Chapter 23 Skyfall
SKYFALL
BAZ
Having airborne toxicity could really take the thrill out of mass murdering an entire skyscraper.
Well, okay, there were some highlights. The first floor I stepped off had the ones in charge of me—the extractors, the monitors, the testers, and whatnot.
They’d seen me coming on the cameras. When I burst in, they were fighting over the remaining gear.
Half of them were still strapping oxygen tanks to their back, frantically clawing over one another as I ran at them.
The screams, the terror. It was fantastic.
But after that, it was shooting fish in a barrel, and by the time I made it to the highest levels, everyone was dead before I even stepped off the elevator.
Only one button was left glowing red. The very top. I was tempted to turn around and go back downstairs instead of confirming Damien was dead, but I’d come this far.
The cloth wrapped around my wrists was soaked through. Little drops of black-green blood dropped on the floor, sizzling as I got off the elevator and walked down the hall. I was singing “That’s Life”. I was no Frank Sinatra, but I could carry a tune.
High-powered vents kicked on as I slid down the hallway. The entire building was rigged to purify the air in case of situations like this one. Not that it did them much help when I was still roaming around, breathing death into the air.
The adrenaline was wearing off. I stumbled into the wall, nearly smashing my face into the golden plaque: Damien D’Bolique. No title needed, apparently. I was so tired. I shouldn’t have sprinted after floor 2 while shooting finger guns at the people I was killing.
“Let’s get this over with.” I peeled myself off the wall and pushed open the door. Shuffling in, I expected to see Damien on the floor, dead. My feet stopped as I looked at him.
Damien was sitting at his desk. Perfectly alive. After I got over the surprise, I realized that it made sense. Of course, he’d be prepared; have his little red eye glasses and oxygen tank.
Except … he didn’t have either of those things. And yet, here he was. Eating. Guess he wasn’t one to miss his lunch break.
Damien lifted a fork to his mouth. Something slimy was speared on the end.
“I’m not sure what to say to you, Baz.” He slid the utensil into his mouth. There was a wet sound as he chewed. My lip curled.
“You’re not wearing a mask,” I said.
“No, I am not. You forced my hand.” Damien stabbed his plate with the fork.
It gave a high-pitched scrape as he twisted the remaining food up.
At first, I didn’t understand why it made me feel nauseated.
Blood loss could be making me think slow, or perhaps, my mind just didn’t want to know what he was eating.
But the smell was hard to keep ignoring—salt and rot.
The same scent wafted off Levi as he died.
Shuffling forward, I looked at the plate. There was no denying it at that point.
Damien was eating wet human skin.
“What the hell?” I covered my nose and mouth.
“It’s a magic coat. Not very nutritious but very helpful in gaining power.”
I’d always envisioned the magical coat as animal-like. A seal, maybe. That’s what selkies had, right? But Levi wasn’t a selkie, and his coat hadn’t allowed him to turn into an animal. It had allowed him to turn into a man. And therefore, his “coat” was a human hide.
“It’s tough to eat,” Damien said, slurping the final sliver up. He chewed and chewed and chewed. I could hear him masticating.
“What are you doing?”
“That’s right, I never explained it. You see, Levi was an oilliphéist—a very dangerous Irish sea snake capable of appearing human.
He owned a human skin suit that he could put on and take off, allowing him to shift between man and monster.
” He smiled around a full mouth of human skin.
“It’s a very powerful thing. Eating the coat imbues me with power.
” He swallowed thickly and set the fork down before getting up.
“Unfortunately, that was the last of it.” Damien rounded his desk and sat against the front, crossing his arms. “I’d have rather saved that for something else.
Zero’s still out there, you know. It would have been nice to use the last of the coat to bind the inter-dimensional monster to a cage again.
But … here we are.” He gave a tight smile.
“Are Bree, Nemo, and Orson here yet?” I asked.
Damien pulled out his phone. “Almost.” He slid the phone back in his pocket and smiled. “Fate is such a curious thing. Just like how the very magic I was looking for ended up being my mate. And now this, with you.”
“What about me?”
“You always knew you were going to kill them, didn’t you?”
I swallowed thickly. “I won’t.”
“They're almost here, Baz. The moment they open those doors …” He dragged a line across his throat. “I’m all you’ve got left. I’m immune now. Took the last of Levi.”
“You fucking bastard.” I stomped towards him and grabbed his face. His eyes sparkled with entertainment as no veins of venom appeared. I pulled my hand back in shock. I couldn’t kill him. I pushed my fingers through my hair and looked at the empty plate.
“What are you going to do, Baz? Even if you killed yourself,” he said, looking at my wrists, “your venom is all over the place. They’re gonna die.”
“Fuck you,” I spat, grabbing him. A child could fight me off at this point because I was so weak. Instead, he stumbled along beside me, letting me drag him back down the hallway and into the elevator. The doors closed, and I pressed my floor, second from the bottom.
My forehead rested on the doors. My blood dripped on the ground. Damien touched my hand, and I recoiled away.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Look at what you’ve done to yourself.” He motioned to my wrists. “Let me help you.”
“Don’t act like you give a shit.”
“Of course I do.”
“Just like you really loved Levi, huh?”
“I did.”
“You fuck,” I said with a laugh.
He was delusional in a way that couldn’t be explained easily.
Looking in his eyes, I could see he genuinely believed he’d loved Levi.
That he gave a shit about me. But he’d always make the decision that gave him the results he wanted.
Power, success, and progress. Stuff I’m sure he called the bigger picture.
I lunged at him while my fangs came out.
“Fuck,” he snapped. He grabbed my wrists and attempted to fling me off, but I buried my teeth into his neck.
Venom slid into his body, and he relaxed.
Some of his blood pooled in my mouth. There was something far too pleasing about the whole process, urging me closer to him, so I didn’t linger.
I pulled away, grabbed his face, and spat his own blood on him.
Through speckles of red, he wore a lazy smile. He laughed at my confused expression.
“You don’t even know what that does,” he chuckled. His words were thick, and he leaned against the wall, struggling to stand. The doors opened, and he stumbled when I pushed him. We went around the hall, past my room, and into his.
First, I found his speciality gloves. The ones all the people wore when handling me. My blood kept getting everywhere and it was becoming a problem—burnt holes in clothes, deteriorating door handles.
After I got those on, I grabbed his phone from his pocket and pushed him away. He fell into his desk. I held the phone to his face, and it unlocked. Watch a person every day, and you figure out everything about them. Even how their phone works.
Stumbling over to the couch, I tried to find the right controls.
I quickly put this room on lockdown. No one would be able to open it without this app.
I flopped down and found the detox button.
A pop-up appeared, asking if I was sure I wanted to perform a detox on the whole building.
The moment I clicked yes, the vents kicked on again.
A progress bar popped up, and it estimated 5 minutes to completion.
How close were they? I didn’t think I could exit this app and find the one where he saw Bree and them, so I didn’t try.
“Shit,” I sighed, leaning back on the couch. The phone slid from my hands.
“I’m the only one who can get near you. Really, it wasn’t a bad use of Levi’s coat because now I have you.” Damien was shaking out his arm to get blood flowing. He wasn’t laughing anymore, but his words still held some thickness to them.
“Have me? Don’t make me laugh.”
“You were right,” Damien said. Any moment now, I was going to find the strength to get back off this couch. “We aren’t the same. You kept saying that, but it didn’t click right away. You see, we do have some vital differences.”
“Such as?” I asked. Any minute now.
“You’re a basilisk. Untouchable. That certainly affects someone.”
“Wow, how’d you figure that out?”
“The moment you find a few people you can touch, you’re willing to give everything up for them.”
I looked at him in disgust. “You think that’s what this is about? Because they’re the only people I can touch?”
“Well, not anymore, they’re not.” Damien smiled. Right, time to move again. I wheeled myself up from the couch and slowly stomped towards him.
“You can’t kill me, Baz.” Damien looked so pleased with himself.
“The fuck I can’t.” I laughed, pulling back and punching him in the face. Damien was dazed; he blinked at me in shock. I shook out my hand. Red blood trickled from Damien’s nose. He reached up to touch it.
“You hit me,” he said. I punched him again, sending him sprawling. I stepped over him and looked down.
“I can sure as shit still kill you.”
Damien kicked my leg, and I fell to the ground. He tried to scramble away, but I lunged towards his neck again. Sharp aching pain blossomed in my stomach. Being stabbed felt exactly as one would expect.
“Shit,” I ground out, then bit him. I injected him with whatever it was in my fangs and pulled back. A letter opener from his desk was in my gut. He must have grabbed it when I was using the phone. Damien looked up at me in a daze, mouth hanging open.
I knew you weren't supposed to pull it out. But damn it, it hurt. Every micro movement made my vision go black. It needed to come out, and honestly? It didn’t matter either way.
This was it. The amount of blood I’d lost was too much.
I didn’t even have a full amount to begin with.
The only reason I was still moving was that if I didn’t keep going, then my whole life would be pointless.
I needed to guarantee Bree, Nemo, and Orson were safe. That was my purpose.
I grabbed the end of the weapon and pulled it out. It clattered against the floor. Black-green blood gushed out, and my fingers went numb. I steadied my swimming head with my hand.
Damien looked paralyzed, but he wasn’t dead. I needed to get the strength to end this. I punched him. Damien groaned, his face flushed. I hit him again and nearly fell over on top of him. Damien laughed.
“Fuck,” I sighed. Damien’s hands landed on my thighs, squeezing. I ripped myself off him and grabbed his desk, pulling myself up enough to peer over the edge.
My eyes landed on the stone paperweight. It was a globe about the size of a human head. I looked over my shoulder. Damien was watching me with half-lidded eyes, unable to move.
“I’ve killed a lot of people with my bare hands,” I panted, getting my feet under me. Almost done, I promised myself. “But never with brute force.” My arms shook as I raised the heavy object. I could barely hold it and I could hardly stand on two feet. I let gravity handle most of it.
Damien’s eyes widened as I held it above his head. Then I dropped it. There was only a dull thud. Well, and his head exploded. Kind of like a firework celebrating a job well done. Good job, Baz! You did it!
I fell over on the ground next to Damien and stared at the ceiling for a moment. Bree and them better never say I didn’t do anything for them.
Wait, there was one other thing. The phone was a few feet away. I lifted my head to read the screen. The detox progress bar was green. My head flopped back down to the ground.
Now, I could take that nap I wanted. My consciousness began to slip away. I was so tired.