Chapter 61

The ground and walls shake violently, and the windows rattle in their wooden frames. At first, I don’t move, unable to make sense of what’s happening and why? The ground’s moving. The noise is like extended thunder, only worse because the vibrations are coming from below.

The lights on the ceiling swing madly and diagonal cracks appear on the walls. Dread creeps over me like an icy chill. I climb off the bed and crash to the floor. The ground shakes like a boat caught in a storm.

I crawl on my hand and knees to the door and quickly crawl into the corridor. The door slams shut behind me with force. The wooden frame sends sharp slithers of wood in my direction. I roll out of the way to avoid being struck by one. The ground stops moving, but I know this is just a lull.

Panic-stricken voices rise from the ground floor. I stare down the large staircase and turn around to go down them backward, on my hands and knees.

I make it down the first few steps when the ground rumbles and moves again. My body is thrown to the side, and I roll down the remaining steps like a ping pong ball, bouncing painfully off every step.

I land in a heap at the bottom. The pristine white walls are covered in deep cracks. The light fittings hang by a thread, their wires dangling loose and emitting sparks.

The stone statuette in the hallway has toppled to its side, along with lots of the furniture. My grandmother wobbles unsteadily out of the living room and grips painfully onto my wrist. Her sharp claw-like nails, dig into my skin.

“We are under attack,” she hisses while dragging me down the hallway. She pushes me into her office and slams the door behind us.

The ground moves again, steadily at first, with a low rumble. Soon though, it picks up and becomes many magnitudes louder than thunder. The roar’s louder and more intense than anything I’ve ever heard before. I want to cover my ears, but I need to hold on to something as I am being tossed around like I weigh nothing.

Glasses smash to the ground, and books fall from the shelves. I look to my grandmother who’s now on all fours, her face bleach white. I drop to the floor and shuffle closer to her.

My grandmother crawls under the desk, and I follow her lead, curling into a ball and holding on to the table leg as if it is my lifeline. I watch in horror and fascination as the walls crack and crumble and the windows shatter. I fear the house will collapse into its foundations.



***

As the roar and the shaking die down, I focus my attention on my deceiving grandmother.

“Who is attacking us?” I ask in a tone that leaves no doubt that I’m tired of the lies and demand answers.

“The Devil!” she replies in a voice that’s barely audible. I feel the color drain from my face as my body becomes icy cold. “They have made it past the enchantment. Quickly, child, we must leave before he finds us.” She scuttles from under the table towards the bookshelf that lies broken on its side.

She stands on shaky legs and draws what looks like an ancient symbol on the wall. She chants something in an unknown language, and I watch a vortex open in the wall. Various shades of blues swirl together, giving off a bright luminescent glow that ripples at the outsides like water.

Grandmother waves me over. I stand nervously in front of the vortex, unsure what she wants me to do. My mouth’s dry and my brain has gone blank. I stare ahead in a daze, entranced by the swirling blue vertical cauldron.

“Kayla, you must step through.” I stare at her. She wants me to step through that thing. The ground shifts again, and a loud bang makes me jump.

With one large shove from her boney hands, she pushes me into the blue lights of the vortex. The vibrating ground makes it impossible for me to gain any kind of footing and the intense light surrounds me, forcing me to close my eyes against the brightness. The air around me grows cold. It creeps into my bones. The simple act of shivering becomes painful. I feel like I’m floating, and the strange feeling makes me feel nauseous.

I blink, and everything goes black. My head pounds and every cell in my body screams for oxygen. My chest burns and my eyes sting. I kick my legs and water pressing against me. But I’m not wet. Why? I keep fighting until I feel like my head is about to explode. I need to take a breath. So, I do. For some reason, it doesn’t hurt like I thought it would, and I no longer feel so afraid. It’s almost peaceful. I feel myself falling further into the blackness but let my body relax and welcome the black hole threatening to swallow me.

***

Many say that when you die, if you’ve done good deeds and abide by the law, you will be rewarded by going to Heaven. I’ve met angels, and believe me, there’s nothing angelic about them. They also say when you die, and you’ve done unthinkable things in your mortal life you go to Hell. Yeah, tell me about it, I’ve been there too.

As I float in the blackness, I try and think which of the two places I’d rather go to when death strikes me. Heaven or Hell, the thought of having to go to either brings me out in a cold sweat.

I open my eyes, the stinging has gone now, but I see nothing, just blackness. My head continues to pound, and there’s a slight buzzing sound in my ears. I sit up, and my body convulses into a stream of coughs. Water expels from my mouth like a fountain. Feeling lightheaded, I turn to the side and see a large hole in the ground with a swirling pond. The blue vortex sits in the middle as though it belongs there.

I roll onto my back feeling completely exhausted. Worry and panic eat sat my insides. I look up and see an opening in the rocks. I sigh as I realize I’m in a cave, God knows where. I stare out of the opening at the half moon and the clear stars in the night sky. Where am I?

My body feels drained, and my chest aches from the large amount of water that entered my lungs. Yet, how bizarre, my clothes are dry. How can that be? I try not to ponder the question too much and put it down to a crazy supernatural thing.

My eyes are heavy with the need for sleep. I try to fight it. But in the end, I can’t.