“This is a sign. We have to contact him,” Hunter said.
“Why would we do that?” Matilda said.
“Are you joking? You don’t see what’s happening here?” Hunter said.
“Not really,” Matilda said. “He’s a boring middle aged man. Why would we want to call him?”
“He may be boring, but he is also a wealth of knowledge. He might have the answers we need to find the mirror. We can’t rule him out. Especially since he all came to us during the chant,” Hunter continued. “And, we didn’t get hurt in the earthquake. In fact, nothing happened at all. Do you think this was all a coincidence? I think NOT!”
“I wouldn’t even know where to find Uncle Bennington?” Matilda said.
“I have his number in my cell phone. I hope he still lives at the same house, otherwise we are out of luck,” Hunter said, suddenly feeling nervous.
He reached into his old brown leather back pack and pulled out his cell phone. He noticed it was flashing and then saw the battery was just about dead. He knew he had to make this call quickly and knew that even if he reached his uncle, he may get disconnected. He looked around for an outlet, but knew he was out of luck. There were no outlets anywhere near them and there were certainly no outlets in the thatched roof hut they had just come out of. It was just the three of them on this desolate island, with only the light from the moon to light their way.
He quickly dialed Uncle Bennington and waited silently while the phone connected and began to ring.
RING, RING, RING, RING….
This was a bad sign. The phone kept ringing and ringing and the beeping reminder of the low batter kept chiming in his ears.
BEEP BEEP BEEP…
The phone continued to ring and beep intermittently but Hunter knew this was a bad sign. Then, as if by a small miracle a voice came on the other end of the line.
“Hello?”
“Uncle Bennington? Is that you?” Hunter asked, quickly.
“Yes! Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?” he asked.
“It’s me, Hunter.”
“Hunter! How are you? How is the family?”
“I don’t have time for small talk now, Uncle. I need your help. We’re desperate and I’m low on battery on my phone. I’m off the coast of Africa looking for the Waverly Mirror. We are running out of time,” Hunter tried to explain quickly.
“Ah! Yes! The Waverly Mirror. Why didn’t you say so in the first place. I know exactly where it is. Or at least where it was the last time it was used.”
“WHERE?” Hunter yelled enthusiastically.
“LA PALMA!” Uncle Bennington yelled back.
“Quick, my phone is dying!”
“Off the coast, it’s in the submarine volcano. If you travel by boat, it’s coordinates are…”
The phone died and Hunter pulled it from his ear in shock, looking at its dark black screen.
“DAMN IT!” Hunter said, throwing his phone on the ground, shattering it into pieces.
“What did he say? Matilda asked.
“I know where it is, but not exactly. He was just about to tell me its coordinates by boat, but my phone died. I can’t believe this.”
“Don’t worry, Hunter,” Penelope said, rubbing his back lovingly. “We will find it. I have faith in you.”
“Thanks, Darling,” Hunter said. “I know, it just may take us longer now and time is the one thing we don’t have on our side.”
“Enough of this sappy lovey dovey stuff,” Matilda said. “We have to find this volcano!”
The three of them began walking towards the shore of the island, looking for a boat or any sign of life on the island. They knew they had to find a boat before venturing out to find this volcano under water. It was their only hope of finding the mirror and saving the world.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Benji swooped down onto the Syracuse University campus looking for Sarah. He knew she was Rachel’s confidant and best friend, and knew that she would know where to find her sister. As he approached her dormitory, he noticed that there was a card reader to the left of the door and he couldn’t get in without it. It was late at night, and the campus was dark. He didn’t see anyone for miles, and the last thing he needed now was to have to wait all night to get into her dorm. He stood there, banging on the door, but nobody answered.
He started walking around to the side of the dorm and looked to see if there were any lights on in any of the rooms. All he needed was one person to let him in the building. As he looked up he saw the light on the top corner of the building was on. He couldn’t tell if it was a hall light or a bathroom light, but he walked towards the back of the dorm to see what it was. As he turned the corner, he couldn’t believe his eyes. There were four dead bodied lined up like dominos next to each other. Benji walked over to them to see what had happened and then he noticed it.
The mark of the Greslin’s.
He could tell the specific fang mark left on the necks of each of their bodies. It was a distinct mark that the Vladdicus Coven knew to look out for. He knew if this Greslin was still around they would smell him roaming around.
He had no idea that the Greslin’s would be on this campus, but knew they were quickly spreading and soon, they’d be everywhere.
He looked up at the one single light that he had seen just minutes before and it was now black. The entire building was black and there was nobody in sight.
He started walking back towards the front of the building and heard a faint cry coming from a nearby wooded area.
“What have I done? What have I done?” he heard the voice saying over and over.
He slowly walked through the crunching leaves and heard the voice in the woods gasp and stand up.
“Whose there?” a girls voice said.
“Are you OK?” Benji asked, seeing a silhouette of a girl in the distance.
The girl started sobbing as she fell to her knees begging for forgiveness.
“God, please forgive me my sins.”
“Excuse me?” Benji said again, walking closer to the girl.
“GO AWAY!” the girl yelled. “PLEASE!”
As he neared the girl, he couldn’t believe his eyes. It was Sarah, crouching to the ground, praying to God for help.
“SARAH?” Benji asked.
“Who are you?” Sarah asked.
“What do you mean?” Benji said. “Don’t you remember me?”
“I’m not in the mood for this right now. Just tell me who you are,” Sarah replied sharply.