“Sloan!” I cry out, hoping that this time he’ll hear me.
“And if we run into the demon dogs?”
“That’s just a chance we’ll have to take.” Another crash can be heard coming from the living room and it’s clear we’re out of time. We’ll have to go down into the tunnels whether we like it or not.
CHAPTER23
Chapter Twenty-Three
SALEM
SONG: SKELETON BY POP EVIL
My feet ache from running around this godforsaken castle. As soon as light filters through the dark tunnel, I breathe a sigh of relief. Cresting the small opening in the wall that leads to outside, I realize that the path has spit us right outside of the castle gardens. Thankfully, the light is slowly fading giving us a chance to disappear into the shadows. The air is a mixture of smoke and hints of floral intertwining along the slight breeze.
We stick close to the tall hedges that line the outside of the extensive labyrinth. From my brief glimpses of the maze, I wouldn’t want to be stuck wandering the endless shrubbery.
As we creep slowly along, trying to avoid detection, three blurred figures emerge as if from thin air in the center of the garden. Each is shrouded in a see-through white covering that coats them from the tips of their heads and billows out into a heap of fabric at their feet. My steps falter as I come to an abrupt stop. I contemplate trying to hide, but there’s nowhere to go except into the labyrinth.
“We see you, little witch. You cannot hide from The Fates.” Their voices blend, sounding as if they’re coming from every direction instead of right in front of us.
“What do you want?” Walker asks, putting a barrier between myself and the three ghostly figures.
The converge together, forming a circle and throwing their heads back. Their cloaks fall down to their shoulders revealing their gray faces and black curled horns. I recognize them as the servants who’ve been attending my room.
“Clothio?” her eyes snap to me, and her smile is crooked up to one side. They begin to writhe together in a coordinated dance as words fall from their chapped lips.
"It starts with nine
The world unwinds
The sins combine
By fates design
Goddess divine
Will deftly defy,
And end in spite
Of fire and lies"
“What does that mean?” I call out as wind whips against my face. Clouds gather above us, blotting out the sliver of light that remained. Shadows dance around them as an orb of light flitters into the middle fate’s hands, illuminating their gray faces as they huddle together. The ground shakes and the small pebbles begin to give way beneath our feet. We scramble to keep our balance and I clutch tight to Pierce. My nails dig into his shirt as he wraps his arms around my middle.
Clothio responds, her eyes glued to the orb, “You must venture where none are permitted.” Blurry images flicker around the bright sphere. They move too quickly for me to grasp what they could be seeing. Suddenly, bones begin to jut out from the shaking ground. A skeletal hand wraps around my ankle and I let out a scream as I wrench myself away from the skeleton. Hundreds of them are peeking through, pulling themselves up from beneath the stones and dirt that line the garden.
“Ah, the best kind of fertilizer for gardens.” Clothio says with a manic laugh as she takes in the scene unfolding around us. The orb she was holding, disappears. The circle around the three fates is magically untouched, as the guys and I fight off the bones that claw at our bodies. Pierce is pulled down to the ground by several bodies and I ache to get to him, but I’m fighting off my own skeletal assailants. Walker makes it over to Pierce and bashes his fists into the bones, cracking them apart and freeing Pierce. He helps him up and they stand back-to-back as more skeletons close in around them.
Emmet and Garrison have both ripped parts of bone from some of the skeleton and are using them to beat back the onslaught of attackers.
The left fate steps up to the edge of the circle, pulling a bright blue thread between her fingers. “Retrieve the box. But do not open it.” She says before turning to her right, situating the threads between the other fate’s fingers. “Destroy it, before it destroys us.” The two of them begin a game of Cat’s Cradle.
“A box? What box? What do you want us to do?” Fury flows through my veins at how dismissive and vague they’re being while the garden turns into a skeletal war zone. Walker knocks one of their heads clean off, but the body continues to attack him. No alarms have been raised yet, but I know it’s a matter of time before someone glances this way and sees the state of the garden.
“Long ago, the maiden Pandora opened it, releasing horrors upon the world. There are those who seek its power and intend to use it for their own gain. But doing so will be the end of things as we know it. You must reach it before them.” They speak one at a time, each adding on to the story as the two continue their game with the glowing string. One I’m only vaguely familiar with. I’m suddenly thrown between two boney frames, as I’m bashed across the head by one of their humorous bones. I manage to grasp them by the clavicle and yank causing them to crash into each other.
“Where is this box? Can you three help with this or not?” I ask while pushing off two dirt encrusted rib cages that had become entwined. The sound of bones snapping against flesh fills my ears. Sweat and a small trickle of blood slide down my forehead.
