by Kit Hallows
He winced and began to sob, his whole body spasming as his legs kicked out. I grabbed a knife from my bag and was about to cut the ties that bound his legs when I heard the sound of a door closing.
Someone was coming.
Dryden?
The man in the chair began to howl, but there was nothing I could do for him. Not until I'd taken care of Dryden.
I clenched a crystal and allowed its energy to swim through me. Then I crept back into the murky corridor to hunt the ghoul before he hunted me.
31
I crept back to the control room. The whole place was pitch black. I felt along the wall in the hopes of finding a light switch, but came up empty.
Someone was in the room, I could sense it. I was about to grab a crystal and flood the place with light but I stayed my hand. Illuminating myself would only make me more of a target than I already was. Then I noticed the heavy odor filling the room. Freshly churned earth and slowly decaying flesh. Like a long-neglected graveyard.
Dryden.
I was tempted to pull my gun, but what could a bullet do to a man who was already dead? A dry chuckle rang out from the darkness. As if he was reading my thoughts.
The death stench grew, then I heard his slight, approaching footfall. I pulled the sword of intent from its sheath but barely had time to raise it before his cold hard fist plowed into my mouth. My lips smashed against my teeth, then the lower part of my face went numb.
"That was for Ryker," Dryden said from somewhere in the darkness. "I saw how you killed him. Murdered him while he was vulnerable. Coward."
"The shifter?"
"The shifter," Dryden said, his voice further away now.
"Vulnerable? You mean as he was watching people suffer and slowly lose what was left of their minds. Do you-"
His footsteps approached. I whirled around and slashed the air with my sword, but it made no contact. Where the fuck was he?
And for that matter, where the fuck was I? The darkness seemed absolute, the room colder. Had Dryden drawn us from the underground laboratory to some lightless realm of the dead?
Focus. He was playing mind games, trying to wear me down. Toying with me. He could have killed me twice by now if he'd wanted to, but like a cat he was prolonging his sport.
Another blow hit me hard in the stomach. I doubled over and almost dropped the sword as his left hook crashed into the side of my head.
"That's for the others. The next will be for my pleasure. As will the one after that. And once you're bruised and weeping in a quivering pile on the floor, we'll have some serious fun. Trust me."
His voice came from behind me. As I spun round, his fist whistled toward me and I ducked away but he still managed to land it. White-hot pain exploded through my cheekbone. Another blow like that and I'd be out.
Help me. I gripped the sword of intent and it began to produce a dim fiery orange light.
I saw Dryden's silhouette in the corner, and the machete in his hand. He dashed forward and raised it over his head before bringing it down hard and fast.
I blocked it. Sparks flew and my sword sang out as the metal clashed. Dryden sneered as he stepped back into darkness. "You're blind, Mr. Rook. Blind and alone. You'll die down here. Eventually."
He was right. I was blind, the light from my blade barely allowed me to see my own hand. I closed my eyes, surrendered my full attention, and willed the sword to defend.
I heard Dryden's machete cleave the air. The sword leaped in my hands and deflected the blow. The impact sent a pang of agony through my forearm.
"You're cheating, Mr. Rook," Dryden said. "You're using tricks."
"I've had enough of your game, Dryden." Eradicate. The sword trembled like a dowsing rod. I went with it, letting it lead me further into the fray.
"What is that thing?" Dryden asked, his voice near.
"Your end." I followed the blade as it soared forward and swung. There was a horrible tear followed by a heavy wet thump. I opened my eyes. The sword pulsed with energy, illuminating the ghoul's head, which now lay at my feet.
I turned back to the bank of monitors, found a control panel and saw the relief as I switched off the projectors and the broken carnival music. Then I returned to the cells and began to release the captives one by one. They followed me into the corridor and waited, their expressions blank, hollow and compliant.
I led them through the control room, skirting past the two corpses as best I could, but they didn't seem to notice. I found a small ante room with a circle of chairs and asked them to sit. They did as they were told and as I checked them over I realized there were only five, yet there had been six cells. I ran back to the corridor and threw open the door that had eluded me amid the shadows.
A young woman sat inside with her back to me. Long matted blonde hair clung to her filthy white shirt.
"It's okay," I said.
She trembled as I reached out to her. Unlike the others, her hands and feet had been secured with manacles and long iron chains. I searched through the stolen keys, hoping to find a means of releasing her but as I reached for the lock near her wrist, I froze.
Through the heavy bruises and raised flesh I saw a mark on her left arm.
A spiral.
It was blood red but traces of silver still glimmered among the crimson.
32
The sight of the tattoo gripped me like a vise, as if some hideous enchantment lay hidden within the red and silver swirl. It was Elsbeth Wyght's mark and it filled me with a mix of dread, horror, and ice-cold fury.
"Who are you?" I tore my gaze from the tattoo and glanced into the woman's eyes. They were wild, skittish, and ringed with shadows.
She peered at me before looking away. "Nobody. Mrs. Nobody." Her fingers skittered across the arm rest, and the cuff of her sleeve rose, revealing the track marks dotted across her skin. Clearly she was no stranger to street drugs but she also bore the barely suppressed mania of a long-term black crystal user.
"What's your name?" I forced my voice to adopt a gentler tone.
She continued to stare into the shadows. Her mind had wandered away; she was somewhere else now. I needed to bring her back, and there was only one thing I could think of that would do it.
I returned to the control room and checked each of the doors along the corridor until I found what I was looking for; a storage room with hundreds of metal cases neatly stacked on metal shelves. I pulled one down, ripped away the plastic seal they'd wrapped around the case and stepped back as I opened it.
Dozens of crystals glistened inside. The core of the jagged quartz swirled with black smoke and the charge that wafted up from the stones was reminiscent of the air before a great, electric storm.
I reached into my bag and pulled on a pair of leather gloves. They were lined with filaments of silver and iron, made specifically to counteract the crystal's malevolent power. I grabbed a sizable shard and returned to the cell.
The delirium in the woman's eyes faded as she spotted the stone and her tongue passed slowly over her lips. "Yes," she whispered. "Give it to me."
"You want it?" I held the crystal up, its dark light cast shadows over her face.
"Please. Give me it. Now."
As I placed it into her quivering bound hand her eyes lit up and the color began to return to her cheeks. A strange beauty, one that she must have once held, returned. She radiated a soft gracefulness and subtle sensuality. And then it all vanished and the haggard addict reappeared, her face a mask of self loathing and dark cruelty as I pulled the crystal away.
"More," she demanded. "I need more."
"Tell me who you are."
"Sorina Ardelean. Give it back."
I held the stone before her. She watched the black smoke swirling inside the quartz like a child mesmerized by a snow globe. "How long have you been in the Silver Spiral?"
"I'm not part of the coven. They cast me out." She nodded to the crystal. "Because of those. I lost control and ruined their ritual."
"
So you know Elsbeth Wyght?"
"Of course I do. Now give me the crystal so I can get better. Please." She tried to soften her desperation but it only served to emphasize her haunted, emaciated features.
"Where can I find her?"
"I don't know. I told you, I'm an outcast."
"You expect me to believe that you crossed Wyght and she spared you? That's not her M.O."
"And what do you know of her? Or the Spiral? Next to nothing, I shouldn't doubt. My sisters may have forced me out but they'll take me back. As soon as I've served my penance by replacing the crystals I stole by four-fold the amount. And I will, because what better person to scout for crystals than an addict?" She gave a bittersweet smile. "And just in case I fucked up or forgot my purpose, they'd remind me of it." She twisted her hand to revel the tattoo on her wrist. "The spiral, it turns from silver to red. You can't imagine the pain." She gave a low, humorless laugh. "But all that stopped, when I was abducted and bound in iron. Small mercies."
I gave her the crystal for a moment, before snatching it away. "How did you end up here?"
"Rumors. I'd heard Copperwood Falls was drowning in magic, that its streets were littered with black crystals. It's amazing the tales junkies tell, the endless gossip. Not that any of them would come near the place."
"Why?"
"Said it had a bad vibe." She snorted. "An understatement, don't you think? But I was too desperate and cocky to heed the warning. It didn't take long to find the magical quarter or someone to hook me up."
"Jerry?"
"Yeah, good old Jerry." She spat on the floor. "I have to give him credit, his crystals were better than anything the Spiral had ever got their hand on. Intense." She gazed longingly at the stone in my hand. "I lost hours...probably days. It was beautiful. And terrible."
"Where was this?"
"Jerry's place, a shitty little dump on the edge of town. It was good for awhile but it didn't take me long to run out of money. Not that I had much to start with. Jerry suggested I find work, and naturally he knew just the people to give me a job."
"Dryden?"
"Yeah. I guess Jerry didn't lie exactly. I did end up working for crystals, except I was the one making them." She glanced at me, her gaze lucid now. "Where is Dryden?"
"Dead."
"Jerry too?"
"Most likely, but I'm not sure. Do you care?"
"Only that he suffered."
"Here." I handed her the crystal. She snatched it and soaked it up before giving a long slow shiver. "Fuck, yeah!"
I waited for whatever power she'd taken from the crystal to subside before unlocking the manacles binding her hands. "Come with me."
She stood and stretched, her face more animated than the others I'd freed. "Where are we going?"
"You want another crystal?"
"Of course I do."
"Then come on." I led her down the corridors to the storage room. A smile curled across her lips as she glanced at the stacks of cases. She began to stumble toward them but I stopped her. "Get the fuck-"
I pulled my gun. "You can have them but you're going to have to do something for me first. Now back up."
She stepped away, impotent rage dancing in her eyes. "What do you want?" Her fingers strayed to her stained blouse, and she began to unpick the top button.
"No, not that. Stand with your back to the wall and don't move." I laid my gun on the shelf, took out my phone and snapped a picture of the opened container with the cases behind it. Then I keyed in a message:
'Found what we need. Hundreds! Difficult situation - can't talk right now. Meet me @ Copperwood Falls Country Club 6pm tomorrow. Sorina'
I handed her the phone. "Send it to Wyght."
"Why? What do you want with her?"
"I'm going to arrest her."
"You're a cop?"
"No. I work for the Organization."
She sneered, then I saw a flicker of apprehension. "You're taking us to Stardim. I'd have been better off dying here."
"That's not off the table. For you or Wyght. In fact I'm counting on her resisting arrest, so I can finally put a bullet in her face and a knife through her withered heart."
"Why?"
"Because she killed someone I love."
Sorina rolled her eyes. "Honey, Elsbeth Wyght's killed hundreds of people and they were all loved by somebody. Take a leaf out of my book, don't love, it always brings you down in the end."
"Thanks. I never would have pegged you as a life coach. Now send the message."
She glanced at the screen. "You know what she'll do to me?"
"Nothing. Because you're free to go just as soon as I'm done with her. Hell, I'll even let you take as many crystals as you can carry" I picked the gun back up. "Or keep testing my patience and see where it gets you."
She tapped a number into the phone and hit send. "There."
I took the phone back. Within moments it rumbled. I answered but didn't speak.
"Sorina?"
The last time I'd heard that soft, insidious voice was the night my heart and soul had been ripped away. I hung up and typed another message.
"Can't talk - working out a deal. Please don't call - text only."
I glanced up from the phone.
"Sorina!"
She stood over the open case, her head thrown back with an air of almost sensual pleasure. Her hands were filled with crystals. Snakes of mauve and purple energy flowed from the quartz and curled toward her head and heart.
The spiral on her arm shone with silvery light. She placed her finger upon it and gave a savage laugh as dark plumes of mist rose around her.
She began to transform.
Black scales erupted from the center of the tattoo and spread up to her wrist, arms, neck and face. They glinted in the light as she threw her hands out and began to writhe and shake her hips. "Fuck the Organization." She grew taller, her arms lengthening as long talon-like claws sprouted from her fingertips. "And fuck you."
33
I shot twice. One round went wide, the next hit her square in the chest. It didn't slow her.
She was on me before I could fire another shot. Her nails slashed me like knives and as I reached up to block her she knocked the gun from my hand. The next swipe almost opened my throat.
I jumped away, put some distance between us and I looked for a weak spot.
There.
Her flesh was still raised where the manacles had bound her legs. It was tender, bloody and free of scales. She came at me again. I dodged and took a swipe at her ankles.
She screamed and hobbled back, holding out a hand to ward me off as she muttered a low, guttural curse.
The last time a member of the Spiral had cursed me I nearly died. I wasn't going to let it happen again. I pulled the sword of intent. There was no time to give it a focused command, so I swung hard and fast.
Sorina blocked the blow with her arm, the blade sunk into her scales and lodged there. She screamed in rage and pain as she leaped toward me, her nails raising sparks as they raked at my coat.
"Fucking die!" she growled. "Die, die, fucking die!" Each word was punctuated by a swipe of her claws. I sprang back until I struck a wall.
Shit.
Sorina smiled. "No place left to run."
I rifled in my bag while she stalked toward me, taking her time as she closed the distance.
"Look at him panic." She licked her lips once more. "Time to-"
I never got to find out what it was time to do. The silver dagger had punctured her heart. She stared down at it, her face a mask of puzzlement.
"Oh," she sighed as the scales fell away from her flesh. For a moment I saw the beautiful, broken woman she'd once been. Then she collapsed as her final breath passed her lips.
I left her where she lay. The Organization would take care of her, along with Dryden and his underlings. They were quick and a crew would be dispatched as soon as I reported in, but I wasn't going to do that until I'd dealt with Elsbeth Wyght. I recovered my
dagger, holstered my gun and set out to search the rest of the complex.
I found the garage. It housed an army truck, with enough space to transport at least a dozen soldiers. I also spotted several motorcycles and the quad bikes Dryden had used to dispose of the corpses. Thick reddish brown mud still clung to the tires, like dried blood.
I climbed up into the cab of the truck and found the keys in the ignition, before jumping down to check out the rest of the garage.
Dappled light shone in through a translucent section in the far wall. Through it I could see the forest and its snarled canopy of branches reaching up to the dreary dishwater grey sky. I checked the area around the strange opening and found a control panel upon the wall. A single black crystal sat snug in the center amid a nest of brass and copper wiring. I pulled on one of my gloves and, as I removed the stone, the force field flickered, admitting cool air and the sound of birdsong.
There was a notable shift when I stepped outside and as I looked back I could see the rock face where the quad bike tracks had ended, as well as the corpse of the dead technician.
I called Erland. He picked up fast.
"How's things, Morgan?"
"I found the crystal farm. There are survivors. They're going to need serious medical attention."
"Give me the location. I'll send a team to tidy things up."
"I can't, not just yet. I've still got some business to take care of." Wind stirred the spidery branches, they scratched and groaned, and I felt an almost wintry chill.
"Anything I need to know about?"
"Nope. I was just looking to get the victims out of here as soon as possible. Can you meet me somewhere?"
"Unfortunately, I'm in the midst of a situation that's fairly urgent. I could send another agent, maybe Eddows."
"Not Eddows. Someone with a semblance of humanity. These people are seriously messed up, Erland. I'm not even sure if some of them are going to make it. Could you send Dauple?"