Skulls and Bones

Chapter twenty four

"What do we do now?" I asked. Lori was long gone and Rick and I were left alone to the silence. I didn't want to spend my last moments arguing with someone that I truly cared about but it was like that was all we did.

The quiet village that we were facing was really starting to creep me out. We haven't seen anyone except Lori pass by and I just knew that Gabriel couldn't be the only one who lived here. I just imagined beady eyes staring at us from windows or hidden in the shadows. Someone had to be around but I didn't know if I actually wanted to see them. If they were anything like Gabriel then I hoped that they would stay hidden.

All except my mother who I now knew was awake. But she was still a prisoner to Gabriel which was more of a reason to take him down.

Even if I wouldn't make it.

"Locking us in a cage seems a little medieval don't you think?" Rick said completely changing the subject. "I should know since I was around."

"This is serious," I told him. I was slightly annoyed but you couldn't blame me.

"Don't you think I know that?" he snapped. "But since I have no say in things it doesn't even make sense to worry about what's happening."

"Rick, if I don't do this then the Underworld will be destroyed. What don't you understand about that?"

"The fact that you're risking your life to do this," he replied. "You don't even like it here. In fact you hate it. You've been trying to escape the day I met you and would have still tried if unfortunate events didn't happen to your mother. You don't care about this place but you're willing to die for it. Why?"

"Because that changed!" I yelled. I was facing his cage with my hands clenching the bars. "The more I stayed here the more I actually started to like it. Even knowing what I know about this place, it still feels like home. Even knowing what you and Marc did, knowing that you're the reason my dad's in jail-"

"Wait," he interjected. "How do you know Cornelius is your father?"

"Zain told me," I said. "And I saw him. Everything you think you know about the Underworld is wrong. You can die, you can have sunlight, that prison isn't as locked down as you think. Zain was able to open it and I went in and out. Cornelius wasn't trying to get the Bones out, he was only-"

"I know what he was doing," he snapped. "I don't care. What I care about is how Zain knew how to open it."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Even Marc and I didn't know how to open it but all of a sudden Zain knows? How did he do it?"

I frowned and racked my brain for the answers. "He whispered some words and it opened," I answered. "Why does this matter?"

"Because he knows things that he shouldn't," he said and paced around his cage. "What did you say he was turning into?"

"A Manick B," I said. "A more human version of the beast we faced. He'll be able to think for himself, he'll be more sane." But he wouldn't be Zain.

"I can't even imagine what's going on on the other side," he mused and for the first time I wondered too.

Bones had infiltrated the castle and Zain was a beast losing his mind on the streets. The queen was gone and not able to guide them and for all we knew Gabriel was still there wrecking havoc. It was probably chaotic but strangely everything was quiet on this side. I worried about Marc who left the party before the attack. He could have been the first one caught in the crossfire. He could be dead.

I shook my head. I couldn't think about that now.

"Hazel is probably enjoying this," he continued with a chuckle. "She was always a wild one and enjoyed fighting. I could imagine her right now."