KING OF THE UNDERWORLD (Earthbound Book 1)

“Are you ready for this?” Emma asks with a slight smile, worry shining in her blue eyes.

“Ready,” I let out a light laugh as I feel Emma take a seat next to me. I stayed awake the rest of the night last night, wondering what the hell I’d done and regretting everything.

“Nope, I am nowhere near ready. I’m so nervous, I think I’m going to be sick,” I tell her as we watch Pamela and Ava rearrange the furniture.

“We are one-hundred percent behind you, Scarlett, but if you want to change your mind, we will understand. One of us can go instead,” she tries to reassure me, placing her hand upon my own and gripping it tightly.

I know she means it. Any of them would step into my shoes with just one word from me. They wouldn’t want to do it, but they would. But even if one of them came forward now, at this precise minute, to announce they wanted to go in my place, it just wouldn’t work. I would not allow it; I could not allow it. I’m the only one who can do this. Too much is at risk. They don’t know what’s at stake and what is waiting in the shadows.

“I know,” I whisper, placing my head on her shoulder. “I know every single one of you would take my place, but I can’t let you.” Sighing, I lift my head and turn to face her, “What’s happening is bigger than any of us realize; bigger than any of you realize! We must stay strong because if we don’t, the consequences…”

I look over at Pamela and Ava, trying to think of a way to put this without frightening her. There just isn’t any other way, I have to be brutally honest. I turn my attention back to her. “It will not only bring devastation to us, but to everyone we love and know. Even to those we don’t! To everyone.”

She sighs, her eyes downcast and a frown appearing as if she is really absorbing what I’m saying. “I’m terrified, Scarlett,” she confesses, raising her eyes to meet mine. “Truth be told, we all are. We’re worried Megan isn’t going to come home in one piece, or at all. It terrifies us thinking you might end up the same way,” she admits with tear-filled eyes.

I squeeze the hand that’s tightly holding onto my own and with my other, I gently push aside the white-blonde hair that had fallen and is hiding one side of her tanned face. Even though I’m the younger one, at that moment, for the very first time, I feel a reversal in our roles.

“I have to go,” I tell her, resolutely. I place my hand on my chest, trying to get my point across. She has to understand. To make this work, they all have to understand and accept that it must be me and that nobody can take my place. “There isn’t any other option, Emma. It. Has. To. Be. Me.” She shakes her head, opening her mouth to protest. Before she can speak, Pamela walks over and stands over us, looking down with concern. She places one of her hands over our joined ones and we both know from her face that she overheard our conversation.

“Emma’s right, all of us are more than willing to go in your place. All you have to do is say the word.”

“Pamela, we had this discussion last night. You all know it must be me who goes. It’s the only way we all make it through this,” I insist. This is ridiculous. I know they’re petrified, more scared than they’ve ever been. I know they fear something bad happening to me, but I thought we sorted this all out last night. Apparently, that wasn’t the case.

“She’s right,” states an unknown voice from the corner of the room. “It has to be her.”

The sound of a stranger’s voice coming from inside our home makes us all jump and turn in the direction it came from. Seeing nothing, we frantically look around at each other.

Suddenly, a beautiful woman appears in front of us. Her long silver hair appears like a halo around her head, and she has a small dark mole on her right cheek. Her skin is smooth, except around her eyes, which has fine lines around them, telling us she is older than she appears. Her figure is wavering slightly, as if she’s an apparition and is trying to establish a stronger connection. She turns her head, appearing to look at someone or something behind her and then frowns, saying something we cannot hear, and I realize she is an apparition.

She swings back to face us again, “I haven’t much time,” she tells us, annoyance written across her face. “Scarlett must be the one to go. If she doesn’t, then everything you know will cease to exist. You will all have to learn to trust one another, put your trust in …” her voice fades but we can see her mouth still moving, even as her figure gradually disappears until it’s as if she was never there at all.

All hell breaks loose, as each of us begins talking over one another. The thing all of us seem to want to know, but none seem to have the answer to, is who the hell that woman was. None of us recognized her, though I feel as though I should have. I have a strong feeling we should know exactly who she is.

Realizing we aren’t going to be able to answer that question, we start discussing how she could have gotten in here. It’s obvious she used some kind of projection ability, but she shouldn’t have been able to get through our spells. The room is silent for several long minutes, and I know we’re all wondering the same thing. What the fuck just happened and how the hell are we going to deal with it?

“Whoever our mystery guest was, it seems she, and some person she must have been talking to wherever she actually was, they really want Scarlett to be the one to go,” Mia says, breaking the silence. “She was quite persistent about that.”

“We need to find out who she was. I don’t know about any of you, but I feel as if we should know her?” Emma questions, and we all nod our heads in agreement. All except Pamela, who looks lost in thought.

We look over at her and she notices us staring. “I don’t like it,” she mutters under her breath, chewing on her lower lip and shaking her head. She crosses her arms over her chest and stares back at us defiantly, as though she’s decided on a path, one we have no say about.

“We’re about to do a confinement, protection, and binding spell, and some strange woman somehow manages to get inside our own home! How can we move forward with our plan knowing the rigorous spells we’ve kept in place over our home for so many years have somehow failed? We need to start over, work out a new plan.”

I hate that she isn’t entirely wrong, but it doesn’t matter. “There isn’t time. We can’t afford to wait any longer to take action,” I protest, shaking my head. “Megan disappeared and now she’s missing. How or why, we haven’t a bloody clue. But whoever that woman was? She’s right about one thing. It. Has. To. Be. Me.” I tell them, emphasizing each word with a slap to my chest.

Sighing, I run my hand though my long hair, mentally cursing when my hand gets snagged in the curls. I don’t want to argue with any of them. I can’t handle a repeat of last night. We discussed it, and we all agreed. The decision has been made and we can’t change our course now. It doesn’t matter how much they argue or plead; I am going to continue as planned. “Deep down, every single one of you know this is the way it has to be.”

I see the distress in their eyes, they all know I’m right. They will have to push their misgivings aside if they wish to be of any assistance to me.

Pamela gives a miserable looking smile, and I know what it means. She isn’t overjoyed, but she has come to accept what is going to happen. She knows I’m right; they all do. Now they just have to come to terms with it as well.

She moves to Ava and takes the bag she’s holding in her hands. It contains the new herbs, along with the new spell Melissa brought to us late last night. Our cousin rigorously drilled us on the spell, making us practice over and over, until we all knew it by heart. Seeing us all united with a common goal, she wanted to stay and help, but she knew, and so did we, that it simply wasn’t an option. Her own family needed her.

I watch as my sisters form a circle around me. Opening the bag, Pamela sprinkles the herbs around the circle. I can hear her muttering to herself the entire time, as if praying under her breath. She finishes and places the remaining herbs in a bowl, lights them on fire, and places it inside the sealed circle.

The sweet fragrance weaves together, the scent rising into the air and flowing around us. My sisters tighten their circle around me, and I position myself directly in front of the bowl. I watch as they join hands, and we all bend our heads. We begin to chant, and I know my sisters have the same silent prayer running through their minds as I: that this will protect me long enough for me to get in and back out again.