My Mother Immortal

Chapter 20: Danger Round The Corner

They opened the door swiftly, the three nipping inside, and closing the door with equal speed, they let it click back into place gently. It would do them no good to make too much noise.

An air of mustiness hung in the room, a suspension of dust, silence and the stillness of a place that had gone for too long without the presence of any living thing. A thick layer of grey dust coated everything, from the bookcases with their shelves crowded with books, to the desk and armchair behind it.

Files, which colours had long since faded away, were strewn carelessly on the desk, and papers littered the floor, as though the last user had left the room, which was most likely an office, with great haste, leaving everything behind.

"Trixa, Hanalea, get to the air vent. I will guard the door." Eurayion said in a low hiss, his knife no longer in his hand. Something a lot more deadly, black and metallic was though. Trixa made eye contact with him, and Hanalea was sure a message only understandable to twins passed from her to him.

She then turned and stepped carefully over the files, sometimes pushing them away with her foot, careful to not step on them, made brittle with age.

She planted her hands on the desk, putting one foot on the desk and hoisted herself up, now with both feet securely on the its surface. Hanalea copied her, and Trixa crouched, giving her a meaningful look over her shoulder. Without hesitation, Hanalea bent, wrapping her arms round Trixa's neck and her legs round her torso.

Trixa stood up slowly, her hands firmly supporting her sister's bottom half, back inclined at a slight angle. Hanalea unwrapped her arms from around Trixa's neck and directed her gaze upwards.

The air vent was within reach, so she straightened herself as much as she could while maintaining her balance, and with her heartbeat thundering in her ears, hooked her fingers through the grill, oh-so-slowly shifting it aside.

"Hurry!" Trixa hissed, a bead of sweat sliding down the side of her face. Every second spent in the abandoned office made the panic she had been feeling for a while now tighten its grip on her heart.

"Done." Hanalea grasped the sides of the air vent, pulling herself up and stepping onto Trixa's shoulders. With much effort, she hoisted herself into the air vent and scrambled in as fast as she could.

It was remarkably dusty in the chute, and Hanalea could almost see the dust, disturbed by her movement, rising up to swirl around her in a hypnotic dance. Stifling a sneeze, she crawled on to make room for Trixa, who had simply took a short run across the desk and launched herself upwards towards the air vent.

Eurayion wheeled the office chair to the door, and started transferring the files from the floor to the seat. The makeshift barricade would likely not last long, and he quickly reversed upon hearing footsteps approach, then bypass the door.

He had just a little time left. Leaping onto the desk, agile as a cat, he ran across it and launched himself at the air vent like Trixa had done, grabbed the sides of the opening and was inside in a moment. Hooking the edge of the grill with his foot, he slowly slid it back into place, wincing inwardly when it made a soft clunk as it fell into its rightful position.

Footsteps, coming back and stopping outside the office. The sound of the doorknob being jiggled ensued, and when the door could not be open by ordinary means- whoever who was outside resorted to violence, banging and pounding the door till it shuddered in its frame.

Not waiting to see, or rather, hear what would happen when the door and the barricade finally gave in, Eurayion hurriedly crawled deeper down the air duct.

The sides of the duct pressed uncomfortably into Eurayion's sides as he inched forward on his stomach, back and neck starting to ache. Thankfully, the duct grew steadily cleaner and fresher smelling as he crawled on, though he could do without the decreasing temperatures. Clearly, they were nearing the most used part of the Enhurst Estate, where his father would be.

Hanalea looked down every vent they came to- most of the rooms were unoccupied, though some of them seemed to be used for storage, yellowed scrolls tucked on shelves and in boxes, scraps of white and red paper on the floor, paper with writing and diagrams on them stacked haphazardly. In one room, Hanalea saw a large round symbol drawn on the floor, with roman numerals and ancient lettering circling it. At the middle of the elaborate circle, where an open eye had been drawn, there was something which looked very much like a splatter of dried blood.

She must have shivered, for Trixa asked, "Are you alright? Is it too cold?"
Hanalea shook her head mutely.

Eurayion had also been taking note of the rooms they had passed by, and eventually, he called for them to halt and the three exited the air duct, landing one by one on a soft couch below.

"Welcome to our room." Eurayion said, sweeping his arm round him theatrically.

"Or rather, welcome back." Trixa elbowed Eurayion in his side, which was still sore from all the crawling he had done in the air ducts. He glared poisonously at her, stepping unceremoniously on her foot. Trixa yelped and staggered backward, causing the watching Hanalea to burst into laughter.

We are waiting for you.

The voice of a little girl cut through her mind, cold and mocking. Hanalea hugged her arms to her chest, eyes wide and darkened with horror, as the girl spoke again.

Now, it's time for our class reunion party to begin....