Author's Note: This chapter got a lot longer than I was expecting it to, hence the wait. Hopefully no one will complain too much about that, right?
Edit: Now beta-ed, thanks to Deepsoul.
Chapter 7 - Dark Water
It felt like only seconds had passed between Alyssa's head hitting the pillow and her sudden shock into wakefulness. The twisted sheets felt like cold, clammy hands clawing at her limbs, and she disgustedly kicked them away and tried to recall where she'd left her armor the night before.
Another Entity. Was that normal? She'd been attacked only on the day of her birthday – one long, horror filled night – not on any of the days leading up to it, but then, if she stopped to think about it, she remembered a number of restless, sleepless nights leading up to that day. She'd thought it was simple homesickness, but maybe the Entities had been calling to her then, taunting her with the knowledge of her birthright. She almost considered asking Janine about it before remembering the commotion at dinner.
Janine had been declared overtired by the Baroness, and had retired quietly to her room for the rest of the evening with the rest of the family making sympathetic, nodding motions and continuing on as if nothing had happened. Alyssa wasn't sure what to believe, but even Marcus had deftly deflected her questions as he tried to coerce her into another dance. Alyssa had swiftly departed the party herself after that, her thoughts jumbling exhaustingly inside her head in a way that should have kept her tossing and turning for hours, but surprisingly she must have fallen asleep almost instantly. She appreciated the extra rest, because it seemed she was going to need it.
There was no one in the main room when she emerged, and she hovered indecisively for a moment. On one hand, the portal square in the attic above seemed to be resonating in time with her pulse. She knew how to activate it, and one part of her was almost eager to join the hunt immediately, righteousness and confidence mingling with fear and anticipation. On the other hand, it wasn't her house, and not her place to make those decisions. She had better at least inform Janine.
Her hand was poised to knock on the older girl's bedroom door when a voice snapped at her. "What do you think you're doing?"
Nadine looked a little rumpled, her eyes still smudged with makeup, and frayed strands of hair breaking away from her braid, but she managed enough dignity to glare at Alyssa ferociously. Alyssa was almost tempted to take a step back from the poison in that expression. "I was just-"
"Didn't you see my sister at dinner?" Nadine asked. "She's not well. Just leave her be."
"But the Entity-"
"Do you really think she's up for a hunt?" Nadine said, her voice rising with outrage. "Are you trying to get her killed?"
"No!" Alyssa retorted, wondering where this unexpected fury was coming from. She'd almost started to think that she and Nadine might actually get along, but the other girl's tone made her want to respond in kind. She wasn't stupid, and she didn't like the insult in Nadine's accusation. Janine obviously had seniority here, and if nothing else she should know what was going on.
"I can find the Entity myself," Nadine informed her. "I don't need Janine, and I don't need you."
"Don't be ridiculous, Nadine," Marcus called wearily from his own doorway. "We have to go together. You know the rules."
"My birthday is in two days," Nadine said, squaring her shoulders fiercely. "I can do this without help. Janine-"
"Still needs to be told," Marcus interrupted, holding his sister's gaze sternly which only made her indignant.
"So you're siding with her?" Nadine sneered, jerking her head in Alyssa's direction. "I should have known. You're only thinking about-"
"Enough!" he said, glaring back at his sister heatedly. There was an odd pressure in the air. Both of them seemed to be pushing out with whatever unseen powers they had, struggling for some kind of unfathomable victory.
Once again Alyssa had that sense of secrets passing unspoken, and had a feeling they had something to do with herself, but neither of the Bevelle's actions offered her any insight. Finally Marcus broke the stalemate. "We have to tell her. She can decide for herself if she's able to come or not."
Nadine crossed her arms unhappily, but conceded. "Fine."
"I'll wake her," he said, stepping cautiously between Alyssa and Nadine. "This will only take a minute."
He knocked quietly before entering Janine's room, leaving the two girls to glare at each other resentfully, though Alyssa's feelings were more bewildered. She wanted to ask Nadine why she was acting this way, but was wary of provoking the younger girl's temper. It seemed ridiculous that they were fighting amongst themselves when they were about to face an unknown Subordinate.
When Marcus emerged, Janine was with him, looking waner than before. Her lips were nearly bloodless, and her complexion made it seem as though she had an awful, oncoming case of the flu. She was also wearing her armor, and both Alyssa and Nadine immediately protested.
"You shouldn't be out of bed. Marcus, why did you-?"
"You don't look well, Janine," Alyssa said more tenuously. "Are you sure-"
"I'm fine," Janine said, sounding a little short herself, and that was enough to silence them both instantly. "Neither of you should even think of going out alone. Alyssa, you are our guest, and it's our duty to keep you safe. Nadine…" She gave her sister a look that spoke volumes. "You know the risks, and you know what Mother told us. I have to stay with you every time you go out, remember?"
Nadine squirmed uneasily, and despite her unhealthy pallor, Janine still had a commanding presence. "No one goes alone. Are we all clear on that?"
"Yes," they both mumbled, suitably chastened. Alyssa felt bad for that brief moment she'd considered going by herself, although she was now more worried about Janine than Nadine. A glance in the younger girl's direction suggested that a temporary truce was in order. Neither of them wanted to see Janine forced to run or fight in the condition she was in.
"Then let's go upstairs." Janine made a silent summoning motion with her hand, and Ralph teleported in beside her, bowing sardonically.
"Another midnight foray? How lucky." His lowered eyes slid unerringly to Alyssa, and it seemed his smirk was only for her. "Looks like we'll have that party after all."
She might have found his sly comment more amusing if he hadn't looked even worse than he had earlier that evening. The bones of his hands were an almost skeletal thinness, and standing next to Janine there was an unnerving similarity. The same lack of color, the same unsteadiness…but Ralph was not truly alive. He couldn't get sick and Alyssa didn't think he tired in quite the same way, so what was wrong with them?
None of the Bevelle's commented at all on Ralph's appearance, assuming they even noticed, and Alyssa's jaw clenched silently in frustration. Even if she found an opportunity to ask, she doubted anyone would tell her anything. Not even Ralph. Perhaps especially not him.
The worst part of the teleport was not the dizzy feeling of abruptly shifting locations. or the shivery feeling of magic. It was the sudden plunge into darkness, and those first harrowing seconds before her eyes adjusted to the new light, when she knew nothing about her surroundings and an attack could come from anywhere. Alyssa blinked rapidly, glad that she could hear the shift of Marcus's robes and Janine's heavy breathing at her back because she couldn't actually see them.
Without sight she strained her other senses for clues and nearly gagged at the smell. A fetid, slimy stench that reminded her of the sewer Corroder had chased her through. Like corpses rotting in water. She tried not to think about it, but even the air was damp and clammy, and she could hear the trickling and splashing of water that was somehow below and around her. A few cold drops rained from above and she knew it wasn't rain.
"What is this place?" Nadine asked in a hushed voice, taking an uncertain step, making the metal beneath her shoes ring. Alyssa was only just starting to be able to see through the murky shadows, but they seemed to be on some kind of platform. It wasn't very large, barely able to contain the size of the Portal. She groped blindly and found the soft glint of light near her waist was a railing, but it trembled at her touch. She wouldn't trust her life to it.
"I'm not sure," Janine replied, looking around. "It feels large in here. Some kind of factory?"
It wasn't quite like anything Alyssa had ever seen. Peering over the edge she could see the ripple of water just a few feet below. She felt around her side of the platform a little more. "There's a walkway over here."
"And here too," Nadine said from some place over to Alyssa's right. "But I can't tell where it goes."
"I could make some light," Marcus offered.
"It might draw the Entity right to us," Janine said, sounding uneasy. "I don't like this. There's not much room to maneuver and this ground doesn't feel very stable. We should find some place more solid."
Alyssa was all too happy to agree. "I think there's more light in this direction. Let me go first."
Nadine muttered something indecipherable under her breath which Alyssa pretended not to notice. She needed her concentration to focus on her footing. Janine was right; the platform didn't seem to appreciate the sudden weight it was forced to support, and the thin walkway was even worse. It swayed drunkenly, forcing her to grip the fragile rail against her better judgment. She could only take slow, inching steps, spurred on by Nadine's silent impatience and her own anxiousness at being uncertainly suspended over the faceless water. Ahead, though she could barely make it out in the gloom, a weak beam of light illuminated her salvation. "I think there's another platform up here-"
She shouldn't have spoken, because her voice seemed to break the precarious equilibrium she'd achieved, and the walkway suddenly screeched and shuddered, dropping unexpectedly as the path behind her gave way. Alyssa shrieked as freezing water climbed up to her knees, but driven by instinct she dragged herself forward using the rail which surprisingly did not give out as easily as she'd suspected. The walkway was still connected to the platform, and though she had to pull herself up the steep incline, she made it back onto dry land, shaking slightly from the adrenalin.
"Alyssa!"
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she said unevenly, trying to banish the memory of the inky, hungry water. It smelled even worse up close, and she could have sworn that she'd felt something move against her ankle in the moment it had been submerged. "But the walkway broke. I don't think you can cross."
Janine swore softly, and Alyssa could hear movement from the other platform. It gave her time to climb to her feet and scowl at the uncomfortable sensation of water in her boots.
"She's right," Nadine said, her voice distorted in the darkness. "It's dropped right into the water. Unless anyone feels like a swim…?"
Alyssa blanched at the mere thought. "Don't worry about me. I'll find another way around."
"Damn," Marcus cursed softly.
Janine sounded distraught. "Are you sure?"
"I can join her, if you wish," Ralph said, his voice not at all hushed by the heavy atmosphere as theirs were. "No one should go alone, right?"
It was an artful reminder of Janine's own words. Alyssa dimly recalled that Ralph hadn't actually been present for that part of the conversation…or at least, not visibly present. It didn't surprise her much to discover he must have been lurking around. He must have enjoyed the taste of their argument.
"Do it," Janine ordered before Nadine could voice her objection. "Keep her safe. We'll try to meet up as soon as possible."
Alyssa heard the air whisper softly before Ralph appeared beside her, and for a moment the flash of light from his materialization blinded her. When it faded the angles of his face were like a skull in the darkness, his bone-white smile seeming pleased. "Just like old times, isn't it Alyssa?"
"I will push you over this rail," she threatened quietly, trying to shake water from her legs even though it wouldn't remove the slimy feeling of it having been there in the first place.
He chuckled loudly. "It's always been a pleasure to work with you." His voice dropped suddenly, and he leaned close to her ear. "But isn't my company much better than theirs?"
She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of a yes, though she suspected she might have been even happier going alone. Ralph was getting her flustered already. "Which way do we go?"
"Over here, I think." His hand found hers with surprising accuracy, and he directed her to the opposite side of the platform. His ghostly grin leered back at her. "The benefit of coming with me, besides my charming companionship, is that I can see much better in the dark than you."
She found that more disconcerting than not, and for a moment wondered how much of her he could see before dismissing the thought as silly and irrelevant. She allowed him to lead, groping hesitantly in the dark while he seemed to have no trouble at all. When her halting steps slowed him down he pulled her closer, his other hand brushing her cheek unseen. "What's the matter? Don't you trust me?"
No was the obvious answer, but that wasn't entirely truthful. She trusted him to lead her safely. She trusted him to warn her if there was any sort of danger, and perhaps to help pull her to safety if she happened to fall into the water again…but she did not trust the way his fingers seemed to be tracing soft circles on her palm. It might have been a trick of her imagination, but she doubted it. He likely knew he could get away with it when she couldn't afford to let him go. She made a face that she hoped he could see. "Don't be ridiculous."
Let him interpret it how he wished. He seemed all too fond of ambiguous banter. She could sense him about to give a smirking reply when the charge in the air changed, suddenly serious instead of playful. She gripped his hand hard, voice lowered to a whisper. "What?"
She'd almost forgotten to be afraid, but now she remembered what they were supposed to be hunting, and belatedly realized that they should have tried to make less noise. It was hard because Ralph seemed completely fearless, but then he knew exactly what to expect from other Subordinates. They would hardly impress him.
"I think we should move a little quicker," he said lightly, but his grip on her was firm in guiding her onward. She tried not to resist him even though the catwalk was nearly invisible below her. Her hand clutched the neck of her bottle of holy water.
"What is it?" she asked again, wishing she could see more than dismal outlines.
"Something. Maybe." Her glare almost made his smile return, but his eyes were dark and serious. "I should warn you that I'm not…at my best. If something comes for us, you should run. Don't wait for me."
She stared at him, bewildered by this sudden change in attitude. "I will not-"
"Yes you will," Ralph said, his tone brooking no argument. "I would be very disappointed if you were to die here, Alyssa. It would end the game too quickly. That wouldn't be any fun at all. Besides, my orders were to keep you safe."
She didn't know what to think, but the words that came from her mouth were spoken with little regard for anything but their truth. "You can't keep me safe if you're not with me. Don't do anything stupid."
Ralph made a quiet noise, as though amused by her concern. "Well that depends on-"
He stopped mid-step and mid-word, listening sharply. Alyssa held her breath as he let her go and stepped forward alone, his tread completely silent. She didn't dare speak, for the stillness was threatening and watchful, but she abruptly missed his presence at her side. At least then she knew he was there. Now she could barely make out the line of his profile as he glanced around, stepping close to the rail and leaning out as though searching for something in the water. The sound of it had risen subtly, now rushing as it moved beneath them to some unknown destination.
It was too loud, she thought nervously. She couldn't hear anything else, nor was she able to see the thing that reached from the water and grabbed her calf.
She screamed in earnest as she was suddenly yanked to the side. Whatever had her was strong, it's grip on her leg painfully bruising, and only the railing saved her although it bent alarmingly under her weight and the force that pulled at her. She fumbled in panic for her holy water, and made the mistake of looking down. Even with only thin threads of light streaming from above she could see all too well. The hand on her leg seemed slim and fine-boned, but the nails were long and sharp and the skin was mottled a gruesome shade of green. Thick chains were wrapped around the thumb and down the wrist, down the arm…and staring up from just beneath the water's surface was something too hideous to be called a face, but even without light she saw the large, lidless yellow eyes. A dark maw below them showed a toothless mouth opened wide in a silent scream.
She kept her bottle uncapped for situations where she had to react quickly, but her hands were shaking so badly she could barely aim the holy water. A lot of it spilled uselessly, wasting more than she could afford, but a few droplets managed to land on the thing's arm. There was a frothing thrash from the face in the water, and the hand on her leg let go and vanished back beneath the surface. It didn't make her feel any better. Now she just couldn't see it.
Ralph's hands were on her shoulders. She'd barely felt them, but he was probably the only reason she hadn't fallen in whilst struggling for her bottle. He pulled her away from the edge and helped her limp along the catwalk. Her leg ached all the way down to her toes.
"What was that?" she gasped, trying not to wince in pain every time she had to put her weight on it. "That face, it wasn't-!"
"Human?" Ralph asked, his voice level and steadying despite the circumstances. "It would have been once, but not all of us prefer to stay that way. Being joined with an Entity makes the body more malleable. Didn't you ever wonder where people get their monster stories?"
She shuddered in revulsion. She'd thought herself prepared for anything…but not that. Not something so unnatural. The human mind rejected its very existence.
"We need to get away from the water," she said. "It could be right below us."
The catwalk wobbled suddenly, nearly knocking Alyssa off her feet, but Ralph's supernatural balance kept her pressed to his side. There was a horrible screech of metal scraping metal, and the catwalk groaned anew in response to a new, heavier weight. Alyssa could feel the vibrations of it under her feet. Ralph subtly moved to shield her. "Actually, it's in front of us."
She licked her dry lips. "I see it."
She wished she couldn't, but her eyes finally seemed to be adjusting to the lack of light. It was a woman, or it had started as one, but the proportions were all wrong. She could see those same dainty hands that had tried to pull her into the water, but now she could also see that the arms they were attached to were far too long and jointed in at least three places. Her body was wrapped in shreds of what might have been a white dress, now kept to her distorted torso only by the chain twined around it; the same one that spiraled down her arms. They seemed to weigh her down, curving her spine grotesquely until her head was nearly level with her knees. Her face was hidden by the dripping, tangled curtain of her hair.
Alyssa's heart was hammering so loudly she almost missed it when she spoke. The sound was a harsh, gurgling string of syllables that seemed to make no sense. Alyssa blinked in bewilderment, but the same sound was repeated before melting into recognizable speech, "I knew I sensed your meddling here."
Ralph smiled, an expression made entirely of sharp edges. "I'm sorry, you've mistaken me for someone else."
"No, it is you!" she screeched, her elongated arms snapping forward to drag her body along the catwalk. Alyssa took a frightful step back. Ralph held his ground. "What more are you trying to take? This is my place! My time!"
Her dark head turned towards Alyssa, rising slightly in surprise, and Alyssa caught a glimpse of those terrible yellow eyes again. "I see you're still using Rooders to do your dirty work. How many of us are you going to kill?"
"Anyone who gets in my way," Ralph replied, flexing his hands, and a ghostly outline of his scissor-blades appeared. Their image wavered precariously, and a brief look of actual consternation crossed his face when they nearly faded completely, but it seemed through sheer determination he made them solidify. Even so, they seemed oddly fragile to Alyssa, too slender and not quite as sharp. He gave her a meaningful backward glance. "This is when you should run."
She didn't trust her voice to speak, but she determinedly shook her head.
He sighed, crossing the blades until the steel rang loudly. The noise must have brought him some kind of comfort because she couldn't think of any other reason he should be smiling. "I should have known I would die for you a second time."
There was no chance to ask him what he meant. The Subordinate seemed enraged by the sight of Ralph's weapons, and stretched out with one of her misshapen arms as though to pluck them from his grip. He snipped at her wrist, but the blades caught more chain than flesh, making her screech with more anger than pain. Alyssa could still see the burns from her small sprinkle of holy water, and reached for her bottle again. Maybe if she could drench the Subordinate properly she could drive it off, or at least buy them an opportunity to flee.
"Your throne will be mine, traitor!" the woman shrieked, though her words were difficult to discern, marred by both fury and the scratchy, disused quality to her voice. "And I will eat your Rooder's heart!"
Her arm swung like a whip, unnaturally fluid and faster than Alyssa would have expected from such a deformed creature. The chain at her wrist had been loosened for extra reach. Ralph barely caught it with the cross of his blades, but realized a moment too late that the move lashed them uselessly together. The shadow of her horrible smirk could be seen beneath tendrils of dark hair as she savagely yanked her arm back.
The scissor-blades snapped, the metal fracturing completely as though they had been made of porcelain instead of steel. One of the hilts was thrown from his grasp, landing in the water with a splash. The second was little more than a stump, not long enough to do even a dagger justice. Ralph stared at it, distraught. The Subordinate laughed hoarsely. "Your trickery won't save you now."
She obviously hadn't expected Ralph to throw the remnant of his weapon at her face. His aim was eerily accurate, and the splintered end of the blade impacted near her eye. She screamed, lashing out blindly, and for the first time Alyssa noticed that the last few links of her chains were not rounded, but sharpened to jagged edges on all sides. Ralph was a moment too slow in leaping back and had nothing left to block with. He cried out in pain as blood splashed on the platform, the inky black of the subordinate and his own which was an all-too-human crimson.
"No!" Alyssa caught him as he fell, her own injury forgotten as she clumsily tried to keep him upright. Warm wetness soaked against her side, dripping down her legs, but she couldn't spare time to check the depth of the wound. The Subordinate's thrashing was shaking the platform wildly, and Ralph's weight was limp, though he wasn't that heavy. His eyes were open but he seemed stunned, as though the pain came as a surprise.
"Come on!" She was strong enough to carry him if she had to. Her only thought was to run, to get off the catwalk before it sank again. A heavy splash and a sudden silence indicated the Subordinate had returned to the water, overbalanced or otherwise, but she didn't look back. Looking any direction but forward would make her lose momentum and then she might freeze. Panic was too close to the surface, she could barely breathe, and the ripples in the water seemed like a hundred eyes staring up hungrily at her.
"I wonder if dying in the line of duty gives me a bonus on the terms of my sentence," Ralph murmured drowsily near her ear. With his arm was slung over her shoulder, his head was drooped so close to hers that she could feel the flutter of his eyelashes against her cheek. "It should, don't you agree."
"Don't talk," she grunted, trying to remember what lay back along the path they had come from. Could they make it to the portal square? It had seemed like a long time ago, walking in the dark, but it was the only hope for safety they had. Hopefully she still had enough holy water to activate it, and he'd figure out how to cross that last gap when she came to it. No time to think, just move!
But Ralph unexpectedly dug his heels in. "Wait, Alyssa."
She would have dragged him onward by force if she hadn't been worried about doing more harm to his injury. Tension made her limbs shiver, and she looked to him urgently. "We need to keep going."
"I might have…one more spell left in me," he said, his breathing harsh and shallow. He offered her a weak impostor of his usual grin, patting her cheek indulgently. "Let's hope I can manage it before she destroys our footing."
Alyssa went cold. "What?"
The catwalk buckled, and noise of twisted metal mingled with the Subordinate's victorious shriek. They were thrown to the side, Alyssa's back connecting hard with the rail before the entire walkway was ripped from its support struts and overturned completely by the Subordinate's inhuman strength. Alyssa had only time to gulp a mouthful of air before they both went under.
The water was shockingly cold, driving any thought from her mind. She should struggle, kick to the surface, but for a moment she was paralyzed. The presence of the Subordinate was like the draw of a current under the water. She could feel it, feel tendrils of hair amidst the bubbles, feel those icy fingers clawing for her neck, but at the same time Ralph's arms were still around her. He squeezed her reassuringly, and suddenly there was light in the dark water. Bright and warm and welcoming, and all of a sudden the water was gone, along with Ralph and every one of her senses, and she was simply nowhere at all.
