dad and Mum before we do? What if they’re already
there?
” Phoebe’s questions jangled off her lips in quick succession, and she felt strangely disappointed by her own lack of faith – had she learned nothing from the peculiar events of the last few hours?

As if he could read her thoughts, Cosain spoke. “You must not be so hard on yourself, Phoebe. The happenings of the last few weeks are extraordinary for you; these things do not just happen every day in the human world. I think it would be more unusual if you
weren’t
wondering what is going on. But you cannot live in the ‘
what ifs
’ – they serve no purpose but to unsettle your spirit and divide your mind. But do not worry, Phoebe, we will
not
be too late this time.” Cosain’s confident words reassured Phoebe, and she felt the rising sense of panic begin to disperse and in its place began to grow a calm that was entirely contrary to circumstances.

The anomalous group continued their fast paced journey until Medical Miracles Hospital was in sight. Phoebe could see her parents’ blue Jeep sitting in their reserved parking space, and the sight of it somehow reassured her that with the angelic troop on their side, things would be okay. She and Demetrius ran ahead through the hospital’s automatic glass doors, and the familiar sounds and smells of the hospital filled Phoebe’s senses. Behind a clear screen Doris, the kindly hospital receptionist, looked up from her paperwork. She peered over her half glasses at Phoebe and Demetrius, and then broke into a sincere and welcoming smile.

“Excuse me, Doris.” Phoebe spoke to the pleasant receptionist before she had a chance to greet the teenagers. Doris had worked at the hospital since the day it opened, and to her the role of receptionist was more than just a job. She made it her business to put everyone who came through the hospital doors at ease, and with her kind smile and motherly nature that was something she did extremely well.

“Oh hi, Phoebe honey,” Doris smiled. “Are you looking for your folks? They finished up just a while ago and have been loading up the car. They’ve been up and down in that elevator a dozen times, I’m sure! They’ll be exhausted! Do you want to go up to the office, or wait here and I’ll call them for you?”

“Maybe I’ll just go up if that’s okay?” replied Phoebe, who was already halfway across the reception floor.

“Sure, Honey, you know the way,” Doris winked and smiled again. She had gotten very used to seeing Phoebe about the hospital during the last few years, and would miss the Wrens. They were a lovely family, and Doris had valued their friendship as much as the hospital had valued the surgeons’ skills.

“Okay, thanks, I’ll stop in again before we leave, I promise,” Phoebe called over her shoulder.

Phoebe and Demetrius walked quickly toward the hospital’s sole elevator, and were only ten feet away from its metal doors when an eerie whistling sound stopped them in their tracks. The whistle got louder and faster until it became an unmistakable wail, like the sound of a high-speed jet, and the closed doors across the elevator began to rattle and vibrate.

“Phoebe,
jump
!” Demetrius yelled at the last second, half pushing and half throwing his friend across the reception floor. With an almighty crash, the elevator doors buckled and exploded outwards, and the elevator car within folded like an accordion as it shot down the last stretch of the elevator shaft and smashed into the ground floor.

“
Dad! Mum!
” Phoebe screamed, as she struggled to her feet and ran towards the wreckage. How could this be? How could she be living this nightmare again? Through the billowing dust and debris, Phoebe’s eyes desperately scoured the wreckage for signs of life. It slowly dawned on her, however, that not only were there no signs of life, but, thank God, there were no signs of anyone having been in the elevator. The car that had just plummeted to the ground floor had been empty. Phoebe heaved a sigh of relief, and wiped a wayward tear from her dusty face with the back of her hand. She felt that her knees may buckle beneath her, and grabbed hold of Demetrius’s arm to steady herself.

“Phoebe? Sweetheart, are you okay?”

Phoebe spun around in the direction of the gentle familiar voice, and ran into her Dad’s arms. Despite her resolve to be brave and inconspicuous, she could not hold back this time, and she cried frightened, vulnerable tears that made a dark damp patch on her Dad’s shirt.

“It’s okay my darling, Mum and I are okay. You don’t need to cry, we’re here,” Jack soothed his daughter as he gently kissed her head. His assumption that his daughter was crying in fright at the elevator crash was entirely understandable, and Phoebe was glad to have the excuse to give in to her emotions.

“What on earth happened, Dr. Wren?” The thunderous crash of the falling elevator had made Doris literally jump out of her chair, and she stood now, bewildered and heart pounding, surveying the mess of concrete and twisted metal that had spewed out on to the reception floor.

“I don’t know, Doris,” said Jack, “I can only guess that a cable snapped, or there was an electrical fault. We should just thank God that nobody was injured – or worse!”

He took Doris aside, and in hushed tones he confided, “Eva and I should have been on that elevator! We had emptied our offices, and were coming down with the last of the boxes – I had called the elevator, and was holding it for Eva, but her favourite picture frame was missing from the box, and we had to go back to the office to collect it. It’s weird you know, because I could swear that I saw her put it in that box… Still, it saved our lives, so I won’t grumble!”

Eva Wren, visibly shaken by what had just taken place, had exited the stairwell just behind her husband, and now stood with Phoebe and Demetrius, surveying the mayhem before them.

“Someone is
definitely
watching over you and Dem, Phoebe,” Eva said as she hugged her daughter. “What were you doing back here, Sweetie? I thought we had arranged to meet back home?”

“Sorry Mum,” said Phoebe. “I just, uh, thought we could drive back home together.”

“Yes, let’s do that,” Jack picked his steps carefully as he rejoined his family, “But we’re going to have to sort this mess out, we can’t leave it like this. Will you and Dem be okay to wait a while?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, sure, that’s fine Dad, we’ll make ourselves useful,” answered Phoebe, and she turned to Demetrius, who was standing just behind her, rubbing his temples and shaking his head.

“This craziness is making my head hurt, Bird,” Demetrius confided in hushed tones, as he puffed out his cheeks, and blew air out through his pursed lips with a loud
phoo
sound.

“Tell me about it!” retorted Phoebe, as she and her friend headed towards the exit, desperate for some air and room to gather their thoughts.

Just then, out of the corner of her eye, Phoebe spotted a thin wisp of yellow vapour snaking out of the elevator shaft. Given what she had already witnessed at the airport, Phoebe knew that this ominous piece of evidence heralded something foreboding. She gasped, and tried to subtly signal to Demetrius, but he had obviously already spotted it. Demetrius took Phoebe’s hand, and walked with her as quickly as they could manage without looking suspicious through the hospital doors and out into the car park. There, Solas and Dilis were awaiting the teenagers, and they beckoned them closer.

“Did you
see
that?” spluttered Phoebe, her mousy hair dusty and straggly around her pretty face, her green eyes flashing.

“Yes, we were expecting another attack. The Enemy will not let you go without a fight,” said Solas gently, “Do not be surprised – just be ready.”

“Cosain and the others are inside,” explained Dilis, “They will not let those troublesome demons away with it.”

‘Troublesome demons’
Phoebe mused, blinking dust from her watering eyes as she contemplated the fact that it seemed she was living in one big understatement right now!