Chapter Thirty-Seven
I tried to keep my cool by breathing steadily through my nose, the pommel slick from my clammy hands, Josh right on my tail as we inched our way toward the back.
The smell of rotting flesh hit us just as we rounded the corner, discovering four bodies were scattered throughout the small parking lot, or what was left of them. Black sludge coated most of the ground, and some cars were painted in the aftermath. From the street, you couldn’t tell what carnage lay just beyond the property line, and that scared the absolute shit out of me. How many places had I passed by, not aware of what was beyond?
The sight of the slaughter of innocent individuals had me hesitating just before the steps that led down to the basement of the building.
I wanted to vomit so bad from the smell alone.
How many more were victims of such gruesome creatures?
“Fucking Magidoz residue,” Josh muttered.
The back of my neck tingled with unease. The last time I saw that demon was behind the church on school grounds while Kal fought for his life, and I cowered in a corner.
“Keep going,” Josh said, nudging me lightly. “I know this is hard, but we have to keep going, and remember, Olemaks are also around.”
It took a couple of minutes to make my legs move, but eventually, we stood in front of the steel door, slightly ajar, with human blood smeared on the rusted knob. Using my foot to open it wider, a blast of cold air was something of a relief from the wretched heat as we prowled inside. But that signified death, ruining the reprieve, even if it were only for a few seconds.
A flickering lightbulb hung from a wire in the ceiling, swaying softly, illuminating small parts of the damp basement. A trail of blood continued from where we entered leading around crumbling drywall. Water dripped off one of the many pipes that lined the ceiling into a puddle on the cement floor. The smell of decaying human flesh became stronger, to the point where I had to swallow the vomit that was forming in the back of my throat. A body was nailed to the drywall to our right, and not a single drop of blood oozed out.
“Looks like a Drarkoth has joined the party,” he muttered.
That was news to me. “I’m guessing we’ll discuss that later?”
“Yup.”
Just as I was about to peek around the damaged wall, Josh’s voice filtered into my mind, halting me in place. Don’t move, he warned, stepping around to examine the body more closely. He opened the half-torn button shirt, revealing a symbol on the sunken chest. The same symbol as the girl we found in the bathtub had.
Fuck, he hissed.
What does it mean?
Another sacrifice was made.
Pulling back the hood of my cape to cool down, sweat had dripped down my neck and drenched my hairline. Josh’s forehead creased with worry, his own sweat leaving a trail down his temple as he typed something into his phone. Between the intensity of the heat and the stench of decaying bodies, I was seconds away from passing out.
Were they capable of working with other demons? Like the Magidoz and Olemak?
Remember what Thatcher said? It is not uncommon for them to nest near one another, Josh explained, interrupting my internal questioning.
“Josh—”
He covered my mouth with his rough hand. It’s best we continue to communicate mentally.
I removed his hand. There could be a good chance they already know.
He rolled his eyes and nudged me forward, following the trail of blood ahead. They’re too busy feasting on their victims to care about us right now.
Thanks for that mental image.
Just trying to keep you on your toes.
If I die, it’s your fault .
At the very end of the trail was a wide, open hole in the basement floor. The sides slanted in, causing crumbles of dirt to roll down along with pieces of cement at the bottom, hitting what sounded like an empty echo. It also happened to be the designated spot where Chloe and Baron met us unintentionally, covered in what seemed to be Magidoz sludge. It would seem they faced more peril upstairs than what we countered out back.
Chloe and Baron exchanged looks before nodding to us, then jumped one after another inside the gaping hole.
I stood frozen over the edge, waiting to hear a scream or shout, but nothing happened.
You can do it too, you know, encouraged Josh.
I turned to him; a small smile displayed on those full lips. The way his eyes looked over at me, blue and crystal-like, mesmerizing with long, dark eyelashes. His hair was tousled and damp with sweat, just like his face, and his lips parted slightly the more I stared deeply at him. Josh reached forward and brushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear. Moments like these, where he seemed to genuinely care, were few and far between, and—
Suddenly a rock flew out of the hole, landing in between us, almost knocking one of us on the head. It was clear that either Chloe or Baron—and my money was on Chloe—were not happy with our delay, and I was grateful for the wake-up call.
Clearing my throat, I took a step back from Josh and edged myself around the opening, a cool draft along with the smell of fresh dirt greeted me, but not enough to shake the fear of dropping down some odd feet that could potentially break my legs. What if the hole was deeper than we expected and that’s why I didn’t hear their shouts of pain?
A tender hand touched my shoulder. Close your eyes and let your gifts guide you. Josh’s soothing voice became the diving board of my actions and my physical strength as I jumped straight down into the unknown.