This week’s Friday Fiction is hosted by Vonnie @ her blog, My Back Door. Click here to read and share more great fiction!
Author’s note: Hi everyone! I’m on time this week, mostly, considering I’ve just finally finished this piece. It’s an excerpt from the files of Ladysight, a rather lovable, but somewhat devious character in nature, because of the unsual gift in her possession. I had a bit of fun with this one, but I do hope the story follows through. If you missed the 2nd part of last week’s Chronicles of Greeves, it’s below this post. I didn’t finish writing it until just before midnight last week. Sorry! I do hope you enjoy this piece, I had so much fun with the dialog in here, because Lance just writes his own story. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a great weekend!
“I don’t know, Scott. I really don’t think this is a good idea.” Lance heaved himself upwards. “I mean, you read too much. Those are old, ancient fables!”
“That just happen to have historical significance?” Scott retorted. “That just happen to have accurate maps to where these ‘mythical creatures’ exist? I don’t think so, Lance. In fact, I think they still exist.”
“Right.” Lance snorted. “And what exactly are you going to do if they do?”
Scott shrugged. “I don’t know. We’re looking for proof of the great Ladysight, so I suppose I’d ask her to see my future.”
“Right.” Lance rolled his eyes. “Of all the guys in the world…I would get an archaeologist dork for a brother.”
“Hey, hey now! Chill little bro.” Scott flashed a smile. “Aren’t you having fun? I thought you loved hiking and trekking through the great outdoors.”
“I do.” Lance grumped. “As long as I’m not chasing after some ridiculous legend that doesn’t exist. As long as I’m not trekking with a brother who’s going searching for some cave to have some crazy legend lady read his fortune!”
“Ah, Lance, Lance.” Scott sighed in mock sadness. “You can be so close-minded sometimes.”
“Close-minded?” Lance sputtered. “Scott, think about this for a moment.” He paused to duck under several low hanging vines, trailing down to the jungle carpet. “If this is real…don’t you think you should have picked someone else?”
“Hm, wha?” Scott ducked under the vines, poking at them with a wooden cane. “What did you say?”
“I said-oh never mind!” Lance reached back and yanked the vines away. “Quit poking stuff like that. It’s just a vine. It’s not going to come to life and strangle you! How would you like it if you were a jungle and two idiots came tramping through looking for some ghost and poking sticks at everything.”
“It’s not a stick.” Scott wrinkled his nose. “It’s an antique key staff and it’ll help us when we get where we’re going.”
“Which is nowhere.” Lance inserted. “Oh give it up already! We’ve been trekking for nearly a month. I’m getting tired of nowhere. I’d like to go back to civilization while I’m old enough to appreciate and enjoy it!”
“Then go whenever you’d like.” Scott said evenly. “I’ve told you before. If you don’t want to be a part of this expedition, you’re welcome to leave whenever you like. Just don’t come back to me when I make the discovery of the century and you want a slice of the fame in a bottle.”
“If there is any to be had.” Lance shot back, yanking aside the next curtain of vines, scraping his knuckles on the solid wall of black and white rock behind. “Congrats, bro, we’ve reached a dead end.” He examined his knuckles, grimacing at the pinkish-red result.
But Scott had suddenly become very still. Light had filled his eyes and his mouth hung open as he stared at the rock wall. “We’ve done it.” He breathed. “We’ve finally gone and done it! We’ve found it!” He began to babble deliriously. “Oh this is wonderful. Oh we’ve found it. How wonderful.” A laugh escaped. “Precious! This is the find of the century…no, of eons to come!”
“Uh, Scott?” Lance waved a hand in front of him. “I think you’re seeing things, ‘cause all I see is a brick-er-rock wall. And I don’t see how we’re going to get around that.”
Scott smirked. “You know for the one of us who really did go all the way through school and all that, you really are…dense.”
“Dense?” Lance perked a brow. “Scott, buddy, you have officially lost it. Don’t worry. I think I’ll be able to get us both back to civilization, possibly before it’s too late for you.”
But Scott’s answer was to suddenly launch himself at the vines, ripping them away from the front of the stone. He worked almost manically, yanking, ripping and tearing the greenery away to fully reveal the stone wall. “It’s beautiful!” He exclaimed, tears sparkling in his eyes as he grasped the staff with both hands and drove it straight through the hole in the center of the spiral stone.
There was a deep, loud rumbling from behind the rock wall and Lance skittered back several steps. “Scott…?”
“Don’t worry.” Scott pushed him aside. “it’s working.”
“Working? What is? Scott!” Lance grabbed for his arm, but missed as Scott stepped back and the antique staff was suddenly sucked all the way through the hole. “Whoa!”
The spiral stone carving suddenly began to spin, slowly, slowly, then picking up in speed. Grating and moaning noises came from behind the great rock wall, but the only change in front was the spinning spiral.
Until the carving itself, suddenly shrank back into the stone, a passageway opening up in the ground beneath it. Stone steps leading downward, with torches already lit, lighting the way with their flickering talent.
“S-scott, I don’t think we should go down there.” Lance grabbed for his elbow again and missed as Scott staggered towards the opening in the ground.
“Downward?” His voice was puzzled. “After all these years…I thought the steps went upwards?”
“All the more reason for us to…Scott?” Lance growled in frustration. “And here we go again.” He wearily moved forward to the hole in the ground, gingerly inching down the first earthen steps until his feet rested solidly on the stone stairway. “Scott?”
The few steps down were quickly taken, leading down to a long, darkened passageway. A scrabbling noise in one end, arrested his attention and Lance grabbed at a torch on the side of the wall.
It refused to budge. “Oh man…not now!” Lance braced against the wall and yanked again with all his might. The metal holder squeaked in protest. “Come off…now!” Lance huffed. “It’s so easy in the movies…why can’t it…oof!” The torch slipped free and he staggered back a few feet.
The scrabbling noise came again and Lance hurried in the direction of the sound. An uneasy feeling began to grow and sprout leaves inside his stomach as he broke into a light jog. “The light isn’t going out.” He muttered, the realization not quite sinking in as he jogged until he reached a wooden door at the end with the spiral carving engraved on the front.
“The light didn’t go out.” He stared at the torch in horror. It flickered automatically, but remained steadily burning. A shiver ran through him. “I never should have let him talk me into this.”
He pushed on the door and it swung easily inward. “Bad sign.” He mumbled to himself. “Always a bad sign.” The room within lightened the moment he stepped through. A stone pillar was in the middle of the room with a torch burning brightly from the ornate holder on top. “Scott?” Lance whispered. “You in here?”
The whisper echoed loudly as he held the torch high. “Scott!” A limp form lay on the ground a few feet away from a beautiful block of crystal.
Lance rushed to his side, dropping to his knees as he shrugged off the pack from his back. “Scott? Can you hear me?” He felt for a pulse, panic rising as he switched to fumbling for the first aid kit with one hand. There was a large gash on his forehead, but strangely it wasn’t bleeding. “Scott please wake up!” He tried to open the first-aid kit with one hand, the plastic clasps digging into his fingers. “Scott! Wake up, please wake up! Mom’s gonna kill me if something happens to you!”
“He’s not going to.” The sultry voice drawled. “But he’ll be okay…I think.”
“Who’s there?” Lance shot to his feet, whirling around, torch held tight in hand. “Come out!”
“Lance…” The voice was bored. “It’s me.”
There was the rustle of fabric and Lance turned in time to catch the beautiful armful that hurtled towards him. “Vikki!” He grabbed her tight. “What are you doing here? I thought you were on another dig…somewhere in Brazil…”
“I changed my mind.” Her voice was muffled in his shoulder. “You know I can’t leave here.” She pulled away. “Brazil? Really? He is out cold.”
Lance let go, reluctantly as she pulled away from him to bend over his brother. “For real? What did you do to him?”
She shrugged, the rich, violet robes spilling elegantly from her shoulders to sweep the floor, pooling as she bent to examine him. “I didn’t. The vines did.” She poked his shoulder with one, long, white finger. “Well?”
A blush touched his cheeks and Lance gritted his teeth. “I couldn’t help it. He wouldn’t give up!”
She scoffed. “Excuses? That is all you have in answer?”
“It wasn’t my fault. I tried to get him to change his mind to do something else to-”
“By whining?” She said, disdainful. “Really, Lance. Couldn’t you look further into yourself to know that I would already know that?”
“Then why ask me?” He growled. “And what do you mean, vines? What did you do to my brother?”
“Now, now. Is that anyway to speak to the legendary Ladysight?” Her voice was a hair’s breath away from mockery. “I didn’t do anything to him…I didn’t get the chance.”
“You didn’t get the chance?” Lance bit the words off one at a time. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
She shrugged, straightening and turning to face him. She took a deep breath and let it out. “Candlelight.” She murmured. A surreal, white glow suddenly formed around her, then spread out until the darkened, earthen room was brightly lit.
Lance opened his mouth and shut it, taking in the sight of her. Bright purple eyes, billowing purple robes, glowing lavender carvings on her face and exposed arms, brown-to-violet tinted hair framed a heart-shaped face and when her lips parted, she was saying his name.
“Lance!” Her hands went to her hips. “I appreciate the sentiment, I think…of whatever it is I did to have you staring at me for so long, but really, you haven’t heard a word I’ve said.”
“Word?” Lance licked his lips.
She sighed. “Yes, Lance. Word. Words.” She enunciated slowly. “Plural. I was talking about the vines, they did this to him.” She gestured towards Scott. “But he’ll be fine once I’m out of here.”
“Where are you going?” Lance felt his brain slowly shifting into gear.
She shrugged. “You know where. I can’t stay here. It’s not good.” She bit her lip. “Not good for anyone. Did you bring me a piece of the vine? I have the staff.” She drew the antique wooden staff from the voluminous folds of her robes.
Lance winced. “No…I…uh…” He shrugged, holding the torch awkwardly.
“I cannot believe this.” She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Did he hold them for long?” She gestured towards Scott. “I need the protein strand within the greens.”
“Huh, wha?” Lance blinked, shaking his head. “What for what?”
There was another sigh. “I need the plant to open my portal. Once it’s opened, I go back home and your life returns to normal.”
“Normal being without you?” Lance crossed to stick the torch into one of the wall holders. It stuck. “Not again!” He jammed the base into the holder, trying to convince it to stay.
“What happened to your hand?” Vikki asked suddenly, crossing the room to take it in hers. “You’ve cut your hand.”
“Just scraped my knuckles.” Lance muttered. “Stupid torch.”
“Leave it alone.” Vikki murmured, absently waving a hand at it. The holder suddenly resized, clutching the new torch in its holds. “Where did you…scrape your knuckles?” She asked, her smile polite.
Lance shrugged. “On the wall thing. There was a bunch of vines and I was the first one there-”
“You were the first?” Excitement showed plainly in her eyes.
“Well yeah. Scott’s older than me, but he’s definitely no outdoorsman.” Lance shrugged. “I was breaking the path and he’d just tell me what to look for.”
“The poor man.” Vikki murmured.
“What?” Lance whirled to look at her.
“He wanted to see his future.” Vikki said tonelessly, gliding to the center of the room to the stone pillar with the ornate torch holder. “I don’t understand you humans…even though I used to be one of you.”
“Vikki…” Lance said warningly. “what did you do?”
“I’m thousands of years older than you, Lance.” She droned. “Do not take that tone with me. You humans always reflect the same. Two emotions. Fear or greed. Is there nothing in between?”
“What are you talking about?” Lance exclaimed.
“You’re afraid of me, but Scott wanted me.” She smiled, artificial. “He wanted me to tell his future.” There was bitter laugh. “You poor misguided creatures. Only God can truly see and know the future. No one ever really knows what’s going to happen.”
“Except you.” Lance interrupted. “Vikki, what’s going on?”
“Come see for yourself.” She beckoned him closer. “Even I don’t see the future, dear Lance. I see the many faces of possible things to come…based on the decisions one makes. I am not a witch nor am I a toy. I am not to be trifled with.” Her eyes blazed. “But him!” She glared at the fallen body. “He knows nothing.”
“Vikki?” Lance found himself walking forward against his own will. “Whatever you’re doing, stop it! I don’t want to see my future! I don’t care if I never see my future, I just want to get out of here and we’ll leave you alone. I promise. I won’t ever let Scott come back here. I-I-I’ll never even think of you again!”
“A foolish child’s promise.” She intoned. “Easily made, easily broken. I’m sorry, Lance. But I can’t stay in your world much longer. Scott will be fine…you will not.”
“What?”
She reached out, taking his hands in hers. “You were the first one to touch the stone wall…” Her gaze flickered to Scott. “and the vines are poisonous.”
Lance felt his feet threatening to give way beneath him. “Vines can’t be poisonous.”
Her lips curved into a smile. “The ones that guard the way to me are. I’m very sorry. Scott should be fine. The antidote is very simple for him…but not for you, because you’ve absorbed it directly into your bloodstream.” A faint pattern of light began to sparkle across her arms as she curved her arms around his neck. “That’s why I’m apologizing. I know this is going to hurt…but I will keep my end of the bargain. When you first discovered and freed me, I was bound to the first promise I made, as you were. You are now fulfilling yours and so I complete mine.”
“V-vikki!” Lance shuddered as her arms circled around his neck and her head rested on his shoulder.
“Shhh! Ladysight.” She corrected. “They call me Ladysight, they that dare to speak of me. I never asked to be what I am…but it does not mean I am heartless.”
A loud sucking sound echoed through the ancient chambers and Lance felt a scream bubbling up inside of him. Every fiber of his being seemed to be burning and burning with an acid he felt he would never escape.
The light flashed so brightly before his eyes he was sure that he would be blinded for life, if there was life after this sort of encounter.
As quickly as it had happened, it all faded away.
Lance crumpled to his knees in the now pitch, dark chamber. The pain was still prickling through every pore of him and he dared not do a thing. Tears threatened to break free, but he willed himself to crawl forward.
Someone was moving.
“Scott?” He croaked.
“Lance?” The voice was bewildered. “Where are we? What’s going on?” More shuffling came about. “Has there been a power failure? Where’s Mom and Tina?”
Relief flooded through him and Lance struggled to inch forward. She had kept her part of their wretched bargain. At least she had done that. “I’m here, Scott. I’m here…how are you feeling?”
“Just fine.” The puzzlement showed plainly on his face when it appeared just inches away from Lance himself, by the aid of a lighter.
“Ah!” Lance yelped, jerking away from the open flame. “Ohhh.” He winced at the movement.
“Lance!” Scott dropped to his knees grabbing his shoulders. “What happened? Where are we? What’s going on?”
Lance blinked, squinting. He could still hear Scott asking questions, but the pressure around his shoulders was fading. Just like Scott. Scott was disappearing into thin air. The strange sight hovered before his eyes and then Scott seemed to evaporate completely.
A moan escaped as Lance felt his stomach heave. Only hours ago his life had been somewhat normal. A tear trickled out. Normal. He was going to die in underground in a chamber that shouldn’t have existed for something his mind had yet to comprehend.
Normal was for the normal ones.
* * * * *
“Ladysight.” The whispery voice echoed. “You have returned home, where you belong. What took you so long?”
“There were complications, Milady.” Ladysight dropped to her knees, bowing slightly. “I am sorry for my…tardiness.”
“Excuses, excuses.” The whispery voice wheezed. “But you have returned and now restored my favor in you. Is there anything you desire? A welcome home present?”
“Well…” A tiny smile sprang up at the corners of her mouth. “There was-”
“Don’t you dare mention a human!” The whispery voice exclaimed, outraged. “You know they are not allowed in our world!
“But you said anything.” And then she smiled.
© Sara Harricharan 2009