THE ESCAPE FROM HELL

CHAPTER 7

-

I

-

"Where are we, anyway?” Mia fairly groaned a little over an hour after they’d left the ritual chamber. Traveling down the corridors and climbing stairs with D in the lead, the girl wasn’t uneasy, but the relentless march was physically more than she could take.

“We haven’t even gone halfway.”

“I’m sorry, but I need a break. And I’m thirsty too,” Mia said, sinking to the ground.

Before her lay another staircase. The top of it dissolved into the darkness. And that endless climb was enough to rob the girl of both her will and her strength.

“It’s weird, though. We’ve been climbing all these steep stairs and we still haven’t reached the surface yet,” Kuentz said, his voice heavy with distrust for D, but not because he thought he was a murderer. Those suspicions had faded in the short time he’d spent with D. That was partly because he was working for Mia, but it was really because the girl had told him what D was. A dhampir—he didn’t like that one bit.

Weren’t they kin to the Nobility? In that case, he should be living in secret high in the mountains or deep in a valley where no one would ever find him, not walking around interacting with people like everyone else. To make matters worse, he made his living as a Hunter, and a Vampire Hunter at that. Vampires—weren’t they his kind? Although Kuentz didn’t quite consider him a traitor, he most definitely didn’t approve. Something wasn’t right there. When Kuentz looked at D, his eyes were anything but amiable.

“Something’s interfering,” a voice grumbled in response.

“Interfering?” Eyes wide, the man looked over at D’s hip and asked, “Are you into ventriloquism or something?”

“The thing in the armor we ran into earlier has distorted space. And as a result, the distance to the exit increased tenfold. As we press forward, I’m undoing it, so we’re making some progress. If not, we’d just keep going and going till we died.”

“So, when will we get there?”

“Well, I’d say in an hour and a half. But that’s only if nothing else interferes.”

“Nothing else?”

“If we keep going like this, we’ll get out eventually.”

“Yeah. That’s just great,” Kuentz said, slapping his hands together with a touch of desperation. “Well, whatever we’re doing, we’d better do it fast. The air’s got a dangerous feel to it.”

Mia looked up. D had walked over and crouched down. “What?”

“He’ll give you a piggyback,” a hoarse voice told her.

“But—”

“It’s okay. He’s made of sterner stuff than the average customer.”

“Okay,” Mia said, standing up and climbing on without any further argument. Perhaps it was his black raiment, but while he appeared svelte at a distance, now that she was touching him, she found his back to be so broad and muscular it held her spellbound. Relief spread through her body.

“You sure that’s a good idea?” Kuentz said snidely.

“What?”

“I have no problem with you wanting to show your best face for the lady. But worst comes to worst, you wouldn’t be able to strike back as quickly, and that’s a problem. Don’t come crying to me then, lover boy.”

The young man was surprised at his own hostility, but his expression suddenly stiffened. For a hoarse voice had let out a low chuckle.

“Something funny?” Kuentz asked angrily. Mia was right beside him. It was a natural reaction.

“We’ll see who comes crying to—gaaaah!”

The hoarse voice let out a cry of pain, and then was silenced.

“That’s pretty big talk. What do you say we see for ourselves who’s gonna do some crying?” Kuentz said, naturally going into a combat stance. He let all the power drain from his body and collect in the tips of his toes. Ten feet lay between him and D. While the concealed blade on his right arm might not be much good, the iron arrows from his left should prove effective at that range.

“Don’t,” D said. A thread-thin groan of pain escaped from his left fist as he balled it even tighter, but of course that didn’t reach Kuentz’s ears.

“C’mon. Knock it off,” Mia told him from D’s back. “This is no time to be doing this, is it? If we don’t work together to get out of here—”

Kuentz stared at the girl and her fervent expression. Her crystal-clear eyes stripped away the damp fever that’d been spreading through his head, and in a heartbeat he was back to his senses. “You’re right,” he said, nodding.

Turning to D, he continued, “Sorry about that. I’m pretty bushed, too.”

“No. You were right.”

Mia was the first to grasp the meaning of D’s icy reply. Her body stiffened with shock on his back, and all she managed to say by way of protest was, “D . . .”

“Hey,” Kuentz said, unable to hide how shaken he was. “What did I do? I said I was sorry.”

“Come on,” D said quietly. He still had Mia on his back, tying up both his hands.

“Stop it, D. What are you trying to prove?”

“He wants a fight. So I should give him what he desires as soon as possible.”

“I’m not in the mood for that anymore,” Kuentz said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Something blistering hot skimmed by his right cheek. What jabbed viciously into the stone wall behind him was a needle of unfinished wood. But how had the Hunter managed to hurl it with both hands occupied?

“So that’s how you want it?” Touching his right hand to his cheek, Kuentz then looked down at his fingertips. Blood stained them.

“I don’t know what’s bugging you, but I’ll finish this fight you’re starting,” he told the Hunter, his mind and body already prepared for war. The will to fight now bubbling up in him was so pure, a grin even appeared on Kuentz’s lips. “But set Mia down first.”

Over his head, a flash of light limned a glittering semicircle.

“Whoa!” he exclaimed, only able to leap clear thanks to his incredible speed. When he landed, he saw that D was closing on him. With both hands around Mia’s back, the Hunter didn’t seem to be holding a weapon.

“Shit!”

Kuentz was about to launch an iron arrow when he noticed he hadn’t raised his left arm yet. Lifting it, he brought it to bear on D’s stomach. It seemed like it took a year to do so. He heard the rasp of compressed oxygen being released. But once he’d fired, his blood froze.

He’s got Mia. What if it goes right through him?

However, rather than follow the path of the arrow, the boy took a more circuitous route. As he listened to the sound of D’s attack splitting the air just a hair above his head, he drove the concealed blade on his right arm toward D’s waist. Shocked at meeting nothing with it, he sprang away. And when he landed, there was something cold hanging directly over his head.

D was right in front of him. Kuentz was paralyzed by the realization of what the wind that’d whistled down on his forehead meant, but the Hunter asked him, “What will it be?”

“Kill me!” Kuentz shouted, eyes still shut, but just as he did, he felt the blade pull away from him. At his feet there was a hard metallic clatter. Lowering his eyes, the young huntsman found something to truly freeze his blood this time—the two arrows he’d launched. D had had both arms behind Mia’s back, as always. He wasn’t even holding his sword. If anyone had the skill to stop the second arrow Kuentz had launched at him at the speed of sound as he brought a blow down that would’ve split the boy’s head like a piece of firewood, it was this gorgeous Hunter.

All the strength drained from Kuentz, and he slumped to the ground. Having seen the unbridgeable gulf between their respective abilities, he was mentally and physically burned out.

“Can you stand?” D asked.

“Yeah.” Kuentz himself was surprised by how easily that reply came out and the way it carried no hard feelings. D’s superior abilities had wiped away all the prejudice he felt toward the Hunter in one fell swoop. The freshness inherent in youth and the heroism attendant to the Hunter profession freed Kuentz from the weird atmosphere that’d been gnawing at his mind.

Getting back to his feet, he grinned sheepishly and said to D, “You’re a psychologist, aren’t you?”

The Hunter didn’t even smile at that but told him, “Up we go.” And saying that, he headed for the stairs.

After climbing about fifty steps, they reached the top and a broad corridor. D halted.

“What is it?” Kuentz asked, having been stopped just as he was about to press forward.

“Both of you need to shut your eyes and cover your ears,” the Hunter said.

Though he knit his brow suspiciously, Kuentz was well aware of the young man’s almost limitless skill, so he was compliant, saying, “Okay. Is that all?”

“When we go down this corridor, something is certain to try to stop us,” D explained. “I don’t know what it’ll be. But under no circumstances are you to turn around. If you look back, it’ll be over then and there. You probably won’t make it out of the fortress.”

“Understood,” Kuentz said with a nod, but then a question suddenly occurred to him. “So, how is it you know so much about this corridor anyway?”

D’s answer was short. “I don’t know.” Then he added, “Let’s go.”

They started forward, but before he’d taken three steps, Kuentz sensed someone behind him.

“Kuentz!” a voice called out to him, and in his heart he let out a furtive gasp. Though he had both ears covered tightly, he could hear the voice with perfect clarity. And it belonged to—

“Graff?”

He was about to turn in spite of himself, but barely managed to stop when he recalled D’s warning. What could the same friend who’d gone missing at the bottom of the great subsidence then lured him to that bizarre giant be doing here?

“Kuentz—can you hear me? I’m hurt. Some weird monster thing bit my leg, and I can’t move. On top of that, it got me in the gut. I’ve lost so much blood. I’m in a bad way. You’ve gotta help me!” The shouts were strained, the words spat out like so much blood.

D and Mia kept right on going as if nothing had happened. Apparently Kuentz alone could hear Graff’s voice.

And then his friend continued in a feeble, urgent tone, “Help me! Don’t leave me down here, Kuentz. You’re the leader, right? It’s your job to save me. I’m begging you, do your duty. Get me out of here!”

“Graff!”

Unable to stand it any longer, he was just about to turn when a great force came to bear on his shoulder. Though it was unclear when D had backed up, the Hunter remained facing forward while reaching back with one hand to grab the man’s shoulder. He couldn’t begin to imagine how D could’ve noticed the strain he was under. At that moment, a terrifically wrathful scream rang in his ears, fading just before it could drive Kuentz mad.

They advanced down the endless corridor for another hour. When they came to the next corner, D told them, “It’s okay now.”

And with that, the three of them took a rest right there.

-

II

-

Graff must be dead, Kuentz was thinking numbly when he was startled by Mia’s sobs and turned to the girl.

“What’s the matter?”

Having climbed down off D’s back, Mia sat on the floor. There were a number of blotches on her knees. Stains from tears.

“What’s the matter?” he asked once more.

Giving a feeble shake of her head, she said, “Nothing.” But her voice belied her words.

“It can’t be nothing. You’re crying, aren’t you?”

“Just leave me alone.”

“Sure. For the next five minutes, at any rate.”

Looking up, Mia asked, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“After you’ve cried for five minutes, you’ll feel better. And then we can get down to some quality boy/girl talk.”

“You dope!” Mia spat, but her tone was faint and not very cross at all.

Remaining silent for a while, she then said, “My mother called out to me. She must’ve passed by now, but she called to me again and again. And when I thought about her really being gone, I just couldn’t help it.”

“Did you turn around?”

“Nope,” she said, looking at D. The exquisite youth was leaning against a wall a short distance away. “He took me by the hand. And then, all of a sudden, I didn’t feel so bad.”

“You don’t say. That’s just great,” Kuentz said brusquely, leaving Mia’s side and walking further down the hall. Planting his back against the wall, he looked sullen.

“What’s wrong? Was it something I said?” Mia asked, looking dazed.

“It’s just a seasonal malady. You only get it while you’re young,” a hoarse voice replied.

“What should I do?”

“You ever dated a fella before?”

“I’ve been too busy fortunetelling.”

“What, are you saving yourself like some kind of natural monument?”

“Go to him.”

The second voice was D’s, and it startled Mia.

Go over there and do what? Still, she got the feeling that if she went over, everything would be all right.

Approaching Kuentz with steps she herself found oddly stiff, she asked him in an even stiffer tone, “Uh, what’s the problem?”

The recipient of that query remained as sullen as ever, saying, “Nothing.”

He left her no opening at all.

“What a pain.”

She turned toward D, seeking aid, but his eyes were shut as if in contemplation. Almost mesmerized by the sight of him, Mia hastily turned back to Kuentz and said, “What a great guy.”

“Excuse me?” the young man said, eyes popping. He saw Mia, head hung low and cheeks reddening with the realization she’d made a mistake. Giving a sudden cough, he fought desperately to keep his hard exterior from collapsing.

It was all just a misunderstanding. And that misunderstanding was the start of everything.

“Uh—it’s nothing. I’ll go now.” Mia’s face was still flushed.

“Um—wait a sec.”

“Yes?” Mia asked as she turned.

“It’s nothing,” he said, looking sullen again.

D’s left hand gurgled with laughter, but the two of them didn’t notice. “These young folks don’t need a go-between meddling in this. Though from what I’ve seen, the girl’s smitten with you.”

“How long till we reach the surface?”

“Well,” the hoarse voice began, “my instincts tell me roughly thirty minutes. If nothing comes up, that is.”

The blue pendant on D’s chest gave off a piercing light.

At that point, Mia stalked back indignantly and grumbled, “That numbskull!”

“What is it?” D asked. And amazingly enough, there seemed to be just the tiniest bit of amusement in his tone.

“Damned if I know. No matter what I say to him, he just sits there sulking and won’t say a peep. Calls himself a man, but he doesn’t know when a woman—I mean, he’s just rotten.”

“What are you saying about me?” Kuentz complained from off in the distance. “You’re the one acting like a hysterical old hag-to-be. One look at a guy who’s kinda good looking and you’re hot and bothered in a flash.”

“What did you say?”

Mia was livid. Using both hands to form a symbol, she began to chant an unsettling spell.

“There!” she exclaimed, smacking her hands together.

“What the hell?” Kuentz screamed, falling backward.

Thunder resounded over his head.

As he staggered wildly, he groaned, “That hurts! What’ve you done?”

“Serves you right,” Mia said, turning away indignantly. “That’s what you get for insulting people. Consider yourself lucky your brain didn’t explode.”

“Why I oughta—” the man began, raising one hand, but perhaps the aftereffects of the blast to his brain still lingered, because his feet tangled and he toppled to one side.

“Oh, no!” Mia exclaimed, dashing over to him. Apparently she felt some responsibility for the effects of her spell.

D didn’t even bother to look at them. Without making a sound, he crouched down.

From the darkness ahead of him a figure leapt and struck down at him. Narrowly dodging the blow, D swept out with his leg. The body’s momentum carried it forward as it fell, bringing it skidding to Mia’s and Kuentz’s feet, where it stopped.

Taking one look at the man who quickly got back on his feet and held his short spear at the ready, Kuentz cried, “Chang? But you were—I left you outside.”

“What’ve you been doing, Kuentz?” Chang asked, staring at D as if he were his sworn foe. “I was waiting for you the whole time. But you never came back, so finally I—”

“Sorry. But you’ve gotta listen to me. These folks aren’t our enemies. Hey!”

“It’s no use,” said a voice that seemed to come from far off in the distance.

Turning, he saw D standing just three feet away.

“That isn’t one of your friends. Stand back.”

“You can’t be serious. I’m sure it’s Chang. Stop!”

“Don’t let him trick you,” Chang said, bloodshot eyes fixed on D. “I can tell. He’s got the stink of the Nobility on him. He’s the enemy.”

“Stand back,” D told Kuentz again.

The next instant, Chang made another thrust at D.

D dodged to the right. The thrust came at such a precise angle that it was the only thing he could do.

Chang’s hands slid down to just below the head of the spear, and using that point as the fulcrum, he swung it at D’s legs. With its core of lead, the shaft could bend an iron bar.

D’s body flowed in the same direction as the short spear.

Mia gave a cry of surprise. Both of D’s feet were resting on the shaft of the spear.

Releasing his spear in amazement, Chang went for the sword on his hip with his right hand. D’s blade ripped into him, slicing him from the top of his head all the way down through his ribs. A bloody fog filled the air like a sudden shower, covering the walls and floor—but not Mia or Kuentz.

Chang tumbled to the ground.

“Chang?” Kuentz raced over to him, and on seeing that his friend was beyond hope, he looked down at the floor. When he turned and looked at D a short time later, his face was a mask of malice and rage.

“Why’d you kill him? With all your skill, you could’ve finished it without taking his life. So why’d you do it?”

“He’s not your friend.”

“Don’t make me laugh. How would you know that?”

“Have a look at his right ankle. When he came at me, I broke it. But even after that, he stood on it without any problem.”

Checking his anger, Kuentz felt his friend’s right foot. He soon gave a nod, saying, “It’s just as you said. But that alone isn’t enough for me to say this wasn’t Chang. D, I’m not quite satisfied.”

“We can talk about that once we’re out of here.”

Kuentz remained intransigent until Mia intervened, saying, “He’s right. Knock it off.”

“Okay. But in return, once we’re safely back on the surface, you know what’s coming, right?”

“Very well,” D said, his eyes unusually calm as they reflected the person who’d just challenged him to a duel.

The trio started down the corridor again.

Ten minutes later, Mia brought her hand to her nose, asking, “Does something smell funny?”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Kuentz said, pulling his collar and sleeve over and giving them a sniff.

D was silent.

Twenty minutes later, the smell” the two of them had mentioned could no longer be denied, and it surrounded the group.

“It’s blood,” Kuentz muttered, and Mia nodded her agreement.

D kept his silence.

After another thirty minutes, amid a stench so powerful they had to wonder if their exposed skin wasn’t drenched in blood, the two of them concentrated anxious gazes on D as he walked ahead of them in deathly silence.

Presently, D halted. Ahead of them, stone steps were visible.

“The exit’s at the top of them,” a hoarse voice said. It was easy enough to sense the tension in its tone.

“D,” Mia called out to him.

The figure in black seemed to grow heavy and motionless, as if he’d been transformed into a statue.

“Go on ahead,” D said. His voice had the ring to it of someone fighting for control, and the pair involuntarily looked at each other.

“What’s wrong, D?”

“Go.”

Slapping Mia on the shoulder, Kuentz urged her, “Go on ahead now, okay?”

“But—”

“Don’t worry about him. I’ll take care of you.”

Mia stared into his youthful face. “Thanks,” she said, and then she kept on walking. Kuentz followed along right behind her.

As Mia was about to slip by D on his right-hand side, arms clad in black wrapped around her waist and shoulder, pulling her closer.

“What are you doing?”

“Knock it off, D!” Kuentz howled.

Before him and the wriggling Mia, D initiated a weird action. Sticking his left hand into his coat and pulling out a broad-bladed knife some sixteen inches long, he gripped it between his teeth. Twisting his exquisite countenance back as if knocked for a loop, when he swung it forward again, its target was his left arm—which was raised to the height of his chin. With a disturbing sound, his left hand fell to the floor. And then, much to Kuentz’s surprise, the hand made a great bound for the right arm the Hunter had wrapped around Mia’s waist. When the two hands touched, the fingers of the right one opened, releasing Mia.

Dashing over, Kuentz pulled Mia to himself, and then backed away.

“Why don’t you . . . go ahead? You’re going backward,” D groaned in an eerie tone.

“He’s right. Hurry up and go already!” said the hoarse voice from the left hand.

While the two of them had said the same thing, for some reason it sounded like they were bickering.

The left hand flew to D’s neck, pressing his head against the opposite wall as it shouted, “Go!”

Driven by a cry that bordered on a bellow of rage, the two of them advanced down the corridor. They raced up the stairs—without looking at D. They got the feeling something unimaginably bad was happening. They must’ve climbed twenty or thirty steps, and after about that many more stairs, there loomed an iron door.

“There it is!”

The second they put more strength into their legs, a black cyclone blew past them from below, flying over the pair’s heads and landing five or six stairs ahead of them. There stood D. But was this the same D they knew? With skin a shade paler than before, crimson light spilling from his eyes—and oh, the pair of fangs that peeked from his slender lips. Was this what their foe had arranged? Was this the purpose of the foul-smelling substance that’d been mixed in Chang’s blood? Now, between the young man and woman and their way out, a fearsome Noble stood blocking the way—and it was none other than D.