by R D Martin
“Do you hear that?” William asked, closing in on her from behind. According to the map, they should be just around the bend and a short distance from the cavern.
“What?”
“Shhh.” He put a finger to his lips and pointed up at the light.
Taking the hint, she closed her eyes and began choking off the power feeding the glowing orb. As the light dimmed, she could hear more scurrying about as creatures left their own hiding places. The scrabble of claws on concrete and the squeak of rodents made her stomach flip and sent a shudder running through her. The quicker they left here, the sooner she could scrub the dirt from this place away.
She opened her eyes as William brushed against her, trying to pass in the little room left between the wall and the icebergs of garbage. Even under the circumstances, it felt… nice. Shaking the thought from her head, she looked in the cavern’s direction. Now with Cat no longer purring against her chest, she could hear a faint noise. Though she stood in pitch-darkness, a faint light filtered through from that direction.
This time following behind William, she crept forward. The sound, so quiet and tinny at first, became clearer as she walked, resolving itself into a song. Though it was easy enough to make out the music, she couldn’t understand a single word, as if it was being sung in a language she’d never heard.
Reaching the edge of the light, the trio held themselves against the wall, trying to stay as unseen as possible. The tunnel exit, less than a dozen paces away, not only led into the cavern, but gave them a glimpse of a most extraordinary sight.
The vast cavern was lit with light so pure and warm, it was as if sunlight poured straight into the room, though whether there was a hole in the ceiling letting in the light or some spell capturing it was anyone’s guess. In the middle of the room was an island covered with verdant grass and bushes, and in its center stood a single tree, large and strong, with branches stretching so high and so wide they disappeared in the distance. A soft breeze played through the tree’s leaves, creating a hypnotic effect that made her feel drowsy. As the edge of the breeze passed the mouth of the tunnel, she caught a whiff of fresh-cut grass, of early spring and all the other scents letting the world know it was a time of rebirth after a harsh winter. The smell was so attractive it overpowered the churning stench of the fetid water she stood in.
Three women, so identical she could not tell one from another, laughed and danced around the tree with the glee of young children enjoying a day away from school. Occasionally, one of the dancing figures would reach up and caress one of the ripe purple fruit hanging from the low branches. As she did, brilliant red juice wept from the skin of the fruit, running down to coat her hand. With obvious joy and relishing the taste enough to leave a smear across her lips and face, the dancer returned to her sisters, continuing to frolic in the grass. So entranced by the scene in front of them, neither she nor William noticed when they stepped across the tunnel exit and into the cavern.
To Bella, it felt like stepping back in time. Her aches and pains disappeared and a warm blissful energy suffused every part of her. All she wanted to do was run up to the tree and play. Looking at William, she saw the same dreamy grin splitting his face as well. Without speaking, they held hands and, Cat still tucked in her arm, the two raced across the stone floor and stepped onto the green island.
As if their footfalls on the grass were an alarm, the three women stopped singing and stared at them. With the sinuous grace they’d shown dancing around the tree, the women held out their arms and sashayed forward, greeting them like long-lost friends. Dropping Cat to the grass, knowing he’d land on his feet, Bella began the climb up the steep bend. From the corner of her eye, she saw William doing the same thing, though he fell behind as his feet tripped over themselves in haste.
“Bella,” called Cat from beside her.
It sounded as though there was a hint of worry in his voice, but she pushed the thought from her mind. There was nothing to worry about here.
“Bella,” cried Cat again, louder and more insistent.
She swung her hand down to brush away his irritating noise. If her familiar couldn’t understand how happy she was, then he should just go sit somewhere out of the way and let her be. It was just so rude to—
Pain blossomed and raced across the back of her hand. Looking down, she saw four lines scored into the skin, blood already seeping to the top. Cat, her familiar and oldest friend, attacked her. Anger rose from her gut, replacing the pain she felt.
“Cat!” she hollered, turning on the animal. Its hackles were up as it hissed and yowled at the approaching woman.
“Bella. There’s something,” he started, but paused to dodge her foot as it flashed out at him from the left. He hissed, baring his fangs and digging his claws deep into the loam to maintain purchase on the steep hill. “Stop that. I’m telling you, there’s something wrong here. Can’t you smell it?”
The only thing she could smell was the grass around her and the ripe fruit dangling from the tree. Shaking her head, she turned from Cat and, slipping a few times, continued her trek up the hill.
“Listen to me,” yowled Cat, leaping into the air and crashing into her lower back, claws extended.
A spiral of pain coursed through her as the needlelike claws all dug into her back at once. With a gasp, Bella whirled around trying to dislodge the animal. In doing so, however, she lost her footing and tumbled down the hill, coming to a stop on the hard concrete below.
The pain from her fall wracked her body and ran through her head like a horse stampede, chasing away every thought in its path. She hadn’t noticed any stones in the hill on her way up, but she must have hit every one of them on the way down.
Before she could so much as think to move, Cat was back on her, hissing in her face and scrabbling at her shirt. She grabbed the feline with both hands and, holding it away from her body, stared at her struggling familiar.
“What is wrong with you?” she asked. He’d never acted like this. She could understand if he used his sharp tongue on her. That was a daily occurrence. But he’d never attacked her.
“There’s something wrong here,” he hissed, squirming in her hands. “Can’t you feel it? Can’t you see it?” Unsuccessful at extricating himself from her crushing grip, Cat opened his mouth and sunk his teeth into Bella’s arm.
With a shriek, she dropped the familiar. Cradling her bleeding hand, tears welling in her eyes, she looked between her cat as it scurried back and the island she seemed drawn to. Blinking away the haze of tears, she stepped back onto the brown grass of the island to make her way up the knoll, hoping to catch up with William before he reached the peak.
Wait, brown grass? The thought struck as loud as a gong. Staring down at the dead grass beneath her feet, she felt a sense of dread wash over her. Focusing, she stepped away, keeping her eyes on the dead area. Honing her mind on the single image, she pushed out every other distraction, every sight, sound, and smell not related to the brown spot. Taking a breath, she raised her gaze up the hill. What she saw made the air in her lungs freeze, and, try as she might, the only sound she could make was a choking, gargling squeal.
Chapter 13
As if the world turned on its head, the spring perfection drawing Bella into the cavern disappeared, replaced by something so filthy, so hideous and decaying it caused her to drop to the concrete floor of the cavern and retch. Even the aftertaste of bile on her tongue was more pleasant than what lay before her.
Instead of loam and fresh earth, the hill was composed of a gigantic pile of trash washed together from decades of storms, held together by the gnarled roots of the tree growing out of its top. The green grass and bushes faded as if they’d never been. What remained was brown and sparse, dotting small patches on the pile as it devoured whatever organic mass it could attach itself to. It was now obvious why Bella felt as if she’d hit every invisible stone on the hill, and she could not stop herself from shuddering. Poking through the uppermost layer of garbage in f
ront of her was a human skull, yellowed with age and grime. More bones jabbed through the garbage as though they wormed their way up from the depths. The way they were scattered on the hillside reminding her of the connect-the-dots games she’d played as a child.
The breeze sifting through her hair changed too. Something sweet and rotten replaced the scents of early spring. She couldn’t place the smell, but it caused the bile in her stomach to roil again, threatening to make a revisit.
The vile filth drew her gaze up the hill past William, still unaware of the true reality around him, to the tree dominating the center of the mound. Its branches were threadbare and twisted, a gross mockery of growth. The few leaves remaining were mottled and infected with a spreading black mold that, apart from the breeze circulating in the cavern, moved about on its own. Only the branches at the very top carried anything resembling green leaves, though it seemed just a matter of time before they too were consumed by the spreading black mass.
The lower branches, those thick enough to hold the weight, carried something far more disturbing than overripe fruit. From each branch, suspended by an assortment of rusted hangers and other unidentifiable debris, something once living hung. The smallest corpses were rodents, but the few larger ones mixed in could only belong to dogs or cats, strays wandering in and never leaving. Each time a woman reached up to caress the fruit, she’d gored the animals, tearing strips of raw flesh to devour. Some animals were still kicking.
Wrenching her eyes away from the tree, Bella turned her attention to William. Arms wide, he was about to embrace the closest dancer. Adding to her rising terror and confusion was the change in the women. Though they were still human in shape, the similarities ended there.
The thing appeared to be a gross mixture of human and fly. Its left eye bulged large and multifaceted, taking up the entire side of its head. Its black curtain of hair was gone save for a few strands determined to stay attached to a warped head. Its mouth was devoid of lips and instead gaped open to reveal broken jagged teeth. And while its left arm still looked human, something long and black replaced the right, covered with sharp bristles of hair. The monster’s companions were just as grotesque, though each differently.
Without considering the consequences, Bella raised her hands toward the monster about to embrace William and shouted the only fire spell she knew well. The blue-white fire engulfed her hands, causing the surrounding air to shimmer with the heat. As though made of liquid, bits of the fire dripped to the floor, causing the concrete beneath her feet to pop with its heat. One last syllable and Bella thrust her hands forward, palms facing the hideous creature. The blue-white fire flew forward, still connected to her hands, but stretching to reach the creature.
When the flame hit the monster, the screech of pain it made caused a few of the remaining leaves of the tree behind it to fall. Pushing away from William, causing him to fall backward and start rolling down the trash mound, the creature slapped at the flame. Rather than extinguishing it, however, it only spread. Before he could reach the bottom of the trash heap, it completely covered the creature. The monster’s screams were deafening as bits of flesh blackened, cracked, and were consumed by the magic fire.
At the bottom of the hill, William sat up groaning, and Bella could see his confusion at witnessing the woman he’d been about to embrace engulphed in fire. Before he could do anything to stop the burning, Bella tackled him, bouncing his head off the concrete floor.
Rolling, he forced her off him and struggled to his feet. Scowling, he reached into his shirt collar and pulled out a necklace on a silver chain. The chain held a few assorted icons attached to it. Selecting one, he muttered a quick spell, and it was his turn to stare horror-struck.
“Myias Flies,” he shouted, dancing back from the hill. Raising his hands, he summoned his own fire to throw at the creatures above.
Unlike the fire she’d used, his was a green-white and flew in spurts rather than streams. It didn’t look as though he was aiming only at the creatures, instead trying to burn them and the hill. Taking that as her cue, she repeated her spell, waving her hands back and forth as she tried to cover as much area as possible. The mixing blue and green flames grew as they consumed the mound and everything on it.
Bella’s stomach did flips as she listened to their screams. Creatures of darkness she’d never thought she’d run into, Myias Flies were the children of demons, born in unholy rituals and sent to torment anything living. They lived off death and decay, reveling in the pain and suffering they caused. Myias Flies were hated by creatures of both light and darkness. Even dark fae would destroy a nest of them if given the opportunity, but judging by the tree, this nest was a decade old at least.
Bella’s spell sputtered and died as it consumed the last of her energy. Smoke from the burning trash gathered thick and dark at the ceiling while the tree burned with an oily yellow light as though even the fire was disgusted by touching it. With smoke billowing around them, choking off the little clean air left, Bella and William staggered away from the burning hill.
Stepping into the fetid water of the tunnel was almost a relief. Even knowing the verdant hill in the cavern had been an illusion didn’t lessen her desire to return to it. Only the heat of the fire consuming everything in its wake kept her from going back. With the last shrieking echo of the Myias Flies fading from existence, the spell holding on to them broke. Turning away, determined to keep the last of her lunch in place, she looked down for Cat. Even with black fur, his graceful outline should have been easy to see in the dark.
“Cat?” Bella called. “Cat!” Fear gripped her heart with icy tendrils colder than any she’d experienced so far. “Cat!”
Turning around, she stepped toward the cavern opening, stopping a black streak racing through the light and barreling into her chest, knocking her to the floor. The brackish water beneath her splashed, soaking her clothes and hair.
Clutching the fur ball to her chest, she ignored everything around her as she held the cat tight. For a moment, just a split second, she thought she’d lost him. Scarier than the Myias Flies, scarier than even Ronnie, the thought of losing him was almost world-shattering. He’d been with her since she was a child and she refused to give him up.
As the foul water of the tunnel soaked into her clothes, petting Cat as much to comfort herself as him, she noticed something clenched in the feline’s jaws reflecting the light of the fire. As she grasped it, her mind flooded with an overwhelming sense of age and power. Every fiber of her being, every cell and nerve stood on end as energy rushed through her. Gasping at the invasion of her very core, she released the object, letting it clatter against the rounded tunnel wall and into the brackish water.
“What did you do that for?” Cat admonished. There was a definite note of annoyance in his voice. “We come all the way here, not even bringing any snacks, mind you. I help you get in, lead you through the mire of this place, and even rescue you from those, those things back there, and you drop your prize in the water? Of all the ungrateful… Well, I’m not going in after it. You two would have forgotten all about it if it wasn’t for me. Probably left and let someone else come in and take it. Well, I say nuts to that. You can get it yourself. Besides, I don’t like water and you know it. It’s going to be bad enough getting myself clean after this mess. You owe me, you know. Hey! Are you listening?”
Bella interrupted Cat’s tirade as she squeezed him tighter. He was right about one thing, though, cleaning up after this would not be easy. It was a shame, Bella thought as she stood up, there was no way to scrub what she’d seen from her mind as well.
Letting William comb through the dirty water, Bella summoned a ball of light and started picking her way through the tunnel, avoiding as much of the floating trash as possible as she headed toward the exit and, more importantly, a shower.
Chapter 14
Bella had barely finished zipping up the back of her evening gown when the sigil embedded in the back of her hand began to itch. At first the
itch was hardly noticeable, something small and taken care of. Soon however, the itching intensified to where it felt as though the mark was trying to burrow its way through her. Grasping her wrist, gritting her teeth hard against the pain, she watched the sigil blaze with a light of its own as though to remind her of the promise she’d made the Sea Hag. As the pain subsided, she found herself on her knees gasping for breath. If this was a gentle reminder, she thought as she took deep breaths to calm herself, she didn’t want to know what the Hag could do when she was mad.
Pulling herself together, she made her way to the living room where William was waiting, dressed in a fitted tuxedo that demanded respect. Pain in her hand forgotten, a wolfish grin spread across her face. Staring at William, she couldn’t quite push down the butterflies invading her stomach. He looked so much better now than when they’d first returned to her apartment.
To call her arrival home after their adventure at the aqueduct an embarrassing experience would understate it by orders of magnitude. With nothing to clean themselves with in William’s car, they trudged through her apartment lobby dripping wet, covered in ash, and leaving a trail of stinking water behind them. At almost any other time of the year, they could have made it through the building undetected, but the building super along with some resident volunteers were preparing the building for the annual Halloween party being held in two days.
