by Chant, Zoe
She held her breath, not daring to move an inch.
It was just as well, because a moment later she heard the door to the conference room open, and then the sound of a man swearing.
“She’s not in there,” he called to the other man. “Must’ve gone the other way.”
Still, she didn’t hear the door close yet. Looking at Ruby, Myrtle lifted her finger to her lips.
Ruby blinked at her – and almost seemed to nod.
I guess you can understand a lot more than I give you credit for, Myrtle thought as she held her breath, frozen in place.
After a long, silent moment, Myrtle heard an exaggerated sigh, and then the door slammed shut again.
She waited, but she didn’t hear anything more. The man must have left to search for her elsewhere.
C’mon, she told herself. Move. Move.
But now that the adrenaline had worn off, paralyzing fear had begun to creep in.
What if it’s a bluff? What if he’s down there, just waiting for me to make a sound…
In the end, Myrtle had to force her limbs into action. It took more effort than anything else she’d done before in her life, fighting against every single instinct that was screaming at her to just stay where she was, curled in a nice, safe ball in the darkness.
Hector needs you, she reminded herself. Ruby needs you. You have to move.
Pulling in a deep, shuddering breath, Myrtle rolled over onto her hands and knees. It was slow going at first, but she forced herself up.
Okay. Now walk.
Moving as quietly as she could, she got to her feet, taking her fire extinguisher with her. There wasn’t enough room for her to stand upright, so she moved forward in a crouch, Ruby by her side.
It was eerie up here – dusty and dark, with ducts and wires running through it. Shafts of light rose up from vents and the occasional misplaced ceiling tile, but that was the only reason she could see more than a foot in front of her face.
“Where do you think we’re going?” Myrtle whispered to Ruby as they went along. She knew she was talking to keep her fear at bay and to stop her limbs from seizing, but still, it was working. “It’s a little hard to navigate up here, but at least we can move from room to room freely. Do you think we –”
She stopped suddenly as a sound made its way to her ears. It had only been faint, but she’d definitely heard something.
Myrtle held her breath, trying to listen.
There it was again: the sound of a woman’s voice.
Swallowing, Myrtle wondered if she ought to head away from it – the woman could have nothing to do with the goons and might even be a source of safety, but she didn’t want to risk it.
Motioning with her head to Ruby, Myrtle was about to turn back the way she’d come when another noise pulled her up short yet again.
Hector?
Myrtle felt a panicked lump rising in her throat. It had only been brief, but there was no mistaking it. That voice had been Hector’s.
She hadn’t heard what he’d said, but his voice had been harsh and ragged.
Like he’s in pain. Like he’s…
Myrtle didn’t stop to think again. Cold fear clawed at her throat, but she ignored it, moving swiftly and silently, as if guided by instinct.
The voices grew louder.
“… really not making this easy for yourself, are you?”
The woman’s voice was low, with a strange, gravelly quality to it.
“This could all be going so much better for you, not to mention your little girlfriend. I could bring her in here, if you like. Would that help you make up your mind? She’s only human, after all – quite disposable. And very delicate.”
“Fuck. You.”
Hector’s voice sounded raw, and it tore at Myrtle’s heart to hear it. Whatever was going on in the room below, it was obvious what the woman was talking about, and what she was doing.
“Language,” the woman with the gravelly voice chided, her voice dropping even lower. She was clearly in control, but Myrtle could hear the note of frustration that belied her seeming ease. “You’re really getting on my nerves now, you know. Don’t you think it’s time to drop the heroic act?”
Getting down on her hands and knees, Myrtle peered through the slats of a vent in the ceiling, and down into the room below.
She couldn’t make out much, but she could see the woman who’d been speaking. Tall, blonde, and power-suited – the kind of person she usually had to go be interviewed by twice a year to justify why the college should continue spending money to keep her employed. The woman was standing with her arms crossed over her chest, her red lips pulled down into an angry frown.
But where’s Hector?
Myrtle crawled around to the other side of the vent, trying not to let her steadily rising panic take her over.
Oh my God…
Myrtle’s breath caught when she finally saw him, seated in a chair, his face distorted by a grimace of pain. Whatever the woman had done to him, he was clearly in agony.
Myrtle’s heart thundered in her ears.
I have to stop her. I have to do something…
She had no idea whether the woman was a shifter or not, but right now she couldn’t bring herself to care. It didn’t matter. Either way, she was going to save Hector.
If I can just figure out how.
It took her several moments to realize that her fingers were clutched in a death grip around the handle of the fire extinguisher she’d dragged all this way with her – somehow, she’d forgotten she was holding it like a safety object. Taking a deep breath, she loosened her grip, easing it out of her hands.
It wasn’t much, but it was what she had. That, and the element of surprise.
Shifter or not, you won’t be expecting this, Myrtle thought, and she stood up as tall as she could, before bringing her foot, clad in its solid hiking boot, down with force on one of the flimsy ceiling tiles.
It crumbled beneath her foot, falling down into the room below in a cascade of dust and jagged fragments.
Myrtle had time to see the woman’s shocked expression before she pulled the pin on the extinguisher, aimed the nozzle, and then sent a blast of white foam directly into her face.
“What the fu–” the woman started to yell, foam coating her face and head, before Myrtle threw the empty can at her with as much force as she could muster. It hit her in the shoulder – clearly, she had too much foam in her eyes to see to duck – and Myrtle scrambled down, dropping through the hole she’d made in the ceiling and onto a table in the middle of the room.
“Myrtle!”
Hector sounded shocked, his voice still ragged, breath panting.
“You’ve got to run,” he grunted, as Myrtle jumped off the table and ran to him.
Shit, he’s strapped into the chair.
Without a moment’s pause, Myrtle tore at the restraints, yanking the buckles open. Behind her, she could hear the woman muttering and cursing, flailing around as she tried to wipe the extinguisher foam from her eyes.
“Not without you,” Myrtle told him, getting one restraint open and then tearing at the other one. “There’s no way we’re going anywhere without you.”
Her fingers fumbled and she cursed her own clumsiness, but then finally the strap came free, and Hector yanked his hand away.
“Ruby –” he started to say, a moment before she fluttered down to sit on Myrtle’s shoulder. She tossed her head, as if resenting the implication that she might not have played a very important part in his rescue.
“Meee-eh!”
“You have to get her out of here,” Hector muttered, as Myrtle slung his arm over her shoulder, pulling him upright. “They want to use her powers to – to control everything. They’ll take her if we don’t –”
“Quiet now,” Myrtle murmured.
She turned toward the door, and as she did so, a small bottle sitting on the counter next to it caught her eye.
It must have been whatever poison this woman had
given Hector, Myrtle realized. Instinctively, she grabbed it, shoving it into the pocket of her cargo shorts. It was poison treatment 101 to know what kind of poison you were dealing with, and once they got out of here she wanted Hector to be able to receive the right antidote. Treating poisons incorrectly could have deadly results.
“C’mon, let’s go,” she muttered. Together they limped toward the door.
Myrtle had no illusions that a bit of foam would hold the woman back for long, but right now, she was only thinking a few seconds ahead. Every moment, every step, counted as a win right now as far as she was concerned.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.”
Myrtle heard the woman’s exasperated voice as she and Hector made their slow way along the corridor.
“What is it with you people? Always trying to play the hero. Why can you never make life easy for yourselves?”
Myrtle frowned. An American accent?
She didn’t have time to think about it further, however, as in the next moment, Myrtle heard a shaking sound from behind her, as if something large and heavy had hit the table she’d jumped down onto.
“Fine. I didn’t want to do this, but I guess you’ve forced my hand.” The woman’s voice sounded more powerful now, almost as if she’d grown in size somehow.
Myrtle ignored her. She didn’t dare turn around – at, least, not until she heard a thunderous crashing sound. Surprise made her turn her head… and then, she kind of wished she hadn’t.
She turned just in time to see the final stage of the woman’s transformation: her human body seemed almost to evaporate, disappearing into thin air as a massive, black, scaled form erupted into existence in its place, taking out the walls to either side of it as it filled the entire space of the corridor.
Myrtle couldn’t hold back her gasp as terror seized her.
Is she a dragon??
But no. Now that her form had settled, Myrtle could see she had no wings, no legs. A long tail settled on the floor behind her, the front half of her body rearing upwards.
Not a dragon at all, Myrtle realized. What the woman was, was a monstrous black snake, staring at them with malevolent silver eyes.
Myrtle had seen some enormous snakes in her time, but nothing like this. This woman was clearly no ordinary snake. She was massive, her head reaching the ceiling, her body filling the corridor, blocking any way past her. She flickered a tongue that was easily as long as Myrtle’s arm, and just as black as her scales.
For a moment, Myrtle couldn’t breathe. Terror seared through her, but Myrtle wasn’t about to give up without a fight.
“C’mon, Hector,” she muttered, pulling him along the corridor, her fear making her shake.
If we can just find a way out of here… surely she wouldn’t go out onto the street looking like that…
Their path had been determined for them, since the other way was completely blocked by the giant snake. Myrtle paused as the corridor turned sharply, leading to a closed door. Hector pointed to it.
“There – over there.”
Myrtle trusted his judgment – but it also wasn’t as if they had a lot of choices about where to go. At the moment, she was happy to take anywhere that wasn’t here.
“I can hear the wind outside that door,” Hector muttered. “It’ll get us to a stairwell that’ll take us outside, but I don’t know how helpful that’ll be. It might –”
“Right now, we don’t have any other way out of here,” Myrtle said. “It’s a risk we’ll have to take.”
Gritting her teeth, Myrtle made for the door. Behind them, Myrtle could hear the snake hissing, the rough sound its scales made as they pressed against the walls as it moved.
She’s toying with us, Myrtle realized as they reached the door. She’s enjoying the chase.
The door was opened with a long bar that ran across its width, like an emergency exit. Myrtle pushed down with all her strength, and the door sprang open. Musty air gushed out to greet them – and sure enough, beyond the door was a small stairwell, leading upward.
Going out onto the roof didn’t seem like the best option right now, but they had nowhere else to go. She started to pull Hector into the stairwell.
“Myrtle. You go.” Hector pushed himself away from her, standing on his own two feet. “I’ll hold her off.”
“What?” Myrtle stared up at him. “Hector, no. You can barely walk. I’m not letting you –”
“I need you to get Ruby to safety,” Hector said, putting his hands on her shoulders. “She needs you – that’s the only thing that matters. She knows you. She trusts you. And she’s going to need someone to protect her.”
Why is he talking like that? Myrtle thought wildly.
“We’re both going to protect her,” she said, hearing the tremor in her own voice. “Hector, I – please don’t –”
She didn’t get out any more words as Hector leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers. Myrtle closed her eyes, digging her fingers into his arms, trying to keep him with her just one more second –
But then he broke away, his hand cupping her cheek for a moment, as he looked into her eyes.
“Go,” he whispered, before pushing her into the stairwell.
“Hector!” Myrtle turned just in time to see him grip the bar attached to the door in both hands, before he ripped it clean off, leaving the door sagging on its hinges.
It had clearly taken all of his strength – depleted by whatever the woman had done to him – but the way he wielded the pole was full of confidence as he faced down the snake slithering up the corridor toward them.
“C’mon, Cecelia,” he yelled. “Try it.”
Myrtle didn’t want to leave him, but she knew he was right about needing to get Ruby away from danger.
Her chest felt like it was filled with molten lead, but she didn’t have any choice. She could feel a hopeless sob rising in her chest. She ignored it, forcing her legs to move. She couldn’t allow herself to give in to her fear before she got Ruby to safety.
“Come on, sweetheart,” she said, forcing the words out past the tightness in her throat. “We need to –”
It seemed Ruby had other ideas. With a defiant meeh! she leapt off Myrtle’s shoulder, flying back through the destroyed door.
“Ruby!”
Myrtle dashed back down the stairs.
“Ruby! Please!”
She shoved the remains of the door aside – and gasped.
Cecilia was still in her snake form, but she had reared back, fury clear in every line of her body. Hector was standing in front of her, wielding the bar like a club as Cecelia’s head wove and bobbed.
Oh my God.
As Myrtle watched, Cecilia darted her head forward, striking at Hector again. This time, he dodged aside, bringing the bar down on the side of her head with a loud thwack. It wasn’t enough to stop her, though – although her bite didn’t land, her head still smacked into Hector’s side, slamming him into the wall.
“Hector!”
He grunted in pain, clutching his side as Cecelia hissed in outrage, rearing back, her tongue flickering, eyes crazed.
Myrtle glanced around wildly, looking for Ruby.
“Myrtle! I told you to get out of here!”
Hector’s voice sounded strained, and though he was speaking to her, his eyes never left Cecelia’s darting, weaving head.
“It’s Ruby – I don’t think she’ll go without you,” Myrtle answered. Ruby fluttered into her line of sight at last, and she reached out for her. “C’mon, Ruby, please –”
But Ruby was intent on not co-operating. She slipped out of Myrtle’s fingers, rising higher in the air.
She looked back at Myrtle, and for a moment, Myrtle could have sworn she heard the words Let me help! echo inside her head.
Whatever the case, Ruby zoomed forward, her wings beating, weaving her way toward Cecelia.
“Ruby, n–”
But it was clear that Ruby wasn’t listening. She darted forward, flying at Cecelia’s face,
front legs kicking out at her left eye. Distracted, Cecelia snaked away from Ruby to avoid her hooves. She let out an infuriated hissing sound, followed by something that Myrtle was sure were the words Why you little –
But before she could process anything else, she saw a form moving so fast it was little more than a blur leaping up toward Cecelia’s face.
Hector.
She barely had time to realize what she was seeing, before Cecelia let out an infuriated half-hiss, half-scream, and began shaking her head madly, entire body writhing and shuddering.
Staring, Myrtle realized what Hector had done – he’d jammed her mouth open with the bar from the door. Cecelia was shaking herself furiously in an attempt to dislodge it – which Myrtle supposed was a handicap of turning into something that had no limbs.
“Come on, let’s go.” Hector was by her side in a moment – and Ruby a moment after that.
Myrtle grabbed her, pulling her close to her chest.
“Don’t you ever pull a stunt like that again,” Myrtle chided her as the three of them raced up the stairwell.
Ruby, a contrite expression on her face, stayed silent – at least until Myrtle heard a Do you think I would leave without him? softly drift through her mind.
No, she answered after a moment. No, I don’t think you would at all.
They reached the top of the stairwell, only to find a padlocked door barring their way.
“Stand back,” Hector said, raising his foot, as the sound of Cecelia’s screams filled the corridor behind them.
The door gave way the third time Hector kicked it, splintering apart before flying off its hinges.
They emerged into the outside world. Myrtle could tell right away that this wasn’t the roof they’d landed on earlier. It was some kind of large outdoor patio or balcony, half paved, half covered with a rooftop garden.
