Torment (30 page)

We tried to call Keira and Lily to see how long they would be and if they wanted us to order anything for them, but we couldn’t get through to them. We knew their phones would be on; they always were. Eligos
really
didn't like that and started to get a bit uneasy. He didn't say anything to us, but I watched him; he hardly ate anything and continued to look at the clock every two or three minutes.

At around 6.30 we all thought we heard Keira’s call pull up on the drive and a moment later the sound of the front door open. Eligos seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and we all waited for them to come in. After a few minutes they still weren’t inside. Beth looked out of the window and told us there was no sign of the car. I got up and walked through the hall; the door was shut. I looked into the other room but there was nobody there.

“Nope, they’re not here,” I said as I walked back into the main living room.

“Surely they should be back by now?” Tyler added.

“Call them again. See if you can get hold of them; they might have reception now,” Jake said.

Eligos wanted to talk to her so I threw him my phone. I think he just wanted to hear her voice and know she was OK.

“Still won’t connect,” he said, throwing the phone back to me.

“I wonder whose car we all heard,” Marley said.

“I don't know, I can’t explain that,” I frowned.

We all went quiet for a while and finished our meals, Eligos left his uneaten and walked out of the room.

“Is he OK?” Beth asked.

“He’s just worried about Keira,” I told her. “He doesn’t like being away from her, the last time they were apart, she was…tortured.”

“I know,” she said softly.

“They ran out pretty quick this morning; they’ve had a long drive. Maybe they’ve stopped off for something to eat?” Marley suggested.

“That would make sense,” Tyler added.

Everyone except Eligos went into the chill-out room to watch a movie while we waited. 7 p.m. came and went, then 8 p.m., 9p.m. and 10p.m. There was still no sign of them and we still couldn’t get through to their phones. At 11p.m. Eligos came into the room.

“This isn’t right; where the hell are they?” he said.

“I was just going to come ask you the same thing,” I told him.

“Have you called them?”

“We’ve tried, but still no luck.”

“Is there nothing you can do?” Beth asked him.

“I’m going to see Lilith, see if she can see them in the viewing pool,” he told her.

“See that’s something else,” Lucian said to Eligos. “If they were in trouble, Lilith would call you straight away, wouldn't she?”

“That’s what I’m going to find out.”

A split second later he had disappeared. All of us were getting worried now; even if they had stopped off for something to eat, it wouldn't have taken them this long to get home.

“Should we go out looking for them?” Jake asked anxiously.

“Where? We could only go to the edge of town, and we don't even know which way they’ll come back. Plus if we’re not here when they get home, they’ll worry,” I said.

“Danny, there’s seven of us; we don't
all
need to go,” Lucian told me.

“Fine, I’ll wait here. I’ll wait for Eligos.”

“I’ll go out,” Jake said.

“I’ll come with you,” Lucian told him.

“Me to,” Beth and Marley both said, standing.

“OK, I’ll stay here with Danny,” Tyler decided.

“We’ll split up. Jake you take Marley. Beth, you come with me,” Lucian decided.

We said we’d call each other if we saw them, and they left. Tyler and I as they drove off.

We both sat in silence, waiting. Fifteen minutes later Eligos came back.

“You took your time,” Tyler shot at him.

Eligos scowled at him before walking quickly into the living room. We both followed him.

“I told her, I told her she wasn’t here, what the hell does she think I am. Stupid fu…”

“Hey hey, chill out, what’s happened?” I interrupted.

“I went to see Lilith; I had to wait twenty-five minutes for her to come back from some chat with someone. I told her I was worried because we couldn’t get hold of Keira, and asked if I could use the viewing pool to see where she was. She took me to the room and worked her magic on the pool. I saw Keira and Lily standing at the window in the living room. I told her the pool was wrong and she got a little annoyed. She said the pool only shows the truth and that I should come back to see for myself. I tried to argue with her but she stopped the spell on the pool and asked me why I was winding her up. She said Keira was at home and that was that.”

“What happened then?” Tyler asked.

“She left, and a few minutes later so did I. But not before speaking to Hecate.”

“About what?” I asked.

“I told her Keira and Lily weren’t at the house and that the pool had said they were,” Eligos said, sitting down. “She said she would see if she could do anything and get back to me. She was going to try and track her like she did with Crystal, but the life in her would make it harder to do.”

“Could the pool be broken?”

“No it’s not a machine. It’s a spell used on the water in a sacred pool.”

“But they’re not here,” Tyler said, getting annoyed.

“Do you think I haven’t noticed that,” Eligos snapped, standing up again.

“Stop it; this isn’t the time for arguing,” I said loudly. “The others have gone out looking for them. We waited for hours and hours. Everyone came back but without Keira and Lily. Again we tried their phones, but we still had no luck. We tried to do a tracking spell, but we kept being told they were at the house. Eligos was pacing up and down; Marley and Beth were fidgeting like mad, not knowing what to do. We hadn't heard from Hecate and we knew that if Eligos went back to Lilith, he would be told the same thing. In the end Eligos walked into the kitchen. I followed him to see what he was doing, but again he just started pacing. Beth walked in and I left. I walked through the hall towards the living room.

“Wow!” I said as I got near the stairs. I felt as though someone just walked straight through me. All the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and I went really warm and dizzy.

“Keira!” I said loudly while holding on to the wall to steady myself.

I heard the guys run into the hall. I turned to look behind me just as two demons appeared. One with fire red eyes, the other with jet black, in outline, they looked the same as a female human. Their skin was dark grey and looked like granite; their hair was so blonde it was almost yellow. Both of them stood there staring at me for a moment.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Worry (Part 2) – Keira’s Story

It had now gone past midnight and there was still no sign of anyone. Even though I tried to reassure Lily that everything was OK, I was worrying now too. We had been trying to call them for the last two hours and still couldn’t get a connection. We both had full reception on our phones, but whenever I pressed the call button the phone just beeped at us and cut off. Every time we tried to send them text messages we were told ‘message failed’. We tried calling their parents but again the phones wouldn’t connect. I shouted out for Eligos too, but he never came.

“This is going beyond a joke. Where the hell are they?” I said, getting up and walking over to the window.

“I don’t know,” Lily eventually replied.

“Lilith,” I said loudly, “Lilith, can you hear me, I need your help.”

I waited and waited, and called out to her several times but she never responded. I was now starting to get annoyed. I felt like we’d been cut off from everyone.

“I keep trying them but it’s still not connecting,” Lily told me.

“Something tells me it won’t no matter how many times you try.”

“So what now then?” she asked after throwing her phone across the coffee table.

“If we go out and look for them, where do we start? They could be anywhere. Also if we’re out and they come home,
they’re
gonna worry. If we stay here we could be on pins for…God knows how long and they might not come back. Oh yeah and we can’t split up, because if we get attacked or something we’re gonna need each other,” I explained.

“So basically we’re screwed.”

“Yeah.”

“There must be something we can do, Keira.”

“Why is always left to me to think of something?”

“I’m new to all this,” she replied, hurt.

“I know, I’m sorry, I just don't know what to do.”

“And I don't mean to be snappy, but I don't know what to do either,” I said, burying my head in my hands.

We both went quiet again for a while.

“I’ve got an idea,” Lily said, “I think.”

“I’m listening.”

“You see it in the movies sometimes; I don't know if it can actually be done though. Anyway, I think it’s called scrying, or it’s a form of it at least.”

“That’s where you have a crystal on a string and hold it over a map to find someone,” I said, my eyes getting wider and wider. “I’ve got several crystals on necklaces, they might work.”

“It’s got to be worth a try.”

“I’ll go and grab one.”

“OK, oh, erm have you got a map?”

“I’ve got the map we used to get here; it shows all of the town and village. It’s in the drawer in the kitchen, the one next to the fridge,” I told her as I walked out of the room.

“Great, I’ll clear the dining room table.”

I ran upstairs and into my room. I used to love charms and crystals when I was younger, so I had quite a few. I didn’t know which one to use, so I took three downstairs with me, two clear and one purple, all of them on leather necklaces.

“OK, do you want to do it?” I asked.

“No, you try; you have more power than me. You might get more out of it.”

“OK then, I’m not too sure what I’m doing but here goes.”

I held the leather necklace between my fingers and let the crystal dangle down so it was hovering a couple of millimeters above the map.

“Just concentrate, clear your mind and then think of the guys, think of Eligos. The crystal should start to move and hopefully, if it works, drop on their location.”

I nodded and took a deep breath. I tried to empty my mind as much as I could, and closed my eyes. Instead of thinking about everything that had been going on, I thought about the first time I saw Eligos, how he had taken my breath away, literally.

After what felt like hours but could actually have been about five minutes, I felt the crystal tug a little. I relaxed my fingers and it dropped on to the map. Both of us looked quickly. The crystal had landed on the area where my house was.

“Well, that obviously doesn’t work, does it?” I said, letting go of the necklace. “We know they’re not here.”

“Try again,” Lily said.

“What’s the point?”

“Let me try.”

I moved out of her way and she took hold of the necklace. She let in dangle like I had, and stood there in silence with her eyes closed, just as I had. It took longer, but after ten minutes or so it fell on the location of the house.

“See, I told you, it’s pointless,” I said, walking away from the table. “It was a good idea, but it’s not going to work.”

“I don't know what else to do.”

“ELIGOS!!”I shouted, so loud that Lily covered her ears. “WHERE ARE YOU?”

“Keira, I don't…”

“LILITH!!” I shouted as I started to get upset.

“It’s no good; we’re on our own,” Lily said.

“I don't know what to do, Lily; we’re cut off completely.”

I looked at the clock: it was now 2.35a.m. There was no way on earth they would have just stayed out somewhere until this time and not called us.

“Forget this!” I said.

I walked out of the room and into the kitchen.

“What are you doing?” Lily asked, quickly following me.

“Leaving them a note,” I said, getting a piece of paper and a pen. “I’m saying we’ve gone looking for them and telling them to try and call us if they get here before us.”

“Where are we going? We don't know where they went.”

“Anywhere, countryside, around town. I don't really care where we go; I just need to do something, I need to try and find them.”

I wrote the note then grabbed my car keys. We got in the car. We decided to head into town first in case they had gone for a drink together. We drove down every street we could get down, and one of us ran down the smaller ones where I couldn’t take the car. We drove around all of the car parks and took a walk around the park and cemetery, but there was no sign of any of them or their cars.

“Where now?” Lily asked.

“Let’s drive down some of the country roads. Keep your phone close in case they call.”

“It’s been in my hand since we left the house,” she said, waving it a little.

We were driving around until 5a.m. Dawn was breaking and we were both getting really tired. However, we both knew that, until we found the guys, neither of us would sleep.

“We’re not going to find them. Let’s go back home,” Lily said in tears.

We drove back to the house hoping their cars would be on the drive. We all had our own space there, but theirs were empty. I parked up in my usual spot and got out of the car. I started swearing my head off and kicked a load of the stones off the path. I was just about to punch the car when Lily grabbed hold of me and hugged me tight. I burst into tears. I was so annoyed and frustrated, I just didn’t know what to do, I couldn’t think properly through worrying.

“Come inside, we need to eat something and get a drink, keep our sugar levels up. I don’t want either of us passing out,” Lily said.

She took my hand and led me into the house. I started walking through the hall while Lily shut the door. I was halfway down when I felt like someone had just walked right through me. I went really warm and light-headed. Every hair on my body felt like it was standing on end. I had to grab hold of the banister to stop myself falling.

“Keira!” Lily said, running over to me. “What is it, what’s wrong?”

“Danny.”

“What about him, where is he?”

“I don’t know. It just felt like he walked straight through me. I can smell him on me, Lily,” I said, smelling the collar on my shirt. “You smell it; it’s his aftershave. I love it, so I’d recognize it anywhere.”