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 fast.
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.”
“I didn’t realize I was capable…” I trailed off in confusion and he laughed lightly.
“I believe out of all the walls you could have chosen to take down, this would have been the best.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve been using this wall as a sort of calendar. Scraping away at it to mark the days. I have a feeling its structural integrity has been weakened over time.”
“Oh.” I grinned sheepishly as I felt my face heat in embarrassment. I should have known I didn’t have the strength to take down a solid stone wall. That’s when the memory of my previous reveries slammed into me. The room with the marks on the wall. The window I had peered out of, meeting the eyes of an old man on a beach. The beach where the same old man had been collecting shells.
“You….” I started, unsure as how to explain what I was thinking. “I’ve seen you before.
I’ve…I’ve been here in a…dream.” I surveyed the room I was currently in. Of course! How could I not have remembered? The room I was in now greatly resembled the stone room that I’d found myself in during my reverie, the first time I’d caught sight of the old man. The second time resulting in a new trace. A new trace brought on by close proximity to my past.
“I saw you too.” His eye crinkled as he smiled. I ran a light finger over the eternity symbol trace below my eye, trying to understand the connection.
“Are you…? Are we…related?” Before he could answer, sounds down the hallway made us freeze as I snapped back to the task at hand.
“You need to go.” His eye darted toward what I assumed was his door.