Soul Ties

Chapter 19: House of Horrors

I empty what little I have in my stomach, gripping my knees for support as I continue to gag. All that seems to come up is a mixture of water and saliva that splashes next to my feet. The worst part is, while I'm throwing up, I'm face to face with all the bones that are causing me to hurl in the first place. It's a vicious cycle. I'm throwing up while staring at the exact thing making me nauseous, and then having to empty my stomach again. I heave until my throat is raw and my abdomen is sore from the muscles clenching. Eventually, when the room stops spinning, I stand and wipe my mouth.

Caelum stands across the room from me by an entrance. When I start to gag, he rolls his eyes and lights another orb full of lava. It illuminates just enough for me to notice a dark tunnel leading to Goddess knows where. Unfortunately, the orb also lights the room enough for me to see the skull I had accidentally kicked when I first jumped down into this hole.

Now Caelum wais for me, but, honestly, I wish he would just leave me here. I haven't even been on Ocura for that long and I've seen enough horror to last me a lifetime. I don't know how much more I can handle before enough was enough.

"You done?" he grumbles, arms crossed in front of him while his shoulder leans against the black walls.

"How can you be so nonchalant about standing in a hole full of what used to be your people?"

He chuckles. "Who said they were my people?"

I think I'm going to be sick all over again. Small dots dance along the sides of my vision, and I bend over preparing for whatever I have left in me to come out.

"Don't start that again. Let's go." Caelum pulls down something jagged from the wall and, one by one, a trail of orbs begin to light up down the tunnel. The gleam doesn't do much to lighten the impending doom I'm experiencing. Although, how could it when I'm standing in a graveyard?

I position myself upright and make my way across, trying not to step on anything in the process. When my tail hits something, I flinch and a shiver runs up my back. I don't want to look behind me or to the floor, so I keep my eyes on Caelum until I finally reach him.

"Think you'll be able to hold your lunch down long enough for us to get inside the house?"

"Are you always this enchanting?" I sneer. "Wait. This tunnel leads into the house?" My heart slams against my ribs.

"Where did you think we were going? Your mother's house?" He starts ahead of me but stops when he sees I haven't moved. "You can stay here if you want, but I can't promise you won't become like one of your little friends behind you."

No, thank you, I think and quickly jog to him.

"Stay close," he whispers, but it doesn't sound like a warning from something that could be lurking in this tunnel. The way he says it gives me the impression that he just doesn't want to have to find me if I were to get lost.

Either way, he doesn't have to tell me twice. I don't plan on leaving his side, especially knowing that this path leads us into that very house I'd seen outside. The monsters I envisioned come to the front of my mind and I inch a little closer to Caelum without him noticing.

We walk in silence just like before, the sound of our feet padding through the dirt echoing off the walls. The tunnel isn't wide, but my eyes still flick to the walls every once in a while just in case something were to pop out. I can't help wondering if Caelum would save me if something actually did try to hurt us.

I mean, I was his daughter-in-law right? As much as I hated the thought, I was his family now, so didn't that mean he had to protect me?

Peeking at him through the corner of my eye, and gauging the expression on his face, it was clear he would rather have something eat me than have to spend another second in my presence.