The Otherworldlies (27 page)

Chapter 22
the curse for a day

T
eleporting was now like clockwork for Fern.

She had no trouble transporting herself from Anderson’s Grove to Pirate’s Cove. In under two seconds she’d left the grove and was shivering as she kneeled in the cold sand. Under different circumstances, she might have marveled at her own skill.

Fern peered out from behind the large rock that stood between her and the roaring fire farther down the beach. Slowly moving around the rock to get a better view, Fern took several deep breaths and tried to quell the fire in her stomach. She closed her eyes, trying to gather courage.

“Fern,” Vlad said in his deep voice, “come out from behind that rock.” Fern’s stomach sank. Vlad was now standing near the front of the cave. Her knees wobbled as she stood upright and took a step down the beach, toward the cave and Vlad.

“Do not be afraid,” Vlad said. Fern saw his leather shoes first, then neatly creased pants, coattails with a dress shirt, red suspenders, gold watch, that unmistakable goatee, red lips, and white fangs. Vlad towered above her. He was soon an arm’s length away. The fire glowed farther down the beach.

“What have you done to them?” Fern cried out.

“Calm down, Fern. Let me speak to you for one second. I brought them here because it was the only way I could ensure you would come. This is too important, but I will not hurt them. You have my word.” Vlad’s thick voice was full of sympathy.

“Let them go!” Fern screamed.

“Fern, do you not see that they will never be free as long as you are around? Even in the last few weeks, have they not been tormented because of your presence?” Images of Sam’s terrified face staring up at the heck rushed through Fern’s head. Vlad continued. “Have I lied to you yet?”

Fern thought for a moment. Vlad had scared her, certainly, but he had not lied. “No,” she stammered, overcome.

“Your family is doomed if you stay with them. If you do not come with me now, there will be others after your family because of their association with you. They will never be safe! The others will not be as considerate as I have been.”

Fern wore her agony on her face.

“The only way you can truly protect your brothers and the woman you call your mother is by leaving them! You must realize that!”

Distraught, she looked at her twin brother’s peaceful face, and her heart wrenched. As the flames from the fire illuminated Sam’s soft features, Fern became overwhelmed with love for her brother—Sam, who had been there every day of her life. Sam, who had stood by her.

“I . . . I can’t . . . I can’t leave,” she pleaded, beginning to run toward her brother and friend.

“I would not take another step in that direction if you want them to live,” Vlad said, turning malicious in an instant. “I will not hurt them, as I said, but I cannot promise the same for the Hundred-Handers. They get very angry when someone they do not know tries to approach them. Besides, they are very hungry,” he continued. “You see, they have a habit of being quite vicious, though I try to restrain them.”

Fern almost doubled over at the thought of the Hundred-Handers feasting on Sam and Lindsey.

“I don’t understand! Sam and Lindsey can’t help you. Please let them go!”

“Ah yes, Fern. But they can ensure that
you’ll
help me. In case your mind has grown soft by living with these Normals and you do not see things as they truly are.”

“The Alliance is coming,” Fern said, defiantly. “They’ve been watching me. They’ll capture you and you’ll never get that rock.”

“No one is watching you, Fern. They all believe you have teleported to the mission. And since the Legion happened upon your little friends among the orange trees before they had a chance to tell anyone
anything
,” Vlad hissed, “no one is coming.”

“No!” Fern cried out.

“Do not be foolish, Fern. This does not have to turn ugly,” Vlad said. “You and I are the same. Quagmire and his wretched Alliance do not have your best interests at heart.” Vlad flashed his fanged smile. “We have both been misunderstood all our lives. We arrived before the world was ready for us!” Vlad’s eyes blazed.

The thought that Fern was responsible for bringing all this upon her family struck her like a knife to the heart. Maybe, she thought, she could appease Vlad without truly giving in to him. “Please just release them . . . and I’ll do what you want. Release Lindsey and my brother,” Fern pleaded.

“That boy over there,” Vlad said, baring his fangs, “is
not
your brother. He is so far beneath you—so insignificant and pitiful when matched up against what you will become!”

Vlad put his hands behind his back and reined in his rage. He began to look pensive. “Was I not right, Fern? Your mother sent you away, did she not?”

“She did it to protect me,” Fern said boldly.

“Are you certain she wasn’t trying to protect herself?” Vlad paced up and down the beach thoughtfully. “Answer me this, Fern: Does she look at you the same way she used to before she found out you were a vampire?”

Fern willed her mind not to remember all the times she felt her mother looking at her with vacant eyes—like she was staring at a stranger.

“Of course she does not. Which leaves you with a choice. Are you going to put your life in the Alliance’s hands? Why did they leave you all alone, then? Why is there no one here now to protect you? They want you dead because they know you are one of us!” Vlad said with a tone so vicious, it almost knocked Fern over. “Soon the McAllisters will feel the same way. Including that mangy being you call your brother!”

It couldn’t be true, and Fern knew it, but her head was spinning. Nothing would be like it was.

“I want you to fulfill your promise, Fern. You have shown great promise already. You know why I am here, do you not?”

“You want to get the stone and use it against me.” Fern’s body was stiff with fear.

“Use it
against
you? Do you think I would have shown you exactly where it was that day on the beach if that was my plan? I am here to get the stone, yes. But I have no intention of using it against
you
. Fern, I am your only friend in this. Why can you not see that?” Vlad stroked his goatee with his index finger and thumb. “We are going to use the rock together, Fern. You and I.”

Vlad turned his back to Fern and walked toward the cave. Fern looked at her comatose brother and Lindsey. Sam had spent his entire life trying to protect Fern, but it was her turn now. She would do whatever she could to see that her brother made it out of this alive. Even if that meant abandoning him. With no other option, Fern followed Vlad into the cave.

Fern noticed strange yellow light coming from within the cave. When she got closer, she realized the hole she’d crawled through the last time she was here was open again, emitting a bright yellow light.

Once he was inside, Vlad pointed to the etched out letters.

MLM + PM

“Your mother used to come here often when she was your age,” Vlad said. “Those are her initials.”

Of course they were her mother’s initials. Mary Lou McAllister. Fern no longer believed in coincidences.

“Who is PM? Is that my father?”

“PM
is
your mother.
Phoebe Merriam
,” Vlad said. Fern took a step back, to consider.

“What?”

“We will have time for specifics later. Fern, if you help me, I will make sure that the Legion lets your friends go, unharmed. It is simple game of quid pro quo—a favor for a favor.”

“How do I know that you won’t hurt them anyway?”

“I have no interest in two people so insignificant.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“The chamber through here,” Vlad said, pointing at the glowing hole in the cave, “opens two days a year. The first day is the anniversary of the Titanomachy—the day you arrived on the beach. The second is St. George’s Day, today.”

“So?” Fern questioned, trying to draw the conversation out.

“The Omphalos Oracle rests under the chamber. I need you to help me retrieve it.”

“Why can’t you get it yourself?” Fern asked.

“Because it is buried under thousands of feet of bedrock.”

“I don’t understand.”

“No one can reach it,” he said, his fangs radiating from the glow of the hole. “It has been buried here for thousands of years.”

“You need me to teleport there?”

“Yes,” Vlad said. “Ironically, only an Unusual can get to the stone. When the giants buried it, they made sure of that. A few have tried to tunnel to it. Many people thought the Unusual Eleven were just a fairy tale and that the rock was lost forever. Then you arrived. That day you appeared on the beach, I knew the rock would be uncovered at last.” Vlad’s black eyes sparked, and he smiled, revealing his white fangs. “You will use the drawing inside the chamber to teleport there and retrieve the rock.”

“I’ll give you the rock if you wake them up and let them go.”

“I had an inkling that you would make the right choice,” Vlad said, smiling with his big red lips. He began walking once more to the cave. Fern followed dejectedly behind him.

“I will be waiting here for you,” Vlad said as Fern began to crawl through the hole into the chamber. “If you do not reappear here in less than three minutes, your brother and friend will no longer be here. The Hundred-Handers look very hungry.” He grinned mischievously.

Fern’s terror was gnawing at the lining of her stomach. The light from the uncovered hole was so bright, Fern had to close her eyes and feel her way through the rough-hewn rock. The stones tore at her knees and already-bleeding palms as she scrabbled forward. Once she felt above her and felt nothing, she knew she’d cleared the hole. She opened her eyes.

The brightness was bursting from the words written on the center of the round floor.

Beams of light emanated from each letter and made the chamber bright. Fern wasted no time. She limped, knees aching, to the opposite wall, focusing only on the drawing of the stone room that housed the rock. The image of the black rock in the center on the marble pedestal became all she could see. She tried to imagine the room, building a picture in her mind.

She opened her eyes.

Fern hadn’t moved an inch. Vlad had asked her to do the impossible. She’d never been near this place; maybe she couldn’t teleport somewhere she’d never been before!

She tried again. This time she kept her eyes open. She stared at the drawing of the rock. She stared and stared, keeping her eyes open so long, they filled with tears.

Then she thought of Sam and Lindsey.

“I have to do this,” Fern said aloud.

Her eyes clamped shut. She felt her legs slip out from underneath her. Blackness took hold.

It was happening! Floating, Fern relaxed slightly for the first time while in the throes of teleporting, knowing that she would open her eyes and the Omphalos would be within reach.

The room that housed the Omphalos looked like the inside of a vault. The walls were stone and square, not curved like the chamber she had just left. Fern shivered; the room felt refrigerated.

The Omphalos was a sight to behold. Roughly the size of Fern’s head, it rested in the center of the room on a small marble pillar. The stone was smooth like a skipping stone, shiny like patent leather, and emitting a dark blue light—the only light in the room. Fern wanted to feel the walls, to take the room in—a room that no one had been in for a thousand years. The air smelled ancient, like no one had breathed it since time first thrust the cliffs up from the sea. Calm enveloped her.

When she lifted the Omphalos off the marble pillar, it was heavy, like a basket of wet laundry, and it radiated warmth. She brought it close to her stomach, which warmed under the stone’s presence. The pain from her knees and hands disappeared.

Part of her wanted to stay in this room and rest, even if it was for only a few seconds. She was so tired. Here, her skull tingled and her body felt light and relaxed. Her mind was clear. She hadn’t felt this good since she and her family had visited Carlsbad Caverns. She sank to her knees and cradled the rock, feeling woozy. Fern was convinced she could stay here forever.

She stretched out on the hard floor.

When Fern rolled over, she felt
The Disappearance Directory
dig into her side. She removed it from her waistband. She turned the pages, still groggy. Sam’s note stared back at her. Her mind snapped back into focus. She must get back. Sam’s and Lindsey’s lives depended on it!

Fern gripped the stone more tightly than ever. She flipped to Pirate’s Cove in the
Directory
, closed her eyes, and imagined what lay waiting for her on the beach.

Pain shot up Fern’s rib cage as she opened her eyes. She had landed on the Omphalos.

She rolled off the rock. The fire was blazing on the western end of the beach.

“I see you made it back safely,” Vlad said calmly as he stood over Fern. Fern, now lying in the sand, stared up at Vlad himself.

Fern rose to her feet. She clutched the stone, trying to earn herself more time to think. She began to stall.

“Can I ask you a question?”