Cursed

Chapter Twenty-Three

"FYI these only last an hour." My head snaps to the passenger seat, where Ivelyn sits calmly. Of course, she waits until we're here to tell me we are on a limited time frame. I went to complain some more, but she disappeared in front of me.

"Uh, I can't see you." For some reason, I had assumed I would be able to see her too.

"Chill," I might not be able to see her, but I know she rolled her eyes at me. "Take this." Her purse opens by itself and I watch a vial of green ooze float over to me. It's Ivelyn, but it looks really bizarre.

"Will that help me see you?" I might seem like I'm slower than usual, but with Ivelyn you had to ask these things. I held the vial in my hand, wondering what was in it. I knew nothing about potions, something I had been asking Erik to teach me. 

"Moreau, what else would I give you?" I didn't want to waste any more time, so I drank the green potion. I set the empty container down and watched as Ivelyn did the same. Slowly, we were able to see each other. "Ready?" She asked. I nodded. 

We had parked about a quarter mile away from the abandon buildings. I could have probably driven closer, but I didn't want to take any chances. I mean, what we were doing was pretty risky. No one knew where we were and apparently, we weren't taking our cellphones. I tried to question Ivelyn on it, but she just rolled her eyes.

I missed the thirty seconds that I couldn't see her.

When we closed in on the buildings, Ivelyn slowed and faced me.

"They won't be able to see you, but they will be able to hear you and see things around you, got it?" That part might have seemed obvious, but I was glad she said it. We had to be stealth like. I nodded, not saying anything. 

I easily spotted Vayne's beat up car, plus three other cars from before. It was pretty dark, but the full moon gave off a lot of light. Other than the moonlight, the only light was coming from inside one building. It was the same building they went into before. It was the tallest. Thankfully, the door was propped open by a large rock. 

Ivelyn moved gracefully forward, not making a sound. I tried to mimic her moves, but the gravel stuck under my combat boot and made a squeaking noise. Her annoyance was transparent. I ignored her and kept walking. 

Inside, the stairs going up were littered with candles in various size, shape, and color. It made it easier to see, except it was a legit fire hazard. Didn't they care about the building burning down? Then again, they were Satan Worshippers, so I guess fire didn't scare them much. 

We must have gone up three flights of stairs before we heard voices. Ivelyn knew her way around the hallways, they seemed like mazes to me. Then again, she had been here before. I was getting out of breath, but eventually, we found them. The hallway opened up to a large room. The door had been ripped off its hinges and left on the ground. Everything had a layer of rust on it and this room was no exception. 

It was eerie how much this spot looked like Ivelyn's barn. There were blankets and tapestries hung over the windows and walls. It would have been pitch black, but there were tons of candles. The candles gave off a decent amount of light. It was still dim, but my eyes adjusted quickly. It was weird, being here, so out in the open. 

I kept reminding myself that they couldn't see me.

Ivelyn, walked forward, through the threshold. She was so brave it was startling. I stayed back, but she didn't notice. 

They were all there. I counted eleven people sitting cross-legged around in a circle. I inched closer, realizing it wasn't a circle, but two pentagrams inverted. Each person sat at one of the points, except for one guy. He looked like he was in charge. He wore a black trench coat. He stood, his hand stroking the stubble on his chin. He was older than everyone else.