“I-I thought it was going to choose me,” a voice finally rises into the tense quiet.
Pierce looks at Lance. What fear had been there is now gone.
“They wouldn’t take you.”
“How … how do you know?”
“I just know. They wouldn’t take me, and they wouldn’t take you. We’re too important.”
Lance gives a shaky nod, one that does not belie conviction. Pierce looks about the area, sensing the dwindling shock. What hope have they? They are used to being mixed in the shit of this world. They’d all sell their souls for a way out.
*****
They’ve finally arrived at Scholomance.
Their presence proves impressive, and Lilja is again taken at how much influence the Felrafts seem to have. The only reason she has not grown used to it in the time she has known them is due to how rarely they make such overt shows of it.
Nearly a dozen of them are here, and they have brought equipment. They managed to get all of this in-country and secure approval from the local government to thoroughly ‘study’ the historical grounds. What’s more, the authorities have only sent one person to accompany them, and the man, Mihai Ungur, seems well out of his league.
He stands aside, eyes darting about as he watches the Felcrafts unpack. He gives a slight flinch when he first sees weapons, but he knows the permits are in place. He has been tasked with menial observation, told in no uncertain terms to stay out of the way unless they commit serious violations. He is not even entirely sure why they are here, but his mind is merely occupied with making it through this.
“Mr. Ungur!” calls out a voice, and the delegate turns to see the approach of David Felcraft, a smile on his face. He clasps the man on the shoulder. “Everything is coming along just fine.”
“Yes, but-”
“I want you to meet someone.” David beckons, and a pretty blond woman approaches, her hair long and straight, her eyes a bright blue. “Mihai Ungur, meet my cousin, Kim Felcraft.”
“Ah. Oh, yes. Nice to meet you.”
“A pleasure,” Kim replies, her voice honeyed with its American accent. She gives the man a bright smile.
“Kim is going to keep you company while we do our business. She’s happy to answer any questions you have. Is that okay?”
Mihai looks between them both. He blinks somewhat rapidly. “Oh, well, yes, that seems fine.”
“Wonderful!” David walks off, noting as his relative steps in a touch closer, immediately engaging the man in casual conversation. He quickly gains Skot’s side, noting as his cousin observes the new pairing. “Kim’ll keep him busy.”
“I doubt she was even needed,” Skot assesses.
David gives a nod.
“We’ll have two teams,” Skot begins, and though David knows most of this, he snaps to more focus. “I’ll lead the first team, Alpha, and you’ll lead the second, Bravo. Lilja will be with you. Zoe will be with me.”
David nods, realizing the wisdom of this. There will be other Hunters along with them, of course, but none of them possess the same strength of abilities. They are fitted with communication devices. Some will also stay behind to handle monitoring and tracking. The main expectation is that they will find nothing, or at most, perhaps something mundane that may prove suitable for a museum. This place has been explored before. They have also experienced unexpected Infernal presence in seemingly unlikely areas, so full precautions are being taken.
There is one, though, who still thinks it is a trap.
Zoe looks across the way at Lilja. The redhead appears as calm and collected as ever. Quiet, too. She is not at Skot’s side, but the proximity is undeniable. Both young women display a veritable arsenal – Zoe with her slung shotgun, machete, and sidearm; Lilja carrying her G36C, katana, and pistol.
Zoe thinks back to their stint at the Barrington house. This all started there – the easily found “hidden” closet, the word, finding a trail that had always been waiting, Lilja’s upside-down shadow, and the possessed mannequin that called out to her. The young Hunter cannot recall a time when the Infernal showed such abilities. Still, she assumes that if such a thing were more common or known, it would have been dismissed. This all leads her to think they are walking into some trap, and Lilja is the bait.
Suitably kitted and briefed, the two teams head out.
The courtyard shows its age, the small island here on the lake being taken over by the ruins of the structure. Grass grows up between cobblestones, some areas showing a complete lack of the carefully placed rock. What had been found inside before generally suggests this place did once hold purpose as a school or library, but no convincing records exist. It could well have been some wealthy nobleman’s island retreat, though what is left does not seem to fit the idea of a residence. Still, it is all conjecture.
Once up the wide staircase, they are presented with their first choice. Two paths lead inside. “We’ll take right,” Skot says.
The two four person teams split. Skot spares a glance toward Lilja, but she is focused on the mission. His squad heads inside, finding themselves in a large, dusty room. Remnants of furniture occupy the edges, though some spare and broken pieces of wood have become litter on the floor. Sunlight gets in through one sizable window, the thin wood covering so splintered and worn as to provide little shielding at all. The solar rays catch clouds of floating particles, more rising as they make their way further along.
A quick examination of the furniture shows nothing of interest. Whatever once resided in these cabinets and cases is long gone, nothing inside or atop them. Two of the team members are snapping photos, but Zoe is keeping a sharp eye for threats. She drifts into her keener sense, but nothing suspicious shows.
The room gives way to a short staircase, turning ninety degrees and rising to an elevated portion of the floor. A silent assent is given by Skot and one of the other two Hunters takes advantage of the dilapidated state of the room to investigate beneath the raised area. The tactical light of his weapon shines within, revealing little more than dust and cobwebs. The place has been plumbed.
“HQ, this is Bravo Three. We have a situation.”
Everyone pauses. Skot recognizes the voice on the com, and it is not David’s.
“Roger, Bravo Three. Situation?”
“It’s David and Lilja …”
Tense moments pass. They’ve all been trained in radio communication, but Skot can sense the anxiety veritably dripping from the other Hunter’s words. He knows the people back outside are waiting as tersely as he, wanting to hear the rest but fearful of interrupting the frequency.
“Bravo Three, this is HQ. Repeat.”
“They’re gone! They just disappeared.”
All eyes of the team look at Skot. No one is moving.
“Bravo Three, say again.”
“David and Lilja are gone. I say again: gone.”
“Bravo Three, this is Alpha One. We’re en route,” Skot interjects. When he heads out, they all follow.
Their movement is much quicker now, footsteps bringing up clouds of dust. They backtrack in seconds, through the edge of the courtyard and the other door. Two members of Bravo team await them, both carrying etchings of worry upon their skin. A quick glance around indeed shows no one else.
Skot approaches Curtis, one of the two left from Bravo. Tension boils deep, threatening to rise, but Skot suppresses it. He speaks in a calm tone: “Curtis, tell me what happened.”
“We were just walking in, moving slow, checking things out, and then they disappeared.”
Skot moves his eyes in a quick examination of the hallway. Unlike the chamber they found going right, this route has produced a wide passageway. It arches at the top, showing a smooth curve, the walls once lined in a firmer stone now showing their age.
“They went that way?” he asks, indicating with a nod of his head.
“Yes, yes.”
Skot gives a look to Zoe, then continues down the hallway. The others follow, taking up pos
itions.
“David? Lilja? Do you copy?” he tries, but he knows they won’t answer. If able, they’d transmit.
They move carefully, eyes constantly on the move. He knows he’s never encountered anything like this before, and he can’t recall ever reading of anything like this. How could they just disappear?
It takes him a moment to realize it, for Zoe is still there near him, but he looks back, and they are alone.
“Zoe?”
“Yeah?”
He motions with his head toward the way they came. She looks back, stopping, blinking as her head rises on stiffening spine.
“What the Hell? Where did everyone go?”
“Where did we go?”
She looks at him then turns back, staring down the hallway, reaching inside for that extra sense to her perception. “There’s something there.”
He peers, setting his own studied gaze on that throat-liked walkway. He mutters, speaking words in a secret language, bringing up his left hand to articulate the required gestures.
It bleeds in like oily water reflecting light, the edges like a dark halo, tendrils wafting about upon their own air. The center shimmers as though a bubble caught in a framework.
“A gateway.”
“How did we miss that?” Zoe asks. “And-” she cranes her head about, grip tightening on her weapon. “Are we in the Infernal Realm?”
“I don’t think so,” he slowly replies, also giving the normal-seeming walkway a renewed inspection. “HQ, this is Alpha One. Come in.”
Nothing.
“HQ, this is Alpha One. Do you copy?”
“Skot?” a different voice responds.
“Lilja? Is that you?”
“Yes, it’s Lilja. Where are you? We lost contact for a time. Over.”
“We came to find you, but we’re lost now, too.”
“What? Can you repeat that?”
“We need to rendezvous.”
“Acknowledged. We’re back-tracking. Hold your position. Bravo Two out.”
Mere moments later, they hear the sounds and then David and Lilja appear coming up the hallway.
“We’re not sure what happened, but it’s good to see you,” David says, giving a smile.
“What’s that?” Lilja asks.
“A gateway.” Skot experiences a fleeting sense of déjà vu, hearkening back to the time he discovered Lilja was the vigilante.
“So, that’s how we got here,” David concludes.
“Where’s ‘here’?” Zoe inserts.
Skot looks around then back to find all eyes on him. “I’m not sure, but this looks like the hallway we started in. What did you two find?”
David gives a perfunctory shrug. “Looks like the remains of a building.”
“Not exactly.”
All eyes go to Lilja.
“Look,” she says, gesturing to the walls. “It’s not all dusty and worn.”
Skot nods, walking over, daring to place a hand on the stone. “You’re right.”
When he turns back, the team is again focused on him, waiting, wondering.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but we need to find out if that gateway will allow us to return. They’re back there scrambling and worried right now, just like we were when you two first went off the radar.”
They all eventually nod, though he can clearly see the reluctance. This feels unprecedented, and they all want to explore.
“Right. We need to be sure we can return, then we can set up-” David begins.
“No.” Skot halts him. “Just see if you can get back. Let them know we’re alright.”
David nods.
“And I want to be sure you’re alright, so once you do that, come back to us.”
David gives another nod, terse, confident, then heads back toward the gateway.
They all watch, collective breath held. He gets to the shimmering portal, as though the gently waving surface of a lake held on its side, and he moves through, disappearing.
Silence as they wait. Thoughts rumble through all of them. Where are they? Can they get back? What else is down the hall? Very little time passes before David returns.
“It worked.”
David nods to Skot. “Sorry I took so long. Things are pretty chaotic, but I got them all to calm down. They didn’t like me coming back, figured we should all go back and plan better, but I told them what you said.”
“Could you see the gate from the other side?”
David shakes his head. “No. Still invisible. But I explained it to them and told them to hang tight on their side.”
“Good. Alright, let’s see what else we can find. Zoe, take point.”
The young Huntress nods, moving out. The others quickly follow. Skot pauses to examine the walls. He looks over to find Lilja staring at him.
“I’m coming,” he says.
They move further down the hall to find themselves in a spacious room. Much of the walls here are occupied by recessed bookcases, though they are empty. There is only one other avenue out - a large staircase heading down. The broad steps are covered by a dark fabric running up the middle, the sides and railing looking polished and pristine.
“There’s something down there.”
“What?” Skot looks over to Zoe as the quartet holds place at the top.
“I’m sensing something. It’s faint, but it’s there.”
“Infernal,” David comments.
“Stay sharp,” Lilja offers, her eyes scanning what they may.
Skot gives a nod to Zoe, and she proceeds down. They all follow, David, keeping to the rear. Everyone keenly observes, though the light here proves none too terribly bright, showing up within strange colors as though diffused through pale, stained glass. There is little noise or scent.
“This is not our world. Expect anything,” Skot advises, and though no one falters, a weight descends.
Zoe gets to the end of the steps, heading right into a large chamber. There are more empty bookcases. The room shows a recessed floor in its center. Though everything feels odd, it does not seem like another plane of existence. This is nothing like Skot thought the Infernal Realm would be, and considering David made it back safely, this does not fit with what little information they have on Hunters who went through gateways. Everything seems too still, as though a model or something artificial.
“Is this a replica?”
“What?” Zoe halts, looking back.
Lilja also sets her eyes on her boyfriend. He returns her gaze.
“What if we had kept going back there and missed the gateway?” he posits. “Not even all of us went through. Is it like this back there only showing its age?”
“I thought something like that,” Lilja says.
“The walls,” he mentions, and she nods in return.
“What do you mean?” David asks, his own wrinkled brow belying his confusion.
“I’m not sure,” Skot admits. “It’s a theory, but this looks like it could be the school, but it also doesn’t look old enough, and we know we went through a gateway.”
“We don’t know what happens when someone goes through a gateway,” Zoe says. “Only demons use them.”
They all hold position for a moment, the stale air suddenly thick with tension. Skot finally looks toward the only way left to go – a rectangular opening in one wall.
“Let’s keep going.”
They are not even all in the room when a loud explosion rocks them, as though an artillery shell landing nearby.
They immediately go into action, crouching or dropping completely to the ground, returning fire in the direction the attacks seems to come from. There is no furniture in the room, but several large concrete blocks hold place, as though caskets covered in simplicity or smooth stone grown from the very floor.
Zoe rushes forward, hiding behind one, squatting low, peering. She sees it, something there, unleashing a barrage of magick unto them. She points her shotgun around from the covering, firing blindly. Skot had bee
n a few steps inside, and he dashes to safety.
David rushes in, also heading to a source of cover, unloading his rifle in three round bursts. Lilja steps in calmly, legs bent to make her less of a target as well as to stabilize. She moves in a steady line, her compact assault rifle tucked in tight to her shoulder as she squeezes off precise shots. The air is a riot, filled with the amber tracers of their bullets, but there is something else. She sees it and holds fire.
Whatever the thing is that is ambushing them, it has projected a shield. The air coils with energy, the large, disc-shaped manifestation alive with a whirling of bright light, and the shots of theirs which might hit the target instead ricochet away. The averted bullets find the walls, creating marks and lines as they crack and hiss and kick up dust.
“Shit!” Zoe curses, ducking down, realizing that they are likely making things worse by shooting the magical projection.
She is not the only who comes to this conclusion, and the thing takes advantage of the lull to unleash another attack of its own, bolts of seeming fire lobbing out, raining destruction where they fall. Skot stays huddled back, but his mind races with what they are facing. He cannot recall any demon that displayed such powers, and he has scoured their records more than once.
David sights in, all four having taken various positions throughout the room to better effect attack and defense. He spies the thing, and it shows a vaguely humanoid shape. This does not concern him in the least, and he squeezes the trigger of his M4 carbine. It happens in a split instant, but the thing turns to him just as he pulls, as though sensing the attack, and it shifts the spiraling shield to block the incoming bullet.
The thing is not quiet, either, giving up its own grunts and retorts as of common sounds of combat. The room is immersed in a cacophony, but Skot hears something, something off. He angles his head, trying to pick those sounds apart from the rest.
Lilja is silent, and she creeps about, having slipped and dashed to the far side of the large chamber. Her rifle is now strapped tightly to her torso, and she carries her katana at the ready. She is bare meters from the thing and also notes the shape. It reminds her of any number of demon-possessed humans she has faced, though it seems larger, somewhat distorted. She wonders if it is another powerful skin wearer. It still bothers her to kill humans in the throes of such control. Still, a threat is a threat. Having gained enough proximity, she lunges.
Soul of the Butterfly Page 11
