The Doorknob Society (The Doorknob Society Saga) (35 page)

“I think we better create our portal now, but we have to remember how to get back to this spot.” I wished Edgar was here he never gets lost and always has a map handy. I was hoping we wouldn’t need one to find our way back.

Three doors sat on separate corners of the hallway. Each was an old wooden door with an ornate knob and keyhole. I chose the one that was in a direct line of sight from where the guard had disappeared, hoping that we would be coming back this way and be able to run right to our exit.

I reached out for the knob letting my powers accumulate around it. Then it started, the tug of the universe turning under my direction. The familiar blue glow surrounded the knob and my hand and I turned it opening the door to reveal a portal behind it.

Nightshade moved next to me. I sensed his potent power as he activated his key and red loops of energy encircled the door. The blue and red bands rolled around one another intertwining like lovers locked in a seductive dance and then they fused purple.

“It’s locked in place and should hold for at least two hours even through a lockdown.” Nightshade examined our handy work, then we made our way down the hall toward the door the guard had entered. James looked over the locking mechanism and knelt down next to it.

“Well?” My voice was low and impatient.

“It’s booby trapped; if we turn it wrong...” He shook his head.

I thought back to class where Ms. True had shown us the trick doorknob. “Can you get around it?”

“I think so, but it’ll take me a minute, he said.

I kept a watch on the hall, worried that at any moment some guard would come upon us and that would be, the end of the road for us all.

The click of the key turning in the lock sounded like crashing cymbals in the empty corridor. I held my breath as I watched James try the knob and the door opened, if only slightly at his touch.

“We’re in.” Nightshade smiled pleased with his success and pushed the door open.

Standing right in front of us was the guard we had been following.

“Who are you?” His big buggy eyes darted back and forth between us and his hand reached into his coat.

I reacted quickly with a high kick, my foot catching him right on the chin and sending him sailing backwards to crash to the floor unconscious.

“Nice kick,” Nightshade said with a chuckle.

“Shut up.”

“No, seriously that was quick thinking. Remind me not to get on your bad side.” He chuckled again as he closed the door. Then he walked over to the guard and searched his coat, pulling out a set of keys and shaking them in the air.

“Only one way to go from here.” I pointed down the corridor.

James used his Skeleton Key to create bonds around the guard. Once he finished we moved swiftly down the length of the hallway and turned into another corridor that ended at a large metal doorway. I approached it letting my hand hover over the doorknob trying to determine if there were any tricks or traps attached to it.

“Another trap?” Nightshade asked.

“No.” I grabbed it and turning the knob pushed the door open slowly not sure if another guard waited on the other side. A barely lit, dank and dirty stone room greeted us and we entered a bit cautiously.

Sitting on a wooden stool in the middle of the room was a lone man hunched over as if weighted by a tremendous burden. Thick metal shackles circled his wrists and ankles and chains ran from them to a link in the floor. The man fought to raise his head but was only able to give it a tilt. It was enough for him to meet my eyes.

“Dad.” I rushed toward my father wanting to grab him and run from this place as fast as we could.

“Stop, it’s a trap!”

Chapter 31

Status: I find my dad and everything goes to hell... again.

Nightshade grabbed my jacket yanking me back into his arms. We didn’t move; he held me close, to comfort or protect I wasn’t sure but I needed both from him at the moment. Just when I thought we’d caught a break, another obstacle pops up. I worried that this nightmare would never end.

Nightshade didn’t say a word, his arms fell away from me though not before he gave me a reassuring squeeze and turned me around to face my dad.

“They captured you too?”

The look on my father’s face was one I had never seen before... fear was written all over it

“No, Dad, we came to rescue you.”

“What?” His eyes grew wide in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, we’re here to get you out.”

“Who’s the Guilder?” He nodded at James who remained unusually quiet.

“James Nightshade. He’s been helping me along with Edgar and cousin Jess.”

“You’ve been with your cousin, what about your grandmother?”

“She got hurt, Dad, trying to protect me from Caleb Darker.”

“They sent Caleb after you?”

That obviously made him angry and it also got him thinking. I could almost see his thoughts grinding like gears as they adjusted and turned trying to figure out some new angle. Dad may be a magician but he didn’t always rely on illusion.

“They thought I had the Legend.”

He nodded and grinned proudly just as he had always done whenever I brought home a good report card. “You figured out the clues.”

“Some and I made it to the library but after that,” —I shook my head— “I couldn’t figure out where you hid it.”

He looked around the room anxiously, as if he assumed we were being watched. “We can worry about that when we get out of here. Right now we need to deal with this.” He lifted the shackles as high as they would go.

Nightshade finally spoke. “That’s going to be a problem.” He gave Dad’s chains a quick once over.

“You look like a bright kid. You know what these are?”

“Armageddon chains if I’m not mistaken. But they haven’t been used since World War II.”

“Either has this castle, but it seems our friends are reviving all specters.”

“What’s so special about them?” I asked not familiar with them.

“Armageddon chains are used to lock abilities in and never let them out. The chains use your own power against you to feed the locks, which prohibits any chance of escape. And if someone other than the key holder opens them that person gets sucked in by the chains as well. It’s not just shackles; it’s a booby trap.

“That’s just great, so any ideas on how we set him free?” I waited hoping one of them had an answer. Neither of them responded or looked very confident.

“Wait a sec.” James dug into his coat pocket and pulled out the set of keys he had taken from the guard.

“Great, let’s get him out.” I was feeling anxious over how long this was taking and whether or not anyone had noticed that the guard had gone missing.

“I need to figure out which one is the right key,” James said a faint glow of energy flowing from each one as he flipped through them.

I stepped closer to Dad and kneeled down near him making sure not to touch his shackles. “Dad, who are these people?”

He closed his eyes, though I knew it would be only for a moment. He was deciding on how to tell me and where to start. It was this way when he had told me that Mom had left.

“I doubt we have much time so I’ll give you the short version and later when we’re home, we’ll talk more.”

I nodded pleased and relieved that he believed that we’d make it out of here alive.

“This all goes back to when your mother and I were searching for the artifacts of the First Kind. We were in school and a bunch of us from the various societies formed a group and worked altogether to find the artifacts. What we discovered was the bridge device. There was an old theory that the First Kind had used the bridge to hide some of their most powerful artifacts and that only by all the societies working together would any of us be able to possess them once again.

“We were young and inexperienced, so that device didn’t work properly. But years later when your mother and I got the assignment to hunt down a rumor of an artifact of the First Kind, we once again looked in to using a bridge device and that’s when we learned others were searching as well.

“It wasn’t long before we feared for our safety and especially for
your
welfare. We started working independently so that one of us would always be with you and in case something should happen to either of us, at least the other would survive. We went to the council with our concerns but were dismissed as being paranoid.

“It was after that disappointing meeting that I was approached by Caleb Darker. He was a former DS member who had been expelled from the group years ago for misuse of his powers. He offered me a chance to join a new organization, one that didn’t recognize the authority of the council or any of the groups and one that claimed to be the true heirs of the First Kind. When I declined, Caleb attacked me. I was successful in repelling him but only for a short time, I got away and raced to a rendezvous with your mother. When I got there she wasn’t anywhere to be found and Darker caught up with me. Luckily, the HVO arrived and I was able to survive. I had no proof against Darker and with no word from your mother they assumed I was responsible for her disappearance. Jordan had been my handler and assigned me the mission. He knew what we were after but once everything went bad he turned on me and accused me of lying and fabricating the entire story. He had me brought up on charges and kicked out of DS.

“Every day since then I’ve been searching for any clues to the artifact, knowing that if I found it I no doubt would find out what happened to your mom since she’d be searching for it too.”

“Once your powers developed and I brought you to the academy to be trained I started hearing rumors of a rogue group searching for our old bridge device plans. I rebuilt our bridge device and finally figured out what we had been doing wrong. We’d been using updated maps when we needed an old, outdated map that detailed the universe during the time of the First Kind. Once I got that I was able to hunt down the Legend. I found it but they were right on my tail and I hid it and got a message to you as fast as I could.

“I didn’t want you getting caught up in this like your mother and I did. I’m so sorry, kiddo. This is my entire fault.” Dad bowed his head and sighed deeply.

“No, Dad, it’s not your fault; I’m my parent’s daughter. You should know I would never leave you on your own that is not how you raised me. We’re going to get you out of here, get the Legend and clear everyone’s name at the council.”

Dad grinned “That’s my girl, your mother would be proud.”

Mom
. What had happened to her? Had Darker gotten to her like he had Lauren Harkness? At the moment I knew nothing was going to stop me from taking these people down. They had taken my mother from me and tried to take my father and I would not let that stand.

A buzzing sound echoed through the castle shaking it to its core. I stumbled to stand and to keep myself from falling over into my dad. James rushed to my side, his arm going around me to keep me steady. I stayed braced against him and we waited for the shaking to end. The noise stopped as quickly as it had started and then like someone switching on a light a feeling of warmth washed over me.

“They activated the lockdown,” James said and returned to examining the keys, moving through them faster.

“You two need to run for it,” Dad urged.

“We’ve got it covered, Dad, just give us a minute.” I turned away from him to watch as James moved so quickly through the keys I could barely see what he was doing. Finally he stopped, holding two keys that glowed faint crimson.

“Got them.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s our best bet.”

“Do it.”

Nightshade activated the keys as he walked toward my dad and the shackles suddenly sprung up and hovered in midair waiting to be unlocked.

We heard a crash from outside the corridor followed by raised voices.

“Sounds like they found the guard, hurry,” I said.

Nightshade didn’t hesitate, he grabbed the shackles and stuck the keys in turning them simultaneously and with a snap the bonds unlocked and fell to the floor.

Dad stood up rubbing his wrists and I rushed forward and hugged him tightly afraid if I let go of him, he’d vanish. He patted my back, but we jumped apart as the sound of raised voices grew louder.

“Okay, kiddo, what’s your exit plan?” Dad asked.

“We opened a portal and locked it so we could escape the lockdown, but it’s back that way.” I pointed to the door where the sounds of approaching footsteps grew ever louder.

“Right, then we go this way.” Dad spun and rushed to the far side of the room grabbing his doorknob that had been discarded to the floor and activated it, shoving it into the wall and quickly forming a door. He swung it open and pushed James and I through it.

We stepped out into another room of the castle and could still hear the guards yelling as Dad slammed the portal closed behind us.

“I thought you couldn’t open portals in a lockdown?” I looked at James confused.

“You can’t open one to the outside world,” —Dad explained— “all I did was move around inside the lockdown. Think of it like a big game of hide and seek.” He gave a quick perusal of the room. “Does this look familiar to either of you?”

James and I shook our heads, the room unfamiliar to us.

Another alarm ripped through the castle. They had discovered our escape.

“We need to move now.” James urged and gripped his key, crimson energy flowing off it as he stepped in front of the closed door prepared to fight, prepared to defend my dad and I.

Dad grabbed my shoulder. “Chloe, you need to open the next door. Try and put us somewhere in the castle you recognize and we can backtrack to the portal from there.”

I knew my dad well. He was nervous and trying not to show it, and I appreciated the effort. I took my knob, activated it and placed it against the wall concentrating on the castle. Where was a good spot? Where was a safe place to take us and close to the portal? The rush of energy wobbled my knees as it flowed from me into the doorknob. A portal popped opened and my hand hurried to open the door, then we stepped through into darkness.