I knew the voice that had made it.
Picking myself up, I moved into the blackened corridor. The screens on the walls had burst and were popping electricity from their shattered remains. A charred figure lay supine on the charred carpet. He was staring emptily up at us, most of his face burned away.
It was Larik.
Guardians from Artemis emerged from the apartments and stared in horror. Scarlett barged to the front, followed by Troy, a hand covering her mouth. “He pushed us out the way of the flames. I couldn’t get to him in time. Oh god, Larik.” She had tears in her eyes.
I closed my eyes for a second, trying not to let my emotions take control. “He was acting like the perfect Huntmaster. Putting his comrades before himself.” Nearby I could hear the commands of Yeth’s Army as they broke into the Entrance Hall. “There’s nothing we can do now. He’s gone.”
“I-I crashed the helicopter. This is my fault,” stuttered Sophia.
“No it isn’t. This is war,” I replied.
The body began to dissolve into ash. I knew there wasn’t much time, but I couldn’t let him go without honour. I crossed my fists to my chest and extended them towards the fallen Huntmaster. “Goodbye, Larik.”
I switched back into leader mode. “We need to go, now!” I said and ran down the corridor. Everyone followed me. We reached a set of elevator doors and I pressed the button.
“What do we do now, Huntmaster?” asked Grey.
I grit my teeth as I raised the coms bracelet to my mouth. I was about to say the words that I’d prayed I would never have to.
“Guardians, abandon your posts and regroup at the vehicle compound. Our main objective is now to get Alex and Sage Faru to Black Dawn.” I breathed in deeply.
“We have lost the Warren.”
32
Alex
Slowly, my eyes opened. I was in the cell, alone. But it wasn’t the same place – not anymore. The tiles were covered in pulsing black vines that spread around the walls and floor like a cancerous growth. The smell was awful, like the inside of a wet dump truck. The bed had caved in on itself, and the sheets were soiled and covered in filth.
I looked down to see that the manacles had vanished. Not wanting to stay in the cell another second, I ran over to the door. As I did, I caught sight of the mirror and froze. Warped faces were pressed against it, eyes wide and faces contorted into wide O’s. They were the faces of the poor lost souls I’d seen wandering in the Brazilian jungle. I hastily turned away and pressed my hand against the exit scanner. There was a loud siren like a ship horn and the bars fell slack, like the tentacles of a defeated creature.
I climbed over them and out into a hallway. I was thankful to see that the faces from the window had gone – it was now covered in thick grime the colour of rust. The hallway was one long path with doors on the horizon at both ends. The pulsing black vines covered the floor like a living carpet. I chose a direction and started walking, feeling a nauseating wet crunch as I stepped on the unnatural foliage.
I walked as far as I could, passing by dozens of other cells. I stopped to look in a couple, but realised very quickly that it was not a good idea. In the first, I saw Sophia trapped in a hellish fire. Her face was burned almost beyond recognition, wrapping her tiny hands around the bars she screamed at me in silent anguish. “Sophia!” I wailed, pulling frantically at the bars. They were boiling hot and burned my hands, but I didn’t stop. Eventually they came free. But as I gathered her smouldering body towards me, she dissolved into ash.
It’s not real, it’s not real, I repeated over and over as I stared down at the blackened dust that had once been a small girl. With a sick feeling, I hurried away from the burning room.
The next was even worse. People were bound to the walls and ceiling in razor wire so tight it resembled spider’s web. I gasped as I saw I was right: there were actual creatures that resembled macabre spiders, coated in needles instead of hair, slipping between the webbing. They twittered as they moved, and their pointed legs made eerie clacking noises on the tiles. Screams of anguish and torment came from the bleeding mouths of those bound in the deadly webs.
One of them leaned forward against their restraints, and I realised it was Grey, his pale hair soaked in blood. Those bound in the room were my friends.
“Help me!” Grey screeched in a voice that was barely human. I froze, watching him in shock. One of the spiders saw me. It let out a horrific screech and lunged at me, hitting the bars hard.
I stumbled backwards into the vines, and instantly they tried to pull me into them. They started to wrap themselves around me, but I acted quickly, wrenching myself free. Breathless and terrified, I carried on down the macabre corridor, but soon realised that with every step I took, the path ahead stretched further away from me, trapping me in some kind of nightmarish loop. I stopped and turned around. The door to my cell had vanished, as had all the others.
This isn’t going to work.
I tried to visualise a way forward – something to get me out of the nightmarish place. It was only then that I glanced up and noticed the dull handle of a door poking out from between the nearby vines. I ripped at them. They made high-pitched hissing noises as they were torn down. Black ooze poured from inside as if they were nicked arteries, covering my hands. I grit my teeth and kept working until I had exposed a worn old door. I half expected it to be locked, but when I twisted the handle, it creaked open. On the other side was nothing but white light. I paused on the threshold, staring into the bright abyss. I had no idea what lay beyond.
It can’t be worse than this…can it?
You were a fool to come here.
I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I turned to see a dark figure standing at the far end of the corridor. My stomach lurched with fear. The figure was shrouded in shadows, and in the depths of the mire, dozens of hidden creatures stared with demonic red eyes. It was the creature from my nightmares, the one who tormented me over and over. My evil doppelganger. The Darkness.
It’s found me.
The figure started to walk and the creatures followed, consuming the corridor in a shadowy wave.
No choice.
I stepped through the door.
*
The Rebirth Clinic. But not as I remember it.
I had entered some horrific Lynchian nightmare. The walls were twisted and too tall, disappearing into a purple void above. The inhabitants of the common room were naked humanoids with needled mouths that covered their entire faces. Their heads vibrated like hummingbirds as they stalked around the room, attached to the cancerous vines that latched onto their backs like tendrils. Blood seeped down the walls in rolling waterfalls, disappearing between the vines. The whole place reeked of death and decay.
I wanted to be sick. Covering my mouth, I pushed my way forward, stumbling over vines until I reached a set of doors. One by one the figures noticed me and shuffled over, arms outstretched and shuddering jaws clamped together. The doors were sealed shut with vines, and I desperately shoved at them with all of my strength as the creatures closed in.
“Come on!” I grunted, heaving against the bowing doors. Cold, damp fingers touched my back. With a final heave, the vines split open with a wet pop. I tumbled through and slammed the doors shut, pressing against them. There were vibrating bumps as the creatures tried to push through, but soon they gave up. I allowed myself to breathe again.
Ahead of me was a twisting, circular tunnel of curved trees. Decaying bodies hung from them, feet dangling near the ground. Just like my horrific nightmare, the dead had once been my friends and family.
Breaking into a sprint, I rushed towards the warped door at the end as the decomposed versions of those I loved pointed their index fingers accusingly. Without stopping, I kicked open the door and escaped into an alternate version of the Recovery Ward.
The stench of rot hit me like a fist. The ground was slick with blood, and I skidded, almost falling over. The recovery pods were smashed and uptur
ned, dead versions of the same creatures I had seen in the recovery room had spilled out among the glass, lying prone on the floor, vines still attached to their necks. The lights had broken away from the walls, hanging like broken arms and flickering. A warped version of classical music was playing, a hideous sound that would be welcome in a theme park’s haunted house. But right in front of me was the worst part. Right in front of me was what made me want to turn and run.
A bloodied hospital bed sat in front of a pile of exsanguinated bodies. Mikey lay in it, arms at his side and eyes closed. His mouth was smeared with the blood of his victims. Mum and John sat either side of him on warped stools. They were leaning over the bed, weeping silently. As I stepped further into the room, they lifted their heads and regarded me with blameful stares.
“You bastard, you did this to my boy,” hissed John. He unfurled himself from the stool, becoming too tall – an abstract version of my stepfather. “You let my son turn into a monster.”
I backed away. “I’m sorry. I never meant for this to happen.”
“Well, it did!” screeched Mum. She stepped off her stool, becoming a wavering form of anger and hatred. Thick lines of black mascara ran down her face. “You are a disgrace to our family. You always were.”
I shook my head, feeling a lump form in my throat. “Please don’t say that.”
John and Mum stepped towards me, malice and disgust plastered over their faces. “I wish you had died in my womb!” she screeched.
“You were always the real monster,” added John. “A weird little freak who doesn’t belong in our beautiful family. Now look what you have done. If you had any decency you would slit your own throat from ear to ear.”
They closed in on me, shouting abuse and grabbing at me. I fought against tears as their insults bored deep into me. Beyond their grasping hands, I could see Mikey stirring in his bed, slowly rising into a sitting position.
“Get off me!” I shouted and shoved them both away. John skidded into one of the smashed pods and dissolved into shadows. Mum slipped on the blood and fell to her knees. She started weeping, burying her face in her arms. I moved over and placed a hand on her back.
“I’m so sorry this happened, Mum. I really am.”
“IT’S TOO LATE,” she screamed, snapping her head up. What stared back at me wasn’t my mother. It was a warped nightmare, with pure black eyes and a face full of too many teeth. She grabbed my leg with clawed hands, biting her nails into my flesh. I fought against her iron grip and grabbed her head.
“You are not my mother!” I yelled. Closing my eyes, I twisted my hands against her skull. There was a loud crack followed by silence. I opened my eyes again to see nothing but a round shadow pooled on the blood-soaked floor. My hands were trembling as I turned towards the bed.
“Mikey,” I said tentatively.
He was glaring at me with an expression that made my skin grow cold. Slowly he pulled back the claret-stained sheets and stepped onto the floor. Blood splashed over his pale feet. But he never once looked away from me. I was terrified. All I wanted to do was run, but I knew I couldn’t. He was my brother. Or at least some version of him.
“They were right. You did this to me,” he stated. “You made me become this monster.”
I shook my head. “No.”
“YOU DID THIS TO ME!” He moved like lightning, seizing my throat. His grip was crushing, and I felt my eyes bulge. He forced me against a wall, and it bowed as if elasticated. He pressed his face close to mine, and I could smell the metallic tang of blood on his breath.
“I’m sorry,” I croaked.
“Sorry isn’t good enough. You sent the SOS. You did this.”
His grip increased. Spots appeared as he cut off my airway. I clawed at his hands, trying to get purchase, but he was so strong.
“Let me go,” I wheezed. “Please.”
“I should kill you for this.”
I remembered what Faru had said. About how it was still my mind and that I should be able to control things using my will. Closing my eyes, I imagined the emergency glass containing the stakes. One of the pods seemed to loom towards me, as if I had mentally drawn it. On the side was the glass box, still attached to a jagged pane on the front.
I let go of Mikey’s hand as my mind wavered with dizziness. Smashing a fist against it, I grabbed the stake and bought it down into his hand. Mikey screamed as the wound billowed with smoke. He released his grip, and I dropped to the wet floor as he doubled over, keening with anger and pain.
“Fine, it’s my fault!” I barked, standing up with some difficulty. “Is that what you want to hear?” I stepped right up to him, gripping the stake in my hand. “But the blame isn’t just mine. If I have to accept it, then so do you!”
He hissed at me and scrambled away, clutching his wounded hand. I moved closer, my throat burning like fire. “You let this happen to you. You let that Vampire bite you. Not me!”
My words were blows. He cowered away from me against the wrecked remains of a pod. I softened my voice. “Mikey, I’m am so sorry for what happened to you, but we both know that you did it for Scarlett. Just like I would do anything for Gabriella.”
“No! You did this! You sent them,” he growled, but he no longer sounded convincing.
I shook my head. “No. The Darkness did. I would never ever hurt you.”
Mikey was shaking. He looked more like a child than I had ever seen him – a bloodied child, terrified and alone. “What is it, Mikey? What is it that’s scaring you?”
“I don’t want to be a monster,” he whispered.
I placed a hand on his shoulder and crouched down. “Listen to me. You are not a monster. You are my brother, and I love you.”
He looked conflicted. Slowly he turned his face towards me. “Even as a Vampire?”
“Especially as a Vampire.” I gave a weak smile. “It makes you much cooler.” His silver webbed eyes stared into mine. “You are one of us. We’re a team now, you and I. I’ll never let you down again, I promise. I’ll never abandon you.”
All his anger dissolved. “Okay.”
I held out my hand. “Forgiven?”
He stared at my hand for a long beat, and then closed his good hand around it. As soon as he did, I felt a strange sensation in my chest, like a cathartic release.
Very touching.
I whirled my head around to see the Darkness standing in the doorway. It was clapping, a slow mocking sound that echoed in the vast room. At its appearance, the creatures came to life, sliding on their bellies towards the shadows as if they were magnets.
It seems you still hold some dominion over your mind.
“I’ve got this dickhead,” said Mikey.
“No, stop!” I shouted, but it was too late.
Mikey ran towards the Darkness. Before he could get within a yard, the dark figure raised its hands, and my brother popped into red mist.
“Mikey!” I screamed.
It’s not real. He wasn’t real. I had to remind myself through the shock of what I’d witnessed. It certainly felt real enough.
The Darkness began to walk towards me, sucking everything into the dark void behind it. I turned and ran, skidding in the blood. Scanning the room, I searched for an exit, but there wasn’t one. All the while, the Darkness moved forward, consuming everything in its path.
You cannot escape us. Not in this place.
Closing my eyes, I tried to envision a way out, something I could use to get away. When I opened them, I saw a light shining from the centre of the mass of bodies behind the bed.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
The figure was closing in on me. Steeling my stomach, I ran forward and dove into the pile of bodies, pushing them out of the way and doing my best to ignore what they were. They aren’t real. It’s like a film. A horrible, realistic nightmare of a film with me in the lead role.
I scrambled downwards into the sea of flesh, struggling to reach the light. When I reached the centre, I saw that the
glow was coming from between a set of metal doors. As I touched my hands to them, they opened and I tumbled into a Nexus lift. The world flipped over, and suddenly the hatch became the doors. The lift rumbled into action, and I felt the car race away from the horror behind.
I stared at myself in the scarred elevator mirrors. It was like I had been reset – there was no blood on me at all. No burns on my hands. Just my uniform, new and clean. The elevator slowed and came to a creaking stop. The doors opened and with hesitation I stepped through. Instantly the doors closed, and the elevator vanished.
Perfect.
*
I was in the dojo. Or at least some chaotic version of it. The padded walls had been replaced by square meshing that oozed smoke into the room like a giant oven. The tatami flooring was smothered in the bed of pulsing black vines, and the weapon racks were empty.
Bargheist was in beast form, hunched down and glaring at me with his burning red eyes. Around me were the all the members of the original Orion, just as they had been when I’d fought him all those months ago and passed my trial.
Except, here, in the madness of my own mind, things were different. Midnight had a blade sticking out of his sternum, and the purple lines of the banshee poison had spread through his body, covering his face in a web of disease. Rachel’s throat was seeping blood from the fatal knife wound. Gabriella had a hideous wound running from her chest to her stomach, which drenched her uniform in scarlet. Sophia was infected with Heptacemia – a warped, frail version of the girl we all knew, her skin grey and sallow. Delagio looked normal except that his eyes were cold, as if he had lost his soul. Instead of aiming their guns at Bargheist, their guns were trained on me.
“I hope you know how to use that needle, boy,” growled Bargheist.
I looked down into my hand to see that, instead of a blade, I was clutching an actual knitting needle. An echo of laughter drifted through the room.
The Veil: Corruption (HASEA CHRONICLES BOOK 2) Page 42