Night World : Soulmate Chapter 15

Hannahs breath was scramn away.She hadnt expected a co here(predicate)nt coif from Maya but shed gotten bingleness. And she did down the stairsstand.Maya had devoted her life to keeping Hannah and Thierry apart. Her presbyopic life. Her thousands of years. Ifshe lost at this point, that life became meaningless.You dont k promptly how to do any trimg else, Hannah whispered slowly, figuring it bring out.Oh, enough of the press conference. I know how to do lots of things-youll find that out. Im by means offooling around with you, cupcake.Hannah ignored the threat-and the insulting closedownearment. But it wont do you any life-threatening, she said, *genuinely bewildered, as if she and Maya were discussing whether or non to go shopping to lead offher.Youre expiry to kill me, sure, I understand that. But it wont help you get Thierry. Hell just hate you more than and hell just wait for me to come put up.Maya had knelt by the tamp down, rummaging in it.she fonted up at Hann ah and smiled-a strange slow smile.Will he?Hannah stared at those red lips, knowing as if costly one and only(a) were burbling ice water down her backbone. Youknow he leave behind. Unless you kill him, in like manner.The lips curved again. An interesting idea. But not quite what I had in mind. I need him alive hes myprize, you see. When you win, you need a prize. Hannah was feeling colder and colder inside. whencehell wait. Not if youre not coming back. And how do you arrange that? Hannah theory. God, maybeshes deviation to keep me alive here tied up and alive until Im ninety. The idea brought a wave ofsuffocating fear. Hannah glanced around, trying to imagine what it would be like to spend her life in thisplace. In this cold, dark, horrible Maya burst into laughter.You butt endt figure it out, can you? Well, all toldow me help. She walked to where Hannah was sitting and knelt.Look at this. Look, Hannah.She was finding up an oval hand mirror. At the same minute she sho ne the flashlight on Hannahs salute.Hannah looked into the mirror-and gasped.It was her face but not her face. For one instant she couldnt put her finger on the difference-all shecould persist out was that it was Hanas face, Hana of the Three Rivers. And then she realized.Her birthmark was gone.Or nearly gone. She could still see a ass of it if she turned her taper to one side. But it had weakenedalmost to invisibility.God, Im corking- aspect, Hannah thought numbly. She was too dazed to feel either vain or humble. accordinglyshe realized it wasnt just the absence of the birthmark that made her look beautiful.Even in the unnatural beam of the flashlight she could tell that she was pale. Her skin was creamy, almosttranslucent. Her eyes seemed larger and brighter. Her mouth seemed softer and more sensuous. Andthither was an indefinable something roughly her face.I look like Poppy, she thought. standardized Poppy, the girl with the copper hair. The vampire. Wordlessly, shel ooked at Maya. Mayas red lips stretched in a smile. Yes. I exchanged blood with you when I pickedyou up last night. Thats why you slept so long you probably dont realize it, but its afternoon outthere. And youre changing already. I figure one more exchange of blood maybe two. I dont penury torush things. I cant have you dying onwards you become a vampire.Hannahs mind was reeling. Her head uncivilised back weakly to rest against the post. She stared at Maya. Butwhy? she whispered, almost pleadingly. Why make me a vampire?Maya stood. She walked over to the backpack and carefully tucked the mirror inside. Then she pulledout something else, something so long that it was sticking out of the top of the pack. She held it up.A stake. A black wooden stake, like a spear, about as long as Mayas arm. It had a nice pointed end on it.Vampires dont come back, Maya said. Suddenly there was a roaring in Hannahs ears.She swallowed and swallowed. She was afraid she was going to faint or be sick.Va mpires dont ?Its an interesting turn of events of trivia, isnt it? Maybe itll be on Jeopardy someday. I have to admit, I dontexactly understand the logistics-but vampires dont reincarnate, not even if theyre Old Souls. They just transgress. Ive heard it suggested that its because qualification them vampires takes their souls away, but I dontknow. Does Thierry have a soul, do you think?Everything was whirling around Hannah now. There was nothing solid, nothing to hang on to.To die she could face that. But to die forever, to go out what if vampires didnt even go to someother place, some afterlife? What if they just suddenly werent?It was the most frightening thing she had ever imagined.I wont let you, she whispered, hearing her own voice come out hoarse and ragged. I wont-But you cant stop me, Maya said, amused. Those ropes are hemp-theyll hold you when youre avampire as well as when youre human. Youre helpless, poor baby. You cant do anything against me.With a look of cheer in h er own cleverness, she said, I finally found a way to break the cycle.She left the backpack and knelt in campaign of Hannah again. This time when the red lips parted, Hannahsaw long knowing teeth.Hannah fought. Even knowing that it was hopeless, she did everything she could think of, lashing out atMaya with the strength of sheer desperation. But it wasnt any good. Maya was patently that muchstronger than she was. In a matter of minutes, Hannah found herself with both hands pinned and herhead twisted to one side, her throat exposed. instantaneously she knew why Maya had forced her to drink vampire blood before. It hadnt just been randomcruelty. It was part of a plan.You cant do this to me. You cant. You cant kill my soul.Ready or not, Maya said, almost humming it. Then Hannah felt teeth.She struggled again, like a gazelle in the jaws of a lioness. It had no effect. She could feel the unique painof her blood being drawn out against her will. She could feel Maya drinking deeply. I d ont want this tobe hazard. At last the pain faded to a drowsy ramify of ache. Hannahs mind felt dopey, her body numb.Maya was wrestling her into a different position, tilting Hannahs head back and pressing her wrist toHannahs mouth.I wont drink. Ill let myself drown first. At least Ill die before Im a vampire.But she found that it wasnt that easy to will yourself into dying from lack of air. Eventually, she chokedand swallowed Mayas blood. She combat injury up coughing and sputtering, trying to derive her throat and getair. Maya sat back.There, she said, slightly breathless. She shone the flashlight into Hannahs face again.Yes. She looked judicial, like a woman considering a turkey in the oven. Yes, its going very well.Once more should do it. Youd be a vampire now, if so much time since the first we hadnt wasted exchange.Thierry will kill you when he finds out, Hannah whispered.And break his sacred promise? I dont think so. Maya smiled and got up again, pottering with herbackpac k. Of course, this wouldnt be happening if he hadnt broken his promise to me, she added,almost matter-of-factly. He told me that you wouldnt come between us anymore. But the near time Iturn around-there you are Shacked up in his house, no less. He should have cognize better.Hannah stared at her. He didnt even know I was there. Maya-dont you realize that? He didnt know-Maya cut her off with a gesture. Dont expect me to believe anything you say. Not at this point. Shestraightened up, looked at Hannah, then sighed. She switched off the lantern and picked up the flashlight.Im afraid Im going to have to leave you for a plot, now. Ill be back tonight to finish this little job.Dont worry, I wont be late after all, I have a deadline to meet. Tomorrows your birthday.Maya I have to keep her here talking, Hannah thought. I have to make her understand that Thierrydidnt break his promise.She was trying to ignore the chilling question that ran just under her thoughts. What if Thierry had been serious about what hed told Maya? If he really wanted to be with Maya as long as Hannah was nolonger between them?Cant stay must fly, Maya said, trilling laughter again. I hope you wont be too lonely. By the way, Iwouldnt rock that pole too much. This is an aban maked silver mine, and that whole structure is unstable.Maya- gather you later. She picked up the backpack and walked away.She ignored Hannahs yells. And eventually, when Hannah couldnt see the beam of the flashlightanymore, she stopped yelling.She was in the dark again.And weaker. idle emotionally and drained of vitality by what Maya had done. She felt sick, feverish,and itchy as if there were bugs crawling under her skin.And she was alone.Almost, almost, she gave in to the panic again. But she was afraid that if she lost control this time, shednever get it back. Shed be sick by the time Maya returned.Time. Thats it, girl, youve got some time. Shes not coming back until tonight, so get your head clearand start using the t ime you have.But its so dark.Wait. Did she take the lantern with her? She turned it off, but did she take it?With the utmost caution, Hannah felt around her with her hands. Nothing-but then she couldnt lean veryfar because of the rope.Okay. Try your feet. Carefully. If you kick it away, its all over.Hannah lifted one leg and began to gently pat the foot down toward the ground. Little pats, slow pats. intimately the third time she did it, her foot hit something that fell over.Thats it Now nudge it toward you. Careful. Careful. Closer almost now around to your sideGot it Hannah reached out and grabbed the lantern, dimension it desperately with both hands likesomebody holding a radio while sitting in the bathtub. Dont drop it find the switch.Light blossomed.Hannah kissed the lantern. She actually kissed it. It was an modal(a) battery-operated fluorescentcamping lantern, but she felt as if she were holding a miracle.Light made such a difference.Okay. Now look around you. What can yo u do to help yourself here?But looking around made her heart sink.The cavern she was in was irregular, with uneven walls and overhanging slabs of rock. A silver mine,Maya had said. That meant the place was probably blasted out by humans.On either side of her, Hannah could see more posts like the one she was tied to. They seemed to form akind of scaffolding against the wall. So miners can get to it, I guess, she thought vaguely. Or maybe tohelp hold the roof up, or both.And its unstable.As a last resort, she could simply do her best to bring the whole thing down. And then pray she diedquickly.For now, she kept looking.The wall on her right, the only one she could see in the pool of lantern light, was surprisingly variegated.Even beautiful. It wasnt just rough time-honored rock it was rough gray rock veined with milky-white and palepink vitreous silica.Silver comes in quartz sometimes, Hannah thought. She knew that much from her moms friends, therockhounds.But that doesnt do me any good. Its pretty, but useless.She was starting to panic again. She had a light, but what good was it? She could see, but she hadnothing to work with.Theres got to be something here. Rocks. Ive got rocks and thats it. Hannah shifted to get away fromone that was bruising her thigh. Maybe I can throw rocks at her.Not rocks. Quartz.Suddenly Hannahs whole body was tingling. Her breath was stopped in her lungs and her skin feltelectrified.Ive got quartz.With shaking hands, she put the lantern down. She reached for an angular chunk of rock on the groundbeside her. tear sprang to her eyes.This is a quartz nodule. Its crystal. Fine-grained. Workable.I know how to make a tool out of this.Shed never done it in this life, of course. But Hana of the Three Rivers had done it all the time. Shedmade knives, scrapers, drills and hand-axes.She would have preferred flint to work with it fractured much more regularly. But quartz was fine.I can feel in my hands how to do it. Okay. Stay calm. First, find a hammer stone.It was too easy. There were rocks all around her. Hannah picked up one with a slightly rounded surface,weighed it in her hand. It felt good.She pulled her legs in, set the angular chunk in front of her, and started functional.She didnt actually make a hand-ax. She didnt need to. Once she had bashed off a few flakes with longsharp edges, she started sawing at the rope. The flakes were wavy and irregular, but they were as sharpas broken glass and quite fitted to cut the hemp.It took a long time, and twice she had to make new flakes when the ones she was using blunted. But shewas patient. She kept working until she could pull first one length of rope, then another and another lay off.When the last strand parted, she almost screamed in sheer joy.Im free I did it I did itShe jumped up, her weakness and fever forgotten. She danced around the room. Then she ran back andpicked up her precious lantern.And now-Im out of hereBut she wasnt.It took a while for the realization to dawn. First, she walked back in the direction that Maya had come.She found what felt like miles of twisting passageways, sometimes so narrow that the walls almost brushed her shoulders, and so low that she had to duck her head. The rock was cold-and wet.There were several branching passages, but each one led to a dead end. And it was only when Hannahgot to the end of the main passage that she realized how Maya had gotten into the mine.She was standing downstairs a vertical shaft. It soared maybe a hundred feet straight up. At the very top, shecould see cerise sunlight.It was like a giant chimney, except that the walls were nowhere near that close to each other. Andnowhere near irregular enough to climb.No human could get out this way.I suppose they had some sort of elevator or something when the mine was working, Hannah thoughtdazedly. She was sick and numb. She couldnt believe that her triumph had turned into this.For a while she shouted, staring up at that square of infuriati ng, unattainable sunlight. When she got sohoarse she could scarcely hear herself anymore, she admitted that it was no use.Nobody is going to come and rescue you. Okay. S(c) you have to rescue yourself.But all Ive got is rocks. No.No, Im free now. I can move around. I can get to the scaffolding.Ive got rocks-and wood.Hannah stood paralyzed for a second, then she clutched the lantern to her titty and went running backdown the passageway.When she got to her cavern, she examined the scaffolding excitedly.Yes. Some of this wood is still good. Its old, but its hard. I can work with this.This time, she made a real hand-ax, taking special care to fashion the tip, making it thin andstraight-edged and sharp. The final tool was roughly triangular and heavy. It fit comfortably in her hand.Hana would have been proud of it.Then she used the ax to chop off a length of wood from the creaking, groaning scaffolding. All the whileshe did it she whistled softly, hoping she wasnt going to bring the who le structure down on her head.She used the ax to shape the length of wood, too, making it round, about as thick as her thumb and aslong as her forearm. She knocked off a quartz scraper to do the finer shaping.Finally she used a flake to hone one end of the stick to a point. She ground it back and forth against anoutcrop of gritty stone to bring it to maximal smoothness and sharpness.Then she held out the finished tool and admired it.She had a stake. A very good stake.And Maya was going to get a surprise.Hannah sat down, turned the lantern off to conserve the battery, and began to wait.