99 Setbacks

I move quickly as I feel like I'm racing against time. They know we're here now; I don't want to lose them. A few more shifters come running, claws out and ready for blood. Aston lifts his gun and shoots them one after the other with insane accuracy.

I curse under my breath as I race past them, heading straight up a large stairway. Vance and Aston closely follow behind me as I take a right and practically run down the hall. I blast the door open with my magic to find Aiya's parent's trying to leave via magic circle!

I lift my hand, about to destroy the circle when suddenly I see Aiya's mother rip her necklace off and toss it straight at us. It happens so fast; my brain can't comprehend it. When the necklace hits the ground, the black pearl shatters!

A strong wave of magic warps the entire room and it feels as if I'm sucked into a vacuum! I tumble and toss in what feels like endless space until I hit the solid ground with a grunt of pain. I hear two others fall as well with grunts and curses.

I quickly sit up, blinking in confusion. I quickly lift my hands, rubbing my eyes when I can't see anything. Vance mutters another curse as he says, "I don't want to do that again..."

Aston's voice shakes as he says, "I think I'm blind... I can't see anything." I breathe a sigh of relief as I quickly summon a small ball of golden light. It quickly lights up the entire room, but I feel like screaming when I see that we're no longer in the same room as before.

The pearl must have been a damn Artifact!

Vance stands up, brushing off all the dirt and sand with a frown while asking, "Where the hell are we? What is this place?" I remain sitting, hanging my head low as I try to take this setback with grace, but I was failing miserably.

Aston walks over with concern on his face, reaching out for me while asking, "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Vance snorts with laughter as he says, "Hurt? No. If you could feel the anger rolling off her right now, you wouldn't go anywhere near her."

Aston looks up to glare at Vance before looking back at me and putting his hand out to help me up. I slowly look at his hand before taking it. He pulls me up with ease as Vance asks, "Do you know where we are Witch? The air is stale and it kinda reminds me of a coffin."

I sigh and finally say, "If I'm not mistaken, we're inside of an Artifact. I couldn't tell you which one or how to get out, but I guess we should start moving if we want to find out." Aston's face turns several shades lighter at the mention of the Artifact and it seems Vance noticed.

Vance steps closer and says, "I can smell the dog's fear. What is an Artifact?" Defeat and irritation burn through my veins as I say, "Artifacts were made a very long time ago using dark magic. They were deemed dangerous and locked away for good."

I look around the room with stone walls with confusion. Where was the door?

Vance scoffs and asks, "If they were locked away for good, how are we here? And when you say dark magic... what does that really mean for us?" I roll my eyes as I say, "Clearly someone has done something they shouldn't have done. And for us? It means we have a headache to deal with but at least this one isn't self-aware. That would be a bitch to handle."

Vance seems to be a bit lost, but he slowly nods and asks, "So what's the plan?" I sigh looking around the room and say, "First we find a damn door or something. We need to move. I'm guessing this Artifact was meant to keep people locked up."

We all start patting and pushing on the stone walls but as time passes, we all start growing impatient. Vance is the first to stop. He pulls out a pack of cigarettes but curses when he sees most of them broken.

When he finally finds one that isn't, he chuckles and says, "My luck is still with me." Other than being a little crushed, it looked like it would do the job. He places it between his lips and lifts his lighter but as soon as he flicks the lighter, the cigarette snaps and falls to the ground.

I snort in laughter but quickly cover it with a cough. Aston smirks in amusement as he says, "It's probably for the best since we're locked into a small room with no circulation." Vance glares at both of us before spitting the broken cigarette out of his mouth.

He turns around and starts groping the walls again. Watching them both feel the walls up, I find myself frowning. If this was indeed an Artifact made to trap people inside, the answer wouldn't be so obvious.

I look at the ground with narrowed eyes, but I quickly dismiss the idea. If the door was on the floor, someone could find it by accidentally stepping on it or something, so it doesn't make sense. As my eyes roam around the room, I find myself looking up at the ceiling.

I slowly walk around the room, looking up at the ceiling for any clues when I hear Aston ask, "What are you doing?" I tap my chin, lost in thought as I mumble, "What if it's in the ceiling?" Vance stops feeling up the wall and looks up with a frown.

He sighs and asks, "What are we looking for?" I look around with sharp eyes as I say, "Something that doesn't look right. Something that's just slightly out of place." I come to a stop and look up as I say, "Like this."

The other two quickly walk over as Aston asks, "Did you really find it?" I look at him as I say, "Only one way to find out." I wave my hand at him and indicate for him to get down. He raises his eyebrows and snaps, "Are you planning on crawling on me?"

Vance snorts and says, "You can crawl on me any time you want."