Chapter 21 #2
“No. Once we’ve met up with the others, then we can talk about it. It’ll be safer with the three of you anyway.” He frowned, thinking on it. “Actually, they had all night. Maybe they killed it already?”
Ryker shook his head. “One of them would have come to get me by now.”
“Should it be taking this long? What if…” He didn’t want to finish that sentence.
“They’re fine,” Ryker insisted. “No way they’d let that creature get the best of them. A better explanation is they got tired of searching and decided to call it a night, just like we did. Uriel’s vision is good, but even he can’t see properly in the dark.”
True.
“Enough stalling.” Ryker went for the door, pulling Rue behind him as he went. He took a moment to press his ear to the wood, listening to the hallway to be sure they didn’t open up with the monster right outside, then hummed and flicked the lock.
They eased out into the hall, glancing around quickly for signs of anyone else.
Everything was still and quiet.
Sunlight streamed through the windows, the third floor still above the fog, and Rue shuddered as they passed one and he glanced down to find the thick white and gray substance present below. Whoever had created it had clearly come prepared for this to drag on for as long as it needed to.
Was the goal all of them dead?
Seemed likely.
The only part of the equation that didn’t make sense was why Rhys would go that far against his own child.
Ryker was his heir. Had been before Ryder’s incident, and still was. Sure, they didn’t like each other, but that didn’t change the fact that Rhys had been grooming him to take over the business.
The more Rue thought on it, the more he realized there was a serious flaw in their reasoning.
For starters, they still didn’t have a clear motive, but when that fact was added to things…
It didn’t add up. Yes, Rhys was the only one they could think of who could get his hands on the game materials, but he wouldn’t risk Ryder’s life to this degree.
“I—” Rue was about to express his concerns when one of the doors they’d been passing creaked open.
Penn peered out from the crack and then gave a huge relieved sigh. He yanked it the rest of the way and stepped out. “Man, am I glad to see you two! I thought everyone else was dead.”
Ryker glanced over his shoulder into the empty room. “You’re alone?”
“Got separated from the others yesterday afternoon. I’ve been hiding in here since. I’m starving. Are you guys headed to the kitchen?”
“No,” Ryker said.
“Do you know where the others went?” Rue asked.
“I haven’t seen anyone since we all ran from the stairs.” Penn looked like he hadn’t slept a wink. “Did you guys catch the screams last night? If I didn’t hear you two walking by just now, I wouldn’t have come out.”
“We’re going to the second floor,” Ryker told him. “Keep up.”
“Sure thing.”
They moved carefully to the stairs and then headed down, pausing to listen whenever one of the steps creaked beneath them. Wherever the creature was, it didn’t seem like it was nearby, but none of them were taking any chances.
Esti must have, for whatever reason.
They found her just around the corner, against the side of the stairs, out of sight until they’d turned from the landing.
At least, what was left of her.
Her entire bottom half was missing, along with her left arm.
Her head was still attached, but blood pooled from her mouth and her tongue appeared to be swollen.
A bloody path stained the floorboards crimson, leading from deeper down the hallway.
It must have gotten her there and dragged her body with it to feed more comfortably.
After only a brief pause, they continued, Ryker taking the lead with Penn at the rear.
“Where are we going?” Penn asked.
“Game room.” Rue didn’t elaborate further. The last thing he was going to do was tell him about the manual in his back pocket. He’d shoved it there before they’d left, not comfortable leaving it lying around, especially since Ryker hadn’t bothered locking his door.
Didn’t really make sense to. If they needed to get back in quickly, having to use the key would be more of a detriment than anything.
They were close to their destination when Rue recalled who else was in there. He slowed, Penn exclaiming loudly when he bumped into him, the noise drawing Ryker’s attention.
The Black Hart frowned at him, then seemed to realize what Rue just had.
Ishleen’s body wasn’t the only one they’d left behind.
“I…” He didn’t want to see Lenore. Didn’t want to know whether or not the monster had eaten her too after getting its fill of Ishleen.
“Stand outside with your back to the entranceway,” Ryker ordered. “Stay where I can see you. I’ll be quick.”
“What are you two going to do?” Penn glanced between them, then toward the room they were walking to. “What’s in there?”
“Keep with him,” Ryker said. “The two of you on watch is better than—”
Just as Ryker reached the open doorway, a cry came, followed quickly by Hollis.
The man shot forward, brandishing a knife.
It was aimed straight for Ryker’s chest, and because he’d been caught off guard, the Black Hart only had enough time to move out of the way so the blade cut through his arm instead.
Ryker lifted the muzzle of the blaster in his right hand and fired a single shot directly beneath Hollis’s chin.
Hollis’s head snapped back, body standing in place for half a second, before tumbling to the ground.
“Holy shit!” Penn jumped behind Rue. “What the hell?!”
Rue elbowed Penn to get him to release his shoulders and rushed to Ryker. The knife had gone straight through the fleshy side of his left arm. Blood was already spilling down, plopping off his fingers to pool on the ground.
Without thinking, he went to Hollis’s body and tore off a strip of material from his t-shirt, which he then used to staunch the bleeding. He made it as tight as he could, grimacing when Ryker grunted in pain.
“Check the back of his neck,” Ryker instructed once they’d done everything they could for his arm.
He was able to still flex his fingers despite the injury, and when he caught Rue watching instead of moving to follow the command, he smiled reassuringly.
“It looks worse than it is. He didn’t even get half an inch of the blade in before I moved. Don’t worry.”
Rue wanted to argue, but there was no point.
He turned to Hollis again and knelt down, tilting his head to the side so he could see his neck.
At first, there didn’t appear to be anything there, but when he leaned in closer, he caught sight of the edges of what looked like a small strip of clear tape.
“Don’t touch it,” Ryker stopped him when he reached to peel it off. “I don’t know how the effects work. Best not to come into contact with it at all.”
“What is it?” Penn leaned over, trying to get a look. “Is there something stuck to the back of his neck? Why?”
“It’s a drug,” Ryker said.
“We’re pretty sure that’s what’s making everyone go crazy,” Rue added, getting back to his feet. “Let’s go find Ell—”
They all heard the sound of the creature at the same time, turning to see it barreling toward them. It must have been sleeping in one of the open rooms that they hadn’t passed, and the commotion with Hollis woke it up.
Ryker grabbed Rue’s hand and ran across the hall, shoving him through the door to a bathroom.
He didn’t pull the door closed, but he left him, moving to take position across from the oncoming monster.
The blaster was lifted and he fired four shots, one after the other, with a level of precision that honestly would have been impressive if Rue wasn’t so terrified.
One shot to each eye, one between them, and one to the throat.
The creature skidded to a halt, sliding partially across the wooden floor to come to a stop ten or so feet away.
It was surprisingly easy to kill when there wasn’t fog to help hide it. But then, that might also be because Ryker appeared more confident on where it needed to be shot, now that they had a theory on what it was.
“Careful,” Rue warned when Ryker headed toward it, gun still lifted.
As if in answer, the Black Hart slipped the switchblade from his pocket, not taking his eyes off the creature, even when Rue moved to join him next to it.
“What the hell is that?” Penn stared at it in horror. “Frenzy bears don’t have antlers. Or…” He retreated toward the bathroom, as though it were safer there since it was the place Ryker had chosen to put Rue. “Or spark!”
Tiny bursts of electricity were popping off the creature’s head, shooting from its eye sockets, both now empty since Ryker had put bullets there. It was large, with the body and relative shape of a bear, predatory animals big enough to take down their number one prey, moose.
But Penn was right about the antlers, and the sparks.
Which were quickly followed by tendrils of smoke, as though something inside of the skull had caught fire and burned.
Ryker bent over its face, inspecting it.
Then waved a hand toward the smoke to clear it a bit, and put the blaster at the back of his waistband.
He brought the switchblade to the creature’s grisly throat and started sawing away at the thick brownish-black fur.
It was matted in blood and dirt, but the skin came away surprisingly easy once he’d gotten the knife under.
“Light, seriously?!” Rue covered his mouth and turned away when Ryker started peeling its fur and flesh up. “Is that necessary?”
“Look.”
“No fucking way. That’s disgusting.”
There was a wet plop and Rue heaved, catching himself just before he vomited.
“We were right,” Ryker said, and the curiosity in his tone had Rue turning back after all.