an excerpt for silveh.
Writing Piece #10: The Abyssal Cave
The Abyssal Cave
“Uh-oh.”
“What?” asked Sebastian, kneeling over Scarlett’s shoulder. “Why did we stop?”
Cassidy pointed. “Look.”
Just a distance ahead, over the mystical pond, were several moving shadows that had crooked features and glowing red eyes. Scarlett recognized them from the book earlier. The Shades, Montague had called them. They were real.
“What do we do?” she said, kneeling.
Cassidy rubbed her chin and elbow, eyes narrowed. Scarlett noticed them reflecting from the cave water, blue-ish green, and her heart skipped a beat.
Cassidy removed her hood and turned to Charles. “How do you kill them?”
He shook his head while saying, “You can’t. They’re like wasps. Leave them alone, they leave you alone.”
She groaned. “I…can’t do that.”
He rolled his eyes. “I know. ’Course not.”
“So,” said Sebastian, sliding off the boulder, “what’s the plan?”
“No plan,” she said. “Just run in, charge at the first Shade you see, and hit it with all you’ve got.”
“We can’t do that!” Charles scoffed. “We’ll be killed! I don’t know how long you were in school, but they’re virtually indestructible. They’re in Hell and Earth at the same time. You’d have to go into Hell yourself to actually kill one.”
“What then?” yelled Cassidy, wincing, hands clenched. “We can’t ignore them!”
He blinked. “Why can’t we?”
She scowled, feeling her sweaty forehead and kicking the ground, sand spurting. “Whatever. But if any of those losers tries something, anything at all, we beat the shit out of them.”
They continued down the path, which was between several stalagmites shaped like a rib cage, while glowing white water dripped from the ceiling into the pond, echoing across the cave. Scarlett glanced up, and saw the pond reflecting on the cave top.
They all walked quietly across when Cassidy put her arm up, Sebastian crashing into it and scratching his head. “What?”
“Look.” She pointed at where the Shades used to be, but they were gone. A dark pool of blood was where they left, and Scarlett grimaced at the smell, covering her nose.
Cassidy pointed again at a pair of shadows, shaking her head. “They’ve moved. They’re closer now.”
They ambled in dead silence, and Scarlett noticed her heart beating. Just when she thought it couldn’t get any worse, a strangled sound make her heart skip one or more beats.
It sounded like little girls being throttled, then barfing. Over and over again, and made Scarlett want to take a vomit.
Sebastian swallowed. “Is that…them?”
Cassidy nodded, gesturing for them to keep going. At last she stopped at a corner, where a large shadow was visible through a beating fire, kneeling over it. She slowly turned her head in their direction, eyes wide, and put her index finger to her extended lips. She lowered it and turned back, slowly reaching for her scythe.
A curt growl erupted, followed by the shadow turning its head in their direction. Cassidy froze.
A cold prickle felt its way up Scarlett’s spine, also causing her immobile. The Shades behind her turned, eyes cold and hollow, and Cassidy whirled around, pointing her knife at them. “Away!” she shrieked, and Charles grabbed her arm. “Don’t alarm them!” he yelled, teeth clenched. “They’ll kill us.”
“And what am I supposed to do?”
He bit his lip and let go of her arm, and his eyes wandered to Scarlett. “Your ring,” he said, and put out his hand. “Give it to me.”
She took a step back, gripping her purse. “Why?”
“They know what it is,” he said, and shook his hand, as the Shades and the shadow seemed to grow larger. Sebastian unsheathed his scythe and lifted it up, pacing around them, eyes wild. The shadow roared, and the fire blew out, shaking the cave and leaving them in dim pool light. Scarlett gripped the boulder next to her, and Charles advanced. She took several steps back and punched him cross in the face. Cassidy gasped, almost dropping her knife. Sebastian’s eyes widened, and he did a “stop, stop” hand motion.
“What the—”
Charles raised his head, touching his lip, blood dripping onto his chin. He stared at his finger, and gazed at Scarlett. “You hit me,” he murmured, and let out a breath. “You actually hit me.”
One hand grabbed her hair and the other her throat and throttled her. Sebastian shoved his scythe into Charles, blood spurting from his back.
