Chapter 8:
A/N: Nope, don't own them. Uncharted territory here as we follow Yuri and James instead of Koudelka! (Those who played Koudelka will remember that the game followed her actions; ever wonder what James and Edward were doing to so distress Roger?) Rated "R" again, and I think you know why. Oh, and AriesCelestial says I should warn you all about the screaming baby thingie... like that would bother any of you! Heheh!
Yuri pounded on the shattered doors with their piles of stones, brick and mortar until his hands were bleeding, screaming out Koudelka's name and cursing in every language he knew. James had remained behind him, watching as the young man vented his frustration and anger on the hapless door rather than himself. Finally though, his gloves shredded, his hands battered and bleeding, Yuri collapsed onto his knees on the floor, burying his head in his hands. Tears welled up and flowed from his eyes and James, with a shake of his head, offered his kerchief.
"Here, wipe your tears boy; there's no use in crying. She's in the Lord's hands now."
Yuri refused the handkerchief, instead wiping his face with his sleeve. "No," he said, swallowing his tears. "No, she's not dead."
"But that monster," James began.
"No!" Yuri stood up and shook his head, his long bangs falling into and shading his eyes, but even then James could see that the unusual eye color had changed: Yuri's eyes had flamed a brilliant red and, crossing himself, James moved back.
"I intend to find her! I promised to protect her Goddamit!" He shoved James aside and ran back toward the library.
"Oh my good God," James murmured then decided he'd better keep up with the insane Yuri or risk them both being killed in this dangerous monastery.
Yuri ran back to the library, kicking open the door and plunging through into the main room. He was nearly to the top of the stairs before James had even reached the second door; James was calling out to him to slow down, to stop, but he couldn't – he had to find Koudelka. But Koudelka had the map and he wasn't sure he could remember all the markings from his brief glance.
"Yuri if you don't stop, you're going to get us both killed!" James yelled from behind him as he was scurrying to catch up. Yuri had made the balcony and was careening down the stairs to the shattered chandelier.
"I've got to find her, James, I've got to," Yuri called back.
"I understand that; but together! Not you running ahead like this," James called and stopped to catch his breath at the head of the stairs. He looked down and saw Yuri too had stopped, not breathing hard but waiting for James, pacing back and forth in a small area in front of the door to the water font. Grateful for the respite, James took a few more deep breaths before descending the stairs.
"Now where do you think she could go, Yuri? Think!" he said as he approached the pacing fusionist.
"I – I don't know," Yuri said. "Maybe the area near the arbor. That's where I came in –" he paused and looked up at the large bronze door, the one that had caught his attention earlier. "If we can find an exit, or a window on the ground floor…." he said.
"Then let's go," James said and headed for the water font.
"No, not that way; it's all underground," Yuri said and ran back to the pile of boxes beneath the bronze doors. "I think this way is faster – comes out near the caretaker's quarters … I hope."
Climbing up the boxes he pulled himself up to the top landing and faced the bronze doors; they were held shut with a bolt and he slid that back and pulled; the doors swung open with a grating shriek that had James wincing. Yuri stepped through and a moment later returned.
"Yup, comes out on the second floor above the caretaker's room. We can go this way. Come on," he said and disappeared back through the doors. James, with a grunt, climbed up the boxes behind him.
Yuri was waiting in the small corridor, foot tapping impatiently.
"This way," he said and once more they made their way down the dark corridor over the monastery gates. Yuri paused at the window to peer out over the inner grounds but the fog had rolled in and he could barely make out the arbor in the middle of the courtyard. Dark shapes were moving in the fog and Yuri, with a growl, turned and ran through the far door.
Through the dark passage he ran heading for the descent ladder, but at the bend in the corridor he was greeted a pair of wandering suck bugs and their zombie companions. Without hesitation Yuri jumped into the fight, his still injured hands reminding him how much he hurt with each blow he struck. The zombies, a pair of males, were slow and fragile, and he kicked one through the stomach, effectively cutting it in two, before swinging around to slam his fist down onto the head of the first bug. The bug didn't die right away, and in its injury it spewed forth a green fluid that sprayed all over Yuri's legs, eating slowly through the material. A gun report behind him alerted Yuri to James and his pistol and he swung aside, shaking his legs to get the poisonous fluids off and at the same time sending a boot though the nearly dead bug. The suck bug died and the first zombie too faded to mist.
James raised the double action pistol again, aiming at the second suck bug and fired twice, sending it feet first into hell while Yuri pursued the last zombie with boot and fist and before its shattered remains had dissipated into dust, Yuri was running for the ladder. At the bottom though, James insisted they stop at the font in the priest's quarters. Broken as it was from "Amon" striking it, yet its cool and pure waters could help to heal Yuri's injured hands. Yuri nodded, seeing the sense of this and so they stopped for a few minutes.
Peeling off the shredded leather gloves was almost as painful as hitting the brick and mortar of the vestry door; Yuri's blood had soaked into the tattered leather again and again making it stiff and soaking in the font only made them slick. Finally, James took Yuri's dagger and carefully sliced the offending pieces away, revealing hands battered, bruised, and cut - the knuckles swollen and nearly unrecognizable.
"You don't do anything by halves, do you?" James asked and he tapped Yuri's hands to indicate he should put them back into the cold water of the font. Yuri shook his head.
"Nah, not really. I – If I don't do my best, do everything I can, then people around me will die."
"Did you lose someone that way?"
Yuri shrugged. "I think so. I must have – I'm here." Yuri lifted his hands and shook them, letting the last of the blood drip down into the basin. James looked closely at each finger, poking not un-gently at a particularly deep gash, and then turned to pull an ointment from his pack.
"It's not much, but I got it from town before I came here."
Yuri nodded and let James smear the greasy cream onto his hands, making them slick with oil. He looked at them, wiggling his fingers and grinned.
"I'd better stay away from your fire magic, James. You'd flash fry me."
James shook his head, saying nothing.
"Thanks; I mean that."
They left the priest's quarters and, making the jump to the prison cell, ran quickly through to the underground tunnels, the greeny lichen a beacon of disappointment to Yuri. On the way they ran into more roaming creatures, both bugs and zombies and something that had James retching in a corner. A noisome creature that looked like a mutant bull and human hybrid; it had a bull like head rising above broad shoulders, the upper torso being human, but the lower extremities were missing limbs. Powerful forearms, which ended in hooves, pulled the creature along the ground, while its legless body wiggled and writhed like a snake. It made a grunting sound like a bull as it attacked and Yuri, without gloves, was forced to use bare fists and his dagger. James was leaning against a lichen wall, his face ashen in the greeny light and Yuri sighed, knowing he'd also be alone in this fight
Watching the creature shuffle forward, Yuri had an idea the creature was slow, so he hoped his own fast reflexes would carry him through. He leapt forward, making a side kick at the creature's head and hearing a satisfying crunch even as he spun around and did a little hop to change legs, punching the other leg like a piston into the neck. The monster bellowed in pain and Yuri grit his teeth, making a fist of his right hand and punching, sending the balled fist flashing down and into the creature's left eye, splattering the rotten material onto the tunnel floor. But though slow, the monster was powerful and even as it bellowed in pain, it swung its heavily muscled neck up and struck Yuri with its horns, catching him in his arm as he was retracting his fist. Yuri's angry curse was almost as loud as the monster's bellow.
James heard the young fusionist's shouted curse and looked up to see Yuri fending off the beast's horns, a stream of blood coursing down his right arm. His stomach roiling from the mere sight of the horrible creature, James still managed to gather himself enough to put new rounds in the pistol and fire. His aim was off, the first couple of bullets pinging on the ground next to the monster, but it distracted the monster long enough for Yuri to move back. Looking around, he spotted a pile of skeletons on the tunnel floor.
"James, keep firing," he called and scrambled over to the skeletons, rummaging around amidst the bones, and rotting cloth. Finding a leg bone, he yanked it from the skeleton and, brandishing it like a club, returned to the malicious monster.
"This club's for you," Yuri muttered and began beating on the bullish head, using the leg to pound on the monster. James moved away from the fighting to reload his pistol while Yuri moved in for more close combat. Yuri's heavy handed pounding was doing damage that his fist had been unable to, the leg joint pounding dents into the bull-like head, and mashing the neck and shoulders. Finally, the leg bone cracked, the joint shattering and, with a quick toss, Yuri changed the bone from a hammer into a short spear, using the sharp end to deal further damage. By now the creature's head was a mass of bruised and bleeding sores with one eye oozing gore, and it hung low, giving Yuri an unhindered access to the body without meeting resistance from the deadly horns. James, now with reloaded pistol, took careful aim, firing round after round and Yuri used the pointed leg bone, stabbing down and into the neck, severing arteries and, when the make-shift weapon stuck on the neck bones, Yuri used his booted foot to drive the leg bone further in, shattering the creature's neck. With a grunt, the creature sagged to the ground and faded away.
Panting, Yuri looked up at James, who was wiping sweat from his brow.
"Priest, you're a mess," he said with a lopsided grin.
"I'm a mess; speak for yourself!" James exclaimed. "You'll need to wash that wound," and James indicated Yuri's right forearm, the blood now caked on the already filthy and shredded sleeve.
Yuri looked down at himself and sighed breathily. "This place is hard on clothing," he said and then shrugged. "Let's go James."
Not waiting for a reply Yuri ran down the tunnel to the door; beyond was the wide chamber with the septic tank and the underground shrine. Yuri paused at the entrance and shouted, his voice echoing off the beaten stones and catching in the hollow shrine chamber where the water bubbled and danced in the fountain.
"Koudelka!" he shouted and ran past the shrine and opened the door to the next tunnel, running down to the end. James however stayed at the shrine, catching water up to drink and wash himself. After a moment he heard Yuri return as he kicked open the door.
"Where the hell can she be? Koudelka! Koudelka!" Yuri was screaming, his voice, never loud to begin with, was growing hoarse from shouting.
He ran back toward the septic tank and was kicking at it in frustration when he spotted a flickering light beyond the deep chained off chasm. Then he remembered Koudelka checking it out earlier and ran back. The path diverged along the chained abyss, the area they knew going toward the shrine, but another smaller path lead off into the dark and there he spotted a large pair of doors, huge and blue with carbonization, their bronze bosses and metal fixtures old, but the door still holding. There was a huge dent in the door, where the two panels met, and part of each door had been peeled back, but the doors themselves were still strong and unmoving.
Yuri climbed the small set of stairs to the landing and pushed on the door, giving it a good kick when it didn't budge.
"God damn!" he shouted and kicked the door again.
"Yuri?" a voice said through the door and Yuri's heart leapt in his throat.
"Koudelka! Where are you? Koudelka!" he looked around, then spotted her fingers wiggling in the broken door. "Oh thank God!"
He pressed himself close to the door, his own hand pushing through to take Koudelka's hand in his, pressing her fingers hard. She had her head against the door, and he could hear her breathing, his own face now pressing against the metal on his side.
"Koudelka, I thought – I thought I lost you," he said, and he moved his hand up toward her face.
"I'm all right, Yuri. You and James?"
"Ah, fine, fine. I'm harder to kill than a cockroach," Yuri said and his fingers met and caressed Koudelka's cheek.
"How did you know where to look for me?" she asked.
"I guessed. No, it was luck; I was tryin' to get outside," he said with a breathy chuckle. "Didn't get far."
Behind them James climbed up the stairs and offered Yuri a wet handkerchief.
"Here, at least wash yourself, heathen," he said but his voice was less caustic than usual. He could see the emotion on Yuri's face and knew that there was a deep sense of affection for this gypsy woman in his heart, and maybe something more.
Yuri took the cloth and quickly wiped his face before putting it back against the door.
"What can we do? How can I get to you?" he asked. "The door's broken." Koudelka nodded and he could feel her face move beneath his fingers.
"You're under the arbor aren't you?" James asked. "Isn't there another way out?"
"Yes, there's a door behind me; it might lead outside. And I think there's a door across from the church," Koudelka said.
"Yeah, I remember seein' it before," Yuri said. "We can meet you back at the library, yes?"
"Yes, at the library."
"Koudelka," Yuri said softly, reluctant to release her face. "Be careful. I – don't die, please."
Koudelka pulled back from his hand and squeezed his fingers in hers before letting him go.
"I'll be fine," she said and moved away from the door.
Yuri waited until he knew she would have left the room and pushed away from the door.
"I am going to get some water James," he said and walked away.
James waited in silence by the tunnel entrance while Yuri went to the shrine. Yuri was feeling much relieved that they had found Koudelka but he was still worried for her; she was alone in the monastery, facing who knew what kind of dangers. He knelt at the shrine, taking up handfuls of water to splash on his face, washing the grime and gore from his face; he let the water sluice over his hands, wiggling his fingers in the cool water. He then drank some of the pure water and felt its cool freshness working its way through him, lifting the fatigue and soreness he had in mind and body, and working to heal his battered hands as well, though there were still scars on hands and arm, he could feel the healing within as well, his spirit settling for a moment in the peace of the divine waters. He sighed, letting his mind rest for a moment, feeling the confusion still stirring in his brain, but slowing down, offering a moment's respite before he shook himself and rose to join James.
Silently they entered the tunnel, heading to the library. They managed to get through the next tunnel without difficulty, but as they entered the basement room and were climbing the stairs, a pair of monsters, accompanied by flitting bats, accosted them. James took his gun and fired, killing the first bat before Yuri had pulled the dagger from his belt; he would have to figure out how to take on the other two creatures; one a giant eyeball like creature, with stalk-like feelers and the other a headless being, once human, with razors of metal and glass embedded in its shoulders where the head should have been. Although it seemed to stagger under the weight of so much metal and glass, it moved quickly to attack using the razors as it butted with its head.
Yuri found himself on the defensive with only the dagger and wishing he hadn't broken the mace. The razor sharp blades kept hitting his dagger, forcing him back and he was being pushed to the wall while James was busy shooting the bats. He had to do something now or this thing would beat him! Reaching into himself he touched a fusion soul and in a flash they became one, Yuri's body elongating, his arms becoming long and muscular, with sharp claws and his features warping to lupine proportions. A long tail bushed from his backside and his overall appearance was that of a wolf.
Lobo turned sharp red eyes onto the razor sporting headless creature and instantly roared his defiance, his voice calling up an increase in both his and James' defenses. Then he leapt forward, raking his claws along the floor and pulling up stones and wooden floorboards, flinging them up at the headless. It was merely a distraction however, as he next moved back and with a roar, magically summoned a huge boulder, pulling it into his clawed hands and then letting it fly, slamming it into the headless and the bats, flattening their bodies, and shattering their bones. But the eyeball like creature was still alive, its body flattening with the impact of the stone and then coming back with a popping sound.
Lobo roared in frustration, the sound reverberating in the ceiling and sending dust and dirt floating in a grey haze to the floor. The black eyeball was unfazed by the fusion's anger and instead gathered itself for an attack. Behind him, James had begun a summoning, casting his magic at the last minute, and sending an arcing flare over their heads. The spell burst like fireworks in the air above them and melted like magma over the black misshapen creature and with a withering pop, it too vanished. Yuri released his fusion and stared at James for a moment then nodded and ran up the stairs.
They passed quickly through the rooms with the abandoned paintings and assorted treasures, and were climbing the stairs toward the water font when James suddenly lurched forward, thudding onto the stairs with his chin. Yuri turned at the top to remark at James' clumsiness and stopped, open mouthed at the zombie woman holding James' leg. Behind her was the strangest monstrosity he had yet seen at the monastery. It had a nearly human body, human legs and arms with but with pincher claws for hands, yet crawled along the ground on its belly. Its head was bestial, looking like a lizard and it sported a long, muscular tail that bent around over its body, pointing forward with a curved needle on the end, dripping poison.
"Ah shit, not again," Yuri muttered.
The zombie woman was pulling James back down the stairs, his head thumping on each stair and when they reached the bottom the prick-tailed creature climbed up over James' body, its tail raised and quivering. Yuri waited on the landing, his dagger in his hand but the scorpion like monster didn't hesitate in attacking him, stabbing out with its tail and grazing Yuri's hand with its stinger. Yuri pulled back but too late, the poison surged through the puncture wound. With a grimace, he switched hands, using the dagger left handed as the monster joined him on the landing, and while it tried to stab him again, he used his injured right hand to grab at the tail. The beast was fast though and Yuri missed, so he sent his booted foot into its lizard-like face. The monster moved back a step on the small landing and hissed at him before flicking its tail again, the tip bulging with poison.
Yuri grabbed again, managing to grasp the near end below the stinger; he pulled the tail closer, pulling it under his arm and holding it tightly while bending the prick back, and spurting poison out and over his hand and onto the monster's back. The creature struggled, trying to pull free, using its pinchers to snap at Yuri's feet, but Yuri kicked out, using one foot to defend himself while he used the dagger to slice off the part of the tail including the stinger. Now he was armed with two weapons and Yuri concentrated on delivering lethal blows to the injured monster. He drove the dagger into the creature's shoulder, forcing it to turn its head toward the dagger and allowing Yuri to plunge the poisonous needle into the creature's eye. Yellowish ichor oozed from the burst eyeball and the remaining poison bubbled and foamed. He then moved in closer, straddling the monster. The stub of the tail moved up behind him and struck him repeatedly, spattering him with blood, but Yuri ignored it. Instead, he grasped the dagger haft with his injured right hand and pulled it from monster's shoulder; he then grabbed the creature's head with his left hand, thrusting his thumb into the eye socket to hold on and slit the monster's throat. With a violent shudder and hiss, the prick-tailed monstrosity died.
Yuri sank to his knees and rolled off the corpse, looking back down the stairs. The zombie had continued pulling James down the stairs and the priest was kicking at it, trying to knock off her head. In exasperation, he had pulled his pistol and reloaded, firing shots into the zombie's body, but little damage was made to the already dead woman.
"James," Yuri gasped, "use healing magic."
James looked up at the panting fusionist. "Healing? All right." James immediately began to summon the healing spell. This took him longer than the fire spell he had become accustomed to, but when it finally manifested it was like a brilliant green of life and health falling gently over the zombie. In one breath, the zombie screamed and exploded into dust. James shook himself and climbed the stairs to the injured Yuri.
"P-poison," Yuri said through his short breaths; his heart was beating hard and fast and sweat was pouring form him, dripping down onto his already heavily soiled shirt and shredded trench coat. James shook his head and pulled an antidote from his pouch, giving Yuri half the recovery plant and applying the other half to his right hand, letting the leaf soak up the poisons.
"Youngster, you're a mess; can you make it to the font? We're only a room or two away," James said.
Yuri, chewing the meaty leaf, nodded.
"Okay then, let me help you up," James offered his shoulder and pulled Yuri to his feet. The first steps were shaky but the antidote was beginning to work and Yuri held his own weight, but the next two hundred yards were the longest Yuri had faced in a long time. Each step tired him out more than the last with black spots dancing in front of his bleary eyes and, when they finally reached the font, he collapsed out of James' grip and sank onto the fountain's platform. James wet his handkerchief and wiped Yuri's face with it, then soaked it again and wiped the injured hand, removing the spent antidote leaf and the slowly caking blood and ichor.
In his pouch he had a silver flask and this he removed and unscrewed the cap; he placed the flask in the font and filled it with the holy water, then offered the flask to Yuri. The fighter took the flask and drained it, gulping heavily as the cold water splashed from the bottle and dribbled down his neck. James shook his head.
"Pig," he said. "Can you stand up?"
Yuri nodded, wiping his mouth with his soiled sleeve. "Yeah," he answered and climbed to his feet, shaking his head. "Man I hate poisons," he muttered, then plunged his head into the font, swishing it back and forth a few times and then bringing it back up with a shower of pure water over the platform and James. James sighed and waited for the water to clear before refilling the flask.
"You ready?" Yuri asked.
"How did you know about the healing magic?" James asked as he put the stopper back in the bottle and screwed on the lid.
Yuri shrugged. "Someone I knew used to do that; worked really well on dead things."
"You seem to have had a lot of experience with this sort of thing."
Yuri looked at James, a smile playing across his lips, his eyes gently amber. "Yeah, we used to run into all sorts of things; one time at a cannibalistic village we ..." Yuri hesitated, blinking rapidly, a frown forming.
"Yes?"
Yuri thought for a moment, trying to find the memory he just had, the one with – the silver haired – no, no, that had never happened. No, he didn't know that girl, did he? He rubbed his face with his hands, trying to clear his mind.
"I – I – fuck," he muttered and turned to leave the font, his steps a little shaky at first then stronger as he headed for the door to the dinning hall. James watched in trepidation for a moment before following.
The chandelier still lay shattered on the floor and Yuri was skirting is quickly when movement in the shadows of the chandelier caught James' attention.
"Look out!" he yelled just as a pair of black cats emerged from the shadows.
Yuri spun around and smirked. "Oh for Chrissakes," he cursed and kicked one of the cats. It yowled in pain and scratched at Yuri's foot while the other cat slunk between the iron pieces of the chandelier. James had already pulled his pistol and began shooting, bullets pinging off the metal frame when they missed the cat. Yuri ducked as bullets whizzed by him and he ground his teeth. 'This priest is more trouble than he's worth,' he thought and, reaching down, grabbed the cat by the scruff of its neck and slammed it into the ground. It didn't move after that and he tossed the carcass into the shadows.
"Come on James, kill the God damned thing and be done with it," he growled. James had to stop and reload his pistol and the cat slunk back into the dark recesses of the chandelier, its tail bushed and its feral eyes glowing. "Ah shit, they do magic." Yuri ran at James and knocked him to the floor just as a ball of ice materialized above them and crashed to the floor.
"Fucking god damned stupid sons of bitches," Yuri cursed vociferously as he scrambled back onto his knees, crawling into the broken chandelier to chase after the cat.
"Oh never mind Yuri, it's gone now," James said, rising and dusting himself off. Looking around the large dinning hall, he grimaced. "We've got other problems," he said.
Yuri, still cursing softly, crawled back out from the huge chandelier and sat on his heels, his jaw open.
"Where the hell did those come from?" he asked, "and who's inside 'em?"
"I doubt anyone's inside them," James responded then turned his concentration to summoning magic. From the back of the hall came a pair of armored knights, cuirassed, helmeted and with shields, each step they took was a hollow clank on the stone floor, their once burnished steel now pitted and dark with age, but the swords they were wielding were just as sharp and James knew that bullets would be worthless. Yuri on the other hand knelt frowning, his eyes flickering from amber to a near orange.
"God damned stupid bastards just won't quit," he was muttering. The two knights were approaching rapidly, their swords raised and one was summoning magic even as it stepped into the center of the dinning hall. James was looking perturbed but had none-the-less begun summoning his own magic. On the other hand, Yuri was feeling pissed. He was trying to get to the library and Koudelka and these damned dead things wouldn't leave him alone! Gnashing his teeth, he jumped to his feet with a roar and flung himself at the steel knights.
Yuri's shout startled James who faltered in his summoning and he watched as an incensed Yuri leapt forward wailing into their armored foes.
"I've let you guys get away with shit so far, but now I'm gonna kick you bastards back to your graves!" he was shouting as kicks followed punches followed dagger thrusts, all to no avail. Then finally Yuri jumped back and bellowed, his normally quiet voice now shredded with his yell and James moved away as a red-skinned giant suddenly appeared and began a four-armed attack on the knights.
Yuri was livid with fury and Inferno answered the call. He grabbed the nearest knight, yanking the shield from its hand and slamming it into the knight's head, severing it from the neck; the helmeted head fell to the stone floor, bouncing away, and Inferno continued using the shield to beat on the knight, denting and tearing the shield with each blow. With one final thrust the shield was torn in half and Inferno threw the pieces down, stomping his feet in frustration. The battered knight tried raising its sword but Inferno grabbed the sword and arm holding it, and twisted. Metal shrieked then popped, the armored arm pulling free of the body; there was no blood – the arm was empty! Denied blood, Inferno used the arm and sword like a hammer, pounding and flailing at both knights. One huge leg came up and smashed into the second knight, knocking it back a few feet and then it was flung across the room when the sword arm and sword hit it across the chest with an explosion of sound.
Turning back to the headless knight, Inferno smashed the sword and arm into it again and again, hacking away at the haunted suit of armor until great gashes marked the chest, and parts of the armor were flung away. Dropping the sword arm, Inferno grabbed the shield arm and, holding on, began pealing away armor piece by piece, long pointed claws gouging and tearing. Bits of armor fell away like orange peels and after a minute, there was nothing left but the shield arm, breastplate and legs - these Inferno kicked into a corner.
By now the second knight was back on its feet and Inferno ran in for the attack, huge fists hammering into the hollow knight, tearing away the shield, back-handing the head off the body, wrenching the sword free and pummeling and punching his way through the armored chest. Then with a roar that shook the rafters, Inferno picked up the remains of the armored knight and, lifting it over his head, flung it against the far wall, shattering it into tiny pieces.
With another roar the fusion was released and Yuri's shout foundered his throat raw. He coughed and looked around for more then shrugged, panting. James put the pistol in his pocket and joined Yuri, who was leaning on his knees.
"Yuri?"
But Yuri shook his head and turned toward the stairs. They made the upper landing and through the puzzle room before having any more trouble. The darkened library held more than books, it now gave them a small monster. A rolling knot of plant fiber and gut with many mangled and protruding arms and, uppermost, was a baby's body, his sweet bald head and face turned toward James and Yuri as they entered.
"Sweet Jesu," James muttered but Yuri grit his teeth, his arms gesticulating in angry frustration. He plunged ahead toward the little creature and kicked it, sending it bouncing down the library landing and over the side to plunge to the first floor. It hit the stone floor with a loud splatt and the baby's wail of fear and pain was brief before it gurgled into silence.
"Yuri! How could you," James exclaimed but then saw the face on the young fighter; florid with anger and his eyes … James saw the red in those eyes and moved back, letting Yuri fling himself ahead recklessly, taking the stairs to the lower level two at a time. "Dear God, he's insane."
Reviewers:
Tiger… Koudelka didn't psyche her story to him; she "told" him after the fact. It's not so much revisionist history as it is filling in blanks on how he would know things he shouldn't: either Halley told him or Koudelka. And since Halley only knows what "mom" told him, it would be better if it were Koudy herself. Think of it like sitting about the table having tea and hearing a story told by a friend.
A Lifeless Beauty... Nadie sweetie, when I catch my breath! .;; As you know I'm many chapters ahead of you readers, but I still have 4 to complete at this upload. So please, be patient. I want to read your story too... but I find reading too much interferes with what I'm trying to write, and I don't want to accidentally "borrow"...
Next up: the reunion of our cohorts in crime. And maybe a little lemon crème goodness.