Underground Angels

Chapter Forty-Five | Living Nightmare

Important Question at the end!

Chapter Forty-Five

Living Nightmare

Gabriel's chains were heavy.

They all yanked on them, hacked them with swords and knives. Stephan even tried melting them with a torch (where he had hidden such a thing on his person Noel had no idea). Nothing worked. After a few minutes of this, Noel stopped them.

"They won't come off." She said, tracing the scars that laced Gabriel's wrists. "I saw...it's like my dream."

"You dreamt this?" Elizabeth Darcy was holding her son's head in her lap, smoothing his hair back. "When?"

"For as long as I can remember." Noel put her backpack on, re-tied her short stub of a ponytail and pursed her lips. She was going to get Gabriel and their friends out.

Lola accepted this crazy fact with a nod, something she wouldn't have done six months ago, and gathered their scattered weapons. "If you know what's coming, tell us what do." She caught Noel's gaze with those clear green eyes that used to be so menacing. "I trust you."

Taking a deep breath, Noel nodded once, then again. "Okay. It has to be me – carrying him."

Elizabeth gave her the once over, noting her height. "Are you sure –?"

"I am. I have to." Putting Gabriel's arm over her shoulder, she heaved him to his feet. Constantine reached out to help, but she shook her head. "No Stan, it has to be me. It's always been this way."

With Gabriel's arm over her shoulder, his familiar smell and the shivers running down her spine were her courage. Before them stood the tall double doors that would take them outside, back into the courtyard. Closing her eyes, Noel tapped into the energy of the room, just how Grandma Ethel had taught her. She hadn't had much use for this talent yet, and really had been too scared to try it. Now, with Gabriel at her side, she had a new sense of confidence.

She sensed Lola, Constantine, Stephan and Elizabeth behind her, and behind the doors – nothing, just the flutter of wings. It was safe.

"We're okay. Let's go."

The doors swung open without Noel even touching them, dust rising into the air. Screech owls were crowded onto every branch of a dead tree, and they cried out as they passed.

"Why did no one tell is that hell was cold?" Asked Stephan as they moved through the courtyard, towards the towering bone fence. He was shivering and rubbing his arms.

"Because no one ever survives." Said Lola, grunting as she lifted the ends of Gabriel's chains.

Noel was cold, too, mostly because Gabriel's skin was icy to the touch. "Hold on," she whispered, squeezing his waist. "We've got you now." She tried to push the words of the prophecy out of her head, forget the seeds Gabriel had eaten and the rising fear in her chest. She had to focus.

They were only ten feet from the gates when Noel felt it. A piercing, white-hot light shot through her skull. Falling to her knees, she heard her own scream as if through a wall of thick glass. The vision seemed to last forever, though really it was simple.

The woman stood over her, and Noel tried to make out her features through the light. All that was truly visible was a mane of intense red curls, and the hazy shifting of hands.

"Believe, Noel." The woman said. "You have a millennium of strength behind you."

"Please, let me go." Noel pleaded, holding her head. The woman only nodded, and slowly the pain faded.

"Hey." She felt soft hands on her forehead, grazing her lips. "Angel, look at me. Are you hurt?"

Gasping, Noel managed to open her eyes. "I – I don't know what that was."

Gabriel looked worried, but he tried to smile. "Hey, remember when you accidently had a vision and told that guy the answers to the math test?"

Noel nodded, leaning into his touch. She sensed that the others had stepped back.

"Do you still find me scary?"

She shook her head. "No. You read those crappy romance novels."

Chuckling, he smoothed the tears on her cheek with his thumb. "Yeah, I've missed those."

"I brought you one."

"No way." He hugged her then, breathing her in. "Thank you."

They sat like that for a moment, until Noel had grasped her surroundings again. "Okay, I'm ready."

They stood, and Noel told the rest of them that she was fine. "It was a...vision of some sort. I've never had one that severe before though."

"That's odd." Constantine was frowning. "We can't dwell on it now though, we better get out of here before something else happens." No sooner had he spoken, but a rumbling began, deep beneath them.

"I think it's time to run again." Lola said, and they all agreed.

"That sounds a lot like before," Stephan panted. "In New York, when Gabriel was taken."

Gabriel shivered. "Can't forget that sound."

They continued on, but cracks began to form in the dirt. Suddenly, as if opposing winds had hit them, they were split up as the ground broke apart. Noel and Gabriel were tossed to one side of the crevice, the others the opposite side. Elizabeth was nowhere to be seen.

"Mom?" Gabriel shouted, on his knees and coughing. Blood spattered the ground, just as it had in Noel's dream.

The split was widening, and they were forced to scramble backwards "Keep going!" Constantine shouted. "We'll meet at the river."

"Be safe!" Noel shouted back. Gabriel had been shocked into silence, and she had to drag him back to avoid falling into the crevice. "Come on Gabe, we have to go."

"Noel –"

"There's no time." She insisted.

"No, look."

She followed his gaze and almost threw up. On the edge of the horizon, black smoke billowed. The nightmare that had plagued her for years was coming to life.

A/N: Ohhhh the dream we've been reading about for ages is coming to life...freaky.

Question 1: What awaits Noel on the other side of her nightmare?

Question 2: As the book draws to a close, I thought I'd do another Q&A. I've had A LOT of questions PM'd to me and commented in the past, stuff that I would love to answer all in one go. So if you would like a Q&A video, tell me in the comments and leave as many questions as you'd like. Feel free to PM me, too. My old Q&A, if you haven't seen it, is up top. I have no idea how the app works (I'm rubbish at apps) so if you use the app, good luck....?

Rose

P.S some people have the desire to ask questions about me...? If you want to do that, cool. I'm not terribly interesting though.

P.S.S That video is over a year old and I am rather embarrassed of my face. Also, my hair is a foot and a half shorter now. Crazy times. What a year does, eh?