The Pulptress Versus The Bone Queen: Blood and Bone

by Andrea Judy

  I paused, Jackson nearly crawled into me. "What are you doing?" she grumbled.

  "Just listen for a second," I hissed, closing my eyes. I could hear the dull thudding of feet against the ground, feel it vibrating overhead.

  "I think we're below one of the tunnels," I said, opening my eyes. "Have you still got some weapon?" I asked.

  Jackson nodded. "Yes." She pulled out a collapsible nightstick.

  "Push it upwards through the roof here," I instructed.

  "If I do that, it's gonna collapse down on us," Jackson protested.

  "And we'll find the tunnel. Come on," I said. "Take a deep breath and do it."

  Jackson hesitated and I could hear her turning the nightstick over and over in her hands before she took a sharp intake of breath. I did the same and waited.

  The stick burst through the ceiling above us. Two chiffoniers and a pile of dirt collapsed on top of us. They hissed and immediately lunged at me. I pushed through the dirt and stabbed my knife firmly into one's neck. He dissolved into dust. As I turned toward the other one, Jackson burst through the dirt and cracked the bat against his skull. He toppled backwards into dust.

  Coughing and spitting out dirt, Jackson crawled back out of the chaos and into the main tunnel. "That was the stupidest idea you've had," she muttered.

  "So coming down here after a murderous necromancer wasn't the worst idea I've had?" I asked as I worked out of the dirt.

  Jackson offered me her hand and helped get me to my feet. I winced a little before shaking off the pain in my leg. "Come on, we still have to find Aramis."

  She frowned. "Lean on me," she offered.

  "I'm fine," I insisted. I held the gem out in front of me and then turned the other way. It flickered with a soft grey glow. "This way then." I put the amulet around my neck.

  "Is that leading us toward Aramis or toward that woman?" Jackson asked.

  "I don't know," I admitted, "But unless you want to wander around in circles, this is the only direction we've got to go on." I held up the amulet as it flickered again.

  "Alright, just be careful," Jackson said.

  "Oh you know me. Always super careful." I smiled faintly as I continued down the hallway. Every few feet I held up the amulet. The flickering slowly strengthened each time, burning sharper against the metal and getting hot against my skin.

  "Aramis?" Jackson called.

  I put my hand to her mouth. "Shhh....Do you want more of those things to hear us?"

  Jackson glared faintly but nodded and I slowly removed my hand.

  "Then how are we going to find him?" she asked.

  I held the amulet up again. "This. This is all we have, so just trust me and we'll find him, alright?" I asked.

  Reluctantly, Jackson slowly nodded.

  I kept the lead, watching the gem carefully and letting it guide me through the tunnels, left and then right, and then straight ahead into total darkness. I tried to keep an eye out behind us, waiting for anything to jump out of the shadows and grab for us. But everything stayed still and totally silent. The quiet made my heart pound, wondering where all those things had gone. I wondered what the Bone Queen was now up to, but I tried to not let it worry me too much.

  Pressing forward, the air use a different word than ‘air’ began to flow easier. Cool and crisp fresh air circulated around us and we both took a deep, slow breath in and slowly back out.

  "Where's that coming from?" Jackson asked.

  "I don't know, but let's keep going," I said, pushing forward toward the cool, crisp air.

  We bumped into a solid slab of some sort of stone. Jackson and I worked together to push it to the side. I motioned for Jackson to stay down before I peered up, and found myself looking into a small church built into the tunnels. At the front of the church was a massive pit leading back down into the tunnels. I didn't see anything else around but a few empty, mostly rotted wooden pews. Wincing, I pulled myself up out of the ground and onto the floor. Jackson followed behind me.

  "Where are we?" I whispered.

  Jackson got out of the small coffin that led down into the pit, and brushed some of the dirt from her jeans. "I don't know," she said after a moment, taking a look around. "I'd guess a church."

  "Really?" I sighed. "That's obvious. Are we still in the cemetery?"

  Jackson nodded. “I guess this could be an old church somewhere out there. There’s acres of land and at least one church. Judging by the state of the wood that the pews are made out of, that'd be the best guess I have, but as for geographically ‘where are we?’” She shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I don't have a clue."

  "But we're still close to the Bone Queen." I said.

  "Or Aramis," she added, pointing to the gem around my neck. In the dim light of the church, its glow was pronounced, reflecting against the dark of my shirt.

  "And I'd say we're getting closer," I said. “Let's take a look around then. Stay close."

  Jackson nodded and kept right at my side. I stepped carefully, the floor worn away to bare dirt in many places, though a few still had patches of wood that creaked and groaned when any kind of weight was put on them.

  An altar at the front of the room was decorated with skulls and other bones displayed out by a chalice and a mirror. I shook my head as I walked over to the items. "She's been here."

  "This is where she summons those things," Jackson guessed. "She brings the bones here and raises them here, gives them instructions and then," she pointed back toward the coffin that led to the tunnels they'd just crawled out of, "then she sends them out that way."

  I nodded. "That sounds logical. But why bring the bones here when she could just summon them straight from the ground?"

  "I don't think those tunnels were always here," Jackson said. "What if she had to summon help to look for that stone? She started here and worked outwards through the rest of the cemetery."

  "She doesn't know where it is either," I muttered. "She has as much of a clue as Aramis did."

  "She might have known a bit more than I did," Aramis' voice spoke up.

  Chapter 10

  Jackson jumped and grabbed my arm as I immediately drew my pistol and raised it. I took quick stock of the empty spaces around the church, but there was no sign of Aramis.

  Jackson gasped and I looked up to find Aramis suspended from the ceiling with thick wires tied around his arms. Parts of his skin were ripped open, exposing the hollow parts of his chest.

  "We'll get you down," Jackson promised, and started looking for the way up to the ceiling.

  "Over here!" I called, spotting an old, ragged ladder. I put my gun away before grabbing the ladder. Jackson helped me get it planted and then started trying to climb up it.

  "No, let me. I've got better balance." I pushed Jackson out of the way and slowly began making my way up the ladder as it started to rock. Jackson rushed over and held it steady. I nodded thanks as I slowly ascended toward the trapped man.

  "She tried to get the gem from me," he said.

  "And?" I asked, pulling out my knife.

  "She couldn't quite manage to cut it out." He laughed. "Finally just said she'd use me to find it."

  "What?" I froze, knife just above the top holding him up. "This is a trap."

  "What did you think it was?" Aramis sighed.

  Growling, I slashed at the rope, and he plummeted to the church floor, landing on two chiffoniers that rushed in from the tunnels. The ladder rocked again, but Jackson held it steady, kicking at the creatures that came close to her. More creatures rushed into the church all of them crowded around us.

  I rushed down several rungs before launching myself off the ladder and into the closest creature. I plowed my knife straight into its eye, and then rolled across the floor, popping up with my gun in hand.

  Jackson rushed over to Aramis’ side, shaking him as he groaned. "Aramis! Hurry up!"

  She shook him harder as more creatures appeared and started toward her. My first bullet tore through three of the rag an
d bone men and sent them crumpling into dust onto the floor. Jackson pulled Aramis to his feet. His head slumped to the side, and his feet curled under him, but he tried to help get himself upright.

  I hurried over and tried to steady him, firing off a few more rounds, trying to find a way out. "If there's a way in there's got to be another way out. Where are they coming from?" I muttered out loud.

  A large boom shook the ground, and I watched as the largest man zombie I'd ever seen climbed from a pit in the ground. He looked at me and screeched.

  I fired immediately, but the bullet striking his chest barely slowed him as he rushed for me. I shoved Jackson and Aramis out of the way just as the huge creature plowed into me and tackled me to the ground.

  My gun flew out of my hand. I scrambled to grab my dagger and, drawing it, slashed across the inside of his thighs. He howled and slammed his fist at my head. I barely dodged out of the way as a rush of air flew past me.

  He reared his fist back again and one meaty hand clenched around my throat. I chocked and struggled, kicking and stabbing at his thick arm, but his grip only tightened. My vision started going black when I heard a sharp pop and red dust suddenly poured over me.

  Sitting up, coughing I spotted Jackson standing behind where the massive monster had been, gun still in the air where the man's head would have been. Her shoulders raised and fell in rapid succession as she tried to catch her breath.

  "Come on, this way!" Aramis called, motioning to a small side door.

  I grabbed Jackson and pulled her after me as I rushed for him. I paused only long enough to snatch my pistol from the floor before the three of us pushed through the door and Aramis barricaded it behind us. The creatures screamed and clawed at the thick wooden door but despite its groans of protest, the door held firm and steady against the onslaught.

  I took a quick look around the room, a bare bones crypt, obviously vandalized and stripped bare. "Great. Now what?" I glared at Aramis.

  "There's a hidden passage out of here," Aramis moved over to one of the coffins, and began to press against the loose stone, eventually one clicked and I heard something vibrate and scrape against the hard stone. A thin door opened on the opposite side of the room.

  "And how did you know about that?" Jackson asked.

  "This is the way they brought me in. She's this way,” he said slowly.

  I took a deep breath, and reloaded my pistol. "Well, let's go say hello and thank her for her hospitality."

  "Why don't you wait here?" Aramis offered Jackson.

  I nodded and added, "This doesn't have anything to do with you. You've got more than enough to prove your case to your boss."

  "I'm not just gonna sit here and wait for either those things to kill me or to waste away down here on my own. No, I've come this far," she swallowed hard, "I want to see this through. Besides, I still don't have any proof about her bringing dead things back to life. That's the lynchpin of this case."

  “You’re still worried about proving to your boss that you didn’t lose those bodies?” I asked.

  Jackson smiled weakly. “I figure this is my only chance to get out and have an adventure like this. When I was little I always wanted to be some kind of hero and, well, I’ve got the chance. I’m not just going to walk away from that.”

  I shook my head. “Well, just try to stay out of the way. We’ve just got to get her sword from her.”

  Aramis glanced at the necklace around my neck. “It really was here. I guess it made a new home once it left France." He shook his head. "I tried to follow it, but once it left France it was harder to know where to look. The family I gave it to mostly died during the revolution. A few escaped and I bet sold whatever jewelry they had to make a new life. She must have followed it too somehow."

  “Let’s not keep her waiting then. I think you both have been waiting a long time for this,” I said as I loaded my pistol. "Lead the way, Aramis."

  He nodded and headed into the hidden doorway. Jackson walked close at his heels and I followed in the back.

  These halls were cleaner and sturdier than the ones we’d just left, lined with stone, and braced to hold steady. The work looked more recent than the interior of the church. I could see dozens and dozens of footprints embedded in the clay leading back toward the church.

  "So who was she to you?" Jackson asked.

  "Who?" Aramis responded.

  "This Bone Queen. You knew her."

  He sighed. "I thought I did," he said. "I was young, and she… well she was the most beautiful, dangerous, incredible woman I’d ever seen." He shook his head. "She was passionate about death, devoted to her god, willing to die for it, but she lost her way. And I...well, I didn't step in to try to help her until it was too late."

  "Is that why you keep it in your chest?" Jackson asked.

  He sighed again. "I keep it there because it's safer that way."

  "Wouldn't it be safest in a desert or at the bottom of the ocean?" Jackson countered.

  "I kept it because I want to stop this, to stop her. She was never supposed to be like this, and, it's too late, but I want to free her," he said.

  "How very noble of you," I commented. "We're getting closer now, right? Look at how much it's glowing." I pointed to the necklace.

  "She keeps her quarters up here," Aramis nodded.

  "She took you to her room?" I asked.

  Aramis shook his head. "No, but I know her. She would keep her room at the heart of her work. She'll be rising by now, and she'll know we're coming."

  "Good. Then we won't have to worry about introductions," I said.

  Chapter 11

  Jackson swallowed again, wringing her hands together as we stepped into another section of hallway with a door at the end of it.

  I crept down the hallway, one hand on my pistol. Blood dripped down my leg from the dog’s claw marks, the gashes pulling open at some point in the last few fights. I tried to ignore the pain and not limp. There wasn't time to stop and tend to something that wasn’t life threatening, not with the Bone Queen so close.

  "You're bleeding again." Jackson touched my shoulder.

  I jerked and nearly elbowed her, but just barely caught myself. "It's nothing," I insisted.

  "With all these dead bodies and dirt around it is a big deal,” Jackson said. “Do you know what kind of bacteria or infection could get into an open wound like that? Sit down," she ordered.

  Aramis shifted on his feet, glancing toward the door. "I don't think-"

  "Another minute isn't going to change anything," Jackson snapped. "And I'd rather have someone not bleeding through a fight. We need everyone at their best, right? Who know what she might throw at us so we'd best be prepared." Jackson nodded to herself.

  I grunted in pain when Jackson exposed the wound. She tsked at the blood-soaked jacket and began carefully removing it. She pulled a few things from her bag. I watched her set out a few strips of gauze, some type of ointment, and some alcohol.

  I started to protest. "I don't need-"

  "You're gonna let me take care of this." Jackson glared.

  I opened my mouth to tell her to knock it off, but then she poured some alcohol onto a rag and began slowly cleaning the wound. My protests were swallowed up as the alcohol hissed and bubbled against my skin. Pulling on a pair of gloves, she carefully began to apply the ointment over the wound, frowning at the deepness of it, and mumbling under her breath. She wrapped gauze all around my leg, tying it around me firmly, then taping it in place. She tested the tightness and nodded. "I think that's the best I can do out here, but once we get out of here you really ought to go the hospital. I think you might need stitches or staples or something. That wound is-"

  "Thanks, Jackson." I cautiously tested the mobility of my leg. While the wound stung and hurt, it no longer burned through my body and took over all my other senses. I nodded at her. "That'll be fine till we finish here, then I'll head to a hospital, deal?" I asked.

  Jackson sighed heavily as she picked up all he
r trash and tucked it into a bag, "Fine. But I still think you need stitches now."

  "Well, more than likely I'm going to get banged up in this fight, so hey, two for one hospital visit right?" I offered with a grin.

  "If you girls are done, we should get going," Aramis said, arms crossed over his chest, leaning against the wall. His hand drummed a beat over his heart, and I could just barely make out a spark of light under his skin.

  The gem around my neck glimmered. We had to be very close. I glanced back toward the door at the end of the hallway and rolled my shoulders, adjusting my pistol in my hand and checking my rounds once again. Full chambers and ready to roll.

  I nodded to Aramis and Jackson. Aramis stepped back behind me, and Jackson ducked behind him.

  Tiptoeing down the hallways toward the door, I could hear Amaury's voice echoing in my head, could see him, see his twisted risen from the dead skeleton rushing toward me with murder and nothing else in his eyes as I was forced to kill him in Paris. I took a deep breath and tightened my grip on the pistol. I was going to make her pay for what she did to him, for what she'd done to everyone over the ages, but if I was honest, I just wanted her to suffer and feel like Amaury had before his death.

  I paused at the door and held my breath to listen and see what lurched behind. I closed my eyes and strained to hear anything. Nothing stirred behind the door. If she was here, she was still and silent as the grave.

  Aramis looked at me and motioned to the door. I nodded and carefully tried the handle, surprised when it easily swung open. I took a deep breath and burst into the room.

  Shadows twisted in every corner against the only light in the room, an old oil lantern hanging from the ceiling and swinging slowly. From the glimpses of light I could see what looked like a bedroom. A dresser with fine combs and a mirror stood closest to the door. A small bed was in the opposite corner, blankets a mess and kicked to the side.

  I frowned. "Where are you?" I finally yelled. “It’s over!”

  Laughter answered me.

  Behind me, I heard Aramis scream.