Breathe Under Water - Shadows of the Night 1

Chapter 20

Hi.

It's late and I'm supposed to go to bed. But, since I won't be able to post the next few days, I figured I might as well do it now... So, incredible as it is, this is Chapter 20! Guys, this is it. The kid gloves are off. Here we go!

Lara

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Chapter 20

I made my way out of the kitchen, taking the first corridor to my right. Envisioning the layout of the whole mansion in my mind, I rounded the corner without paying attention. I pummeled into another servant, mumbling an unintelligible shadow of an excuse, and made my way to the staircase in the back, the one I remembered being closest to the Cellinis' rooms on the second floor.

Nothing made sense.

Portal. They had been talking about a portal. There was only one type of being that was likely to use a portal: a rogue witch. And if my guess was right it was a rogue called Michael.

Had I been wrong all this time? Could it be that I wasn't after a vampire but a rogue witch? A rogue witch who had come to assassinate the Cellinis? But what did that have to do with the amulet?

My mind travelled back to Corine and what she'd said. Not only had I just knocked someone into unconsciousness who was after the same thing as I, I was about to do something even I couldn't believe I was doing: rescue the Cellinis.

I had no idea what exactly was going on or who was behind all this, or if it was even somehow linked to the drug affair and Maria's death. No matter what, I couldn't let anyone kill the Cellinis – for two reasons.

One, the peace between vampires and witches was an unsteady one, balanced on trust neither of the communities had. A rogue witch assassinating the vampires' undead equivalent of Queen Elizabeth? They'd hunt him down to the end of the world, and they wouldn't play by the rules. It would be just enough to tip the scales in favor of war. Two, if the Cellinis somehow had a hand in Maria's death, they could lead me to her murderer. They were my prey.

Tackling two steps at a time, I fought the stinging protest in my lungs. By the time I reached the corridor on the second floor they were burning. Panting, I scanned the corridor, looking up and down. It was deserted.

A line of matching, steel-infused doors was cloning its way down the empty corridor. Nerves snapped like a set of small bowstrings, one after the other.

Doors, doors – nothing but doors. Next Monty Hall would round the corner and talk me into picking the door with the Zonk. I heard the voice in my head and slammed a lid on the part of me that wanted to laugh out loud. It was that part of me that didn't care if it would have come out a little crazed.

That was the moment I spotted it. The big golden framed door at the end of the aisle on the other side looked like the entrance to a high class apartment.

I approached it warily, waiting for something to happen. The door's smooth surface felt cold and unyielding as I pressed my left ear on it. Nothing. Damn. Just like anywhere else in the mansion these doors were customer made steel monsters, crafted to make whatever space they confined soundproof.

Hesitation took me by surprise, grabbed me by the neck only to choke me into momentary blankness of the mind. I was going to walk into unknown territory, unarmed and in all likelihood looking like an absolute beginner when compared to whatever shitloads of magic that rogue witch could wield. Witches drew power from the elements and nature, which was all about balance. A rogue witch didn't give a damn about balance. Dark magic didn't work that way.