Looking upward, she could see his mass contorting, expanding as he shifted. It was too dark to make out any details other than the mass approaching her from above. There was no time. She left the lights off. Without them he could see nothing in the pitch black of this pit, not even with his enhanced dragon sight.
Quickly shifting back into human form, she ran naked toward the tunnel Yakov had told her went all the way back up. She had barely been able to make it out on her way down, but there didn’t seem to be anything to the left of it, so it had to be the right one. At least, she hoped it was.
It was so dark that she was more feeling her way along than seeing it, without her dragon sight, she had no extra sense of sight and was just having to hope for the best. She slipped inside and began running into the darkness, terrified but knowing she was better hidden without lights.
She had a very good chance that he would choose the wrong tunnel and lose sight of her in a tunnel that went nowhere or never ended. Several of the others would dead end somewhere and force him to turn around and try another, according to what Yakov had told her. Hopefully, that would be the case and it would slow him down. She ran upward as fast as she could, struggling with the slickness of the tunnel’s floor and her lack of sight as she ran. At first, she seemed to be alone, but then she could hear him sing-songing behind her.
“Oh, Aileen. Where are you princess? I know you are in here.”
She froze for a moment, listening. His steps were at a distance, but not far enough away to be comfortable. Just her luck that he had chosen the correct tunnel right off the bat. She had no idea how long it would take to get to the top or where she would find to hide there, if there was such a place. All she knew to do was just to keep running and hope for the best outcome.
After what had felt like an eternity, she began to see just a tiny bead of light shining in front of her. It was still a good bit away, but at least there was hope. Behind her, Kevin continued to taunt her. His voice was closer now, too close for comfort. She wanted to run faster, but she just couldn’t. She was aching and exhausted. Beads of sweat poured down her face despite the coolness of the tunnel around her. She wanted to just stop and rest, but that wasn’t an option, either.
“Did you think you were the only one that knew about this tunnel, Aileen? We played here as boys, before Yakov built his house around the entrance to keep everyone out. Selfish. Always has been. Couldn’t even let us have our fun.”
Of course, Aileen thought. She had just assumed that no one knew about these tunnels but Yakov. He had never told her otherwise, but he hadn’t told her they were secret either, not from the clan. It had been her mistake and one that she might just pay for, in the end.
“Did he tell you why he covered it up? Did he tell you about the kids that came down here and got lost? Their little skeletons are still lost in these tunnels somewhere. Either that, or they made it out to the river and drowned, but I doubt it. No one has seen them. Ten kids, Aileen. I brought them here, but I found my way home. What if I told you that I know where they are? What if I told you that I closed them up in here and listened to them scream until they stopped? Would you think bad of me, Aileen?”
Aileen’s skin crawled listening to him. He was a killer. She had no idea what children he was talking about, but she somehow didn’t doubt that he was telling the truth. If she got out of here, she would ask Yakov about it.
Aileen could feel the daylight on her skin – warm, familiar, despite the cool air that blew in around it. She ran for it and then she was outside, but she couldn’t stop. Her body flew over the narrow ledge that ran around the outer entrance into the tunnel and she was falling again, spiraling down toward the rapid water of the river below, the edges of jagged rocks sticking up above the water line. At first, she panicked, but faced with certain death, survival mode kicked in she managed to shift, shooting back upward away from the rocks and outward toward deeper water.
The sounds of wings behind her let her know that Kevin was there and he was gaining on her. Her smaller wingspan was no match for his, so she began to climb upward, shooting into the clouds in an attempt to hide herself from him, but she was too late. He shot upward, barreling into her and knocking the breath from her body. She lost her balance and toppled sideways, falling toward the water.