'Night World : Soulmate Chapter 15\r'

'Hannahs confidential information was taken a focussing.\r\nShe hadnt expected a seamless answer from Maya… and shed gotten champion. And she did commiserate.\r\nMaya had devoted her happen to keeping Hannah and Thierry apart. Her uttermostsighted livelihood. Her thousands of years. If\r\nshe unconnected at this point, that life became meaningless.\r\nâ€Å"You dont know how to do whatever thing else,” Hannah utter windyly, figuring it forbidden.\r\nâ€Å"Oh, enough of the press conference. I know how to do lots of things-youll no comme il faut that out. Im through\r\nfooling more or less with you, cupcake.”\r\nHannah handle the threat-and the insulting kiboshearment. â€Å" moreover it wont do you all(prenominal) good,” she said, *\r\ngenuinely bewildered, as if she and Maya were discussing whether or not to go shopping to maintainher.\r\nâ€Å"Youre release to pop out me, sure, I understand that. exclusively it wont economic aid you get Thierry. Hell scarce hate you\r\n more than… and hell exclusively wait for me to get it on ski binding.”\r\nMaya had knelt by the lynchpinpack, rummaging in it.\r\nshe opineed up at Hannah and smi guide-a obscure slow smile.\r\nâ€Å"Will he?”\r\nHannah stared at those red lips, judgement as if mortal were pouring ice water tear down her backb whiz. â€Å"You\r\nknow he will. Unless you consume him, too.”\r\nThe lips curved again. â€Å"An inte pillowing idea. exclusively not quite what I had in mind. I assume him alive; hes my\r\nprize, you put wiz over. When you win, you need a prize.” Hannah was noticeing colder and colder inside. â€Å" consequently\r\nhell wait.” â€Å"not if youre not feeler back.” And how do you arrange that? Hannah sight. God, perhaps\r\nshes breathing out to keep me alive here… fastened up and alive until Im ninety. The idea brought a wave of\r\nsuffocating fear. Hannah gla nced approximately, laborious to conceive what it would be the give oversees of to spend her life in this\r\n can. In this cold, dusky, horrible… Maya ignite into laughter.\r\nâ€Å"You cant fore look out it out, can you? Well, allow me table service.” She walked to where Hannah was academic term and knelt.\r\nâ€Å"Look at this. Look, Hannah.”\r\nShe was holding up an oval hand mirror. At the homogeneous moment she shone the common mullein on Hannahs memorial tab permit.\r\nHannah work outed into the mirror-and gasped.\r\nIt was her face… only not her face. For one clamorous she couldnt put her finger on the difference-all she\r\ncould guess was that it was Hanas face, Hana of the Three Rivers. And then she realized.\r\nHer birthmark was gone.\r\nOr … some gone. She could still see a shadow of it if she funed her head word to one side. solely it had faded\r\n closely to invisibility.\r\nGod, Im good-looking, Hannah thought num bly. She was too dazed to feel any vain or humble. Then\r\nshe realized it wasnt just the absence of the birthmark that do her look beautiful.\r\n blush in the affected re of the flashlight she could tell that she was pale. Her discase was creamy, roughly\r\ntranslucent. Her eyes seemed larger and brighter. Her peach seemed softer and more sensuous. And\r\nthere was an indefinable something closely her face….\r\nI look identical Poppy, she thought. Like Poppy, the girl with the copper hair. The vampire. Wordlessly, she\r\nlooked at Maya. Mayas red lips stretched in a smile. â€Å"Yes. I exchanged short letter with you when I picked\r\nyou up last night. Thats why you slept so wide… you probably dont realize it, but its good afternoon out\r\nthere. And youre changing already. I figure one more exchange of family… maybe two. I dont want to\r\n line of achievement things. I cant energize you decease in the lead you become a vampire.”\r\nHannahs min d was reeling. Her head fell back weakly to rest against the post. She stared at Maya. â€Å"But\r\nwhy?” she whispered, almost pleadingly. â€Å"Why come upon me a vampire?”\r\nMaya stood. She walked over to the backpack and carefully tuck the mirror inside. Then she pulled\r\nout something else, something so farseeing that it was sticking out of the round top of the pack. She held it up.\r\nA stake. A black woodlandy stake, like a spear, about as long as Mayas arm. It had a nice pointed end on it.\r\nâ€Å"Vampires dont come back,” Maya said. suddenly there was a roaring in Hannahs ears.\r\nShe s smotherowed and swallowed. She was afraid she was going to faint or be nervous.\r\nâ€Å"Vampires… dont… ?”\r\nâ€Å"Its an interesting bit of trivia, isnt it? perhaps itll be on â€Å"Jeopardy!” someday. I hand to admit, I dont\r\nexactly understand the logistics-but vampires dont reincarnate, not even if theyre Old Souls. They jus t\r\n surpass. Ive heard it suggested that its because making them vampires takes their souls away, but I dont\r\nknow…. Does Thierry relieve oneself a soul, do you hypothecate?”\r\nE trulything was whirling most Hannah now. there was nothing solid, nothing to hang on to.\r\nTo conk out … she could face that. But to die forever, to go out… what if vampires didnt even go to some\r\nother place, some hereafter? What if they just suddenly werent?\r\nIt was the most shake thing she had ever imagined.\r\nâ€Å"I wont let you,” she whispered, hearing her own voice come out curmudgeonly and ragged. â€Å"I wont-â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"But you cant stop me,” Maya said, am apply. â€Å"Those ropes are hemp-theyll hold you when youre a\r\nvampire as well as when youre human. Youre supportless, poor baby. You cant do anything against me.”\r\nWith a look of pleasure in her own cleverness, she said, â€Å"I utmostly found a way to block up the c ycle.”\r\nShe left the backpack and knelt in front of Hannah again. This time when the red lips parted, Hannah\r\n axiom long sharp teeth.\r\nHannah fought. Even a cuttinge that it was hopeless, she did everything she could think of, lashing out at\r\nMaya with the strength of sheer desperation. But it wasnt any good. Maya was simply that much\r\nstronger than she was. In a matter of minutes, Hannah found herself with both hand pinned and her\r\nhead twisted to one side, her pharynx exposed.\r\n zero(prenominal) she knew why Maya had forced her to deglutition vampire blood before. It hadnt just been haphazard\r\ncruelty. It was part of a plan.\r\nYou cant do this to me. You cant. You cant kill my soul….\r\nâ€Å"Ready or not,” Maya said, almost humming it. Then Hannah felt teeth.\r\nShe struggled again, like a gazelle in the jaws of a lioness. It had no effect. She could feel the unique wound\r\nof her blood being drawn out against her will. She could feel M aya drinking deeply. I dont want this to\r\nbe happening…. At last the pain faded to a drowsy illuminate of ache. Hannahs mind felt dopey, her soundbox numb.\r\nMaya was grapnel her into a different position, tilting Hannahs head back and pressing her wrist to\r\nHannahs mouth.\r\nI wont drink. Ill let myself drown first. At least Ill die before Im a vampire….\r\nBut she found that it wasnt that easy to will yourself into dying from lack of air. Eventually, she choked\r\nand swallowed Mayas blood. She wound up coughing and sputtering, trying to clear her pharynx and get\r\nair. Maya sat back.\r\nâ€Å"There,” she said, slightly breathless. She shone the flashlight into Hannahs face again.\r\nâ€Å"Yes.” She looked judicial, like a charr considering a turkey in the oven. â€Å"Yes, its going very well.\r\n erst more should do it. Youd be a vampire now, if so much time since the first we hadnt squandered exchange.”\r\nâ€Å"Thierry will kill you when he beats out,” Hannah whispered.\r\nâ€Å"And break his sacred promise? I dont think so.” Maya smiled and got up again, pottering with her\r\nbackpack. â€Å"Of course, this wouldnt be happening if he hadnt wiped out(p) his promise to me,” she added,\r\nalmost matter-of-factly. â€Å"He told me that you wouldnt come between us anymore. But the next time I\r\nturn around-there you are! Shacked up in his house, no less. He should gestate known better.”\r\nHannah stared at her. â€Å"He didnt even know I was there. Maya-dont you realize that? He didnt know-â€Å"\r\nMaya cut her glowering with a gesture. â€Å"Dont expect me to believe anything you say. Not at this point.” She\r\nstraightened up, looked at Hannah, then sighed. She switched sour the lantern and picked up the flashlight.\r\nâ€Å"Im afraid Im going to have to leave you for a turn, now. Ill be back tonight to finish this little job.\r\nDont worry, I wont be late… afte r all, I have a deadline to meet. Tomorrows your birthday.”\r\nâ€Å"Maya …” I have to keep her here talking, Hannah thought. I have to make her understand that Thierry\r\ndidnt break his promise.\r\nShe was trying to ignore the chilling question that ran just under her thoughts. What if Thierry had been\r\nserious about what hed told Maya? If he really wanted to be with Maya as long as Hannah was no\r\n seven-day between them?\r\nâ€Å"Cant stay; must fly,” Maya said, trill laughter again. â€Å"I hope you wont be too lonely. By the way, I\r\nwouldnt quiver that pole too much. This is an abandoned currency mine, and that whole structure is unstable.”\r\nâ€Å"Maya-â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"See you later.” She picked up the backpack and walked away.\r\nShe ignored Hannahs yells. And eventually, when Hannah couldnt see the beam of the flashlight\r\nanymore, she stopped yelling.\r\nShe was in the dark again.\r\nAnd weaker. Drained emotionally and drai ned of vim by what Maya had done. She felt sick, feverish,\r\nand itchy as if there were bugs crawling under her strip down.\r\nAnd she was alone.\r\nAlmost, almost, she gave in to the threat again. But she was afraid that if she lost control this time, shed\r\nnever get it back. Shed be insane by the time Maya returned.\r\nTime. Thats it, girl, youve got some time. Shes not coming back until tonight, so get your head clear\r\nand clams using the time you have.\r\nBut its so dark….\r\nWait. Did she take the lantern with her? She turned it off, but did she take it?\r\nWith the utmost caution, Hannah felt around her with her hands. Nothing-but then she couldnt lean very\r\nfar because of the rope.\r\nOkay. Try your feet. Carefully. If you kick it away, its all over.\r\nHannah lift one leg and began to gently silken the root word down toward the basis. Little pats, slow pats.\r\nAbout the third time she did it, her foot hit something that fell over.\r\nThats it! Now force it toward you. Careful. Careful. Closer… almost… now around to your side…\r\nGot it! Hannah reached out and grabbed the lantern, holding it urgently with both hands like\r\n person holding a radio plot of install sitting in the bathtub. Dont drop it … find the switch.\r\nLight blossomed.\r\nHannah kissed the lantern. She truly kissed it. It was an ordinary battery-operated fluorescent\r\ncamping lantern, but she felt as if she were holding a miracle.\r\nLight do such a difference.\r\nOkay. Now look around you. What can you do to help yourself here?\r\nBut looking around made her heart sink.\r\nThe cavern she was in was irregular, with uneven walls and overhanging slabs of shake up. A silver mine,\r\nMaya had said. That meant the place was probably blasted out by humans.\r\nOn either side of her, Hannah could see more posts like the one she was tie to. They seemed to form a\r\nkind of scaffold against the wall. So miners can get to it, I guess, she th ought vaguely. Or maybe to\r\nhelp hold the roof up, or both.\r\nAnd its unstable.\r\nAs a last resort, she could simply do her best to choose the whole thing down. And then pray she died\r\nquickly.\r\nFor now, she unplowed looking.\r\nThe wall on her right, the only one she could see in the pool of lantern light, was surprisingly variegated.\r\nEven beautiful. It wasnt just rough gray rock; it was rough gray rock veinlike with milky-white and pale\r\npink vitreous silica.\r\nSilver comes in quartz sometimes, Hannah thought. She knew that much from her moms friends, the\r\nrockhounds.\r\nBut that doesnt do me any good. Its pretty, but useless.\r\nShe was starting to panic again. She had a light, but what good was it? She could see, but she had\r\nnothing to work with.\r\nTheres got to be something here. Rocks. Ive got rocks and thats it. Hannah shifted to get away from\r\none that was bruising her thigh. perhaps I can throw rocks at her….\r\nNot rocks. Quartz.\r\nSuddenly Hannahs whole body was tingling. Her breath was stopped in her lungs and her skin felt\r\nelectrified.\r\nIve got quartz.\r\nWith shaking hands, she put the lantern down. She reached for an angulate chunk of rock on the ground\r\nbeside her.\r\nTears sprang to her eyes.\r\nThis is a quartz nodule. Its crystal. Fine-grained. Workable.\r\nI know how to make a peter out of this.\r\nShed never done it in this life, of course. But Hana of the Three Rivers had done it all the time. Shed\r\nmade knives, scrapers, drills… and hand-axes.\r\nShe would have preferred stony to work with; it fractured much more regularly. But quartz was fine.\r\nI can feel in my hands how to do it. …\r\nOkay. stick by calm. First, find a hammer stone.\r\nIt was too easy. There were rocks all around her. Hannah picked up one with a slightly bear surface,\r\nweighed it in her hand. It felt good.\r\nShe pulled her legs in, set the angulate chunk in front of her, and started working.\r\nShe didnt a ctually make a hand-ax. She didnt need to. Once she had bashed off a few flakes with long\r\nsharp edges, she started sawing at the rope. The flakes were wavy and irregular, but they were as sharp\r\nas broken glass and quite sufficient to cut the hemp.\r\nIt took a long time, and twice she had to make new flakes when the ones she was using blunted. But she\r\nwas patient. She kept working until she could pull first one length of rope, then other and another free.\r\nWhen the last strand parted, she almost screamed in sheer joy.\r\nIm free! I did it! I did it!\r\nShe jumped up, her weakness and fever forgotten. She danced around the room. Then she ran back and\r\npicked up her precious lantern.\r\nAnd now-Im out of here!\r\nBut she wasnt.\r\nIt took a while for the realization to dawn. First, she walked back in the military commission that Maya had come.\r\nShe found what felt like miles of writhe passageways, sometimes so narrow that the walls almost\r\nbrushed her shoulders, a nd so low that she had to hold over her head. The rock was cold-and wet.\r\nThere were several ramate passages, but each one led to a dead end. And it was only when Hannah\r\ngot to the end of the main passage that she realized how Maya had gotten into the mine.\r\nShe was stand up below a vertical shaft. It soared maybe a hundred feet straight up. At the very top, she\r\ncould see reddish sunlight.\r\nIt was like a giant chimney, except that the walls were nowhere near that close to each other. And\r\nnowhere near irregular enough to climb.\r\nNo human could get out this way.\r\nI suppose they had some sort of facelift or something when the mine was working, Hannah thought\r\ndazedly. She was sick and numb. She couldnt believe that her triumph had turned into this.\r\nFor a while she shouted, staring up at that square of infuriating, unattainable sunlight. When she got so\r\nhoarse she could scarcely hear herself anymore, she admitted that it was no use.\r\n secret code is goin g to come and rescue you. Okay. S(c) you have to rescue yourself.\r\nBut all Ive got is rocks…. No.\r\nNo, Im free now. I can move around. I can get to the scaffolding.\r\nIve got rocks-and wood.\r\nHannah stood paralyze for a second, then she clutched the lantern to her chest and went test back\r\ndown the passageway.\r\nWhen she got to her cavern, she examined the scaffolding excitedly.\r\nYes. approximately of this wood is still good. Its old, but its hard. I can work with this.\r\nThis time, she made a real hand-ax, taking special care to fashion the tip, making it thin and\r\nstraight-edged and sharp. The final rooster was roughly triangular and heavy. It fit in comfortably in her hand.\r\nHana would have been lofty of it.\r\nThen she used the ax to chop shot off a length of wood from the creaking, groaning scaffolding. All the while\r\nshe did it she whistled softly, hoping she wasnt going to bring the whole structure down on her head.\r\nShe used the ax to shape t he length of wood, too, making it round, about as impenetrable as her thumb and as\r\nlong as her forearm. She knocked off a quartz scraper to do the finer shaping.\r\nFinally she used a flake to hone one end of the stick to a point. She ground it back and forth against an\r\noutcrop of feisty stone to bring it to maximum blandness and sharpness.\r\nThen she held out the finished tool and admired it.\r\nShe had a stake. A very good stake.\r\nAnd Maya was going to get a surprise.\r\nHannah sat down, turned the lantern off to keep abreast the battery, and began to wait.\r\n'