by Amy Cross
"Fuck you," she says.
"Strange name," I reply, smiling. I stare at her for a moment. "If you won't tell me your name, I'll have to come up with one for you. Come on, it's just one word. Say your name".
She stares at me defiantly.
"You're very obstinate, aren't you?" I say. "Well, okay. I usually like to know the names of the people I'm killing, but I imagine I'll be able to make an exception for you. Don't worry, I don't really need you to talk at all. I just need you to scream for me a few times, enough to make your boyfriend come running".
Still nothing. I can tell she's trying to think of a way out of this, trying to think of a way to escape.
"Come on, then," I say. "Scream".
I wait. Nothing happens.
"Scream," I say again. "Please. Scream".
Still nothing.
"I'll ask you one more time," I say, stepping closer to her, my patience wearing thin. "Scream. You know how to scream, don't you?"
She just stares at me. Good. I expected nothing less.
I pull a knife from my waist and stab it straight down into her belly. And she screams. Loud and high and long, she screams out in agony as the blade slices through her flesh, jagging against her spinal column. And she screams again as I slowly twist the knife in a full circle, ripping open the skin and grinding against more bone. She doesn't stop screaming until I've ripped the knife up and out of her body, with warm blood flowing from the wound.
"That was good," I say. "But I think you can do better".
I stab the knife right in the centre of her chest, feeling the blade crash through her ribcage, and she screams again, louder than before. I pull the blade out and more blood erupts from the wound. She's a werewolf, of course, so she'll heal fairly quickly, but the pain is real and her screams are all that I need. Duncan will be running here to stop me, to save his precious friend. He'll know that sooner rather than later, I'll tire of torturing her and I'll just kill her. Permanently. He won't be able to stay away, with her screams echoing throughout this city.
"Better," I say as she stops screaming. She's whimpering now, and crying. The agony must be intense. I look over her body, wondering where would be the most painful place to hurt her. Smiling, I reach down and rip open her shirt and then I use the tip of the knife to cut open her bra, exposing her breasts. The wound in the centre of her chest is still bleeding heavily. If this girl were human, she'd be dead by now. But she's not human. I can torture her for as long as I want.
I slice the knife into her neck and slowly, but with force, I slice all the way down the front of her body, ripping her open like she's a fish. Eventually the knife slips out just below her belly, and blood oozes from the long slice I have made. She's screaming again now, she can't help herself even though she knows that she's playing right into my hands. She's responding to agony the only way that she knows how, by calling out for help.
"Don't worry," I say. "Duncan will be here soon, and then this will all be over. I'll just kill him in front of you, and then I'll finish you off. Then I'll probably feed your body to a pack of ravenous Golvs, while I feast on Duncan's flesh". I lean closer to her face. "You know I ate your other friend, don't you? Matt DiMera, the one you left up at the entrance to the Underworld. I tore him apart and consumed him. Permanent death. And I suppose, in many ways, it's your fault".
She looks at me, tears in her eyes. She can't process the shock, and her body is wracked with pain.
"I'll admit I'm surprised," I say. "I was sure Duncan would be here by now, I was sure he'd have come to try to rescue you. But perhaps he was further away than I realised. Still, your screams can be heard for miles, so don't worry, it won't be long before he appears to try in vain to save your life. And then -"
I pause.
I listen.
I can hear something.
I wait.
There's someone behind me. Someone in the doorway. Slowly, I turn to face him, but then I see... it's not Duncan at all.
15
Darla...
I can barely see, I can barely even think thanks to the agony that courses through my body. But as I turn my head to look at the door, I see Darla standing there. I was waiting for Duncan to come and save me, and now... it's Darla who heard my screams.
Lumic steps towards her. He's covered in my blood, and I open my mouth to try to tell Darla to run, to get out of here. This isn't her fight. If she runs, if she gets out of here, Lumic will never go after her. She's going to die if she insists on getting involved in this. Lumic will rip her to pieces... and it'll be my fault. Another death, more blood on my hands, just like my blood is on Lumic's hands.
"You're brave," Lumic says. "Standing up for your friend". He turns to me. "Look at what I've done. Her body is almost destroyed. Fortunately it's already healing, so I can do it all over again". He turns back to Darla. "And I will, you know. I'll torture her forever if I have to, until Duncan comes here and faces me. And then they'll both die".
"Is that what you think?" Darla says. I can see that she's terrified, but she's holding it together. She knows that what she's doing is little more than suicide, that she's doomed, that he'll rip her apart just like he's ripping me apart. "Okay," Darla continues. "I can understand why you'd think you're going to get everything you want. After all, you always have done, haven't you? But you see, I bumped into someone outside who's pretty sure that you're not going to live much longer yourself. Well, not someone. Several people. In fact, a lot of people. A hell of a lot of people".
She steps aside, and a Flesh Weaver stoops to enter the room. It's so large, it can't stand up straight, and it's followed by another, and then another, and soon the whole room is full of Flesh Weavers, with a few Golvs and other creatures also entering.
"They don't like murderers," Darla says firmly. "And you've killed enough of their brothers to make them angry. You thought they were just animals, but they're not. They have a sense of honour. They have a sense of right and wrong. And when you murder some of them, they want revenge".
Lumic laughs. "I didn't murder them. I slaughtered them, like the animals that they are. This whole place is full of animals and monsters".
"Wrong," Darla says. "They might look like monsters, but they're just different. There's only one monster in this room, and it's you".
Lumic smiles. "Nice touch," he says. "But I've killed so many of these beasts today, it's no problem at all to kill a few more". With that, he shifts into his wolf form, becoming a large and cruel-looking wolf, snarling and poised to pounce. With little warning, he leaps at the closest Flesh Weaver, ripping a large chunk from its face as the others crowd around. For large creatures, they're still pretty flexible and they've soon pulled Lumic away. He struggles as they hold him up.
"This is the one who killed your brothers," Darla says. She turns to me. "You didn't kill anyone," she says. "So stop blaming yourself".
Lumic shifts back into his human form and slips free of the Flesh Weavers, but no sooner has he done that than the entire side of the building is ripped away. Feeling stronger now, and with my wounds starting to heal, I'm able to get free of the rope and move away from the dust as a huge antipede worm appears in the hole where the wall was. It roads and reaches its head straight into the room, aiming for Lumic. He tries to dart out of the way, but the Flesh Weavers push him towards the antipede, which closes its teeth around him and starts to pull him out of the room.
And Lumic, the man who made me scream so much, starts to scream himself. His screams are so much louder than anything I managed, and he desperately tries to hold onto something, anything, to prevent himself from being pulled out of the room. But the antipede has him now, and roars as it raises its head, opens its mouth fully and takes Lumic into its mouth. The last thing I see is his face looking out, directly at me, as the antipede's jaws slam shut and Lumic's blood squirts from the sides of the creature's mouth. The antipede chews a couple of times, and I see Lumic's torn up body inside its mouth before it swallows.
Darla turns to me, a shocked smile on her face. "Apparently Lumic killed the worm's son, so... I guess even monster worms get pissed off if you mess with their families".
I feel the wound on my chest. It's healing, though it's not completely healed yet, and there's a small amount of blood on my hands still.
"Are you okay?" Darla asks, coming over to me.
I nod. "I will be," I say. I smile at her. "I didn't expect to see you again".
"You're my friend," she says. "To be honest, I'm slightly pissed off you tried to ditch me back there".
"I didn't want anyone else to die because of me," I say.
"Well, that seems to be settled," Darla says, smiling.
I look about the room. "What happened to Azael?" I ask.
Darla seems a little uncomfortable. "She didn't come," she says.
"Is she still angry at me?" I ask.
Darla nods. "She thinks it's your fault, and Duncan's, that anyone died down here at all. But she helped me contact the other Flesh Weavers so I could bring them here. And then -"
"How did you find me?" I ask.
"I followed the screaming," Darla replies. "I guess that's always a pretty good way to find you".
I smile. "Lumic thought the screams would make Duncan come and try to rescue me. If he had, he'd probably have just come alone and... we'd probably both be dead. But..." I watch as the Flesh Weavers slowly leave the room. "They're really not monsters, are they?"
I get a sudden sensation of Duncan again. He's still close. Really, really close. I go to the hole in the wall. Outside, the giant worm is still chewing on Lumic's body, and Wormwood is patting the side of the creature. I guess he has a new pet. I turn, sensing Duncan again. He's so close, maybe just a few metres away. I run through to the next room, looking for him, then I run to the next, and the next, but there's no sign of him, and then I run into a small, dark room and spot something on the floor in the corner. At first I'm not sure what it is, and I can't quite make it out, but then I realise it's a man.
I rush over. The figure is curled up, with a cloak over it, but I pull the cloak away.
It's Duncan.
He still looks so badly hurt, so weak. But he slowly opens his eyes and looks up at me, and he smiles. "Hey," he says, his voice sounding faint. "What's all that noise? I'm trying to sleep".
I reach down and hug him, fighting back tears. He's hurt, he's still recovering, but he seems to have regrown his legs and he's looking a lot better than most people - even werewolves - would be after being ripped in half and buried in hallowed ground.
"I looked everywhere for you," I say. "Everywhere".
"Just having a nap," he says, sitting up. "I got cut in half. Cut in fucking half, can you believe that? It's a bit more than a flesh wound. And then he buried me in hallowed ground and, well, I didn't want to come down to the Underworld but my options were limited". He grins. "I didn't want you to come. I tried to stop you sensing me, I wanted you to stay away from here, it's dangerous. There are these things called Flesh Weavers -"
"Yeah," I say, interrupting. "I met them. They're not so bad. They saved my life".
"They're monsters!" Duncan replies.
"God," I say, "now you sound just like Lumic".
Duncan looks around. "Is he here?"
"Kind of," I say. "Right now, he's being digested by a giant worm".
"An antipede?" Duncan asks, looking surprised.
I nod. "It didn't like what Lumic did to its son".
Duncan seems dazed. "Lumic's dead?" he asks.
"Properly dead," I say. "He was coming to find you. Didn't you hear me screaming?"
Duncan blinks a couple of times. "Oh, that was you? Sorry, I thought I was dreaming". He gets to his feet, but immediately falls over. "Sorry," he says, "new legs. Really weird. Gonna have to take some time getting used to the new parts of my body".
"I'll help you," I say, and I support him as he stands up again. "See?" I say. "I rescued you".
"I'd have been fine," he says. "I'd have got out of here eventually".
"Whatever," I say as we head to the door. "Just accept it. I rescued you. I. Rescued. You".
"You helped me," he says. "Rescued is a very strong word".
"Accurate, though," I say.
"We're all entitled to our opinions," I say, and we struggle on. We've been in the Underworld long enough. It's time to get back up to the real world.
16
It's pouring with rain. Duncan, Darla and I stand by the freshly-dug grave, looking at the rich brown soil, thinking about Matt DiMera, who we just buried. Having found his bones when we emerged from the Underworld, it seemed only right to give him a proper funeral. We're not in a cemetery, of course, we're out in the woods. Somewhere fitting for the body of a werewolf.
"Where are you going now?" Darla asks as we eventually walk away.
"I don't know," I reply. I turn to Duncan. "Are we still leaving London?"
"Of course," he says. "It's too dangerous in the city. It's dangerous anywhere, but we have to work out a strategy. It's not a good time to be a werewolf".
Darla smiles. "I'm sure you'll be fine," she says.
"You're coming with us," I say, stopping. "Aren't you?"
Darla shakes her head. "I always said I was just coming up-country for a visit. I said I'd be going home, back to the carnival, and that's where I'm going. It's where I belong. And besides -" She grabs me and hugs me, and then she whispers in my ear. "You two need to be alone".
We separate from the hug.
"What did she whisper?" Duncan asks.
"Nothing," Darla and I both say. Darla turns to Duncan and they shake hands. "Hurt Jess," Darla says, "and I'll track you down and make you suffer, do you understand?"
"She'll be fine," Duncan says. "I don't think I could hurt her, even if I wanted to".
There's a moment's pause. "See you around," Darla says, and then she turns and walks off across the grass.
There's a part of me that wants to call out to her, to make her come with us instead. But there's another part of me that knows she has to go home, that she has to go where she feels she belongs. If I felt that I belonged somewhere like that, I'd go there too. Darla's lucky. She can go back to the carnival and spend her days with Stephen and Mena and all the other creatures.
I turn to Duncan.
"You're going to miss her, aren't you?" he says.
"Yeah," I say. "I missed you too".
We start walking in our own direction. "So what did you do after you left London?" he asks, putting an arm around my shoulder as we walk.
"Well," I say, "it's a long story. I met a lot of crazy people. Darla. This guy called Vigrous Grinde, and a Criad. A guy whose head was trapped in a building. A guy with a giant pet worm. This witch named Azael -"
"Azael?" Duncan says, suddenly stopping and turning to face me. He looks concerned. "You met Azael?"
I nod. "Sure," I say. "Why?"
He peers into my eyes. "Are you okay? What did she do to you. How did you get away?"
I frown at him. "What are you talking about?" I ask. "She was nice to me. And then she kind of helped us defeat Lumic, but she was a bit pissed off at me so -"
"Azael?" Duncan asks, as if he doesn't believe me. "Reddish hair? Curly? Accent? Living in the Underworld?"
"Yeah," I say. "Do you know her?"
There's a pause. "Azael is a false name that Black Annis uses," Duncan says. "But Black Annis just kills. She'd never have helped you".
I shrug and we carry on walking. "Maybe she just liked me," I say.
"Unlikely," Duncan replies.
"Thanks".
"You're welcome".
We reach a spot from which we can see the whole of London sprawled out before us. It's a stunning sight, such a huge city, and it's hard to believe that the Underworld exists directly below it.
"Will they be okay?" I ask. "The people in the Underworld?"
"They'll be fine," Duncan says. "It's the ecotone we have to
worry about".
"The what?"
Duncan takes a deep breath. "The overlap between the human and wolf worlds. The places where the human world is encroaching on the wolf world". He turns to me. "The ecotone is under threat, and then everything will be in danger. We have to..." He pauses, then slowly he leans in and kisses me. A proper kiss, lasting a couple of minutes, deep and sensual, his tongue reaching into my mouth and meeting my tongue. Finally he pulls away a little. "You've got no idea how many times I almost did that in the past," he says.
"Uh huh," I say, completely shocked.
"Thanks for rescuing me," he says.
I nod. "It's fine".
"And thanks for helping me get rid of my master".
"I'm glad you're free," I say.
"It feels weird," he says. He smiles. "We have to be careful," he says. "We have to keep looking over our shoulders. We have to be careful who we trust. And we have to run".
"Okay," I say.
"Okay," he replies. "Run!" he shouts, and we turn and run, and run, and run, faster and faster than I've ever run before, bounding across the field so fast that I don't notice anything changing until I happen to glance over and notice that Duncan has shifted into his wolf form. Surprised, I look down and see my own paws. I've shifted into my own wolf form, without even thinking about it. I guess I'm getting better at being a werewolf, and it has certain advantages. It's certainly much easier to run. And it feels like nothing can ever go wrong.
Epilogue
Trafalgar Square, London
Hundreds of people crowd through the square, taking photos of one another, buying guide books, and generally enjoying the sights. It's a warm day, the sun beating down, and the air is thick with the smell of sun-cream. The fountains are running and some people have taken the opportunity to go paddling in the water. A couple of armed security officers patrol the crowd, looking bored. It's a picture postcard day, the kind of day that makes you glad to be a Londoner as red double decker buses zoom past and pigeons sit on the heads of statues, looking down at the curious humans.