“Help me, please!” The voice changed direction, “Ava-”
It was impossible to pin the sound down and I ran on again and again, willing my vision to return to normal. Quickly, I found myself in the centre of the old warehouses, shrouded in steam so thick I could barely tell one side of the street from the other, but it cleared my head and I remembered: I’d never told Ric my name.
“A…va,” the voice twisted and deepened, mocking me.
At barely a whisper it made my blood curdle as my name kept twisting and cutting through the fog, poking and prodding at my mind. I moved along another alley, trying to get my bearings, as all the while only the sharp clack-clack of my boots could be heard against the stone paving. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I neared the open mouth of the alley. Something was close, I could feel it. The wall was icy on my back but I crushed myself against it, waiting for whatever it was to pass, only, it didn’t. There was a scuffle, a growl, a cry of pain, and the sound of something heavy dropping to the floor before being rhythmically dragged away. The sound of it left me shaking. I steadied myself, pulled away from the safety of the shadows and peered around the mouth of the alley.
It took all of my strength to supress the scream caught in my throat as I looked at the trail of red. The clearly defined handprints had slapped down only a few feet from my alley before they faded into a man-sized smear which disappeared into the clouds of thick steam. I blinked away the tears that formed in my eyes and tried again to catch my breath. My fear engulfed me, filling me up to the point of drowning and all I wanted to do was huddle on the floor and cry out for Father and Roan like a child – but I would not be selfish.
“I’m sorry, Father.” My voice was little more than a whisper as I made my prayer. “You were right.”
Without a second thought I tore the mask from my face and let it clatter against the damp floor before following the trail. As it rounded the corner into another alley I paused just beyond, listening for anything that could suggest he was still breathing. I continued on, traversing the dark path carefully as I pressed my hand to my nose, trying to stifle the foul smell. Despite being deprived of light I found a shred of comfort to feel the dagger against my thigh, and pressed on until the darkness was at its thickest.
At the end of the passage the smell was almost unbearable and my boots became tacky against the floor. I crouched and brushed my fingers against the dirty paving and they came away wet. I stretched my arms out further and flinched as they fell on a solid form splayed on the ground. The body was still warm as I crouched over it, listening for any signs of life, but his chest didn’t rise. I moved my hands upwards over his neck to feel for a pulse and gasped, tearing them away instantly. It was wrong. The shape of it was wrong. The way his head twisted backwards was wrong. The man was dead.
The alley was too enclosed. I had to get out. I moved to look over the body one more time and stopped. That cold, crippling terror choked me again as I felt someone else’s presence bent over the body on its other side. Our faces couldn’t have been more than a foot apart as wretched breath washed over my skin. Instinct took over and I was running. I fled from the tunnel and veered left, sprinting back the way I came-
“Hello again.” A pair of dark eyes stared at me from beneath a night-black mask. I skidded to a halt and my body went rigid as he approached me, brushing his deep chestnut hair away from his face. Stephan was older than I’d originally thought, perhaps thirty or forty-something. The unpleasant intensity I felt was stronger than before and as I turned to run I was corralled by another man.
“Thomas, I was afraid you were going to leave this lovely lady in my hands alone.”
Thomas opened his arms, “She’s certainly everything you described.” He ran his tongue along his large, tattered lips and bounced on his heels.
“Personally.” A set of footsteps came from the alley behind me. “I can’t see the feistiness you were talking about.”
I turned to face the man and took a step back as I stared straight into a mouthful of very dangerous teeth. His presence was different to that of the other men, far more animalistic, the blood coating his face and hands didn’t help either. I didn’t dare stare at him for longer than a few heartbeats as his red eyes chilled me to the core. Somehow I thought I’d seen those eyes before.
“Gabriel, it’s nice of you to join us,” Stephan said, smiling. “I do hope you enjoyed your snack?” The one called Gabriel growled and licked his bloody hand before a crimson drop could fall.
Cannibals-?
I backed away from the three men, only managing a few steps before I felt the wall behind me. I was trapped. It was fight or flight but I didn’t much like my odds. Whether it was boldness or insanity that drove me to it, I turned to face Stephan head on.
“So?” My anger rose. “Get on with it then. End me like you ended Ric.” The men laughed, exchanging looks between them but didn’t answer me straight. They didn’t need to as another figure emerged from the fog.
“They haven’t ended me yet.” I looked up as Ric strode to Thomas’s side, standing beside them with neither shoes nor shirt, his red hair tousled messily across his head. He looked no saner than the rest of them.
“I thought they’d killed you.” My voice was quiet.
“I thought we’d scared you off.” Stephan walked up to him and slapped a hand across his shoulders. At the ball, when Stephan held me too close, it was Ric that pulled him away.
Silly girl, Ava.
“Were you planning on starting without me? This worthless little town seems ideal for this sort of sport,” he laughed, a throaty, malevolent laugh.
I couldn’t help but stare at him then. The purple ring around his pupils had doubled in size and dominated most of the blue. It was clear then how the man I’d danced with all night could be self-conscious as his razor teeth caught the moonlight. He was terrifying. My vision swayed again and something else came to light. Not long after we left the Lords’ buildings I’d started feeling off. The glass of water Ric brought me was the last thing I remembered drinking.
“Did you poison me?” I asked, bracing myself against the wall.
“Don’t worry, you won’t die…from that anyway,” he sneered. “I knew you’d be troublesome to get to this side of town without a little sedative persuasion.”
“You could have knocked me out,” I said bluntly.
“That’s a little brutish for my taste.” He picked at his nails.
“Tell that to the man with the broken neck.” I nodded to the alley behind Gabriel.
“That was Gabriel’s doing. He isn’t the most patient person when he’s hungry.” Gabriel growled beside him. “You did have me worried though. I watched you hesitate before and was convinced you would run away. That would have been the smart decision.”