The stairwell feels deeper then when I had first descended it, darker, clammy, the air is heavy with moisture and a thick layer of miasma. The claustrophobic squeeze of walls tightens with the extra bodies who decided to accompany me.
Jonathan stuck close to my side, a frown pulled deep, after he had stated he was accompanying me both Jane and more surprisingly Jeff wordlessly followed use through the false door, leaving Jack and Clockwork to finish release the imprisoned.
"I owe Nathan one" Jane had stated, "that and I don't trust this sheep splitter from wandering off like a toddler."
Jeff spat on the concrete step, "Piss off Jane, you will want me here when things go to shit."
"If nothing but a meat shield."
Jonathan, sweet, sweet, murderous Jonathan, disregarded the involuntary hazard Jeff causes when he takes a stem to soon and clipped the back of his heels, choosing to hide the irked snarl of his glowing teeth behind the courteous act of lighting the dark stairwell.
I am unsure just how deep this descent was originally, I had been preoccupied with my concerns of what lay beneath this horribly broken institution, the depth was not on my list of concerns.
"You feel that?", Jonathan's words echo in the tight space as the hairs on my arms begin to stand, the fluorescent purple glow from the open exit.
The stifle of fear, the atmosphere is overstimulating, the others are just as overwhelmed, they are silent, hyper focused on the open threshold as though expecting the danger to lunge the moment we step through.
Through the silence there is audible voices conversing, vague sentences between two robed individuals who stand before the monstrosity that had formed from that arcanic sphere. Gray sand dusted the ground in immense proportions, the remains of those who have been devoured.
Kneeling limp between the two is Nathan, bound tight with cuffs and rope, his lip bled onto his splotchy uniform, the cloth splattered with red that does not appear to be his won, he is limp on the ground, hunched with closed eyes. Accepting perhaps.
The shape pulsed as it breathed, a loud obnoxious beat that rippled the large area with purple pulses, it's as though the object is alive, begging to be fed. And fed they did. The number of prisoners and personnel that have been offered to satiate this things hunger had molded it into a gluttonous beggar.
Doubt they had thought about what could become from doing so.
I watch Jeff's lips form a curse, his wide eyes scanning the threatening ball, his stare shift to me, a question, an obvious question that all three of them must be wanting an answer for.
"I don't know", the answer falls like a breath, a useless bundle of words.
"But that thing", I swallow, reimagining the way that person's body melted into a pile on the floor, "It's dangerous, very dangerous."
I may have stated the obvious, but verbalizing it seems to have struck differently.
Jonathan shifts beside me, narrowing his eyes as he crouches, "no point in dwelling, in and out, right?"
I can feel my lip twitch up in a smirk, repeating his worriless words.
"In and out."
The two robed personnel finished whatever they had discussed, lifts Nathan by the wrists, dragging him forward as his senses seem to have returned to him, he kicks and swore with wasteful effort.
Jane is the first to dash to intervene, spitting a quick whisper about the foolishness of owing someone with the rationality of a wafer cookie. She is quickly followed by Jeff, who, not wanting to be outdone, throws himself over the table with Jonathan steps behind.
Instead of joining in on beating the shit out of the personal I reach out a hand to Nathan, taking him by the forearm as he struggles on his feet.
I raise my voice over the loud rhythmic beating of the object so close over head.
"Can you stand?"
Nathan attempts to ground himself, using my shoulder as a brace so he may find his own footing.
"I'm good", he takes a quiet, jagged breath, "couldn't have come a little sooner?"
"Traffic, you know how it is."
He shakes his head, rolling his eyes as he shifts his weight onto my more. He watches Jane cut up the man Jeff holds down with amusement and relief. His face twists when he notices Jonathan backing the second opposer further toward the drop off.
"Pup, don't let him get close to that thing!"
His yell draws Jonathan's attention, however his warning is missed, the man takes the momentary distraction to sprint the rest of the overhang, throwing himself into the beating orbs girth, grains of sand spraying along the cobble from the momentous impact, the persons body now in pieces along with the rest.
Jonathan shrugs as Nathan shakes his head, "There was a line before you got here, they would throw those bound in first before willingly touching it themselves. That doctor guy was here a while ago, jotted somethin' on a map before leaving, lookin' really tired."
I answer with a gravely sigh, I to am tired of learning just how deep that old man is in all this. I don't think I have the energy to be disappointed with him anymore.
A shiver runs up my spine when I peak up to the look over the sphere, a dreadful weight, it feels as though I am being examined by the object, a sick and sticky cling that makes me shift away.
The others appear to have felt the change as well, taking cautious steps away from the oppression.
The sphere shakes, the beat's pace picking up to rattle our ears in an invasive pulse, its looking, looking over us as though this animated object had the place to gaze upon my form with the arrogance of a higher being. A part of me is disgusted by the audacity.
"Then do something", Zalgo's goading is a soft whispering fog, blocking out the infuriating thump, "Remove this conceited being."
"Don't suppose this irritated feeling I have is yours", I ignore Nathan's raised brow as I mumble, assuring the comment was not for him.
"... The brand shares many things between us, I will not deny the possibility that your disgust mirrors my own."
I hand Nathan off to Jane, she works on his bound hands as I cautiously approach the peak of the drop. Dusting my hands as I blatantly stare back at the glowing object, watching it squirm around itself with repulsion.
"What do you want me to do then sir Zalgo."
He scoffs, "I would like you to change that attitude of yours."
"No", my voice shook despite myself, my palms are sweating from the pressure of how close I stand before something my mind is screaming dangerous. I peek over my shoulder to find the Jonathan watching, stone faced and curious, he left Nathan in the hands of Jeff and Jane who half heartedly dragged the man towards the stairs.
"Focus", Zalgo sighs, his voice is croaky and tired, "Stand ready, I shall use you as a conductor, I do not believe it has the capability of eating much more", I hear him chuckle in a deep exited growl, "we shall see how much more this creature can ingest without consequence."
A bead of sweat collects on my brow, subconsciously I know there is something severely stupid about reaching out to an object that had disintegrated countless of people with a single touch, yet I obey, slowly, hesitant but daring, pausing mere inches from the surface of the ball. Within the short distance I can feel the heat radiating off its surface, feel the vibrations in the air that runs along my fingers, see the mass of miniscule eyes that writhe in the circular mass, wide, nearly unidentifiable from a distance. It is no doubt alive. It stares, scrutinizing the nerve I have to approach with intent to challenge.
"I see."
His words and my own intermingle, a foreign sensation of subconscious vocalization that is out of my control.
I can feel the brand between my shoulders tingle, squirming uncomfortably as a reaction to Zalgo's forming malice. It is intense, and contagious.
The sweat on my palm sizzles on my skin, evaporating into the air with a dark blaze that seeps from my pores. It's hot, but the pain is only as dire as the bullet hole marking my abdomen.
"Inferior being, blame your gods for their foolishness. There is no place in this realm for an Angel's seed", My tongue lashes, Zalgo's pompous superior dialect flowing through my lip.
The black flicker of the fire springs forth, enveloping the orbs intense luminescing light within its shadow. It screams, a sound rivaling that of a screeching infant, the high shriek echoes through the empty space and can not be muffled by my single free hand.
The flame compresses, the crying stops, purple light attempts futilely use the last of its power to save itself, cracking through the black flame only to be consumed once more.
My breathing is grossly ragged by the time the colourless flames disperse, leaving nothing behind to ogle. The tips of my fingers sizzle red, burned from the borrowed power no human can withstand. Zalgo's presence hides away once again.
"It's gone?", Jane questions with an exasperated breath, she holds Nathan upright, arm under his shoulder. The group hesitantly remove their hands from their ears, breathing a relieved sigh now that the pressure has dissipated.
I flex my fingers to air out the burn, meeting at Jeff's side as we slowly make way for the stairwell, "It is, Zalgo dealt with it, said it was a seed of an Angel or whatever."
"Who the fuck is Zalgo, thought you were riding with stick ass?", Jeff smirks, jumping up the dark stairs as he giggles. He had not given me the chance to answer his question as he drowns out the conversation, laughing at his own stupid association of The Slenderman.
"Shit, I can't see my own feet", Jane has become excessively slow in ascending the stairs, Jonathan had taken Nathan to relive the shorter girl's weight as we climb, yet with the glowing man leading the journey back both her and I are finding it difficult to keep our footing.
I have my hand on her back, trying to both find my way and keep her from potentially falling back into me, I find myself reminded about my lack of sleep, the momentary lapse in concentration had the toe of my shoe catch on the lip of the riser, I had to use both my hands to brace against the handrail.
As I steady myself, I reach up to place my hand against Janes back one more, only to grab a handful of something soft, I probed a few times, scrunching my nose as I try to place what could possibly be in my grasp.
"Having fun?"
I flinch back at Janes proximity, she had apparently remained in place as I had tripped, noticing the absence of my hand and being solicitous decided to check in on me.
So, when she went to turn around and I reached up...
I slowly relived my grip, cradling my hand closer to my body as I look to where Janes eyes would be, trying to register my action while simultaneously trying to apologize for it.
"... I am sorry."
She gave an indifferent chuckle, "I'm sure you are, but now you owe me."
"Yes ma'am", I snort as she flicks her hair over her shoulder when turns to continue her way, shaking my head at the ridiculousness I have endured these past few months.
I am truly surprised I had not been smacked in the head or kicked down the stairs for this one, I am unsure if my luck has enough capacity left to prevent my promised suicide, regardless, that's one more to the list of people bent on making plans with me once this escape is all said and done.
The numbness of the inevitable broken promises is warmed by my altruistic inclusion.
The most stress filled few months in my lifetime and yet they give me the most relevance my life of luck could never authenticate.
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Sooooo, I have been out of work for a while now, it was an unfortunate and inevitable loss. BUT it has had me thinking of ways I can help myself out through entertainment and other things, let me know if you have any ideas for me. I was thinking something mundane like making it big on twitch or something but that's just my optimism. (˃̣̣̥ w ˂̣̣̥)
I have put a few new links in my bio for anyone interested in my other writing accounts on other platforms, I will be posting better versions of my books there as I don't like the idea of messing with the comments on here, I love every single one of them and thank you all for making me laugh, cringe, and/or making me question everything I know! I will probably repeat this A/N once this book is finished so anyone who had not read it will have a chance to not have a stroke while reading. I also have a twitter but... I need to look more into how to hide my re-tweets before making it public... because... ya.