I asked the questions in my mind while thinking of her eyeless face, as if by sheer will power alone I would be able to extract answers from her.
For some reason, the memory of her insisting that I was a coward was the only thing that echoed around in my head.
“You’re not trying, you’re simply wandering!”
Now her words stung my ego more than ever. What more can I possibly do? I would have loved to see what she would do in some alternate universe where she was in my shoes.
I retreated into a quiet corner, tilted my head back and closed myself off to my surroundings, trying to think. After a while, I found myself recalling something Lucas had said to me earlier, that the fae were the only means of escape. Yes, it was all very well saying that, but how—
“Stop being a coward, dead boy.” I imagined the oracle’s voice in my head again.
It prickled me enough to dig deeper into Lucas’ idea, as crazy as it was. What is the main reason why escaping via the fae is impossible? Well, for a start, they would never agree to let us escape. Why would they when they were trying to stock this place up with ghosts? Freeing us would be going against everything they were trying to achieve…
Then a thought struck me. A thought that chilled me to the very core.
What if…
No. That could be suicide on my part.
“Coward!”
I scowled, wanting to repel her repulsive voice from my head, and regretting ever having thought of her to begin with. But the word rang true within me. As rough as it was to admit, I realized that in casting Lucas’ observation aside so quickly as impossible, I had proven the oracle right. I had been nothing but a coward.
Ben
I had to leave our pool again.
Abandoning my spot in the corner, I hurried back over to the other side where Kailyn and Lucas were resting. I shot Kailyn a sharp look.
“Kailyn, I need to do something. Keep an eye out for the ghouls and make sure that the two of you are moving around and not looking so dead by the time they arrive.”
Kailyn glanced at my uncle with uncertainty, then nodded. “I’ll do my very best,” she murmured.
Of course, there wasn’t much Kailyn could do if the ghouls arrived and Lucas had drifted off again by then. Other than another frantic pep talk, Lucas was on his own.
I didn’t know how long I would be gone. It could be hours or it could be minutes. I hoped against hope that it would be the latter and I would arrive with a solution before the ghouls came around.
“But where are you going, Ben?” Kailyn called after me as I began to drift up toward the surface of the pond.
I glanced down at her sharply. “Just… do as I say and stay here with my uncle.”
She looked like she wanted to press me for an answer, but she didn’t and I didn’t give her the chance either. I drifted out of the pool and, glancing left and right to check that there were no ghouls nearby, I moved as fast as I could toward the tunnel that wound toward the main door.
I wasn’t nearly as fast as I needed to be, but it did feel like the more I moved, the easier it became, and the more awake I felt. I managed to reach the wooden door without bumping into any unsavory characters, and then sank my head through to verify that there was nobody on the other side. Seeing that there were none, I entered into the lake-filled cavern and headed toward the dark canal. I followed it until I neared the exit that led back into the whirlpool cave. The exit. The same number of ghouls were guarding the exit, as was to be expected.
But this time, I did not enter the vast enclosure. Instead, I remained hovering within the tunnel, about five feet away from the mouth of the tunnel. Just close enough to allow me view of the watery exit, but not so close as to be easily spotted by the ghouls.
Now it was time to wait again. The most excruciating wait so far. I just had no idea when the next batch of fae would come streaming through the vortex.
As I hovered in the murky water, I tried to count the number of times that the fae had come through the portal since I’d been here. It had been several times. Not only when Kailyn, Lucas and I had been waiting in our hiding place, but also before, when I’d caught sight of Sherus walking along the tunnel with his sister. They seemed to be coming in and out all day, with intervals of several hours. I had to hope that the last time had been several hours ago and their next visit was due soon.
So I waited. And waited. With each moment that passed, I became more and more anxious that the time would arrive for the ghouls’ inspection, and they would find Lucas in our pool. But I had to stop worrying about what could be happening. There was nothing I could do about it. The only thing I could do was wait right here and pray that the fae would hurry up and…
My heart leapt as a fae burst through the whirlpool, followed by a whole crowd of the spirits. Sherus was at the front as they all came zooming down with their white coffins. I hurriedly ducked my head beneath the water and sank downward, hoping that none of them had seen me.
Touching down at the bottom of the base of the canal, I cast my eyes upward and watched their forms whoosh over me along the tunnel until they had all passed. But I knew by now that it would not be long before they returned. I moved closer to the surface again and raised my head above the water just enough to be able to watch for their return. It had been less than a minute when I caught sight of Sherus again, followed by his group of accomplices. I ducked down, waiting for the exact moment when he would be passing close enough, before moving up in as sudden a motion as I could manage.
As I sprang up before him from nowhere, his eyes widened in alarm. He had been traveling too fast and I was too close for him to stop in time. I was able to sink right into his body. Though only for a second. I was immediately thrust out, but it didn’t matter. I’d gotten his attention before he’d reached the exit of the canal and came within view of the ghouls. His eyes sparked with irritation. He grabbed hold of my arm, giving me a steely gaze.