The Northfell Curse

9. Underground Lou and the Spiders

Chapter 9 Underground Lou and the Spiders

Crazy Annie grabbed Hafoc by the arm and rushed him out of The Happy Dragon. She had a semi-toothed grin that was infectious, making Hafoc smile, too, in spite of himself. He hadn't had any serious fun in a while. She might be crazy, but I bet she knows how to party, Hafoc thought as she dragged him through an empty street.

She abruptly stopped short as they were about to cross a small intersection. Crazy Annie shoved Hafoc back behind a wall and put a half-gloved finger to his lips. She looked behind them and peeked around the corner to the adjacent street.

Finally, she waved him closer. He poked his head next to hers in silence. Farther down the road he could see figures emerge. The streetlamp cast long shadows that seemed to grasp for darkness along the cobblestones as they stretched ahead of the oncoming group. He heard the tip tak of high-heeled shoes, the clinking of glasses, merriment and singing, but, still, an aura of gloom prevailed.

"There they are—" she pushed Hafoc back. "We'd better get going before those vampires find us, or we'll be goners."

As the Strige sauntered closer, they heard one of them sing:

C'è uno specchio rotto
E una macchia di sangue sul mio letto

Oh, noi siamo il vampiro
E tesoro, siamo vivi e morti
Ho i modi e i mezzi, è la tua gola che amo

O si

O si

The singing stopped. The dark chocolate voice laughed and a voice boomed as one of figures ran ahead of the others in the direction of Annie and Hafoc. "Hahaha. Amici miei, sento odore di sangue fresco!"

Crazy Annie gripped Hafoc's arm. "This is bad! He's smelled us."

"I figured," Hafoc grunted. "Which way?" He had his dagger ready.

She pulled him in the opposite direction. "Any way, as long as it's away from here!" They hid behind another building as she grabbed Hafoc's dagger, pricked her thumb and soaked a handkerchief with it. Her eyes scanned the dark, shuttered up residences nearby. One of them had a letter slot. She wiped her cut on the flap and pushed the handkerchief through before dragging Hafoc down the street in a run.

"That should keep them occupied for a minute."

Hafoc looked back, "But, hey, who lives there?"

"Don't know, don't care," she called back, out of breath. Finally, she stopped at alleyway, bent over, breathing hard. She pointed to a scrawled mark carved into the stone that looked a bit like a simple drawing of a boat with a mast. She pressed her hand to it until it glowed. A dark passageway opened, and she motioned for Hafoc to follow. He did.

"Don't worry, now that the Strige stroll the streets at night they leave the catacombs alone. Theys too proud to use 'em now, so folks like us do." Crazy Annie grabbed Hafoc's hand and dragged him into the nearest black passage.

He put on his rogue's mask. Might do to hide my face down here. There was minimal lighting from more small glowing symbols much like the one Annie pressed. She pressed one behind them again and the alley disappeared from sight as the hidden door closed again.

She led him through a worrisome series of turns until it felt like they could no longer be under the city of Svlandir any longer...then Hafoc began to see others walking in the tunnels, too. Soon, he heard a crowd up ahead.

Hafoc's muscles loosened up and he almost cracked a smile under his mask. This is where he felt more at home. His senses were heightened, knowing it was more likely something dangerous would happen than not. His eyes widened, taking in every little movement in the tunnels, of the people. "This is more like it—the fecking grit." And luck. It's all down to luck. "Let's us find some coin and make new acquaintances, yeh?"