The Mountain - XIV

XIV.

                The stairwell lead to an abandoned subway section. Erika had a vague idea about the failed project. She moved forward in the dark training her ears to listen for movement. She hadn’t been too far behind the man she followed down the stairs but she was sure he had heard the gunshots and made haste to where he meant to go. Thankfully for her in the search there weren’t too many side paths. All areas lead to dead ends with no large expansive rooms so she kept her search to the main shaft extending into the dark. She had a small flashlight she used to guide her but kept to the walls and made sure not to shine it too far ahead. She didn’t want to give away her position if she could help it. She kept her gun cocked and ready as she advanced. Ahead of her she could hear water dripping and a faint echo of movement but it sounded like rats scurrying and less like a man carrying something heavy. She hoped that Angela and Greed were close behind as her heart started to race.

                The deeper she got the more frightened she became. The idea of confronting the Butcher was one thing, the prospect of finding the Enigma was wholly another. That gave her more pause than anything else. She had nothing to fight him with, if indeed it came to pass his summoning. Though she couldn’t stop now. If anything she could try to destroy the body and hope and pray the Butcher wasn’t successful.

                The tunnel narrowed as it came to an end. On either side were doors the one on the left led to a ladder presumably extending to the surface as a workman’s portal. The other led to a hallway. Composing herself Erika advanced down the hallway taking it slow. After a few yards of weaving corridors she started to hear something aside from her own blood pounding in her ears. It sounded like two people struggling and muffled voices. Erika could see a faint light coming from the area up ahead. She turned off her flashlight and moved up slowly.

                Angela helped Greed down the stairs and deeper into the subway.

                “Damn shame this never got finished.” Greed commented with heavy breaths. Angela could tell that he was less than able to hold himself up by his own will, though she knew he would protest being left behind. She had to shoulder his burden silently and hope that when time came he could muster up some strength.

                “Maybe if it was we wouldn’t be crawling through it right now looking for a murderer.”

                “In a perfect world.” Greed chuckled.

                They traversed the dark in silence from the stairs only stopping if Greed needed a breather. He didn’t apologize for making them stop, Angela assumed it was out of pride. She didn’t mind. Frankly she was glad she wasn’t there alone. She could only imagine how Erika felt.

                Like the road above there was an oppressive feeling in the air that Angela couldn’t shake. Aside from the musty smell the air was close with negativity. She could feel it on her skin and it made her lungs hurt. Greed would point to a door or offshoot but Angela could sense where they needed to go was farther down. She dragged him until they reached the end. Two doors one leading up with a ladder and one leading deeper in. She looked at the ladder and stared at Greed through the flame flickering from his lighter used for light.

                They shared a look and he insisted with his eyes that he would and could carry on. She didn’t protest his decision not to leave her but gave him one last look tell him that it was okay if he wanted to escape.

                “Let’s go.” He said sternly. He stepped away from Angela and put his weight against the wall and moved down the hallway. She took a deep breath and advanced with him.

                Greed grimaced with each step he took. He felt the bandage grow moist with blood. The stitches he had were opened and he clenched his side willing his blood to stay in his body. He didn’t say anything to Angela who followed close behind him. They were close, he could feel it. The light from a room ahead was faint but bright enough to guide his steps. He returned his lighter to his pocket and crept forward. There was a silence beyond, it unnerved him. All the way up the abandoned tunnel they heard rats and dripping water, now he heard nothing. It was as if the air had been sucked from the next room and all life with it. If Erika was in there she was surely in danger.

                Angela came up behind him with a hand on his back and nodded in the low light. Guns raised the crept inside.

                The first thing that caught Greed’s sight was the ravaged body of a man sitting up against a wall. Greed was about to gasp when Angela wrapped her hands around his mouth and pulled him aside into the shadows. Across the large room, what looked like a room intended as a power station, stood a man before a corpse set up. From here Greed could see it was made from pieces not a whole untainted body. It made him shutter to see how the pieces were fused and sutured together. The skin where the parts were melded contrasted in hue and the skin was stained with blood. Greed had half a mind to wretch and half a mind to jump out and stop the man from poking and prodding it.

                Sensing his intention Angela pulled his face to the side and shook her head dissuading him from movement. Then she pointed into a shadow on the other side of the room. Greed squinted and could see Erika there staring them down holding her finger to her mouth. Greed nodded. Erika held up a hand and started to count down.

                Greed felt sweat start to bead down on his brow as her fingers fell. He held up his gun and steadied his breathing. Angela blinked a few times and steadied herself.

                As the last finger fell into a fist Erika, Angela, and Greed shot out of the shadows to surround the Butcher.

                “Don’t fucking move!” Greed shouted. With that the Butcher put up his bloodied hands. Greed finally got a second to scan the room and saw that symbols were drawn all over reminiscent of the ones in the cell of the surgeon. There was a sickening familiarity to it. The three of them spaced out to cover all sides.

                “You’re too late.” The Butcher spoke.

                Erika and Angela shared a look and moved in closer. Before they could react, the Butcher spun and slammed his hand down on the symbol at their feet. In an instant there was a flash of light and the sound of the man laughing.  

                Erika covered her eyes as the room flashed with light. Then she covered her ears as the room filled with sound. A loud rumbling and a shriek that made it hard for hear Angela and Greed screaming. The Butcher’s laugh could faintly be heard as the sound increased in intensity. The light started to subside and that’s when she saw it. The body that was hanging against the wall started to shake violently. The eyes started to shine with light and the outline was drawn with a bright light. The shrieking was coming from the flesh that was flailing. Erika pulled her gun up and shot a few rounds into the flesh but there was no effect. She looked around the room and saw Angela screaming at her to move. Greed was crawling away holding his side. The Butcher was kneeling before the body arms raised laughing maniacally as the body started to move its parts in a vague human like fashion.

                We have to leave now. Is what Erika read from Angela’s lips.

                “We have to destroy it!” Erika screamed back not sure if Angela could hear her. Erika moved closer with her gun to go for the head of the creature. It started to break free from the bonds that kept it strung up. The flaps of barely attached flesh danced as the energy of the soul attempting to inhabit it cascaded in waves. Erika felt like she was moving against ocean waves as energy pulsed from the flesh. She held up her gun with both hands, ears bleeding from the sound as she pulled the trigger at the creatures temple.

                A shot rang out and Erika felt her hands forced above her. The creature had its hand around the gun holding it up. She missed her shot. With hollow eye sockets the face looked upon her. The jaw, attached hastily hung lazily, and the creature needed to hold it up to speak.

                “No use.” The voice spoke with the withered and severed vocal chords of the woman who’s head and neck it was but the voice also emanated from elsewhere, as if it didn’t need the parts to speak properly. It sounded as of a woman, and man, and something else entirely.

                Erika’s blood was turned to ice as the creature stared her down with no eyes yet seeing her through and through. Another few shorts rang out as Angela unloaded her weapon. The bullets embedded themselves to no effect in the spoiled flesh.

                “Let go of me, abomination.” Erika spat.

                Without hesitation the creature obliged and Erika backed up to the wall gun still raised thought it seemed it was useless against it.

                The creature trained its attention onto the man kneeling before it.

                “You created this vessel?” the creature spoke again in the mish mash of voices.

                The Butcher nodded.

                “You were the one I’ve been speaking to in dreams?”

                The Butcher nodded again.

                “I thank you.” With that the creature patted the Butcher on the head and attempted a smile wit the broken jaw.

                “What are you going to do?” Erika asked frantically.

                The creature glanced her way with the same broken smile.

                “You’ll have to wait and see.” And with that the creature snapped its fingers and the air started to move violently as if they had stepped into a tornado. Through squinting eyes Erika saw the air warp behind the creature who stepped backwards and seemingly disappear. In an instant the creature was gone and the air calmed. Erika fell to the ground in a heap tears cascading down her face. Angela ran to her side and Greed moved to secure the Butcher who was still laughing quietly hunched over.

                “What do we do now?” Angela asked as Erika heaved and cried.

                “I don’t know.” Erika huffed. She couldn’t shake the sheer dread from her flesh as the image of that thing burned itself into her brain. No books, no stories, nothing could have prepared her for that. Now the Enigma was out there somewhere and they were fucked.

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