The Underworld (6 page)

nightmares. What if what I’d just saw was a vision?

That couldn’t be good. The strange ghostly figure had

sent so much fear through me that…I shivered, hoping

that it was just a nightmare.

I climbed off the bed and flipped on the light. The

brightness stung my eyes and I had to blink them into

focus. I wondered what time it was and what time

Laylen would show up. I didn’t have a watch and

couldn’t see a clock anywhere in the room, but it had

to be late since the sky was black, except for the

silver specks of stars, and the faint rainbow glow that

Vegas’ lights cast across it.

Perhaps I should go get Laylen. Of course, I had no

idea where he was, and I worried that, if I went looking

for him, I might run into the wrong person and end up

having to explain why I was wandering around the

house late at night.

So I decided to wait it out. Laylen said he’d be here

so he would.

I went over to the oval mirror hanging on the wal

above the dresser. For it being so late, I sure looked

awake; my violet eyes staring back at me al big and

wide. Sliding my ponytail to the side, I turned to look

at the back of my neck where my Foreseer’s mark

was tattooed. It was the first time I’d seen it, and

honestly, it was kind of strange to look at. I’d never

even considered getting a real tattoo before, and now

I suddenly had one, under no choice of my own. But I

guess that just came with the territory of being part of

a world where people’s supernatural gifts mark them.

It was almost like being branded.

I traced the black circle that curved around the S

with my finger, my skin tingling beneath my touch. “So

weird,” I muttered.

A soft click came from behind me and I spun

around as the bedroom door creaked open. I almost

bolted for the window, but then I saw it was Laylen and

I relaxed.

“Good. You’re awake,” Laylen said in a hushed

voice and shut the door. He was dressed in a black

long-sleeved thermal shirt, black jeans, and black

boots, which made me wonder if we were going to the

Black Dungeon, since almost everyone there dressed

entirely in black. “You’ve been up here for so long I

thought for sure you’d be asleep.”

I had been, but I didn’t tel him that. “If I’d stayed

down there,”
around Alex
, “then they would’ve figured

out something was up. I thought it’d be best if I came

up here where no one could see how bouncy I was.”

“Wel , I guess I don’t have to ask you if you’re ready

to go then,” he said with a smile.

“Yeah, I’m more than ready,” I said, feeling both

excited and nervous. Excited because what if I was

told my mother was alive. And nervous because…

Wel , I had a feeling that even if we were not going to

the Black Dungeon, we were probably going to a

place that was a lot like it.

“Okay…” He hesitated, making me wonder if he’d

changed his mind about going. “Here’s the tricky

part,” he told me. “We’re not going to be able to just

walk out the front door of the house. Adessa sets up

these magical charms at night so if someone tries to

come in or go out, she’l know. It’s her version of a

security system.”

“Okay…so how are we supposed to get out of the

house?” I asked, and his gaze flickered in the

direction of the window. My eyes widened. “You want

us to
climb
out the
window
.”

“It’s the only way. Al the downstairs windows have

charms on them, and although I’m not sure exactly

what Adessa’s charms do if they get set off, I’d real y

rather not find out.”

I glanced with uncertainty at the window. “But how

are we even supposed to climb out. Do you have

some kind of special climbing-down-the-wal super

power or something?” Real y, I wouldn’t have been

that surprised if he did.

He shook his head, seeming amused. “I’m a

vampire, Gemma, not Spiderman.” He paused. “No,

you’re going to get on my back, and I’m going to jump

out.”

I stared at him, waiting for him to deliver the punch

line of the joke because he had to be joking. But the

look on his face was dead serious.

“How’s that even going to work without us getting

hurt,” I asked, dumbfounded.

“We won’t get hurt,” he assured me. “That far of a

fal won’t hurt me at al . It’s a vampire thing.”

“Yeah, but I’m not a vampire,” I made a point to say,

even though it was obvious. ‘The fal
will
hurt me.”

“That’s why you’l be on my back, so I can break the

fal for you.”

I glanced back and forth between the window and

him. Did I dare?

“And I promise I’l do my best not to drop you,” he

said and then gave me a smile.

I rol ed my eyes at him. “Alright…I’m in.”

He went over to the window, clicked the latch open,

and inched the window up, the hinges creaking and

whining the entire time. After he had opened the

window al the way, Laylen stuck his head out and

looked down at the ground. Personal y, I didn’t want to

look. I mean, it wasn’t like I was afraid of heights or

anything, but since I was about to jump out of a two

story building, on the back of a vampire/Keeper, I

thought it’d be better not to look.

Laylen ducked his head back in and turned his

back to me. “Hop on.”

I had never hopped on to someone’s back before,

but there was always a first time for everything, I

guess. So, for the first time that I could ever

remember, I hopped up piggy-back style onto

someone’s back.

“You good?” Laylen asked as I moved around,

trying to get comfortable.

I tightened my arms and legs around him, maybe a

little too tightly. But he didn’t complain. He grabbed

onto my legs and stuck his head out the window. Then

with the balance of a tight-rope walker, he stood up on

the window seal, giving me a ful view on the glittery

rock hard asphalt down below. The warm air hit my

skin as I tucked my head into his back, not wanting to

look.

“It’s real y not that far,” he told me.

I didn’t say anything because I was too afraid to

speak.

“It’l be over in a second,” he assured me.

I shut my eyes, and then he jumped.

I don’t know if any of you remember, but the few

times I’ve traveled through a crystal bal , it required a

very long fal down a dark tunnel. And every time I

landed, I ended up hurting myself. Jumping out the

window was nothing like that. It was over by the time I

actual y acknowledged we were fal ing. Laylen landed

with the gracefulness of a cat, his feet hitting the

asphalt with a soft thud, and I barely felt the impact.

For a moment, neither of us moved. Even the air

seemed to pause, as if we’d fal en so fast, we were

waiting for the rest of the world to catch up.

“You alive back there?” Laylen asked over his

shoulder.

I slowly opened my eyes and looked back up at the

window we’d just jumped out of. “I think so.”

He let go of my legs, and I slid off of his back. The

fal must have thrown off my equilibrium or something

because I felt off balance and dizzy. I started to tip

sideways and Laylen caught me by the shoulder.

“What? Have you never jumped out of a window

before?” He joked.

I shook my head, and we started off across the dark

parking lot.

“So where exactly are we going?” I asked

“To a place that’s just up the road a little ways,” he

replied.

“So we’re walking there then?” I asked, glancing up

at the flickering lamppost as I walked by it.

He nodded. “It’s not very far. Plus, my car got

damaged during Aislin’s and my little escape from the

Death Walkers, so driving real y isn’t an option.”

I looked around at the ominous-looking, graffiti-

decorated buildings, the shadowed cars dotting the

parking lot, and the giant garbage cans towering not

too far away from us. Al were perfect places for

someone—or something to hide. And, okay, I know I

made the choice to come out here, but now that I

actual y was, warnings were popping up al over in my

head. And now that I thought about it, no one had ever

said how high of a chance it was that Stephan and/or

the Death Walkers would show up.

“Are we safe?” I asked Laylen as we reached the

sidewalk that bordered the dark street.

“Hmm…Define safe,” he said, fiddling with his lip

ring.

I gaped at him. “What? So we’re not safe?”

“Gemma, I already warned you it might be

dangerous,” he reminded me.

I shielded my eyes with my hand as a car driving by

blinded me with its headlights. “Yeah, I know, but….

What are the odds of us running into a Death

Walker?”

Out here?” he asked, and I nodded. “Probably

lower than when we went into the Black Dungeon.” He

tucked his hands into his pockets and moved to the

side as a homeless man, pushing a cart, passed by

us.

“Wel , what about the place we’re going to?” I

asked. “What are the odds of us running into one

there?”

“Pretty low,” he said.

“Wel , what kind of place are we going to exactly?”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “The truth?”

I gave him a ‘duh’ look, but wasn’t sure if he could

see it through the darkness. “Always,” I answered.

“A place where vampires hang out,” he replied.

Maybe I should have asked this question

beforehand, because going into a place where

vampires hung out seemed kind of sketchy. “But isn’t

there going to be a problem with me going in there

since I’m human?” Even Laylen himself had told me

that other vampires—non-Keeper Vampires—were

not real y good. And then there was the whole

humans-letting-vampires-bite-them thing that I’d seen

going on back when we’d been at the Black Dungeon.

He shook his head and answered, “There’l be

other humans there. It’l be like at the Black Dungeon,

when you saw that man getting bit.”

I tried not to freak out. “So…There’l be a bunch of

humans standing around, getting bit by vampires

because they want to…”
stimulate their desires
. Wel ,

that idea was comforting. How was I supposed to

walk into a room like that, when I couldn’t even talk

about it aloud?

“You’l be fine. Just make sure you stay by me at al

times,” he said, sounding just like Alex.

“Wel , what are we going to do when we get to this

place,” I asked, inching closer to Laylen as a door to a

bar swung open and a group of men stumbled

outside, talking rowdily.

“We’re going to go see if we can talk to Vladislav,”

he told me. And when I gave him a confused look,

explained further. “He’s a vampire…a very important

vampire.”

Even though the air was hot, I shivered. An

important vampire. What did that mean? Wel , I got

that it meant he was important—
duh
—but what did it

require to be considered important in the vampire

world.

I hated to even think about it.

We veered off to the right, away from the road. The

already dark atmosphere, shifted even darker. There

were no lampposts and no lights on in any of the

broken down buildings.

“Laylen, are you sure this is the right way?” I asked

in a quiet voice. “There’s nothing here.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” He swung his arm around my

shoulder, al buddy buddy, which was the strangest

thing ever. “Trust me.”

And trust him I did, letting him lead me deeper into

the shadows of the night, making me grow so edgy

that I just about turned around and ran back. Of

course, since it was almost pitch black, and I could

hardly see a thing, I’d have probably just ended up

getting lost if did.

“Alright,” Laylen muttered to himself as we came to

a stop in front of a garage door belonging to an old

metal warehouse.

“So this is the place?” I asked uneasily.

He nodded. “This is the place.”

I glanced at the closed metal garage door. “So

how do we get inside?”

“Like this.” He turned around, guiding me with him,

and he looked up at a camera perched on the wal

above us. “Smile for the camera.”