Chapter Ten

Fear pumped through Ronnie’s veins as she gripped the door handle and yanked it open. Beneath her fingertips the handle felt warm to the touch, as though alive. Shocked, she pushed it away with more strength than she realised she had. The door swung wide open and crashed against the wall. She lurched forward across the threshold, just before it bounced back and slammed shut behind her, making her jump as it did. The instant relief she felt knowing the door acted as a barrier between them was gone a second later, when the darkness she’d stepped into enveloped her. She stood stock still and scanned the black void for movement. Although she couldn’t see anything she immediately felt ill at ease, with a strong sense that someone - or after what she’d just seen - something was there with her, watching. Hardly daring to breathe she listened to the faint voices of Theo and Artemis beyond the closed door.

‘Aren’t you going after her?’

‘She won’t get far. They never do.’

What does that mean?

She strained to hear any movement, but her heart pumped so fast she worried she wouldn’t be able to hear anything but the pounding of her fear.

‘That’s not what I meant, Theo, and you know it,’ came the voice of Artemis, annoyed. ‘She needs you.’

I don’t need anyone! Ronnie told herself angrily, taking a few defiant steps into the darkness, with her hands outstretched before her. Her fingers touched something rough, but warm, and she came to a startling halt. Like the door handle the wall radiated heat and seemed to throb beneath her fingertips as though it were... alive? She snatched her fingers away. Ridiculous! It was just some underground heating, that’s all. So why do I still feel uneasy? You’ve got the heebie-jeebies, that’s all. Ronnie told herself to calm down. She peered around, her eyes at last adjusting to the inky gloom. She was in some sort of corridor and could go only left or right, but neither option looked like fun.

The powerful sense of unease, of being watched, snaked down her spine. What if there were more like him, in their natural forms, waiting for her in the dark? As much as she wanted to escape, no way was she running anywhere until she knew what she might be running into. Or whom.

She squinted, forcing her eyes to focus, and slowly she made out a vague, shady outline of five, possibly six arches along one side of the narrow corridor to her left. Each one had a strange decorative lump above. The opposite wall was the same. Nothing to worry about; they were only arched doorways, like the one she’d just come out of, that’s all. Yet still she couldn’t shake off the feeling that someone or something was watching her.

Not daring to move she waited for more clarity of vision. Just to be sure. A misty fog, which seemed to be holding back the shapes in the shadows started to thin. One at a time blurry silhouettes drew steadily into view as if she’d discovered the power of night vision. With nerves drying her throat she swallowed. The fuzzy shapes took form. Perched above every archway sat a large black Raven, with disturbing, yellow, beady eyes following her every move. Her heart raced, and it took a moment to realise they were stuffed.

She shivered.

Dead things can’t see.

So why does it feel like they’re watching me?

The darkness returned and all she could see were their eyes, until they too faded into obscurity where anything could be lurking, waiting to pounce. For all she knew that corridor could go on forever, only stopping when she reached the mouth of Hell itself.

She heard a noise. She hoped it was from the other side of the closed door and not her imagination playing tricks on her, like the living, breathing walls she thought she felt. Her eyes flitted back to the door handle.

For a few unnerving moments she swore she aged ten years as she waited for the handle to move, forcing her deeper into the corridor of staring eyes. Nothing happened, but the creepiness never faltered.

She took a deep breath and quickly checked her other option. Going right led down an even narrower tunnel. Dark and creepy too, but as far as she could tell, no arches. No arches, good. Not knowing where the tunnel led, bad. Never before had she felt so trapped, or so vulnerable.

Another noise startled her.

Icy fear shot through her veins.

On tenterhooks Ronnie looked up above the door she’d just come through, positive the noise came from overhead. Two large yellow eyes stared back at her.

And blinked.

With her decision made for her Ronnie darted right and ran as quickly as she could, fumbling through the dark tunnel of nothingness. Trying to push from her mind all thoughts of what could be following and no longer caring why the walls appeared to pulse with life when touched.

After what seemed an age, but was probably only minutes, she noticed the floor beneath her feet began to slope upward, and for some reason that excited her. Breathless, she forged on. At least she wasn’t going further down into the depths of Hell. It must be the way out, she reasoned desperately, her panting loud and erratic. Up usually was, wasn’t it?

Ahead she spotted a large door. An exit! She sprinted the last few yards, and upon reaching the door a tightness in her chest forced her to stop, hands on knees, to catch her breath before going any further. She leant against it, feeling its pulsating warmth enclose her, like a comforting hug. Exhausted, Ronnie flopped down to the floor to rest a little and wait for her breathing to calm, and as she did her eyes began to grow heavy and flicker. Then she heard another noise, which startled her to her senses. A scraping sound.

She sat perfectly still, trying to force her ragged breathing to quieten, and then she heard it again. And something else. Another noise, but different this time. It wasn’t a rustle or a flap of a wing, it was breathing. And whatever it belonged to was so close she could feel its breath on her ear!

Ronnie jumped up and threw herself against the pulsating wall. She looked back the way she’d come. No way was she going back down there. Then something scuttled across her line of vision, and with a scream stuck in her throat she grabbed the door handle and tugged it open. It too throbbed beneath her touch, but she didn’t care. She had no idea what was on the other side of the door, but whatever it was it couldn’t be as bad as what might be inside the tunnel with her. Could it?

The door opened to a blinding white light and the smell of fresh air filled her nostrils. Ronnie shielded her eyes until they became accustomed to the brightness and stepped through, but just as she was about to shut the door something inside the tunnel tugged the bottom of her nightie three times, and laughed.

Filled with panic and a desperate urge to release her scream she willed herself to stay calm. To slam the door would alert anyone this side of the tunnel of her presence. She snatched the material back and pushed the door shut with a quiet click and stood, pressed against the pulsating door, weeping quietly to herself, through exhaustion and relief to be out of that dank place.

As soon as she could think straight she would take a look around. She needed to know what she was up against, if she was going to have a fighting chance of getting out of there alive. What she needed was something like a sawn-off shotgun filled with rock salt bullets... where that bizarre thought come from she didn’t know, but it made her head hurt.