Chapter 17
When Dylan made it inside, Gabriel was already telling Tinah about what had happened. She shot him a look that could have been anger or worry, but since it was Tinah, he suspected it was both.
Merrin asked, “What’s that about? What happened?”
Dylan sighed. “We had some trouble.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Something came after us and tried to attack Gabriel. I kinda hit it with a gust of wind and then burned it to a crisp.”
“Where was this?” Her voice was even, though there was a hint of strain told him she was forcing it to stay that way.
“At your house…” he paused. “I’ll get rid of the carcass before you go back. It’s kinda blocking the steps.”
She scowled at him. “Tomorrow. You’ve got to go back first thing in the morning. What if someone comes up to the house? You seriously left a corpse that might look human in the open in front of my house?”
“Calm down Merrin. He did the right thing. God only knows if there were more of those things out there,” his mamaw said. “Though you’re right. We need to dispose of it as soon as we can, and daylight would be better.”
Tinah spoke up. “She’s right, on the daylight part at least. In the meantime, mom and I found something you might want to see, Dylan.”
She motioned for him to follow her. There was a small pantry off of the kitchen. She walked inside. “It was by chance we found this. Merrin and her stress cleaning. Anyway, there’s probably something about it in the journal, but it’s not like you’ve had time to study it yet.” She moved aside some boxes, and hidden behind them, Dylan saw a handle.
“What is it?”
“Secret door. It leads from the pantry to what I assume was once the cellar. But looks like it hasn’t been used for a cellar in a long time.”
Gabriel grabbed a flashlight from a shelf and handed it to her. “I’m coming too.”
She led them down a narrow stone staircase. Dylan’s body tingled as if electricity were coursing through his veins. “You’ve been down here already?”
“Yeah, me and mom. Merrin wouldn’t come down and nagged us for going alone.”
The stairs gave way to a stone floor. A large chamber opened in front of them, with smaller rooms along its side. “What is this?” He looked at the walls, scarred with scorch and claw marks.
Merrin’s voice shocked him. “This is where they trained. I wasn’t exactly sure where it was, but your dad mentioned it to me once. He was cagey about it, Homer’s influence, I’m sure.” Her voice soured. “He only said something because I couldn’t understand why he couldn’t hear me knocking.”
Dylan continued surveying the room. “I can see why. The stones are in the roof too.”
Tinah handed the flashlight to him. “Merrin and I will go check on mom. You boys should be good to explore for a bit. Mom wanted to come down here with all of us. Tell us about something she saw in one of those books.”
Dylan walked around, peeking into the empty rooms. Dylan said, “It doesn’t look like there’s anything down here, just empty space.”
Gabriel touched the wall. “It feels strange . I don’t know how to describe it, but it doesn’t feel… normal .”
He reached out. The moment his hand touched the stone, the walls glowed.
“Dylan, what did you do?” Gabriel asked.
Dylan’s heart raced. “Nothing. I just touched the wall like you did.”
Gabriel ran his hand along a stone. “They must be some kind of magic, too. I guess that makes sense.”
Dylan’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out. A text from his mother caused his racing heart to nearly stop. Tried to call, couldn’t get through. Hope this does. The door won’t open. Mom says it’s locked magically and you can’t get out until you achieve your goal.
“Fuck!” Dylan screamed.
Gabriel ran over to him. “What’s wrong?”
He replied, what does that mean? and showed the phone to Gabriel, who simply raised an eyebrow at the words.
“I’m guessing it means it’s locked until you achieve whatever training goal you had when you came in. Didn’t your mom say it was a training room?”
The phone buzzed in his hand. Don’t know. Didn’t say any more.
He groaned and typed back. I guess we’ll figure it out. Hopefully it won’t take long. I don’t want to sleep down here.
His mother didn’t respond, and Dylan knew they were going through the books, trying to find a way to open the door.
“What were you thinking about when you touched the wall?” Gabriel asked.
Dylan shrugged. “I don’t know. Honestly. You’d said it felt weird, so I touched it to see what you meant.”
Gabriel arched an eyebrow. “Well, shit, I don’t know then. I thought maybe you were thinking about your power and control. I didn’t realize it activated like a reflex.” He sighed. “But we might as well give that a shot, since we’re in a protected room.”
Dylan looked at him, blinking rapidly. “What do you mean?”
Gabriel smiled a wicked smile. He reached into Dylan’s pocket.
“What the hell?” Dylan shrieked.
Gabriel chuckled and pulled his cigarettes and lighter out. “I don’t smoke much anymore, so I don’t have my own, but I think this calls for one.” He handed Dylan a cigarette, and put his between his lips and lit it, pocketing the lighter.
“Gabe. I kinda need the lighter.”
Gabriel smirked. “I told you I’m going to help you learn to control this. I figure fire would be the safest bet here.” He leaned against a wall beside one of the empty rooms. “If you lose control, I can duck in here for cover.”
“What the fuck are you suggesting?”
Gabriel took a long drag of the cigarette. Dylan could see the cinder at the tip glowing furiously. Gabriel coughed as he exhaled. “I’m saying that you shot an inferno out of your hand on a reflex. From what Tinah said, your dad’s cousin could control fire, but he couldn’t make it. You did. I figure start small, and since I don’t see any candles handy…” He paused with a grin. “Light that cigarette Dylan. Maybe that will get us out of here.”