The Shadows Trilogy (Box Set: Edge of Shadows, Shadows Deep, Veiled Shadows) (61 page)

“Excuse me?” David said. “I don’t know your granddaughter.”

“Oh, but I believe that you do. Her name is Elizabeth. Elizabeth Coulter.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

Before Ellie could open her mouth, the children disappeared from the doorway. Christopher reappeared at her side. His hand touched her arm and she felt an immediate lethargy come over her limbs. She dropped to the floor and heard shrieks of pain ring in her ears. She couldn’t tell if they were hers or not, it was as if her world was flashing in and out like flashes from a strobe light.

It felt as if her body had no bones. As her head hit the floor, she saw Mikel’s writhing body on the floor across the room. Bobby was sitting on top of him with a wild grin on his face, poking at him and laughing. Lucy was out of her line of sight, but Ellie surmised that Melissa was detaining her.

She felt no pain, at least not yet. It was like her mind detached itself from her body. Then Christopher’s feet moved in front of her so that Mikel was blocked from view. He reached down and grabbed her outstretched arm, and then she was being dragged across the floor. She was still in shock that someone as small and innocent looking as Christopher was actually a demon so evil that it was actually feared by other demons. And this demon had a personal interest in her.

Ellie tried to find that source within her that was the nebulous of her Ripher powers. She didn’t know if Scolosi demons had souls that could be removed, but she was willing to try. But she felt nothing but numbness. She thought that this must be what the victim of a spider felt like when the predator gave it a toxin to immobilize them. She wondered what kind of web Christopher was taking her to and how long she would be conscious before the torture began. Would she feel it? What would happen to her then?

She tried to move her mouth to form words, but nothing happened. Her throat was locked up. She started to have difficulty breathing. Christopher pulled her across the threshold of the door onto the landing, not being gentle as her head thumped across the small piece of trim that separated the rooms. A gurgle of pain finally escaped her lips.

Then her ears detected silence and she wondered when Mikel and Lucy’s screams stopped. She was afraid for Lucy, who had done nothing more than try to help Ellie ever since her arrival in the Afterlife. It wasn’t fair that things would end like this for her. Mikel may deserve to be punished for escaping Hell, but it was Ellie who had drawn the attention. It was Ellie who should be the one to suffer.

“Leave Lucy alone,” she managed to sputter.

Instantly, Christopher’s face was inches away from her. “How is it that you can speak right now?” There was curiosity there, but Ellie could still see a glint of cruelty as well. “People whisper about you. You are an odd one, aren’t you?”

She tried to analyze and understand how Christopher could look like a four-year old human boy and yet hide a monster beneath his dimpled cheeks. He appeared to be the ringleader of the trio. She wouldn’t have guessed, but she supposed that was the point. Evil hid within the faces of angels in order to get close, and then they would strike.

“Let Lucy go. You don’t want her,” Ellie whispered. There was a tingling feeling in her fingers and toes. She didn’t dare try to move though. She didn’t want Christopher to know that she appeared to have some immunity to his influence.

“That much is true,” Christopher agreed. “But I can’t let her leave either because she’s a loose end, and I don’t leave loose ends. She’d just run back to Braz and tell on us, and that would be terribly inconvenient for everyone.  No, for now, the witch stays.”

“For now?”

Christopher giggled. “All work and no play makes me dull and cranky. Consider yourself lucky. If we hadn’t had your witch to keep us company, we may have had to play with you instead, regardless of what our Master said.”

Ellie wanted to sit up and look this monster in the eye, but she couldn’t let on that she was recovering as quickly as she was; it was her only advantage. She had to continue staring up at him feeling prone, vulnerable, and useless.

“What about Mikel?”

“You worried about that dumb minion?” Christopher shook his head and made a clicking noise with his tongue. “He deserves whatever he gets. He’s in Hell for a reason, you know.” He snapped his fingers in front of her face, and Ellie flinched. “I can erase you just like that. If you even think about doing anything stupid, I’ll make sure that your beloved Lucy suffers for it.”

Beanie put his hands under her arms, and despite being so much smaller than she was, he pulled her up into a sitting position and maneuvered her so that her back was against the window seat. She found herself sitting in the middle of the third floor landing, staring at the chandelier through the slats of the bannister rails.

“What are you going to do now?” she asked.

Christopher knelt down beside her. “I thought that was obvious. Whatever we want.”

Then Ellie saw Bobby emerge from the bedroom with Mikel’s body slung over his shoulders. Her breath caught in her throat. Christopher caught her look and turned. Bobby winked at her before heading down the stairs.

“He’s not dead if that’s what you are wondering,” Christopher said. “That is one nut we have yet to crack. Not that we haven’t been trying in our free time when our Master doesn’t require our services. You hang out in Hell long enough, you achieve some kind of immunity to our ability to make you go
poof.”
He smiled at Ellie. “Fortunate for demons like us, isn’t it? Maybe we’ll have to try with you though, give how special you are supposed to be.”

Ellie didn’t want to antagonize the demon, but she needed more information, and she needed it quickly before he decided to do something to her that would take away her ability to do anything at all. So she asked the obvious question.

“Who is your Master?”

Christopher shook his head. “Can’t tell you.”

“Why?”

“Because the Master doesn’t want you to know.” Christopher’s voice was annoyed.

A series of thuds caught Ellie’s attention. Melissa was rolling Lucy out of the room.

“Why don’t you just teleport her downstairs?” Christopher said, rolling his eyes. “Instead of causing all that racket and interrupting our conversation.”

“I’m practicing,” Melissa said.

Beanie’s wicked grin lit up his face. “You probably don’t want to know what she’s practicing for,” he mock whispered to Ellie. “Especially if you have a sensitive stomach.”

Ellie saw that Melissa had a pale string in her hand. As the demon, dressed as a little girl, kicked Lucy’s body across the landing, Ellie realized that the pale string was getting longer. Her stomach heaved when she realized that the pale string was attached to Lucy. It was Lucy’s skin.

Beanie studied her reaction closely. “Melissa is trying to beat Bobby. So far, he’s managed the longest piece of any of us. He’s a pro at this game.”

Ellie tore her eyes away from her friend and felt anger rush through her body, making her quiver. “You are monsters.”

“Thank you,” Christopher said with a small flourished bow.

Another series of thuds, these harder than the last, announced that Melissa had just pushed Lucy’s body down the stairs.  The top of the little demon’s golden head was just visible following Lucy down below.

“To think you were going to try to do something to interrupt our plans. I almost wish I had given you a chance to try. That would have made this game even more exciting,” Christopher’s voice was tinged with regret.

“How’s Jake involved in all of this?”

“He’s tied to the Master, just like us,” Christopher said.

He picked up Ellie’s hand and sniffed the top of it. Ellie wanted to pull her hand away, but she knew she didn’t quite have full control yet. It wouldn’t do to flounder and then get pounced on by the tiny homicidal demon. Pieces of the puzzle continued to fall into place. She remembered Mikel’s words, denying his involvement in Jake’s death, when she found him in Hell.

“Your Master was the one who killed Jake then. That is why Jake is tied to him,” Ellie said.

Beanie clapped his hands in delight. “You are getting good at this game, Ellie! I’m so proud of you. You’re a bit slow, but you’re catching on.”

“But why? Why kill Jake?”

“He was trying to warn you away. The Master couldn’t have that,” Christopher said, returning to his inspection of Ellie’s hand. Bile rose in her throat when his coarse tongue ran over her skin. “You taste yummy.”

“So what, you eat people too? Is that what happened to Jeffrey?” Ellie wanted to keep Christopher talking. She was desperately trying to stall for time.

“No, silly lady. But when you are afraid, your fear is almost tangible. It creates this lovely, delicious taste in the pores of your skin.” Christopher’s face contorted into something that could have been a grimace, or could have been a smile. He leaned in closer to Ellie and sniffed all the way up her arm into the crook of her neck. “Hmmm,” he moaned.

Ellie couldn’t stand it any longer. Her hand shot up and caught Christopher underneath the chin, upending the demon and sending him flying. She was glad of her extraordinary Guardian strength. She was on her feet before he could blink, but her wobbly limbs kept her from moving fast enough for her comfort. Christopher was lying on the floor holding his bloody nose. Ellie thought that it was possible that she broke it. She managed to move out of his range as he reached out for her. As he started to yell for Melissa and Bobby, Ellie tried to find a way to escape.

Her mind raced trying to figure out where she would go. Her options were to try to make it past Melissa and Bobby and reach the front door, which led out into an empty nothingness, or try to get to the way line and see if she could make it work. As she hesitated, she knew that she couldn’t leave Lucy. That meant that a confrontation with the other demons was necessary. But she wasn’t ready for that yet and she knew it.

Ellie heard the cries from below and heard the racing of feet up the stairs. Bobby and Melissa were on the second landing and already on the stairs to the third floor.

“Get her!” Christopher said as he writhed on the floor.

Ellie went to the other side of the landing and ran past the door that once led to Lillian’s room. Her only way out was the service staircase, and she knew that was a precarious option at best.

She just managed to get through the door and threw it closed behind her when she heard a body slam into the door. A cold draft was the only warning she had before she felt the added pressure of another set of hands holding the door closed with her.

Ellie gasped and stepped away, but then the door started to bulge inward. She threw herself against the door again.

“I know a place you can hide,” Jake said.

“I’m supposed to trust you?” Ellie hissed.

“I don’t think you have much choice if you want to have a shot at surviving this. Now that you’ve pissed Christopher off, you’ll be lucky to be in one piece when his Master gets here.”

Now unearthly howls filled the small space and then there was a more unnerving silence on the other side of the door.

“They’re changing into their natural state,” Jake said. “They are stronger that way. My guess is one of them is headed downstairs so it can trap you between floors.”

“So I’m screwed,” Ellie said.

“No, I told you. I know a place you can hide.”

Jake grabbed her hand, and although Ellie wanted to pry it away, she needed help. Any hope was better than none at all. He pulled her away from the door and then stepped to the other side of the door. He quickly examined the wall and then pushed. A small opening appeared right next to the door.

“Where does that go?”

“Somewhere that isn’t this staircase,” Jake said. He pulled her forward and moments later Ellie was ensconced in darkness. He slid the door shut just as Ellie heard the door next to it explode. Then a growling filled the space. It sounded as if it was right there with her.

The only thing that kept her quiet was Jake’s firm hold in the darkness. He pulled her further into the pitch-blackness and away from the growling. Ellie thought for sure the demons would be able to sense her fear and come through the secret door, but moments later she heard nothing but silence.

Ellie stumbled ahead letting Jake guide her. The darkness around her pressed against her and made it difficult for her to breath. Finally, they emerged into a small space that seemed to have enough natural light that Ellie could see something of the room around her. It didn’t take her long to recognize it, even in the long gloomy shadows.

“We’re in the closet, in the master bedroom,” she said.

“They won’t look in here, at least not at first. They’ll think that somehow you escaped through the door down on the first floor. But then they’ll start to look, and they’ll take apart every piece of drywall, every ceiling, every floorboard of this house until they find you.”

“Great. It’s a giant game of hide and seek. They’ll love it,” Ellie said. Although she tried to be sarcastic, it was difficult to keep the tremor out of her voice “Now what?”

“Now’s the part where you come up with the actual grand plan and get all of us out of here,” Jake said. “Including me.”