Wind

• • T W E N T Y S E V E N • •

Joshua turned the knob, and then he opened the door. Noises escaped from the basement, like muted moaning erupting from beneath the earth. Radiant heat seeped out of the pit like the breath of a dragon. I inched closer, needing to see inside. Bars lined the doorway like a cage, the same as the bars at the entrance of the storm cellar.

"Closer," Joshua whispered, his voice reaching a hiss and my feet obeying.

I needed to see.

A thick combination lock rested on the cage door, sealing it in place. Joshua punched in a long code, and then it beeped lowly. The door released, the dull click echoing through the stagnant air. Joshua reached out his hand, and he pulled at the cage bars. With a groan, they creaked open.

I was close enough to hear Joshua's breathing as I stared down into the dark abyss of Hell. I was sure that was what laid at the bottom. No matter how many times I blinked my eyes, they could not dilate enough to adjust to absolute darkness.

Suddenly, a light flicked on—a single bulb in the center of the stairwell. Bright like a stroke of lightening. Bright like the sun. My eyes slammed shut, and nothing but a red glow seeped through the thin skin.

I blinked them open.

An earth-shaking scream—sharp and loud like a bird straight out of the molten pits of Hell.

"Help me!" A face appeared at the bottom of the stairs, pale and sick and stretched into a whining moan, the jaw dislocating into a painful angle. In a surreal flash, the face darted up the corridor, the body following behind like it was carried on the legs of ten thousand centipedes.

Chills ran up my spine and my body involuntarily shook in a spasm.

"Help me!" Gagging and a guttural scream erupted from the girl's diaphragm. Her body was swollen beneath her like a pregnant spider ready to pop and unleash a million tiny insects onto a blood-stained kitchen floor. She screamed again, the entire house vibrating in her agony.

My eyes stretched wide, and then before I could blink her stomach split open like a mouth pulled too wide until the skin of the cheeks tore. Blood, viscera, and organs spewed out, the light illuminating the shredded bits of flesh before they splattered the walls and fell to the stairs with chunky thuds, like a butcher dropping a cut of meat to the floor.

I tried to scream, but nothing came out. Vomit welled up in my stomach. Acidic bile burned in my esophagus. Suddenly, something slammed into my gut. I coughed and gagged, the wind knocked out of me. I gasped, trying to find air. A fist flew into my face, sharp pain surging through the bones around my right eye.

A swift kick to my legs. They tumbled out from under me and I landed hard on my left hip. Pain shot through my bones. I grimaced and winced, trying to push myself up on my elbows.

A foot slammed down on my right wrist, and nauseating pain surged through my arm. A hallow crunch struck my ear drums. I fell flat on my back. My hand released. The gun dropped out of my grasp and landed hard on the floor with a spiraling clank. A hand snatched it up before I could move a muscle, the foot still pressing into my shattered wrist.

I grimaced in pain when the pressure on my arm subsided, the foot removed. Suddenly, two hands grasped me tightly by my upper arms, yanking me to my feet.

Joshua glared at me. I didn't know where the gun had gone. I shook in pain and terror, suspended in the air, my toes stretching to reach the ground. Screeches poured out of the basement, and tears stained my cheeks.

He set me down, and my knees buckled beneath my weight, my shaking legs barely able to hold my body up.

"Come on, Harper," Joshua grabbed me by my shoulder and shoved me towards the basement. "It's time for you to see it."

"No!" I shouted. I bit down on my tongue and slammed my eyes shut, turning away from the pit.

"Look!" He grabbed my face at the jaw and turned it so I was facing the basement. "Look!"

I peeled my eyes open.

A screech roared out of the pit, blowing my hair back like a giant gust of wind, my eyes widening further. I stared down into an abyss of a throat. Thick, fleshy rings lined the roof of the mouth, and closer than that, sharp white teeth glinted in the flickering light, flecks of glistening red speckling their surfaces. Two eyes glared at me, glowing dark blue in the single bulb hanging from the top of the stairwell. Behind that, enormous red horns extended back towards the ceiling. Bits of after-birth goo clung to them. The creature shook the amniotic fluid and stringy blood off with a twitch of its head. It flexed its spindly muscles, spreading its wet and bloody set of newborn bat-like wings. They connected into the gaunt, goat body like arms on a poorly sewn doll.

Its neck bent over, and its face dove into warm, steaming meat. The gurgling of mastication echoed through the halls. Bile tuned over in my stomach, pressing up to my throat, and I tasted acid in my mouth. I swallowed it back down. The creature's body twitched and spasmed as it ate, larger than I could have imagined it to be at birth. In minutes... it had grown.

I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out. My vocal cords had been paralyzed. Before I could move another muscle, a hand pressed against my mouth, and an arm wrapped around my body from behind. Joshua pulled me in close to his chest. I could feel the hellish heat radiating from his empty core as we both faced the basement.

"I didn't want you to miss this," Joshua whispered into my ear lowly as the grunts and groans of the creature devouring its first meal echoed up from the basement.

I struggled against Joshua's grasp as tears streamed from my eyes, but it was useless. I was too weak to budge in his firm grip.

"Isn't she beautiful?" he asked. "Do you see the family resemblance?" He paused for a second, as though waiting for me to respond, even though he knew I couldn't with his hand pressed flush against my teeth. "No?" Joshua continued to taunt me. I tried to pull out of his grasp again, but he wouldn't allow it.

The beast turned its head up to face us, its dark blue, hungry eyes glinting in the light, its first meal finished.

"Well I sure do," Joshua continued, chuckling lowly as the devil glared at us. "I think she has your eyes."