"When do they feed you?" Jack asked, concerned they would come face to face with their captors.
"Not for a while yet, Sir. I was just fed some fifteen minutes ago."
Jack shook his head, the man was delirious.
"Look, I need you to do what I tell you. Hold your hands out and keep them there. Don't move them. I don't want to hurt you. I'm going to bash the chains with a rock, all right?"
The man was silent.
"Is that all right?" he asked again and the man coughed.
"Where are we, Son?"
Jack sighed, "We are in the Nephilim Caves."
"Did you say Nephilim, my boy?"
"Yes, which is why we need to release you quickly."
"Then what are you waiting for? Get bashing, Sir."
Jack couldn't help but smile at the poor man's insanity while he began to bash until the chains were finally released.
The man slumped forward as Jack helped him up. Zalea rushed to his other side and they slowly began to walk through the dark tunnel out of the cave.
"Wait," said the man, "I need to say goodbye to Ronald," he said.
"Whose Ronald?" asked Zalea as they stopped for a moment.
"He was my friend, just my friend. Goodbye old boy. You were a good pal, Ronald. I shall miss our conversations. Farewell, old boy," he sobbed before telling them they could continue.
"What's your name?" asked Jack as they exited the cave.
"Me name, Sir? Me name's Eric."
"Well Eric, like I said before, my name is Jack and this here is Zalea."
"It's mighty nice to meet you Jack and Zalea," he smiled a toothy grin. Not that they could see it, mind you.
"It's so strange, we've been walking for what seems like hours and we've yet to see anyone," said Zalea.
"I just hope we're going in the right direction."
"Can we take a break, Sir, Jack, Sir?"
Laughing, he replied, "Eric, please don't call me sir. There's really no need."
"I am sorry... it's habit. I was a butler you know for years and it's ard to break a habit like that."
"I understand."
"I was a butler for royalty, you know?" he said proudly.
"Royalty? Really?" asked Zalea intrigued.
"That's right. Butler for royalty before I was ... I was ... you know, taken."
"What happened to you, Eric? How did you find yourself here?"
"Honestly, Si... Jack. I was doin' nothin' but mindin' me own business walking through Hyde Park in London when I sees this odd light. Like a mirror right in front of me. It seemed to beckon me in, if ya know what I mean? And then, the next thing I know, I'm 'ere in this rotten place. Taken by the... the Nephilim."
"How did you know they were Nephilim?" asked Zalea.
"I'd never even 'eard of 'em until I got 'ere. Ronald told me the truth. He knew all about them."
"What did he tell you, Eric?"
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
The fights continued well into the night, Calliope doing nothing more than sitting and watching. There was never any blood drawn, the fight would just continue until one of the opponents fell to the ground.
Calliope would then halt the proceedings, let them gather themselves up before she chose two more to continue the fighting.
At precisely 2 'o' clock in the morning, Calliope stood and all went quiet. The three outsiders looked across at the faces of the other men and they all appeared to be gazing up at her with smiles spread across their faces. It was the look you'd expect a man to give a woman as she walked down the aisle on their wedding day. A look of pure love and devotion. It was clear these men would do anything for Calliope and she knew it.
But Calliope was more focussed on something that was going on outside. She walked through the crowd and out into the freezing cold, staring up at the night sky... up at the moon, which was almost full.
She smiled and let out a deep throaty laugh that spread throughout the pyramid, a laugh that turned to a loud yell, echoing out into the night. When she returned inside, she didn't walk back to her throne, but she walked right into the throng of men and headed straight towards Carmelo.
"I wondered how long it would take you to join us... Carmelo," she said with a smile. "Welcome to my home."
"This isn't your home, Calliope."
"It is now," she said, dropping her head to one side and scrutinising him. "I rather like this place. Powell River. I hadn't intended to stay," she said, turning away from him and suggesting he walk with her.
"Then why did you come?" he asked stone faced.
"I was curious. I wanted to know why you were asking about me."
He flinched. "Why we were asking about you?"
She nodded, "Yes, you were asking questions and your friends were googling me. I wanted to know why so I figured I'd stop by and see for myself. Of course, when I came upon a funeral for a girl who wasn't even dead, my curiosity peaked."
"But...we'd never heard of you until you arrived here. So I don't understand why you think we were asking questions about you. I'm sorry, Calliope, you're wrong."
She shook her head as she sat herself down on her throne.
"No, Carmelo. I'm not wrong," she smiled, "and I'm staying here. I rather like it."
"What are your intentions Calliope?"
"Hm? I'm not sure... yet."
"One man has already been killed as a result of your games..."
"I have not killed anyone. No man has died at my hands" she said, looking down at her beautifully manicured hands. "Besides, man means nothing to me. He is here purely for my entertainment."
"What the hell are you?" yelled Zoltan from the crowd, approaching her.
"Zoltan the werewolf. I was wondering when you would introduce yourself. And Walter, while we're making our introductions, you might as well be included."
"How do you know who we are?" asked Carmelo through gritted teeth.
"I know everything about everyone," she said simply.
"Who are you? What are you?" asked Zoltan, scrunching his fists into tight balls.
Calliope dropped her head backwards and began to laugh, "You mean you still don't know? Oh dear... and here I was believing the Elders to be all knowing and all powerful, when really you're just the same as them," she said pointing to the men who continued to look at her lustfully.
"No, we're not the same, Calliope," as Zoltan jumped towards her, changing from a stocky muscular young man into a wolf. Before he had the chance to reach her, she merely held out her arms and flicked her wrist and Zoltan was bounced from one wall to the other before she finally let him crash to the floor.
"You were saying?" she asked.
Carmelo and Walter retaliated, trying to pounce on her but she moved even quicker than they could. The two vampires ended up crashing into each other.
Looking around for her, their eyes searched the room but she was nowhere to be seen.
"I'm up here, boys, but there really is no point in you trying to stop me. I'm stronger, smarter, faster, etc., etc. than all of you put together," she said from the second floor where a few men continued to sleep on the floor. "And if you continue your silly games, the death of all these men will be on your shoulders."
"What the hell is she?" growled Zoltan after he'd turned back into human form and donned the crazy costume he'd been forced to wear before to preserve his modesty.
"It suits you, Zoltan," she smiled down at him. "Don't mess with me, gentlemen. If you do, you will be sorry. Nobody messes with the Nephilim."
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Zalea and Jack carefully helped Eric to the ground where they sat next to him leaning against the cool rock and huddled closely for warmth and comfort as the old man began to tell them all about the Nephilim.
"The Nephilim are pure evil, they are," he said slowly, "They're the sons and daughters of fallen angels who bred with man thousands of years ago. The fallen angels passed on their powers to these beasts, makin' 'em stronger, faster and meaner than anyone else o
n this 'ere earth. But their young'uns are also the most beautiful beings you'll ever see. They can entrap you with nothing more than a simple look of their eye, a flick of their hair or even the mention of their name. The Nephilim might be part human, but there ain't nothing humane about 'em. It is said God was so enraged when these fallen angels mated with man, that he cast their souls to live among the caves beneath the earth for all eternity."
"Is that where we are?" asked Jack.
"Aye lad. We're trapped with em, beneath our own world."
"Hang on a second... beneath our own world?"
"Aye... this is the centre of the earth, my boy."
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
As the hours passed by, December and Lilly finally got round to reading about Jules Verne's famous book, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, online.
"I really do think there is something about this theory, you know Lilly."
"Hm?" she replied, devouring every word that could be found about the popular book.
"I said, there's something about our theory. I have a feeling, you know, like a gut feeling, that the Nephilim live there."
Finally, Lilly turned her head away from the computer and looked at her best friend, "I know. I do too."
"So, what else does it say?" December asked as she stretched out her body on the bed while Lilly did all the hard work.
"Something here about there being dangerous gases and giant mushrooms..."
"Perhaps we ought to contact your dad again and tell him?"
"Shouldn't we wait for the others to come back first?"
December rolled her eyes, "Okay. Read me some more while we wait."
Just as Lilly was about to read aloud, December sat upright, "Actually, look up how the characters got to the centre of the earth in the first place."
"Erm... it says 'the passage to the centre of the Earth is through the one crater that is touched by the shadow of a nearby mountain peak at noon during the last days of June."
"Right, well that's no help then."
"No, but we're not taking this thing word for word, are we? We're just accepting the theory that it is possible to get to the centre of the earth, where the Nephilim caves happen to be."
"Right," nodded December, "so, if this is the case then people are being sucked into some kind of mirror like vortex and getting stuck there."
Lilly slumped backwards into her chair, "But how? And why?"
"I don't know, I really don't know."
#
"It's been ages and none of them are answering their phones," said Jo a little later as she dialled again and it went straight to voice mail. "I hope there's nothing wrong."
"I'm sure they're fine, honey. They're undercover, they will have switched their phones off," said Sonya with a smile at her daughter.
"I don't know," said Meredith, "I'm getting a funny feeling myself."
"What kind of feeling, Meredith?" asked Rose, "We all know your feelings are usually the real deal."
"I feel like they've been discovered."
"Right, that's it. I'm going," said Jo, heading for the door.
"Woah, wait right there. You're not going alone," said Tabitha who rushed to her side, followed by a few of the Elders.
"What's going on?" asked Lilly as she and December appeared from her room.
"Meredith's had one of her feelings about the boys and so I'm not going to hang around here and wait for something awful to happen to them," replied Jo.
"We're coming with you, then," said December, rushing forward and grabbing her coat and hat, passing Lilly hers at the same time.
"Can you hold on to it, along with the rest of my clothes? I'd rather change into my raven form."
December laughed and nodded.
"Tiffani, you stay here where you'll be safe. I'm going with them," said Sammy, standing and putting a large cape over his shoulders to hide his wings.
"B...but...." she uttered before bursting into tears.
"Dear, please don't worry about everybody. I'm sure they'll be fine," reassured Meredith who went and sat down next to the delicate faery.
"I...I'm sorry," she whispered, "Is anyone else staying with us?"
Moira, Ruby and Gabriel all promised to stay with her as the rest of the group prepared to head out into the cold to find out what was going on.
Those that were capable of moving at high speeds travelled together, leaving the rest to travel by car.
It was the first time Lilly had the chance to fly outdoors. It was truly liberating, even more liberating than when she'd first made the change into a mountain lion. Swooping up and down between some of the grandest trees in the forest, she squawked happily, temporarily forgetting what was going on in her life, enjoying the moment of freedom, the wind rustling her feathers as she climbed higher and higher into the night sky, before turning to look down at the earth far below.
Lights twinkled within the scattered houses below as the moon shone upon them. Lilly was startled when something large suddenly appeared, flying upwards. As it came closer, she smiled to herself. Sammy. It was dark after all, so he was relatively well hidden.
She flew down towards him and together they continued their flight towards the pyramid, a structure which stuck out like a sore thumb in the landscape below. The sculpture of the golden eagle sat proudly on top of it.
The two spotted the others gathered together several hundred metres away. December was gazing upwards, waiting for her friend's arrival. She held out her arm and Lilly slowed down considerably, landing directly below her elbow. December smiled proudly.
"Do you want to change now?" she asked and the raven shook her head.
"Okay, your clothes are in the car. Let me know when you need them."
Lilly nodded her head forward and hopped up her arm so she sat comfortably on her shoulder.
"I feel like a pirate," she whispered as Sammy chuckled.
"Well, you don't look like one," said Jemima with Chris by her side.
"Jemima you really should keep out of sight."
"I'm fine, December. I doubt my father, or anyone else in there, will notice me, but I'll keep my hood up, just in case."
"Right, I want you all to stay here while I go and have a quick look at what's going on," said Jo, leaving them, moving so fast you could barely see her until she stopped beside the entrance to the pyramid. Peering around the structure, she watched as hundreds of men stood with their backs to her. They were looking at a woman at the front, sitting atop her golden throne, smiling.
Suddenly, the woman flicked her hand and every man in there fell to his knees before falling to the ground. Jo scanned the crowd for her fiancé but he was nowhere to be seen, neither was Zoltan or Walter.
"Come in, Josephine. Don't be shy," said a powerful female voice with a hint of laughter.
Jo scolded herself before she stepped out into the room.
"Calliope," she said confidently.
"Yes, I am Calliope. And you're Josephine, Jo for short, daughter of Wyatt and Sonya. Only child. Vampire, I believe. Oh and lest I forget, fiancé to Carmelo. I met him earlier. Nice guy, for a vampire," she said with a glint in her eyes.
"Where is he, Calliope?"
The woman laughed, "Oh we'll get to that later. Have some patience. Now, come closer."
Jo made a quick decision and ran at lightning speed towards Calliope but the moment she became close, she slammed into what felt like a wall, an invisible force field.
Falling to the floor with a thud, Jo crouched, looking up at the woman. Her eyes had turned a bright blood red colour and fangs protruded from her full lips.
"There's no need to become nasty, Josephine," giggled Calliope, watching the vampire's temper increase tenfold.
"There is every need," she snarled, "Look at what you've done to our town..."
Calliope glanced around at the sleeping men innocently, "Why, whatever do you mean? These men are simply sleeping. They've been having a marvellous time with me. I haven't made any o
f them do anything they didn't want to do," she laughed.
"Then what about the poor man you killed?"
"That was very unfortunate but not of my doing. He should have been more careful crossing the road. Silly man," she replied, pouting.
"He died because of your....your spell."
"Spell? I am not a witch, Josephine."
"Then what the hell are you?"
Again, Calliope threw her head back and let out a girly giggle.
"I'm amazed none of you figured it out by yourselves. Not even Carmelo knew. I am a Nephilim."
"But the Nephilim are trapped in caves," answered Jo, confused.
"Not all of us. Some of us escaped," she smiled.
"There are more of you?"
"Of course. Like I told Carmelo, we are creatures of high intelligence. We figured it out."
"How? How did you escape?"
"Josephine, I am growing bored with all of your questions. I thought we might have been friends but I think I've had enough of you... for now."
With another flick of her wrist, Jo was propelled high into the hall, up onto the next level and away from sight. Calliope pouted for a moment but she sighed out loud and yelled, "Sustenance."
The same man who had helped her into her robe, appeared with a tray of food and a goblet.
Calliope took the tray from him, dismissed him and proceeded to engorge herself on large chunks of meat, occasionally gulping from the goblet. When she looked up again, her face was covered in blood.
Lilly had watched it all. Perched atop the golden eagle, she had peered downwards into the pyramid below and watched in horror as Jo had been lifted like a feather and hidden away before the beautiful woman had fed like a wild animal, bits of raw meat flying in all directions as she helped it down with a goblet of blood.
Lilly quietly lifted her head and pushed out her wings, lifting herself high into the sky before turning towards her other friends who waited patiently below.
Landing on December's arm, she nodded avidly to her.
"Do you want your clothes, Lilly?"
The raven nodded once again so December walked to the car, taking the items out as Lilly transformed discreetly behind a tree. Shivering, she put on the clothes as fast as possible before she joined the others.