Chapter 15
Opening her eyes wearily, Kitty saw she wasn't inside of the frat room she remembered earlier. “Oh,” she moaned. She couldn't believe she let herself party that much. All she wanted was a few moments to hang out and get the stress out of the day. There was no telling what she did before ending up in this position.
She sat up, prepared to raise her hand to her face. Instead, she found her wrist shackled to the wall. She tugged on the metal and. finding it stuck, traced upwards with her eyes. The linked chain seemed to be connected to a ring protruding from the wall. It looked like she was being held prisoner. This was some weird situation to be in. “What's going on?” She tugged on it once more with the same result. Someone needed to help her out.
“Everything's okay,” Harry said, his back turned towards her.
“Harry? What am I doing here?” He wore a dark robe, something she didn't remember seeing him in earlier. The room looked like a cave. This was not at all where she thought she was.
“It won't be long.”
“What are you talking about? Where am I? What are you doing?” She saw him staring at what appeared to be some sort of strange writing on the wall. Perhaps it was a trick of the light but the wording appeared to glow, pulsing with energy. She couldn't understand what it said. All she knew was she should be afraid of it.
“You should be thanking me.”
“For what? Shackling me? I don't know who you think I am but this is not my definition of fun.” She pulled once more on the chains, desperate for them to break away from the wall. She needed to free herself from this. While she may not know what he planned on doing, she knew enough to realize when things appeared abnormal. In her present state, her thoughts flashed to those of murderers who kept their prisoners chained below. She prayed she was wrong.
Harry turned around slowly. His fish face was out already; the gills moving along the side as he breathed. His cold eyes settled on her, bulging from their sockets. “I would stop resisting if I were you.”
She screamed. Tugging harder on the chains, she dug her feet into the ground, hoping to gain some leverage. After feeling her wrist ache from the pressure, she turned back and in a quivering voice asked, “Harry, what are you?” He wasn't normal.
“Don't you know who I am?” He flashed a toothy smile at her, the serrated teeth seeming interlocked into one another. His expression was wild.
“I don't know who you are. I don't even know what you are. Let me out of here. Let me go now.” She began pulling more, this time intent on breaking her wrist if need be to escape. Anything was better than being forced to stay into this small, confined area with this creature.
He moved closer towards her, his rows of teeth only inches from her face. The strong odor of mildew traveled from him to her nostrils. She felt sick breathing in the fetid smell. “You cannot escape. By all means, try as much as you want. They all did. Your kind never seems to learn.”
“What?” The thought flashed through her mind of the recent news stories. “You're the one who has been killing all of the other girls around here?” She knew she would be next. No one would know to look for her – they all thought she was back at the party.
“They were all preparing the way. You're much luckier. You're going to be the final one needed to open the barrier. You should take comfort in that.” He sneered at her.
“Let me go,” she said, “Let me go, let me go, let me go.” She struggled to free herself. She was not going to be sacrificed without a fight. Even if it took chewing through her arm, she was getting out of here.
His gloved hand touched the side of her face. “Just accept what's happening to you. After all, this is a once in a lifetime experience. People will remember you forever.”
His depraved way of thinking only pushed her anger more. He couldn't possibly believe the words coming from his mouth. He must be insane. There was no reasoning with him. “I hate you.”
“Get in line.” He slapped her cheek twice and calmly walked out of the room to begin preparing for the ceremony. He closed the creaking wooden door behind him. Even though he felt certain no one could follow him here, the brush with Uriz was too close. The ceremony would continue without a hitch and as quickly as possible.
One of the other cloaked Reachers pushed Evie forward towards him. She stumbled, regaining her footing as best she could. “We found this one hanging around. What do you want us to do with her?” The Reachers smacked his lips, drool coming from the corner.
Harry paused. He remembered her. “It seems we're not alone. You're quite brave to come down here. Although I doubt you're alone. Where is he?” His eyes scanned the room.
Evie decided she could pretend to be dumb. “Who? I'm not sure who you're talking about.”
He glowered. His hand shot out, grabbing her under the chin and lifting her eyes towards his. “I'm not in the mood to be trifled with. You know exactly who I'm talking about. Where is Uriz?” He punctuated the last words carefully, knowing his patience was being test sorely. If she refused to answer, it would be the last time she spoke.
“You mean me?” Uriz asked moving out from behind a nearby pillar. “It seems things didn't go as I planned. Oh well. Live and learn I guess. Let her go.” He shaded his eyes, looking over at the rest of the group. They all took a few steps back, the chanting abruptly dying.
“Well, well. I must admit I'm not surprised to see you here. And sending a woman first. Very typical move of yours.” Harry maintained his grip on Evie.
“Well, if we're going by typical moves then you know I'm going to destroy you and this entire place in about five minutes. You could give up right now and save us the time. I'm sure there are other things you want to do. Have you tried golf? Some people find it really relaxing.”
Harry wasn’t amused. “There you go once more, spouting away at the mouth to attempt at seeming intelligent. You claim you can defeat us easily. I sincerely doubt it you know what you're getting into.”
“I guess you're right.” He walked forward slowly. The crowd of Reachers backed up, giving him a wide berth. They saw his eyes flashing with the fires deep within. None of them wanted to be in his direct path.
Making his way to Harry, who slightly tripped over his feet to back up, he said, “In this whole thing, the only missing piece is who are you trying to bring over? Who could possibly want you lowlife creatures to attempt to bring him over? They must be desperate to seek your help.”
Harry backed up a few more paces. “It seems there's something the great Uriz hates – not knowing what the outcome is. It's almost poetic. You'll die never knowing who came. Such a pity. Your gift’s most appreciated though.”
Uriz stared him down. Harry’s hand rested firmly under Evie's neck. It didn't take much to know what he planned on doing. “You don't want to.”
“Oh but I do. You just gave us the final host.” Harry sprinted through the flames with his grip firmly on Evie. A few flames rose up, burning slightly upon her clothes. Had they not been soaked from the swim over, she doubted she would have anything left on. Harry threw her upon the altar, the flames already seeming to come towards her. She became surrounded by them.
“Uriz!” She needed his help. This wasn't part of their plan. She felt the heat radiating and coming at her once more. It wouldn't be long until the flames completely covered her.
Harry quickly began reciting the ancient words once more, the flames growing larger and larger. Lettering against the side of the altar glowed.
Evie felt herself being zapped of all her energy. All she wanted was to lie down on the soon to be burned altar. Slowly swaying, she cast one futile look at Uriz before dropping.
He scouted out his options carefully. If he went after Evie, there was a chance Harry and the others escaped. If he didn't, he would allow for the elemental lord to cross over. There weren't too many options and clearly, there was only one right choice. He jumped through the fire, his clothes catching on fire.
She looked at
him, her face nearly expressionless. “You're burning,” she said watching him. Wearily, she raised her hand.
“And you're not.” He grabbed her, throwing her over his shoulder and forcing his way through the fiery barrier. Once on the other side, he placed her on her feet, helping her regain her balance. He was convinced she would be okay.
“How pathetic. Still not able to let one person die. Noble but foolish. You're never going to escape from here. Get him,” Harry commanded the other Reachers. They all charged towards Uriz and Evie, their teeth bared and staves in hand.