I left my car keys with Jez but kept my phone with me. I stared at the Dragon Claw, unsure whether bringing it would be in my best interest. In the end, I left it with Jez. Having that kind of weaponry on me wouldn’t help my attempt to come in peace. The FPA was made up mostly of humans. Any supernatural help they may have inside wouldn’t be more than the three of us could handle… I hoped.
“Aw hell, let’s get this over with.”
“Call or text me if you need us,” Jez called after us as we left the car. “If you’re not out in an hour, we’re coming in after you.”
“If I’m not out in an hour, call Shya.” I wasn’t sure he’d be much help, but it was all I could think of.
Arys and Shaz were on either side of me as we approached an opening in the fence. The tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and despite the leather jacket I wore to hide the dragon on my wrist, I broke out everywhere in goosebumps. Something horrifying dwelled in this place.
The closer we drew to the hospital, the thicker the negative energy became. I shielded hard against it, but it slapped against my shields, seeking a way in. Shaz shivered slightly in the warm night air, but Arys seemed entirely unaffected.
We crossed the expanse of lawn, and I searched the upper windows for the beings I felt watching us. I saw nothing.
We reached a small side door. It was locked, but Arys had no trouble getting in. He went first, and I followed with quickly growing trepidation. My instinct screamed at me to turn back. Only the steadily humming cross kept me going.
“Feel that?” Arys’s voice echoed inside. “The energy in this place is wild. The FPA probably has no idea how massive it is.”
I paused to take in our surroundings. My eyes easily adjusted to the dark. I still would have given just about anything for a light. We stood in a long, white hall. It was littered with broken boards, fallen beams and glass. Graffiti marred the walls, but it was messy and hard to make out.
“It’s insanely cold in here,” Shaz said in a loud whisper. “It feels like we’re being watched.”
“It feels like something is trying to shove its way inside me.” With gritted teeth, I pushed back against the unwelcome spirit. It was a human spirit and no match for me.
“They’re attracted to us,” Arys mused, “because we are so in tune to them. They can feel it.” His vampire energy was lively and hot. He was vibing off the building and its long deceased occupants.
“Are you enjoying this?” Shaz muttered in disdain, picking his way along behind me through the debris. “Good Lord, this place is a health hazard.”
“I am actually.” The low chuckle that echoed around us was creepy, even for Arys. “Don’t worry, pup. I imagine the FPA have had the asbestos cleaned up. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be making this their Edmonton home base.”
“That’s reassuring.”
We reached the end of the hall where the elevator was. In a sketchy building with no power, it wasn’t a viable option. I glanced around, looking for the stairs. As I passed the elevator, the doors slid open.
I shrieked and jumped straight into Shaz who swore. Arys’s laughter quickly turned my fear into anger.
“If you can’t stop being creepy, then stay down here while we go up,” I snapped at the smirking vampire. “The fact that you’re enjoying this place is really making my skin crawl.”
Arys sobered, his smile fading. “I’m a vampire, Alexa. Are you not used to it by now? This place reeks of death and power. I feel at one with a place like this. It’s… comfortable.”
A stray beam of light made its way through a broken window to slant across Arys’s face. His pupils were huge, drowning out the color in his eyes. He was right at home here while I was ready to run screaming back the way I’d come like a soon-to-be victim in a horror movie.
I felt the shadows all around me, slinking about in the darkest corners and crevices. The energy here did not entice me. It terrified me. I wanted nothing to do with it.
The dark and the light, as twin flames, this was where we differed. It was unsettling to see the absolute darkness in Arys’s eyes, and I saw it clearly. The way I felt in the forest, being one with the earth and all it encompassed, that’s what Arys felt in a place like this. The realization was harsh and a little sad.
“This is starting to feel way too much like a scary movie,” Shaz laughed, a high nervous unnatural sound. “Are you sure the FPA has a base in here?”
I clutched the cross necklace tightly between my fingers. Focusing hard on the pendant, I searched its energy for its link to Kale. It was hard to ignore the pressing negative entity outside my realm of focus. The spell Brogan created continued to hum, steady and stronger now that we were inside.
“Yes. They are here. And, I wouldn’t doubt that they already know we are, too.”
We pushed on, moving as fast as we could in the pitch-black stairwell with rusty barbed wire wound around the handrail. As good as my vision was in the dark, it wasn’t as good as Arys’s. We reached the second floor and found what appeared to have been a laboratory of some kind. Fewer windows were boarded up here. Right away, I saw the old bloodstains on the floor.