My ears screamed and my head felt ready to explode and the wind that blew past me was cold as ice. But when I blinked a few times and let the world settle around me, I saw I was in the grey basement of a house. There was no Maximus. There was no Dex. There was only fog that hung around my ankles and floated up the stairs.
I was in the Veil.
I was this much closer to Dex.
And this much closer to Hell.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
While the house that Dex led us to had been a carnival of horrors on the inside, in the Veil, it looked normal.
Well, sorta.
There was this blanket of fog that clung to my legs, making it look like I was walking through a soupy cloud, and though everything was desaturated, here it took on a shade of blue/black instead of grey.
It was cold though – very cold – and I had to fight the constant shiver that wanted to run through me. I had always imagined Hell would give off a bit of heat.
I walked up the stairs, pausing every other step and listening. I wondered if the giant spiders were on this side or if they had all crossed over to the other. Either way, it was bad news.
As soon as I got to the top floor, I went straight for the kitchen to get a knife. I never knew when I’d need it and this time I wasn’t going to take any chances. Could I kill something that was already dead? Well, experience told me I could. I felt like every single ghost and paranormal beast we had encountered up until this point was preparing me for this. In comparison, it had all been a walk in the park.
The moment I pulled it out from its sheath on the counter, I felt a breath tickle the back of my neck. I whirled around, knife raised, but saw no one. I paused, listening. There was a loud click click click coming from the hallway, the sound of claws on hardwood floor, only far louder than they should have been.
My pulse jumped in my veins.
I looked around the room. Here the blinds were up, showcasing the empty backyard. I was certain the door the outside would work in this dimension. I began to head toward it, trying to stay light on my toes, lest I alert whatever it was out there.
But it was too late. Just as I reached the door, I felt a terrible, heavy presence at my back. I slowly turned my head to look. A dog appeared in the hallway, standing still. It looked like a Rottweiler. It was hard to tell. It had no head.
My eyes widened at the bloody stump and though I was certain that there was no way it could see me, let alone smell or hear me, it adjusted its body so that it was facing me dead on.
I started wondering what kind of damage a headless dog could actually do when I focused on those claws. They were sharp, nearly curled under like a velociraptors, and at least as long as my fingers. They had pieces of ragged tissue and skin attached to them – I didn’t want to know how it got there.
I held the knife out, my hand shaking slightly. I didn’t have time for this. I needed to find Dex before it was too late. But shame on me for even thinking this was going to be easy.
The dog lunged for me in silence, which was worse than if it barked or growled. I screamed and went for the door, nearly dropping the knife. So much for that idea.
Thankfully the door opened with one pull and, screaming as I went, I leaped out and slammed the door behind me, putting my weight up against it until I was sure it would hold. The dog jumped up, smearing its bloody stump on the window, its claws punching through, but somehow it stayed shut.
I whirled around and started running, trying to figure out where to go. I only made it a few strides into the backyard when I realized it wasn’t a backyard at all. Though the world still had a blue tone and fog licked at my ankles, it was dispersing and faint washes of color were seeping back in.
I looked around, dumbfounded. I was surrounded by tall Douglas fir trees and cedar, a worn path in front of me snaking through overgrown salal bushes with their smooth green leaves and pinkish berries. A cold breeze buffeted me and carried the tangy smell of salt.
What the fuck?
My hair began to float around my face, carried by the wind, and I turned around to look back at the house.
It was gone.
Instead there were more tall trees, reaching for the grey sky, and below them was a bench, surrounded by a rose garden.
On that bench was a girl, wearing an old-fashioned dress, her attention focused on her hands folded neatly in her lap. She was deathly pale, frail and short. She was also very pretty.
My blood ran cold before she even looked up at me. When she did, I saw half of her face was rotting off.
Leprosy.
Mary.
Oh holy fuck.
“I knew you’d come back,” Mary said in her sing song voice. “You can never really escape.”
I gripped the knife harder. “Where am I?” I asked.
“You’re neither here, nor there.”
“Have you seen my partner? Dex?” It was worth a shot.