Halfway through the fifth kill I pulled out. Whatever was pawing so maniacally had a mental makeup unlike any I’d ever explored.
Its psyche was blacker than black, obsidian — a pool of swirling darkness with the audible word — kill — rising from its murky depths with increasing volume and intensity.
The clawing creature’s sole purpose was to cause my death.
Zane had supposedly delivered me to safety. Wouldn’t he be surprised?
I took advantage of an unexpected stretch of silence. Was it gone? Maybe it had given up after breaking a claw.
Cautious, with all my senses screaming for me to stop, I crept toward the door, I could picture The warning sign, “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here” from Dante’s Inferno. A well-crafted description of hell’s portico and possibly my door.
What waited on the other side was as inhuman as they came.
The devil himself? — I doubted it, but whatever it was could inflict diabolical damage that I wouldn’t survive despite my increasing arsenal of supernatural weapons. I wasn’t sure how I knew this. But I did.
I was aware that I’d met my match. I had to escape. Beyond that I didn’t have a clue what my next steps would be. Before I could change my mind, I spun to face the four familiar dressers.
My claustrophobic fears paled in comparison to whatever waited in the hallway. I’d navigate the hidden air shaft rather than risking a faceoff with the beast.
Maybe there was another way. I had allies, and one committed purebred-protector. For an instant, I’d forgotten the war just beyond my little prison. It had to be raging out of control.
Sending out a mental probe, I located and latched onto Stryder. I needed to see Zane. I didn’t know what I’d do if he was injured.
To my relief, he was very much alive and fighting viciously in his more mutant-like form, his teeth shredding through the thick neck of a male mutant.
Tracking the movements of my group was nearly impossible. Everything was happening faster than my human eyes could process. Fur, blood, and body parts were blasting from the moving mass, and I had no clue who was slaughtering who.
Stryder was shielding a small group of mutant women, who’d switched to our side. Others were attempting to join their cluster. I wondered why they weren’t advancing against Jazmine’s hordes. It appeared they were cowering instead.
With every breath I drew, I wanted to contact Zane for help, but resisted the urge.
Popping into his, or one of my other friends’ heads, in the midst of this merciless carnage, was bound have unpleasant consequences. Ones I wasn’t willing to risk in order to save myself. They needed to keep their thoughts undivided. A blink at the wrong moment could equal a gruesome death.
Instead, I continued my surveillance, hoping to catch sight of James McQuillen. After a few minutes, I gave up. Getting back to the battle and away from whatever was lurking beyond my door was my present priority.
Slipping from Styder’s mind, I hurried to the dresser. I was able to pull it away from the wall, revealing the shaft’s murky maw. I wouldn’t be surprised if it spouted teeth and chewed me to pieces.
Hesitating, I glanced one final time around the room. Part of me wanted to curl up on my cot and bury my head under the flimsy pillow until danger passed.
Renewed clawing jolted me into action.
I entered the duct head first and made every attempt to distribute my body mass evenly, making sure to keep some weight on my legs. I forced myself to slide along rather than crawling.
Deb had mentioned that this method of travel would prevent the joints in the sheet metal from breaking. I hoped she was right. I’d heard that crawling through an air duct was a myth, but I was doing it. Granted, I was pretty small and this was a large vent. I hoped it would support me the entire journey.
Wishing I had a flashlight, I inched forward. The shaft slopped downward, leading, I guessed, to the basement.
The darkness felt alive, chilling me all over, and to make matters worse, a foul odor grew stronger the further down I progressed. I pictured dead rats just ahead, and waited with dread for one of my hands to come in contact with an animal’s decomposing corpse.
After what felt like forever, I came to a drop. A light was more than necessary at this juncture.
Remaining statue still, I attempted to shut off the rising panic constricting my throat.