It was written in the middle of the map. He couldn’t say where they were on the map because he failed to see the large arrow that said: ‘you are here’. There wasn’t one anyway. Why was this map so difficult to read? There weren’t any clear illustrations, it was just lines and shapes. He’d never heard of the place but it was underground so that was hardly surprising.
“I’m afraid this is only the beginning,” Lester whispered.
“The beginning of what?” Stephen questioned, feeling anger bubble to the surface.
He was keeping it in check, but only just. The ghost had led them here and they’d dropped down a hole that resulted in pain; every movement made his back twinge. He was cold and hungry; those two things making him feel more than ready to leave.
Yet, the forlorn look on Lester’s face made him feel nervous. If this was the beginning and they’d already been chased by wolves and fallen through a hole, he didn’t want to know what came next. The look definitely meant something would come.
Already in this grim situation, they had only the ghost to rely on. A ghost that appeared to know far too much and they had been in this dark cave for all of two seconds. How did the ghost know so much? Something seemed completely amiss and Stephen couldn’t help thinking the ghost was behind everything.
Lester’s black sockets looked at him, waiting. Somehow Stephen could see sorrow in his eyes, which was ridiculous because the ghost didn’t have eyes. He imagined them to be brown. He didn’t know why, he thought the brown colour would suit the good coffee colour of his hair.
“What can we do? We need to contact our parents,” Deyna whimpered ignoring Lester’s warning.
Before Stephen could comfort her again, he watched as Lester floated over to her. Stephen planted his feet on the ground preparing his body for a launch attack at the ghost. He wasn’t entirely sure if he would go straight through it but if the ghost was planning on hurting her, he would make sure he stood in his way.
Lester’s hands cupped Deyna’s in what Stephen only assumed was the ghost’s way of comforting, Deyna’s eyebrows shot high up on her head, her mouth opened in a surprised gape. She looked at Lester and then Stephen noticed the small quirk of her lips and he heard a whispered thank you. So, she hadn’t felt the cold strike her like ice cold water being thrown at your face whilst you slept. Stephen could see the pink flush in her cheeks. He shrugged his shoulders holding back his shocked remark at the ghost’s compassion, do ghosts even have feelings? He didn’t care to think about it. As long as the ghost didn’t hurt her they were fine.
At least for now.
He looked at their small group; Deyna’s hands remained inches from Lester’s and Phillip’s head was yo-yoing between the ghost and Deyna and him. He was obviously at a loss of what to say or do and he was looking at him for answers. Stephen didn’t know what to do.
“Stephen, what can we do? Where do we go?” Phillip asked.
Phillip’s face held the hope of a small child who didn’t want to know that Santa wasn’t real. Why was he suddenly thrust to the forefront as the leader? He didn’t know how to lead. He could barely live his own life, let alone watch over other people’s.
But looking into Phillip’s eyes made him forget the curt remark ready on his tongue. He didn’t have the heart to tell Phillip he didn’t care, that was true he didn’t care what happened to him, but he cared about his friends. If he was going to lead then he might as well do it in one of those life changing moments like this.
“Is there any other way out?” he asked Lester thinking that was the easier of the questions to ask.
He had many questions flying around in his head. For example, he should ask Lester why they could see and talk to a ghost. Why was there a map in his headstone? How did he know where the map led to without looking at it? The next question sent ice coursing through his veins, what was down here waiting for them? He knew something was here, he sensed it.
Lester was already shaking his head in answer to Stephen’s question. In Stephen’s opinion Lester knew entirely too much about this place and their situation and that meant Lester wasn’t telling them everything. When someone withholds the truth this usually points to one thing. The truth wasn’t good.
This thought made him nervous and angry in equal doses. He didn’t want to face whatever was out there and this ghost knew, he could prepare them because it seemed the only way out of this was to follow the map. Why wasn’t Lester helping them?
He felt he butterflies start attacking each other swirling the acidic mess that was pushing its way up his throat. He had to deal with this and he needed to know all the facts but Lester was withholding information. Eventually the ghost would have to talk.
He shook the map back out, visibility improved when he felt the cold presence next to him. He didn’t want Lester so close to him but he could see better with the light, in this case, he couldn’t win. He bit his tongue and accepted the help.
“This is where we are,” Lester said pointing to a small area on the map.
The area Lester was pointing to revealed cliff faces, the sharp angles and steep lines suggested as such. Ahead of the cliff faces were two straight lines. Just two lines which looked like they were almost drawn on by a child. How were they supposed to travel along what looked like steep cliffs in the dark? He’d much prefer to trek along the valley of Amblewood. They didn’t even have the correct equipment for this.
“I think we should sit it out here, someone will come looking for us. Our parents will see the hole and climb down and everything will be fine,” Phillip suggested as he sat on the floor with his back against the rocky wall.
“That’s what I want to do,” agreed Deyna.
She would agree with Phillip at this moment and it did seem like the safer option, even to him. He wasn’t keen on entering the unknown, especially if they were going to be balancing on cliff faces, the thought of just one wrong move made him sweat. Lester remained quiet. That ghost never spoke when the time was right.
How apt.
It wasn’t the silence that bothered Stephen; it was the look on Lester’s face. A look that told Stephen they were making the wrong decision by deciding to stay here. From this vantage point at the side of the ghost, Stephen could see a small amount of fear on Lester’s face. If Lester feared something in this place and he was dead, then they had an awful lot to be frightened of.
Stephen nodded in response to Deyna and Phillip, they seemed to be waiting for it, and pushing aside his reservations about remaining in this one place too long, he said, “Okay, we can stay here.”
No sooner had he sat down next to Deyna that a noise, so intense he felt his ears pop, made the whole group pause. He slowly stood back up, it sounded like wind that was trapped in a tight space, like the sound of a train that rushes through a tunnel. The wind was coursing faster and faster, straining against the constrictions of the small space.
“What’s that noise?” Phillip shouted with his hands placed firmly over his ears.
Stephen didn’t know, he also didn’t have time to investigate, not like he was going to anyway. One moment he could see, the next he was completely blind.
The noise of angry screeching had suddenly encased his head. Bats! He couldn’t scream as the smell of rotten flesh hit the back of his throat making him gag. He started dragging bats off his face but they clawed at him like tiny needles scraping his skin. Deyna was screaming, no surprise there, but what worried him was the lack of noise coming from Phillip.
Tugging the bats from his face, he opened his eyes. He was greeted by red eyes. They flitted around him as he waved his arms in an attempt to try and stop them from biting. Glossy, leathery wings touched his face making him yell out. You couldn’t be bitten by a bat and turn into a vampire, could you? He couldn’t believe he’d asked himself the question and that he actually didn’t know the answer.
He pushed his body through another rush of bats
and moved them from his face so he could see Phillip who was fighting off the bats that were flying at him but he also helped cast aside the ones attacking Deyna. He looked okay which helped Stephen breathe a little easier. As much as they fought, he still cared.
Stephen looked at Lester. Bats were pecking at him but upon the touch of Lester’s transparent skin they soon screeched and backed away. Maybe Lester could help them get out of this situation? They could use him as a shield if the bats didn’t like him.
Stephen held his breath, watching as Lester’s internal glow flickered. He wasn’t sure how the ghost lit up like that but at this precise moment he realised they needed that light as much as they needed oxygen. Bats were flying madly around his head like they knew what he was trying to do, halting him in his progress.
The hungry screech that came from them sent shivers down his spine. It was almost like they were communicating as more bats seemed to encase his head. Why did they have to screech so gleefully like that? Stephen surged towards Lester now blind by the bats that were stuck to his face, he couldn’t breathe but he needed to move to Lester, and fast. He wasn’t entirely sure what he could do. Lester was a ghost so if he touched him he would go straight through and he didn’t welcome that touch.
He stood still, held his breath and whacked the bats aside. Opening his eyes they immediately latched onto Lester, he saw the look on Lester’s face the very second that everything went black.
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CHAPTER FIVE