Teagan locked off on the pinch, drawing her body up and close to the rock face as she pulled down on the heel to gain the large sloper. She cupped the top of it with first her right hand and then matched with her left. She kept her body under the hold as she pulled straight up, trying to maintain the best friction with the smooth hold. As she moved up she transitioned her heel to a toe as she stood up to gain the next smooth ledge above her. It was worse than she had hoped for, but good enough to keep going.
The sun fell further and shades of gray sliced through the light. With the gray came wisps of fog sliding like fingers toward her. She glanced up the mountain toward the highest peak where the mountain was always encased in mist. Now, the mist had crept down so that up above, where the cave was located, the fog appeared so dense it looked impenetrable. She didn’t want to be on the boulder when mist came in that thick.
The next few moves she executed swiftly, and she was happy to find her assessment correct in that the holds got better toward the roof. It was a little daunting coming up underneath the roof thinking about going over it and committing to the slab above it, but seeing those large holds gave her the confidence she needed. As she made her way up she tapped on the larger holds to make sure they were safe.
The last thing she wanted was to go flying to the ground because she pulled on a hold that was too fragile. The moves might be easier now, but the risk was far greater. Caution was now her main priority and each move was executed with more care and more precision than the last. She took her time, feeling around for the most solid holds, using as little force as needed, and planning her strategy over the roof. Her caution paid off and soon she stood above the roof, feeling satisfied. Only a few more moves to go to reach the summit.
She glanced up and saw nothing but gray mist. Her heart stuttered. The fog couldn’t have come in that thick, or that fast. There wasn’t even a wind. She became aware of the utter stillness. There was no drone of insects. No cries of birds. No slight movement anywhere around her.
This wasn’t good. She was clinging to the side of a boulder, a good sixteen feet in the air. She felt cautiously for her next hold. She had practically memorized the climb in her mind before she’d started and she knew where it was, her body just had to pull the information from her head.
The first fingers of mist reached her, touching her hand when she reached for the small pocket she knew was there. She jerked her hand back and nearly lost her footing. Gasping, she caught at the rock again and flattened herself against it. The moment the fog had touched her skin, she knew it wasn’t normal fog.
The vapor was sticky, clinging to her, sending prickles of fear through her and a chill down her spine. Worse, something moved in the fog. She knew it. Whatever the entity was, it was using the spreading mist as concealment.
She bit her lip and tried to calm her breathing. She had to think. Was it better to take a chance and bail, or climb the last foot into the fog? Her skin crawled, and the dread grew to full-fledged fear. Something was coming toward her and it felt wholly evil. She had to make a decision and she had to do it fast.
8
Teagan made a quick decision to down-climb while she had the chance. Getting back over the roof was going to be difficult, but once under it, it would help shelter her from the fog. Her skin hurt as if burned from the small exposure to the unnatural droplets of mist. She knew it didn’t make any sense, and maybe it was another hallucination, but if so, it was one that was all too real.
She swore out loud, words her grandmother would have washed out her mouth for, as she looked at the skin of her hand. There were blisters. Actual blisters. She sucked in her breath. Real or not, she was getting the hell out of there before the fog enveloped her entire body.
Reversing her moves back over the roof, especially with her body trembling and her heart going crazy, was unthinkable, but sometimes life required the unthinkable. Going up into the blistering fog would be a far worse fate. She turned her focus on her breathing and tried to steady her mind to the task at hand. She moved cautiously but swiftly down to the roof. As she made her way to the roof’s edge she tried hard not to look up at the fog or down at the ground. Relax. She had to relax.
The easy moves coming up over the lip proved much more difficult in reverse. Not being able to see the footholds under the roof was a challenge. Plus the holds that felt so nice on the ascent felt much worse when lowering her body over the edge. Her left leg dangled under the roof feeling around for the good foothold she used coming up. She knew it was there somewhere, but it was as if it disappeared completely. As she struggled to find something to stand on she made the mistake of looking up. Fog was coming toward her fast. She needed to get under the roof immediately.
Teagan lowered herself even further, dangling both feet under the roof and feeling around. There. A large pocket was her salvation. She felt immediate relief as she shifted her weight onto it. She moved quickly, underclinging to the roof with both hands. Able to see under the roof now, she made a few more moves until she was safe. Sweet relief flooded her as she huddled under the cover of the roof just in time to escape the fog.
She still was in danger though. The fog could still reach her, and now she was trapped half way up the rock face. The roof provided some coverage but the fog was still moving. As crazy as it sounded, it almost seemed as if the fog was hunting her. She needed a plan and she needed to move quickly.
Risk assessment was a common part of climbing and she let that part of her brain take command. Staying put seemed like suicide. She could probably down-climb the next two moves, but after that it would be extremely challenging and she would probably be too slow if the fog kept coming. Two moves and then she would need to drop if the fog was still coming. A ground fall, but a risk she would have to take.
Teagan was gone. Andre’s eyelids snapped open and he rolled to his feet, waving his hand automatically as he’d done for centuries to conceal his identity. Fresh clothes, fresh body, completely clean as if he’d just stepped from the shower and dressed. He was already running and on the third step he shifted, becoming nothing more than tiny molecules streaking through the caves toward the entrance.
He reached for her, the connection strong, and found he was already too late. She had inadvertently strayed almost straight into the hands of one of Costin Popescu’s lesser vampires.
Teagan. Hear me.
He burst into the open. The sun had just set and darkness had not taken over, but he could see the thick, dense fog. It was oily and sticky to the touch. It carried the taint of evil. His heart thudded in his chest and he tasted terror in his mouth.
Teagan, answer me now. He pushed command into his voice.
He felt her then, a small stirring, tentative, following the thread of the path he created between them. She was afraid. She felt the danger surrounding her.
Andre? There was a tremor in her voice.
I am coming to you. He tamped down his fear for her—fear that he would be too late. Just as he’d been so many years ago. He had many memories, but over the centuries they had faded until he had nearly forgotten them. But not the one he wanted to forget. The one that haunted him every rising.
I don’t know if you’re real.
Her breathy little voice tugged at his heartstrings. She was frightened, and he detested that she was. Even more, he detested that she had reason to be.
Look around you, sivamet.
The fog is close. Teagan’s voice wavered as if she was going to lose it but then she continued. Something’s in it. It touched my skin and felt wrong. It felt evil. Where it touched my hand burns. I down-climbed and I’m just under the roof which gives me a little shelter but I can feel the fog reaching for me.
He cursed silently in his ancient language. She was definitely in the path of a vampire’s trap. If the fog had touched her skin, the vampire sitting in the middle of that web had just felt the tug on one of his lures and he would be creeping out to find out what kind of prey he had snagged.