Poseidon's Academy

Chapter 32. Worship Us

'Hailey. Hailey, wake up. It's over.' Someone was shaking her, dragging her back through the darkness. Slowly, she opened her eyes, staring up at Alec's face, which relaxed with relief. 'You're okay.'

Hardly, Hailey thought, climbing back to her feet. Her eyes combed the room for her parents, but they were gone. She calmed a little, especially when she saw the door was open. 'How'd you get it open?'

'With Goldarin. I don't think Hades or the Erinyes expected us to know it, or I doubt they would have put us in here. Come on.'

Demi, Jayden, and Aaron were waiting outside.

Demi sprang on Hailey, hugging her. 'You're all right. I thought I'd never see you again. Any of you. The room made me think I'd be trapped and alone forever-it was my worst nightmare come to life.'

'It's over now. You're not alone,' Jayden reassured her.

'Aaron, are you all right?' Hailey asked. He stared at the open doors, looking as if he expected something, or someone, to run out and accost him. 'Aaron,' she said again when he didn't answer.

He shook his head, as if clearing it. 'I'm fine. So, are we escaping or what?'

'Oh, we're definitely escaping,' Demi said. 'Things have gone too far.'

'We can't yet,' Alec told them reluctantly.

Everyone rounded on him.

He shrank from their hostile gazes. 'It's too risky. The Erinyes are probably in the pit, so there's no way we'd get through it without one of them seeing us, especially when Aaron uses his powers to raise us to the entry tunnel. I think our best chance of getting out of here is to wait until the Erinyes take us back to the hatch and go with our original plan.'

'We can't go back into those rooms,' Hailey's said, her voice catching. She couldn't face her parents again- especially her dad.

Alec dragged a hand through his grimy hair. 'We'll stay out here until we hear someone coming, then we'll have to go back in.'

'And what if they don't come back for us?' Aaron asked. 'What if these rooms were meant to be our new residence?'

'Then I guess we'll escape from here-but not until it gets really late.' Alec looked at Jayden. 'Keep an eye on the time with your watch.'

'Shh,' Aaron hissed an hour later. 'I think I hear something.'

Footsteps echoed down the tunnel.

'Quickly, get back into the rooms,' Aaron whispered.

Everyone jumped up in a panic, and Jayden, Demi, and Aaron vanished into the rooms. Hailey stood outside the door to hers, not being able to step back into the blackness, knowing her grudge-holding parents would be waiting for her-she could practically feel the chill of their hate in the air.

'Come on, Hailey.' Alec steered her back into the dark room. 'Remember, it's not real.'

Hailey lunged forward to stop him from shutting the door, but she was too slow. She tried to control her rapid breathing and closed her eyes, emptying her mind. White light. Just think of white light. Nothing but white light.

'Murderer!'

Hailey squeezed her eyes shut tighter. White light, just think of white light.

The room fell quiet. It's working!

Two hands clamped down on her shoulders, and she sucked in a breath as she looked at her dad's charred face glowering down at her.

'You can't ignore me, Hailey.'