“You have to find a way!” he yelled desperately. I knew he believed I was his only hope. But at the moment, I was the one who needed rescuing. I wasn’t capable of rescuing anyone else. I heard him gasp as a door slammed. I closed my eyes as a woman’s voice yelled, and a loud thump shook the wall behind me. The door slammed once more and then…deafening, absolute silence.
“Hello?” I whispered as loudly as I dared, fearing for the man’s life. “Are you okay?”
After no response, I slumped down and followed the light of the moon sweep across the floor as it rose higher and higher in the sky. The silver moonbeams collided with the silk webs that cascaded from the ceiling, creating a spectacular display of nature. The bark spiders were beginning to stir; busily weaving new strands or repairing old ones. Their magnificent works of art were dazzling in their intricate designs and artistry. They worked in tandem, creating one massive web of silky death traps; just waiting for unsuspecting prey to flutter by or walk into it. My hand dropped to the floor and landed in something sticky. I groggily contemplated my blood from earlier in the day that had begun to coagulate on the floor.
Had Finn or my roommates found my body? Had they tried to wake me up? Were they looking for me? If I couldn’t return to my body, I had no way of telling them I was in trouble. I had no way of warning them about what was about to happen or where I was. Someone had to stop this, and unless Nadia’s vacuum imploded in the next couple of hours, it would most certainly not be me.
Did my body reflect the pain I was in? Could they see how dark and dull my trace had become?
Could they see the bruises and the blood? I was reminded of the pain from my wounds after returning from the Underworld. Every bruise, every scratch had been visible. That was it!
My eyes and hands frantically inspected my surroundings for anything remotely sharp. A sliver of shell that had been tracked in with the sand would have to do. I ran my finger over it and decided that it would suffice for breaking skin. I took a deep breath and attempted to justify what I was about to do. I had a high pain threshold, but I’d never inflicted any amount of pain upon my own body. Looks like I’d be able to check ‘disfiguring one’s own body’ off my bucket list.
I drug the shell across my skin and began to tear up right away, as an intense burning sizzled up my arm and pellets of blood beaded up from the newly opened wound. One letter down, eleven to go. Before I lost my nerve, I made three small slashes to create a lower case letter ‘s’. By the time the word ‘Isle’ had been carved into my skin, I’d balled up the bottom of my tank top and stuffed it in my mouth to stop any screams from leaking out. I leaned my head back and took some deep breaths in an effort to ease my heart beat and therefore, the bleeding.
After eight more letters, the words ‘Isle of Slaves’ were scrawled across my forearm beneath a pint of crimson. The excruciating pain had morphed into a warm numbness that wrapped around my arm and tricked me into thinking the worst was over. I closed my eyes in relief at what I had done and prayed it would work. All I could do was watch and wait.
Chapter 22
A light tickling across my leg roused me from a delirious trance of hopeless exhaustion.
When I tried to use my arms to prop myself up, it became painfully clear that the warm numbness I’d felt earlier was long gone. A shower of sharp pain shot down my arm, momentarily paralyzing me. I squeezed my eyes shut and fought through the agonizing pain. Every movement, every thought, every breath felt like I had been suspended in an alternate universe of perpetual slow motion.
Unfortunately, the three spiders that were currently crawling up my right leg were moving at warp speed. They scampered forward with short spurts of movement that struck fear in my tired heart. No amount of coercion would convince my legs to move, and I watched on, helpless as they made it to the tops of my thighs. Panic exploded in my chest and raw fear took hold of me. Forced into flight or fight, my groggy mind analyzed my limited number of options. A thin line of moonlight several feet away drew my attention, and the memory of its renewing energy in the underground cavern trumped any other thoughts.
Motivated by a primal fear I could not control, I awkwardly threw my body toward the light; landing on my side and immersing my head and shoulders in the moonlight. When I looked up to see the horrific sight of more spiders crawling in my direction, I attempted to move again. That’s when I felt an intense burning pain in my side, as one of the three spiders making their way up my torso bit me.
The spider venom exploded under the skin; causing my muscles to shake violently and cease up. A choking panic settled on top of me, until I glanced up and became caught in the majesty of the full moon’s rays as they shone into the small window. A cool energy swirled through my mind, calming my nerves and chilling the blazing pain that racked my body. I lay there unmoving, as the spider venom spread along my stomach and back, hardening my insides to stone. As the cooling sensation washed down my body and inhabited every cell in my prone form, my breathing came a little easier and I was able to think more clearly. Very slowly, I felt the venom’s potency retreat to only a slight pulsing around the bite site.
The fact that it did not disappear completely weighed on me, but I hoped that with the healing hands of Willow and the magic of Natasha, they would be able to remove it before any further damage could be done. The three spiders miraculously made their way back down my leg and onto their webs, leaving me relieved and exhausted on the floor while I stared up at the moon’s magical light. Why did the moonlight affect me in such a dramatic fashion? Did I have an affinity for the moon? Was that even possible? And what did that mean? My energy was somehow being recharged; my arm was healing at a fast rate and the wound on my temple was closing, leaving only a tender layer of soft skin.
Hoping against hope, I closed my eyes and attempted to return to my body. Nothing.
Whatever enchantment or vacuum Nadia had placed on the room was preventing all of my abilities, no matter how much energy I had. Crushing disappointment blanketed my heart when the moon’s energizing light disappeared, as the Earth revolved with agonizing speed.
I forced myself to think. I couldn’t just sit around and wait on Finn and my roommates to get here. I had no idea just how far away this island was from Cyprus. We could be in the Caribbean for all I knew! Even with Natasha’s conveyance ability, I couldn’t depend on a rescue. I had been given a sliver of energy from the moon’s light; enough so that I could try to conjure up a plan to escape. But that meant I had to act, and I had to act
As an idea, albeit nearly impossible, formed in my mind, I focused all of my attention on the enchanted chains that encircled my ankles. They were secured into the wall at an anchor point, bolted into the stone. I spun around and pressed my feet against the wall, gathering the chains in my hands.
With everything I had - I pulled. And pulled again. And again. After the fifth or sixth time, I felt a slight shift and watched as one of the anchors actually budged. The effort only resulted in drawing fresh blood out of my new arm tattoo, but the little hope of victory pushed me to pull harder. After one more desperate yank I was launched backwards, landing on my butt. It had worked! The anchors clanked loudly onto the stone floor, as part of the wall began to crumble on top of them. I stared at the wall in disbelief. Apparently I’d become stronger than I realized. Evidently, using the energy I had been gifted with by the moon was not the best idea, because now a burning sensation spread across my stomach from the bite, and my arm continued to bleed. I placed a hand over it and cringed in agony.
“That was impressive.” A gruff voice chuckled from behind the crumbling hole in the wall, temporarily making me forget about the burning hell I was in. I caught a glimpse of an eye peeking through one of the small holes that had formed.
“Oh my god!” I scampered over to the wall, “Are you alright? What did she do to you?”
“Don’t you worry,” he responded confidently. “It’ll take more than a metal pole to keep this old man down.”
“A metal pole!?” I gasped and watched his light gray eye sparkle with amusement.
“I’ve been hit by worse,” he responded nonchalantly. “Besides, you appear to be stronger than six of me.”
