What Lies Beneath The Clearing

15.8

As smoke filled the space, Lennox and Kaila rushed around searching for any way out that wasn't up. It didn't take long to find, but there was a metal panel in the corner of the space opposite the cage that hadn't been unlatched for so long that the girls spent longer trying to pry it open than they did finding it. Eventually, with a release so strong that Lennox stumbled back onto her bottom whilst dropping the metal rod, the latch came undone, and they were able to descend even deeper underground into a tunnel that ran out from under the manor. A short five minutes later they had reached the peak of the incline, coming to a set of wooden doors that were easy to force through with both of them using all their strength. The cool breeze of the morning hit them all at once, as did the intense smell of smoke as they clambered out of the tunnel onto solid ground. The smoke came from the manor; something inside had ignited a fire so strong that within minutes the entire building was ablaze. 

"It's over. It must be." Kaila said with a laugh. 

But as the girls watched the structure of the manor disintegrate, the words of her mother echoed in her ears. 

'This place is yours now Lennox. You must protect it, and take care of the house the same way I have all these years'.

The cracking of the manor's foundations snapped Lennox back into real time. She watched the manor begin to collapse in on itself. In a strange way, she felt a sense of mourning. The manor was the last connection she had to her mother after all, and she had more questions now than she ever did about what happened that day. Kaila, on the other hand, was basking in her newfound freedom, and Lennox turned to see her friend taking a deep breath of fresh air. 

"We need to go. That smoke is too high for people not to see, it won't be long before the fire department arrives." 

But Kaila took no notice of Lennox's worries. Instead, she looked at her with a smile on her face until she saw the blackness spread over Lennox's left side. 

"Lennox, what is that?" She frowned with concern, stepping closer as Lennox looked at the black veins trailing across her collarbone. 

"It doesn't matter, I'm okay. And so are you." She shook her head, still mildly surprised. "I can't believe you're here." 

She watched a comforting smile tug at Kaila's lips again as she took Lennox's hand. 

"Because of you." Then she looked out at the field towards the sunrise. "It's beautiful." 

"Yeah, it is. And it's over." Lennox said, looking back at the burning manor. Her voice held a certain unsureness, as if she didn't quite believe herself. It'd been so long that she'd grown used to her life with the riddles, and wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to do now that they would stop. Her eyes fell on her veins when she felt the blackness move. 

"Lennox? We should go right?" Kaila asked. 

Lennox nodded to herself. "Right." 

But Kaila could see her friend hesitate, so she stood in front of her and put her hand on the black under Lennox's skin. 

"Lets go. We're safe now." 

"Are we?" 

"Yes. And whatever this is, we'll fix it." She looked at the veins as she smiled. "So, where to now?"

She looked directly into Lennox's eyes and the blackness shifted towards her hand, Lennox frowning as she watched Kaila's eyes flicker with gold.