One tentacle, smashed into Canopus, throwing him backwards. He landed hard on the floor, feeling his elbow crack on the stone tiles, pain shot through his arm and into his chest, he felt his heart stumble and tried to catch his breath.
Drexel ducked under the tentacle as it swept back around, smashing into the wall. He fired his magnum twice into the creature’s belly, creating two huge holes. Before they could fill with black goo, he placed both hands into the holes and pulled the creature away from the elevator and threw it across the room, it skidded past Canopus. “Your turn,” yelled Drexel, “When you are finished laying around of course.”
Still breathing hard, Canopus grabbed the creatures swollen chest and held it to the floor, he then emptied his revolver into the creature’s neck, black blood sprayed over his face. Reaching with his left hand into his right boot he pulled out ‘Lucy-Lou’, a thin bladed silver knife. Before he could drive it into the creature’s chest, a tentacle smashed into his head, he felt a tooth break and saw stars as he was knocked backwards.
Drexel, now with his magnum reloaded ran over to the Canopus and pulled him backwards from flailing tentacles. “We gotta get out of the morgue, lock this creature in.”
“Not without Keel.”
“She’s dead! There is at least forty of them down there!”
Canopus pulled free of Drexel’s grip. “She isn’t dead. Not until I see it with my own eyes. A Canopus always protects a Keel. You hear me?” He looked at the elevator, the door was busted.
“There another way down?” Sharp shooting pain continued to shoot from his elbow into his chest.
Drexel looked at Canopus and then looked at the creature, as it got to its feet.
Canopus didn't look too good, but then neither did the creature. He cursed under his breath. “Yeah, staircase, follow me.”
Drexel ran to the side of the elevator and pushed on a white door in the white wall. It was so well hidden you would never know it was there.
Canopus fired two more shots at the creature, spinning it sideways and then followed Drexel into the stairwell.
“It’s around five flights down, can you make it?”
Canopus learnt against the railing. His heart was beating too fast, sweat poured from his forehead, “Don’t worry about me.”
The creature burst into the stairwell, its bulbous shiny black head split wide open, revealing jagged hard black teeth. The creature let out a deep gravelly roar, that made the hairs stand up on Drexel’s arms.
“Now you’ve gone and pissed it off!” yelled Drexel, as he sped down the stairs.
Lights danced before Canopus’ eyes as he stumbled down the stairwell, the creature was close, roaring with every step. Canopus ducked, as a tentacle whooshed past his head, cracking the tiled stairwell. He needed to think fast, at this rate the creature would be on him in a matter of seconds and in his state, he wouldn't last very long. He looked down the stairwell, Drexel was gone. Canopus looked at the advancing creature. This is not how he would die, in a stairwell of a morgue, without knowing if Keel was dead or alive.
“This is not how I go!” shouted Canopus, as one of the creature’s tentacles smashed past his leg, buckling the steps under his feet with such force they broke away, tumbling below.
There was nowhere to go, he was trapped.
Canopus charged up the stairs towards the creature and swerved to the right as a tentacle smashed down before him, he landed against the wall onto his right arm and screamed in pain. The creature leaned forward, huge mouth snapping. Canopus, with all his effort, tensed his left fist and punched the creature in the side of the head. The head snapped backwards and Canopus continued to punch. A tentacle grabbed his left arm and pulled it back. Canopus spun and fell over the side of the stairwell, landing on the stairs below. Blackness clouded his vision and he felt like he was floating, moving away from his body. He tried to shout out his anger but only a whimper escaped his lips.
He opened his eyes, and saw Drexel trying to lift him off the stairs, “Damn, you are one heavy son of bitch and one stubborn old fool. But then again, so am I.” Together they moved down the remaining stairs as the creature howled above.
“No elevator, no stairs and a morgue basement filled with monsters that want to kill us, you always were bad news.” grumbled Drexel.
“Just… like… old times,” smiled Canopus, as he spat blood onto the floor. “I think I’m in a bad way.”
“Yeah, you look like shit for sure but you are a tough bastard. Lost your gun I see. Here, take this.” Drexel reached into the back of his jeans and pulled out a small revolver, “Always carry a spare. I’m like a frigging boy scout me.” Canopus slowly nodded and together he and Drexel faced the door to the morgue basement.
“If one got loose then there’s bound to be more. And if one can do all of this to us, I don’t hold much hope for the Keel kid.” whispered Drexel, his ear pressed against the door.
“She’s tougher than you think. Hear anything?” Canopus felt his heart miss a beat and then pound hard quickly in his chest.
“The corridor the other side sounds clear, but the main morgue room is sound proofed, as we didn't want people to hear what we got up to. We are just going to have to go in and see. Don’t suppose you have any tricks up your sleeves, do you?”
Canopus shook his head, “More Keel’s thing. I just knock things down.”
“Amen to that,” said Drexel as he kicked open the door.
SEVENTEEN.
Thirty minutes earlier.
Keel grabbed a piece of broken tile from the floor and ran it across her palm. Blood oozed from the cut. She ran to the wall and pressed her palm against it, leaving a thick bloody handprint. There was no time to look and see where the creatures were. If her calculations were correct, she had eight seconds to recall the ice hex that the witch made in the diner.
Keel concentrated and stuck her left finger into her right palm and painted bloody lines extending from the handprint.
Satisfied, Keel slammed her bloody palm into the sigil, ‘Crystallus Tempastus!’
Tiny ice crystals formed around Keel’s hand and then turned into little puffs of smoke.
“Oh dear,” said Keel.
Turning, she instinctively ducked down, as the male creature’s fist smashed into the wall, breaking the sigil.
Keel was sure it was correct, she didn't possess a photographic memory but she had a damn good one. She spun behind the creature and pulled out her gun, firing three shots into the back of its head.
Slumping to the floor, the creature started to shake. Small tentacles immediately started growing from the bullet holes, snaking upwards like seedlings searching for the sun.
The second occupant, the female, grabbed Keel and punched her in the chest.
Keel fell to her knees before the occupant, as its large tentacles thrashed against the ceiling, ready to strike.
“You did it wrong,” said a small voice.
Keel dived to the right as two tentacles, smashed down towards her, one struck her leg, shattering the bone. She screamed.
“Like this! Kiss the floor,” said the voice.
Keel pushed herself as close as she could to the floor as Ice shards flew over her head. She screamed as she felt the icy needles scratch her back, snapping her satchel strap, which fell to the floor, her grimoire tumbling out.
The ice shards smashed into the occupants. Where they struck, thick ice formed, spreading over their bodies. The creatures tried to move, but with each movement, their limbs started to crack and break, until the creatures were frozen in place.
“Now shoot them,” said the voice.
Keel pulled out her gun and emptied her clip. Each shot shattered the creature’s frozen skin, until all that was left, was a pile of ice and smoking black powder.
Keel held her hand against her leg and whispered a word of power. It was still broken, but the pain had gone.
She looked around the room. Sitting on an unconscious Vince was a young
girl dressed in red.
“You did the spell wrong,” repeated the Red-girl, “it has to be created on wood.’
Keel thought back to the diner. The young witch had created the sigil on the diner door, she cursed her stupidity and made a mental note to update the text in her grimoire.
“I wondered when we would meet,” replied Keel standing up. Her broken leg was unsteady, but it would hold. she could feel the skin swelling under the skin, but there wasn’t any pain.
“I felt it was time. I also didn't like the odds of my vessel surviving with you in charge.”
“Vince is your vessel?”
“You have three questions today. This is your first. Yes. For many years. Two hundred and thirteen to be exact.”
“Hmmm,” replied Keel, “Does he know?”
The Red-girl looked at Vince and then back at Keel, “Question two. He knows I came when he lost his Debbie. He thinks it was three years ago. But it was actually the early 19th century, April 1804 to be exact. There are times when he becomes aware and he needs a reset. After I have killed you, I will reset him again.”
“You are awfully sure of yourself. A vessel implies you need a body and I see yours is currently unconscious.” She pointed her gun at Vince’s head.
“Maybe it’s time to end his misery, after having a cancer like you growing inside him for so long.”
The Red-girl flickered, appearing in front of Keel. Through her red veil Keel could see hints of small black eyes and milky white skin.
“Clever girl. You did not phrase a question. I am real enough,” she replied, “But right now I need you to locate the angel.”
“I’m going to kill the angel, it’s evil.”
The little girl disappeared, appearing once more next to Vince. She sat cross legged on the floor. “It’s doing what it needs to survive. Is a lion evil when it hunts a buffalo? Is a human evil when it slaughters a pig? We are insects to it, nourishment. But I agree, it needs to be stopped and why should the coven not use its power.”
“You are not part of the coven. I’ve never heard of you.”
The red girl clicked her teeth and then replied angrily. “They removed me. A long time ago.”
“OK. My last question, why did they remove you?”
“They wanted to stay hidden, I wanted to show power. That’s all and not for the nefarious reasons you are thinking. You know yourself how many humans die because of what lives in the shadows. It’s what you and your oaf do. It’s what your father did. But you are terrible at your chosen profession. How many do your really save? You are reactive, you hear of a creature, you find it and sometimes you kill it, but humans are still dead and the creature’s powers has dissolved. All for nothing. I want the coven to be proactive, to capture creatures and use their power to protect the humans for good.”
“For a price, I’m sure.” Keel placed a new clip into her gun.
“I ask only for worship. For recognition.”
Keel squinted her eyes at the girl, “So you are a Zeph and one not doing so well, it’s why you look so young.”
“And what do you know about a Zeph?”
“That’s question one,” smiled Keel, “The more worshipers you have, the more that people believe in you, and the more you grow. I hear you can grow powerful, very powerful, even more powerful than an angel.”
The Red-girl clapped her hands together but no sound was made, “So far just little Vinnie believes in me, some others and now you. There was a time when many knew our name. I had a lot of power and Vince here did a lot in our name.” She patted his head, “My Vinnie is so confused, so weak. When I find the angel, I will use her as my vessel and then I will be unstoppable.”
“A Zeph just needs worshippers to grow in power, an Angel needs human energy, sorrow. Sounds like a bad deal.”
“You know the power an angel contains and with me controlling her, she will not need nourishment, just followers chanting my name.”
“What is your name?”
“Sorry, Carina Keel. Your three questions are up.”
Keel hobbled to the left, gun still pointed at Vince’s head. The occupants continued to claw and bang on the closed cell door. Keel didn't have to look to know that the door wouldn’t hold for much longer.
“You are just a parasite, no better than the shrouds around us and like all parasites you need a host to survive. If I shoot yours, you will die.”
“Maybe, I’m not sure. But I AM sure, you wouldn’t kill a wounded human.”
Keel looked at Vince. Why not shoot him? He’s been alive long enough, he’s probably even done some evil deeds for the Red-girl, even if he wasn’t aware. Because he was doing it for love, for his Debbie, whispered Keel’s mind. Keel had never felt such love, she loved her father and she loved Canopus, but she had never felt the undying love that Canopus felt for his wife or how her father had talked about her mother and how Vince felt about Debbie. She made up her mind.
“He wants to be reunited with his love, so that’s what I will give him.” Keel pulled the trigger.
“I think not.” The Red-girl placed a hand on Vince’s head, bright light flashed in the room and Keel’s bullet smashed into the empty floor.
Vince and the Red-girl were gone, as was the door that had been holding back the forty occupants, a parting gift from the Red-girl.
Edging backwards, Keel held her gun forward, as two more creatures with large tentacles slowly entered the morgue. Their tentacles dragged across the floor, they looked weak, but hungry. Behind them Keel could see more of the creatures, they were pushing and shoving each other to get to the human flesh they could taste in the air. As they crawled and pushed, Keel could see the remains of Sid, he had been chewed and gnawed to the bone.
Keel fired one shot, hitting a creature in the shoulder. It spun, falling backwards, but then another took its place, crawling over its body, as it self-repaired, black goo filling the wound.
Moving backwards, towards the doorway leading to the elevator, Keel fired controlled shots, hitting the creatures one by one before her. Each shot took down a creature for a second, before it either got back up or another took its place. She was running out of space and she knew it. Scanning the room, she remembered the cold storage freezers. One drawer was still open, the large bearded man cadaver on top. Keel limped towards the drawer still firing shots. The room was now becoming filled with the creatures, Keel counted at least twenty, they were moving silently but determined, fanning out in the large room before her.
She pushed the man from the drawer, a small child sized creature ran towards her, a black tentacle wailing from its neck. Keel shot the creature twice in the legs and it fell silently to the ground. With shaking hands, she grabbed the drawer and pulled herself onto it. Once on top, she reached into the unit and pulled herself inside.
As the drawer slid a small hand grabbed the end and started to pull it back open. Keel shot the hand twice, spraying black blood over her leg. The hand withdrew and Keel felt the drawer lock into place.
Inside the pitch-black darkness, she could hear the creatures outside, biting and chewing the bearded cadaver. Trapped in the darkness, her only hope was for Canopus to somehow find her and then take down all the creatures. Doubtful. He was tough but not that tough. A spell may work? She remembered her grimoire was still laying on the morgue floor, under the feet of the creatures outside. Great. A lifetime of her father’s knowledge probably being destroyed as she lay here useless. She could feel her right hand starting to tremble, so she placed it under her leg, holding it still. It was so dark, it didn't matter if her eyes were open or closed but for some reason having them open made her feel more in control.
A large bang hit the end of the drawer. Keel’s teeth started to chatter, maybe it was the cold, maybe the fear, she didn't want to think too much about either.
“These drawers are surprisingly roomy,” she said, taking Canopus’ advice that a happy thought could push out a bad one, but it didn't work. Instead, she
thought about facts. Facts calmed Keel.
Keel knew that these shrouds were lost human souls, trapped by a higher being and used to transfer energy from the human to that being. The longer a shroud stayed in a human’s body the more it evolved. So far, she felt she could classify them in three types:
Type 1, Feeders. These were the smallest shrouds and possessed Ludvig, Adelene and most of the people in Bonners ferry. They had a rubbery worm like body, long limbs, a slit for a mouth and large crusted almond shaped eyes. Keel knew the shrouds survived by feeding off their host’s energy, making the host tired and Lillian Fox had found a way for a shroud to excrete this energy into its queen, her.
Type 2, Possessors. These were shrouds embedded deeper into the host. They were larger, different in color with long limbs and almond eyes and bulbous rubbery lips. They too fed off energy but were able to control their hosts more than the feeders. The cops she encountered in Ludvig’s apartment were Possessors. She felt a shroud would become a Possessor after a week. Could the shroud still excrete energy as a Possessor? She wasn’t sure.
Type 3, Hybrids. This is where the shroud and the host had merged as one and seemed, according to Sid, to happen after the shroud had been inside the host for a month. The host’s body was fully infected and could be broken and rebuilt by the shroud to become a monstrous creature. Some had black, oily, hard tentacles, others had their faces replaced with a smooth black mass that would split wide, revealing jagged hard teeth like tar. Sucking energy wasn't enough for these anymore, they liked the taste of flesh too. With this type, the human host had been fully assimilated by the shroud. No coming back.
Gunshots slowed them down, fire could kill them but Ice was more effective. She thought about why. She knew when a body froze that the extremities and muscles froze first. This caused faster heart rate and higher blood pressure. With limbs and skin frozen so quickly, shivering would be impossible, core temperature would drop and major organs would fail. The hybrids had little use of a host’s brain but it must still need the heart to survive. Maybe multiple shots to the heart would also bring down a Hybrid? It was worth a try and could be a way for Canopus to save her, if she could get him a message.
Canopus and Keel - The Hive. Page 11