Descent

by Phil Maxey

  The small victory was soon forgotten as grunts came from the professor who was slashing the air with his own blade of light. Something vaguely human was trying to grab the book from behind him. I ran forward, when the thing turned towards me, its eyes glowing and I knew it was the witch. Before I took another step, a shearing pain pulsed through my skull and I fell to my knees. In the distance I heard laughing, or was it crying? I couldn’t tell. Lower I fell to the ground, and in the mist of confusion I saw Alyssa be struck, blood flying from her face.

  Other things were now inside the room, creatures of a form in my confused state I couldn’t make sense of. Demons? Spirits?

  The ghoul grabbed Salazar and lifted him into the ceiling making him grown in pain, he dropped back to the ground, hardly moving.

  “Get the book!” Fortacan’s voice cut through the spell the witch had hit me with. I sat up just as he threw it to me. Before I had caught it, he fell to the ground, landing close to Alyssa. I went to jump forward, my intention to protect them from any more blows, but then I realized the room had fallen silent, and every evil creature’s attention was on me.

  The witch’s eyes went to glow again, but I grabbed a leg from the collapsed table and flicked it, sending it spiralling through the air, catching her on the side of the head and knocking any spell she was uttering from her mind.

  The other decaying things lunged at me, but I was too quick. There was no way to get to the front door, so I sprinted into the corridor to the labyrinth of rooms. Behind me came screeches and roars, but I kept on going, darting left and right, with only one destination in mind.

  I sped through Fortacan’s laboratory, through the rear door to the forgotten damp tunnel, and towards the exit to where we had disposed of my blood a week before.

  I pulled the door open and went to move through it, when something heavy slammed into my back, knocking me forward against the railing at the top of the stairs, and making me lose my grip on the book, which slipped from my grasp into the darkness.

  Before I could even think about going after it, I sensed another impact was incoming and slid to the side, causing them to miss. I looked back at my attacker. They were dressed in black and I knew their name.

  “Olivia!” I shouted. They froze, and that was enough time for me to throw my own punch, which struck them directly between the eyes, sending them to the ground. As she tried to get to her feet I thought about removing any doubt of her getting up again. As I raised my fist, sounds filled the rooms in the bunker. The horde of evil were almost upon me. I turned, stepped onto the top step of the unknown staircase, and pulled the door closed behind me.

  As growls and grunts filled the air in the tunnel nearby, I looked at the steps which descended into the gloom, then climbed over the rail and stepped off.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Falling. Earth became stone which became stars. I was spiraling through the darkness, being pulled towards hell. Flames were ahead, an inferno of heat, and there was nothing I could do to stop my decent…

  I awoke with the taste of blood in my mouth. I went to move but regretted the decision for every part of me ignored the request, instead deciding to pulse my mind with pain. I groaned, then tried again, this time being more successful.

  Beneath me the ground was solid and damp. I pulled my hands towards me, with just enough strength to peel my face, then chest from the rocky floor. More throbbing pain came with that movement, but I had to get up. Had to keep moving, in case the things that attacked us had kept up the chase.

  The air smelled earthy and stale. As my demon eyes adjusted I started to make out walls of rock, boulders and other compacted strata. I arched my neck backwards best I could, resisting the urge to cry out in pain, and looked up, but if there was anything coming after me, I couldn’t see it in the void above.

  Angular shapes were just visible against the far wall, which I guessed was the staircase.

  “Why didn’t I take the stairs…” I groaned.

  I suddenly remembered why I jumped and raised a foot, then pulled myself into a kneeling position and looked around. The book was a few feet away. I crawled forward and picked it up. Apart from some dust which I brushed off, it appeared to be in one piece still. Tough old book.

  A noise echoed off the walls from far above. Maybe they hadn’t given up after all. I stood, wavering on the spot for a few seconds, then moved towards the only opening I could make out. Another tunnel, which in the lack of light was just a dense nothingness. I staggered forward into it, using my free hand to touch the rough surface of the walls and guide me. After a while I came to a junction. The air was slightly fresher to my right, so that’s the way I moved. If the other demons were following me I couldn’t hear them, but what I was starting to hear was the sound of running water.

  As I walked forward flashes of who I left behind made themselves known, as if I was still upstairs, looking down upon their bodies. What were we thinking? That we could stand against what Octavian could throw at us? We should have taken the book and ran.

  Like you did…

  In my mind I was now looking at Alyssa’s angry face, telling me to quit feeling sorry for myself. She was right.

  The sound of a stream was obvious, and I came around the corner of a rock face, and into running water. An underground river of some kind. I followed the icy flow, as the air grew more putrid in nature. That meant I was nearing human habitation. I spotted a wall running along where the water was moving, and stepped up onto it, then kept on going until I spotted stairs.

  It wasn’t long before I was ascending, moving amongst old sewers, and then finally with climbing of a ladder, emerging into the night. I was in an alley. The smell of rotting food came from a nearby mound of trash bags, but I was glad to be on the surface.

  I replaced the manhole cover and looked around, making sure there was nothing about to pounce. By the looks of the buildings I was somewhere in Hell’s Kitchen.

  “The devil of Hell’s Kitchen,” I whispered.

  I was at least five blocks from the entrance to the bunker and began to move in that direction, then stopped. Alyssa and the old man wouldn’t approve of me taking the book back there, but I had no idea where else to go.

  Instead, I looked to the northeast and set off along the alley, keeping to the shadows. I passed the sound of laughter, fumes of alcohol from bars and drunk individuals leaving clubs, keeping my head down and my eyes averted, and moved as quickly as I could into alleys and back streets until I arrived in the upper east side, and the building which housed Fletcher’s office. The lights were off, which was good. I just needed to drop the book off, then make my way back to the bunker.

  I was soon climbing the fire escape, and with a bit of strength pulled a side window up, breaking the latch.

  I leaned forward into the shadow laden back room, when a hand grabbed my jacket and pulled me all the way. I fell onto the floor, trying not to lose the book, while readying myself for a strike. Instead, I looked up at the moon glinting off a sword that was hovering an inch from my throat.

  “You!” said Fletcher. She kept the blade where it was despite recognizing me. “Why are you breaking into my office?”

  I laid my head back, placing the book beneath my head on the hardwood floor, my tired aching limbs not wanting to support me. “We were attacked at the bunker. I managed to escape with the book.”

  She pulled the sword away. “What? Where are Fortacan and Alyssa?”

  A commotion came from somewhere near the outside of the window and an individual in body armor appeared. I went to get up.

  “It’s one of my men,” said Fletcher. She looked at her security. “It’s fine, but tell the others to stay alert. Also tell Knotty I’m going to need his squad to be here within fifteen minutes.”

  The man nodded and disappeared back into the night.

  I sat up. “Last I saw them, they were… I need to leave the book with you. Can you protect it?”

  She nodded. “We’ll put it in
my safe.”

  “Good.” I placed the book on a nearby desk and moved back to the window.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I need to back to the bunker.”

  “Wait. I’m coming with you.”

  *****

  We pulled up outside the abandoned school, in an SUV. I sat in the back with Fletcher, while two others sat in front, and in another large vehicle were more of her security force including the middle-aged Scotsman. I wondered if those from Octavian were also here.

  She talked into her cell phone, and those in the other vehicle got out and ran through the old gate and into the school grounds. We soon joined them, but I wasn’t waiting and sped on ahead, running along the old tunnels, descending into the cool air, until I got to the entrance to the bunker, and looked into a scene of destruction.

  Noises came from behind as I stepped over the broken pieces of furniture and torn books and manuscripts, clearing a path so I could see underneath at the floor, but there were no signs of any bodies. I moved into the other corridors, moving from room to room, but it was the same. The place had been left in ruin, but there were no signs of its usual two inhabitants, or Salazar.

  I moved back into the living room, where Fletcher and Knotty were waiting.

  “Looks like a tornado hit this place. Any sign of the professor or Alyssa?” she said.

  I shook my head, then spotted a dark crimson spot on a ripped out page of an old book. I had no idea whose blood it was, but walked over and placed one finger on it.

  “What are you doing?” said the lawyer.

  “Hold on.” I calmed the stimuli of the room around me, and let other thoughts invade my own. Like fog rolling off a lake allowing me to see a distant shore, I started to see images that I knew belonged to someone else. Flashes of creatures, scuffles, and fighting, then an impact which sent them to the ground for a final time.

  Caspian Frome’s face looked down at me. He wiped blood from his hand, and talked angrily to someone nearby that I couldn’t see. Then someone dressed similar to Fletchers people, grabbed my leg and hoisted me aloft, I tried to fight back, but then all went dark. I was seeing the last few minutes of Alyssa before she lost consciousness and it filled me guilt and hate in equal measure.

  I looked at Fletcher. “Frome was here. I think the professor and Alyssa were taken, but I can’t tell where.”

  “How d’you know that?” said Knotty.

  “Just a thing I can do… if I touch some blood, I can see images sometimes of the person it belonged to. Can’t really control what I see, it just comes at me.”

  Knotty exchanged a glance with Fletcher. “That’s an odd gift for a demon to have,” he said.

  “Trust me, it’s just odd full stop, but this is the first time it’s come in useful.” I looked at the attorney. “They have to be at the Octavian building.”

  She looked ruefully at the mess of our surroundings, but remained silent.

  “We can’t just forget about them! We have to do something!”

  She shook her head, more for whatever internal argument she was having than anything I had just said. “I told Fortacan to give up his fight but he never listened. He thought a seventy plus ex-collage professor and a smart talking vampire could stop what’s out there in the night. Well, he was wrong.”

  I could hardly believe what I was hearing. I looked at Knotty. He frowned but remained quiet.

  I looked back at Fletcher. “I guess it really is about money for you?”

  She became stoney faced, then walked to the door. “Do you wish me to leave any of the Praesidium here?”

  I shook my head and pushed past her. “No, I got somewhere else to be.”

  “It will be suicide, lad,” said the Scotsman.

  “Thats fine. I already died once.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Anger propelled me through the tunnels to the entrance to the subway. I just hoped they hadn’t sealed off that particular route into the Octavian building. I opened the door to the rush of warm air, and ran along the narrow ledge past the tracks, then opened the door to the tunnels beneath my destination. The walls were just as stained, and the light struggled to operate as before. Ignoring the symbols scrawled across the old door I pulled it open expecting the same intoxicating scents of corrupted bodily fluids when instead, the smell of dust and cleaning detergents hit my senses.

  I stood in the doorway, listening for any sign of life and found a single heartbeat. Strong like my own. I walked into a large empty space. A single area was lit at the back of the room, and standing under a burning torch was the man I had seen on the screen in the conference room, the day before.

  “Son!” The man’s voice reverberated off the smooth concrete walls, each echo a punch I wasn’t prepared for.

  I should have known it was too easy getting back inside. He had been waiting. I steadily walked forward, pushing my hearing and eyes into the shadows to see if I was about to be attacked, but there was nothing there. We were alone. Which was worse.

  “Where are they?” I said to the impersonator. He was taller than I remembered my father, and not slender anymore.

  The change…

  He was also wearing a navy blue suit, a choice of clothing he never would have even joked about wearing. Maybe this really is all just a scam to confuse me…

  It’s not…

  He smiled. “Not here, that’s all you need to know. I understand it is strange for you looking upon the face of a stranger, but it also the same for me.”

  “You need to start talking about Alyssa and the professor.”

  “They came to me, maybe years ago, the Octavians and offered me a deal. Join with them and help destroy the order, and in return they will allow you to have a free life… But I had to choose, my father or you. I chose you…”

  I resisted the urge to lash out, to tell him that my father, my actual blood relation wouldn’t have abandoned me. Instead I walked to a nearby stone square column and leaned up against it. I still didn’t believe his fantasy, but maybe playing along got me further. “So let me get this straight. You stay hidden for twelve years, then you send someone to try to have me killed just to get the watch from my hand? Something you could have done at any point over the last twelve years?”

  He shook his head. “Never send a human to do a demon’s work. He was dealt with. We would have saved you, but instead fate stepped in, otherwise known as your interfering vampire friend. Strong heart that one. It’s rare that a vampire can resist the darkness of the void.”

  I clenched my fist but kept it in my pocket.

  “I didn’t want any of this! But once I swore allegiance to the void, there was no going back. You have to understand Sebastian—” I gritted my teeth. “— Two of the horsemen had already emerged from behind the veil. Free to walk the earth. The order was never going to be strong enough to withstand them. It was inevitable they would succeed, so I made a choice. You have too as well!”

  “What do you care about me? You already have the seal!”

  “You are a last descendent of the Hell-Locks, so you have all the power of the descendants within you.” He looked away briefly, in thought. “When I changed, I only absorbed some of the power locked within our family’s lineage, but for you it’s different. There is so much you don’t understand about what you are!”

  I frowned. “So what?”

  He took a step closer. “When the seal is broken, what protects your humanity will be taken from you. And you will not be able to resist the lure of the void, it will consume you Sebastian, and if you try and fight it will drive you insane! But if you join with us before that happens, I can help your transition!”

  I looked at the father imposter. Was he actually holding his hand out to me? This guy is good I’ll give him that. “And then another horseman will be free to trot? Or do they gallop? Actually do the horsemen have an apocalyptic stable to rest their horses or—” He face tightened in anger as I talked, and he took one tiny extra step
towards me, which was all I needed.

  My movement was just a blur to an outsider. Within the time it took the burning torch to flicker, I had surged forward, my fist aiming for the actor’s face, but instead of it connecting, it was caught mid-flight by his hand.

  “You might be powerful son, but I have had twelve years to perfect my own, more limited abilities.” His grip tightened and he swung me around and into the air, where I flew for a good ten-feet before hitting another column, taking a small chunk of it with me to the floor.

  I was tired of taking a beating. I tried to push strength into my legs, to stand, to fight back, but he was on me before I even managed to kneel, and grabbed the back of my neck, dragging me upwards, and slammed me into the broken column of concrete. I coughed up some blood.

  His face was now angular, eyes darker, his teeth appearing to be more pronounced in his mouth.

  “Damn, if that’s what happens to your face if you join the B team, I’ll stick with the good—” His hand was now around my throat and squeezing. I tried to summon the rage that was inside me when I battled the witch, but for some unknown reason no matter how hard I tried to reach down deep and pull it into the light, it wasn’t there.

  I slammed my hands into his arm, but my strength was already draining and the impact merely served to tighten his grip.

  “I asked them to let me try to convince you…” His voice was deeper, coarser. “but if you cannot see the correct path, then you leave me with no choice… son. I’m truly sorry…”

  My world started to turn dark, even with my feet and hands doing their best to attack the thing that was ending me, then far off in the distance I heard a commotion. Was it footsteps? Heartbeats? An explosion sounded off nearby, and I was on the ground, then being lifted.

  “Are ya with me lad?”

  The cobwebs in my mind started to clear, and I looked into the face of the bearded Scotsman. I spun around looking for the demon. “Where is he!”