by D. N. Hoxa
Ford was with us, too, in one of the cars behind us. Fifty MM soldiers, armed with weapons and their magic, plus the three of us and Ford—that asshole had no fucking chance.
“Let’s go over the plan again,” Dumont said. “We’ll go in first to scan the area and look at what we’re dealing with, then bring the soldiers in accordingly. The warehouse is big, so we’ll have to separate to cover more ground faster and we’re not to engage before the soldiers come in.”
“I’m sticking with Ruby,” Logan said from the backseat.
“No, he’s right,” I said. No matter how much I’d have liked to stick to Logan, too, it was better to cover more ground faster. “We’ll be safer that way. We’ll be able to go in and out unnoticed if we’re by ourselves.”
“Once we see how many people he has in there, if he even has people working for him, we’ll know from where to attack him,” Dumont continued.
“But if I see a chance to bring him down, I’m going to take it, Dumont,” I warned him.
“Just stick to the plan, Ruby. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“Screw the plan. That asshole is going to get what’s coming to him.”
“Agreed. I’ll burn him down if I see a chance, too,” Logan said, “and anyone else who stands in my way.”
“Guys, you’re not on your own here. We have a protocol that we need to follow,” Dumont insisted. “I need to know where all of you are at all times.”
He was really taking this to heart.
I turned to Logan and winked. “Okay, we’ll stick to the plan.”
“Sure,” Logan said with a grin. “We’ll stick to the plan.”
We were most definitely not going to stick to the plan.
The warehouse was located in the middle of huge trees, almost like it was built that way on purpose to stay hidden. You could tell that it hadn’t been used in a long time because the wide driveway that led to a huge aluminum garage door was full of dirt and leaves, and the overgrown bushes in the parking lot and all around the building would have made it impossible to function.
The building itself was one-story high, about forty thousand square feet, according to Naomi. We tried not to be loud, but I had the feeling that Marcus already knew we were coming. Everybody knew the plan. Fifty MM soldiers of all species dressed in black uniforms, heavily armed, took over the entire parking lot. They were all alert and ready. Dumont spoke to Ford to tell him the plan before Ford slipped into one of the cars again. He looked better than he had after doing the spell but still not completely himself. I honestly doubted he would be able to do much against Marcus in that state. He was completely exhausted by that Mirror spell. No wonder people kept away from Egyptian Runes. If only one spell could suck out your energy like that, I wanted no part of it, either.
“Here we go,” said Dumont, giving Logan and me a blue-colored wireless earpiece and a miniature microphone with a plastic clip that I put on the neckline of my shirt. I’d never had one of those before, and it was pretty cool to know that we’d be in contact at all times. That way if one of us was in trouble, we could find them easily. “Ruby, you take the right, Logan takes the left, and I’ll go around the back.”
“Why can’t I take the back?” I tried to joke, but it didn’t come out right. We were all panicked, and laughter was the last thing on our minds. It was dark outside, but we had flashlights with us.
“I’ll come with you,” Dumont said to Logan and waved for him to follow. I felt a bit left out. “Don’t do anything stupid, Ruby. Observe and report!” I could hear his voice through the earpiece perfectly, too.
“Yeah, yeah, fine,” I said, and with two chakris in my hand, I went to the right of the building. I was packing, much better equipped to fight than I ever had been before. I had a bulletproof vest on over my shirt, a flashlight that helped more than I thought it could, and two guns, which Dumont had been reluctant to give to me but did anyway because we had no idea what we would find here. I also had my chakris and my whip, and I was going to make good use of all of them.
The building’s exterior looked like it was grey once upon a time. Now, it was full of stains and dirt. The woods at its side made it difficult for me to see ahead clearly, even with the flashlight, so I moved slowly. There were no doors on this side of the building, only three wide windows, painted black on the inside. No light shone through, and I could see nothing. I also heard nothing at all.
When I could see the end of the building, and there were no doors there, either, I turned back to the windows. I was going to have to get inside somehow, and I’d seen all the movies. Connect butt of flashlight to glass. Simple enough. I’d have had to do the same even if I’d found a locked door. I never had to open doors in my superhero years because Avery was a Sylph and her magic was crazy awesome. She could pick locks like nobody’s business, and I’d never gotten to learn how to use bobby pins. Good thing it was just glass this time, and it broke easily when I hit it with the butt of the flashlight. The noise was definitely going to be a problem because I had to continue breaking it until I made a big enough hole to fit through.
“What the hell?” said Dumont in my earpiece.
“Sorry! Keeping quiet,” I said in a whisper and had to put my chakris away to climb through. The window was no more than a foot above ground, and I was inside in a heartbeat. Darkness covered me completely. I couldn’t see shit because the moonlight couldn’t get through all those trees, so I had to turn to the flashlight again. A huge, empty shelving unit was right in front of my face and scared the shit out of me when the light fell on it. I didn’t think it was that close. Taking in a deep breath, I calmed my racing heart and focused on my ears. I couldn’t hear anything, which was a good thing. But the smell? The smell was a very bad thing.
To my left, I could see the wall, and to my right, I could only see where the shelves ended, so that’s the way I went. Slowly. Watching your step and looking ahead at the same time with only one eye was tricky. I hadn’t done anything like this since I lost my eye so I hadn’t realized just how miserable I would be in the dark, but I guess there’s a first time for everything. When I made it to the end of the shelves, I saw the entire room. It was narrow and long, very long. Three more empty shelving units that reached all the way to the ceiling were on my right, plus one that fit the entire width of the room, blocking my view of the other side. Because there had to be another side. There was no door here. I approached it slowly and shined my flashlight between the shelves. Definitely another side, and I could see the door at the far end. I used my hand to get some of the dust off the third shelf and had to lie down completely on it to squeeze through to the other side.
The smell hit me harder as soon as I stepped on the floor—right next to something that made a lot of noise. A lot of noise. Damn it! A fucking bucket. How the hell had I stepped right next to it?
Something moved ahead.
Something whined.
Oh, shit, I thought. You know who whined? The dog-like creatures whined. And they were also black, and I couldn’t keep a flashlight and fight at the same time. Not to mention the smell that had my gut turning. Not the best of times to puke, but I was seriously considering it just to get some relief.
Another whine.
Slowly, I put the flashlight on one of the shelves behind me, and took two chakris in my hands.
I waited. C’mon, sucker. I could see a bit, which wasn’t much but better than nothing. But I had my chakris, and I’d thrown them with a blindfold on thousands of times. As soon as the suckers moved, I was going to throw.
There it went, another whine. But no movement. Why weren’t they attacking me?
Confused and very curious, I grabbed the flashlight and risked a step forward. And another. What I thought had been shelves against the wall to my left were not.
They were cages.
Lots of cages put one on top of the other, and the whining was coming from there. I shined my flashlight on the cages and moved slowly, watching. But t
he cages were empty. Until I reached the last ones, close to the door.
And I saw where the smell was coming from.
They were dogs. Or had been dogs. Now they were dead. Three of them, in three separate cages, and one of them had been dead for quite some time, judging by the looks of it. My stomach rolled with the strength of a hurricane, and I had to look away to keep from throwing up. The whining continued as I moved, and finally, I shined the flashlight on the last row of cages to find two big, black eyes staring at me.
He was a tiny thing, with fur that used to be white but now was covered in piss and shit. His own piss and shit. His cage was covered in it, but that smell was nothing compared to the smell of the dead dogs. My heart almost leaped out of my chest. I kneeled in front of the cage and checked the lock.
“Hey, buddy,” I said, my voice trembling. This was too much. How dare he do this to these animals? What the hell did he need them for? Was it for his creatures? Was he somehow turning these poor dogs into those things? God, I hoped not.
The dog whined and moved to the back of the cage when I touched the lock. “It’s okay, buddy. I won’t hurt you, I promise. You’re okay,” I breathed and used my chakri to break through the weak lock. It gave in on the first try, and I was able to open the cage door easily.
“Come here, boy,” I said in my sweetest voice, trying to hold back tears. “Come here, baby. You’re okay. Come here.” The dog was terrified, shaking, and it made me want to kill Marcus for this reason alone. But he finally came to me, slowly sniffing my outstretched hand. His fur was matted and full of tangles. I pulled him by the front legs when I could reach him and finally had him in my hands.
“Hey there, handsome! Look at you, such a good boy,” I said, trying to stop him from shaking so badly. What kind of a monster does this to a creature so small, so innocent? The dog sniffed my face, then my hands again, but he wouldn’t stop shaking. I checked his little body for injuries, but he appeared to have none.
“Who the hell are you talking to, Ruby?” Dumont hissed in my earpiece, making me move to the side in surprise. I kept forgetting they could hear me.
“A dog,” I whispered. “He has dogs locked up in cages. Three are dead but one is alive. I’m taking him out.”
Holding the pup under my arm, I went back where I came from.
“What? Are you out of your fucking mind? Leave the fucking dog and continue with the mission!”
“Don’t leave the dog, Ruby,” Logan said. I was already on the other side of the shelf that separated the room in half.
“I’m not leaving the dog.” Dumont could cuss all he wanted.
“For fuck’s sake, you people are insane!” Dumont continued, but I was already at the window.
“There you go, buddy. Easy now.” I slowly lowered the dog to the ground as far as I could. He jumped out of my hands and instantly wagged his tail. “You’re free now! Go! Run!” I whispered, waving for him to go, and he did so eagerly. He started running into the woods, and I lost sight of him two seconds later.
“Is he okay?” Logan asked.
“He will be.” I was sure of it. He was going to find food and water soon. He was going to survive.
“Great. I’m working with lunatics,” Dumont mumbled.
“Going in now,” I said, ignoring his comment, and went back to the other side, this time keeping my eyes from the cages and the dead dogs. What was done was done, and hopefully by the end of tonight, Marcus was going to pay for their lives, too.
The door wasn’t locked. It was old and rusty, and the door handle creaked when I opened it. I expected some light on the other side of it but it was just as dark. Here, the shelves weren’t empty. They were full of glassware—bottles, bowls, flasks, jars. The room was bigger than the one before, and I couldn’t see the end of it, even with the flashlight. I moved to the right between shelves, extra careful not to touch anything. If something broke, everybody was going to know I was there.
By the time I saw a dim light ahead, it felt like I’d walked for hours. I was covered in sweat but far from tired. I was mentally prepared for a long night ever since this started. When the shelves ended, I no longer had anything to hide behind, so I was extra careful for the ten feet it took to get to the corner around which there was light. It looked brighter now. I could almost feel that someone was back there, and I couldn’t wait to find out who.
Unfortunately for me, my instincts sucked balls because I couldn’t feel that someone was behind me until it was too late.
There was no mistaking that whine from the white dog’s. His had been small, a cry for help, and the sounds coming from behind me now were anything but.
I spun around and shone my flashlight directly onto the face of one of the dog-like creatures. Ugh. I hadn’t realized exactly what it looked like until now. Its eyes were huge and beady, its skin stretched tightly over its muzzle, almost transparent, as it apparently had no fur there, just greyish skin. Its teeth were caked with disgusting yellow stuff below the gums. And I could see all this because it was that close to me.
I fell back on instinct, quickly putting the flashlight in my pocket to get another one of my chakris. I could see enough from the light behind me to fight, and I was definitely going to need both my weapons for the three of them looking at me like they wanted to eat me raw.
I tried to control my heartbeat, but it was impossible when they walked toward me, slowly, with that terrifying growl coming straight out of their throats. I stepped back, unsure of whether to attack first.
In fact, why hadn’t they jumped at me yet?
Maybe I could get away. If I slipped around the corner, I could run to the other side where there was more light and I had a much better chance at winning. So that’s what I was going to do.
You know what they say, nothing ever goes as planned for Ruby Monroe. I made it to the corner just fine, and those things followed me, never moving their eyes from my face, never attacking me. That’s because they weren’t there for that.
They were there to get me around that corner, and I fell right into it.
There was light in the other room, just like I suspected. The narrow corridor around the corner led straight to an open room, possibly bigger than any other closed space I’d ever seen. It was full of shelves and all kinds of things literally thrown against the walls to make room right in the middle.
After all this time of searching, I finally saw Nana, and I wished I didn’t. Not in that state.
She was sitting on a chair, arms and legs tied, but I didn’t know what for. She looked to be at death’s doorstep, if she hadn’t crossed the threshold already. Her eyes were closed, her hair all over the place. Her skin looked grey and not for lack of light.
And all the others were right next to her, including Sasha Fortine.
Eight chairs were placed in a circle, only one of them empty. The others were the same as Nana. They all looked halfway gone already, except for Lee Collins. He had more color in his face, and his clothes didn’t look as dirty as the others, like he’d just been brought there.
In the center of the circle was the strangest thing I’d ever seen. It was a pyramid standing upside down in perfect balance on a really pointy tip. It was more than thirty feet tall, the bottom of it toward the ceiling, covering almost half of it. It was made of small, light brown bricks, just like a real Egyptian pyramid. I’d never seen one in person, but I’d seen the pictures, and this was a miniature version of them. There were carvings on the bricks, too, but I couldn’t make any one of them out clearly. A floodlight was attached to the wall on my right, and it illuminated the entire room perfectly.
“She finally makes it, ladies and gentlemen!”
A voice came from behind the pyramid, and then he stepped to the side with a big smile on his face.
Jonah Davis Junior, a.k.a. Marcus.
Even though I knew whom I was coming to meet all along, it still came as a shock to me to see him standing there, smiling like this was the best night of
his life.
He looked different from the first time I saw him. He seemed taller somehow, at least six feet. Maybe he was wearing heels underneath the black cloak that hung on his shoulders, covering him completely. His face looked sharper, too. Possibly because he was no longer trying to hide anything. He was showing me his real face, and he was damn proud of it, too.
“Found him,” I said under my breath. And, yes, I realize it was a tiny bit too late but better late than never, right?
“Hello, Ruby. Remember me?” he asked, his grey eyes shining. I’d forgotten all about the dog-like creatures behind me, but I doubted they’d attack now.
“I sure do. The guy I almost killed in Nashville,” I said when I remembered how to speak. It was over now. Nana was here and so were the others. Marcus was here, too, and so were fifty MM soldiers, right outside. All I had to do was give them time to attack. And that was exactly what I was going to do. “Quite the place you got here. Nice touch with the upside-down pyramid and the tied-up people. Really dig your style.”
Just as I said that, I noticed the shadows moving ahead. As if they’d been hiding behind the fallen shelves around the room, eleven dog-like creatures stepped out all at once. My heart almost leaped out of my chest.
“You and I are almost the same, Ruby Monroe,” he said, and I resisted the urge to cringe. He and I were nothing alike. “Both our families were taken from us at a very young age. Our fathers were friends, did you know that? Now, look at them.” And he pointed at the tip of the pyramid where it touched the floor. That’s when I noticed the bones.