Shadows flicked across every surface, playing tricks on Karen's eyes.
The candle in her hand shook uncontrollably as she inched down the hallway. She tried to calm herself by taking deep breaths, but her hand quivered away, and the shadows continued their horrible dance.
The second floor consisted of two hallways that were connected by another that ran perpendicular to them. The stairs joined that third hall in the middle, where Karen now stood, trying to block out thoughts of what she had done to Dave.
There were six bedrooms upstairs, three to the left and three to the right. Ellis had insisted that she stand at the intersection of the hallways, watching to the right, as he checked the rooms to the left. He had proceeded down the hall and around the corner before she could argue that they couldn't help each other if they weren't together.
She was still standing there, waiting for his return, when she heard it; a clicking sound, like someone biting their nails. Karen angled her ear forward, listening, trying to ignore the perverse shadows. Silence. The sound had been so quick and unexpected that she couldn't tell where it came from.
She looked toward the corner Ellis had gone around, hoping he would return soon.
"Ellis?"
Click.
It came from the hallway to the right.
Was that Lauren? The bloodcurdling scream from earlier didn't suggest all was well with her. What if she died while Karen stood here, waiting for a man to come and take care of a friend in need?
Hating her pigheadedness, she moved to the end of the hall, peeking around the corner. Even with the flame of her candle, she couldn't see more than a few feet in front of her. Edging into the next hallway, she slowly moved toward the closest door.
Click.
She tried to control her breathing, which came in short, loud bursts. There wouldn't be much point in sneaking around if she sounded like a snorting bull.
Slinking the last few feet, she arrived at the first bedroom. The door was pulled most of the way closed, but not far enough to latch in place.
Holding the candle as close to the opening as possible, she tried to see inside. Only a slice of light made it through, shining across the top of a bed.
Using her foot, Karen eased the door open. The line of light expanded, showing the rest of the bed and a battered dresser in the far corner. Her legs stiffened as she tried to step into the room, refusing to go further. Her nerves were shot, and her body was reacting to the stress.
She cursed her weakness. Playing the helpless woman always pissed her off. Lifting the sword in her right hand, she stepped across the threshold.
The room used to belong to another working girl, Charlotte, but no one had seen her in months. One morning everyone woke up and she was gone. She'd packed up all of her things and skipped town sometime during the night. The room had been empty ever since.
Dust covered the dresser and bedding. A dank, moldy smell seemed to permeate everything. Lifting the candle around the room, she inspected all the corners and behind the door.
Then she spotted the footprints on the dusty floor. She'd partially obscured some of them as she searched the room, but could still follow their course. They stopped beside the bed. A path cut through the dust, with one foot appearing to drag slightly with every step.
Click.
Her hand shook so violently that hot wax spilled across her wrist.
"Damn!"
This time she could tell it came from further down the hall. She turned to leave the room before deciding to examine under the bed anyway.
The creak of the floorboards made her jump even though she was the one that made them do so.
"Stop being a coward, Karen," she whispered to herself.
She knelt beside the bed and threw the blankets from the side, cringing at what she might find. Nothing.
Click. Several of them.
Closing the door behind her, Karen crept down the hall to the second room. This was Lauren's.
A couple of months earlier, a client offered to whisk Karen away from Gehenna and take care of her on his ranch. He was a good man with a lot of land and a decent business. It would have been a good life.
As usual, her stubbornness kept her from making a smart decision. She refused because she couldn't bear the thought of relying on a man to take care of her. Everyone in the saloon, shocked by his proposal, admonished her for weeks over the decision.
Now, instead of drinking sweet tea on a beautiful ranch, she was wielding a sword and trying not to piss herself.
The door to Lauren's room stood ajar. Karen caught a whiff of something rancid. The stench smelled like a combination of blood, perfume, and shit.
An explosion rocked the building, vibrating through the floor and into her legs. The shock of it nearly caused her to drop the candle.
"What in God's name was that?"
Something landed on the roof above her with a thud. She instinctively ducked her head, bracing for more. A couple of smaller bangs hit a few seconds later, before the eerie silence returned.
Karen could hear Barbara shrieking downstairs. Regaining what little composure she had left, Karen pushed on. As she approached the doorway, she gagged from the putrid odor. She could see thick blood covering the bed from the hallway. Not wanting to go any further, she looked down the hallway in the direction she'd come from.
"Ellis?" She tried to keep her voice low, not wanting to disturb whatever had caused the bloodshed. He didn't respond. "Damn."
Gathering her remaining courage, Karen stepped into the room. She was squeezing the handle of the sword with such force that her fingers ached.
Advancing to the bed, she could see the unkempt blankets were soaked through. Rivulets of blood ran down the side of the bed, pooling on the floor, and running with the cracks in the boards.
On the far side of the room, barely visible above the bedding, Karen saw a piece of fabric the same color as Lauren's skirt.
Rounding the bed, she gasped at the sight of Lauren's disfigured body. The throat hadn't just been ripped apart; it was gone entirely. Her head didn't appear to be attached by much more than her spinal cord and some skin.
Click. Much closer this time. Inside the room.
Karen spun wildly in the direction of the sound, extinguishing her candle in the process. As the light blinked out, she caught a glimpse of the woman they'd saved in the street, lurching through the door.
Dropping the candle, Karen held the saber with both hands, swinging it back and forth to ward off the monster.
"Ellis!" she screamed, her voice cracking from the force.
Clicking, drawing closer.
"Ellis!"
Closer.
"Get your fat ass in here!"
Her last swing struck meat, the tip of the sword slicing through and exiting the other side. Karen kept swinging.
Click. Right in front of her face.
The sword sunk in, lodged in what Karen assumed was the woman's torso. Hands clawed at her throat as she tried to pull the saber free.
"Karen?" Ellis' voice came from down the hall.
Trying to retreat, Karen stumbled over Lauren's legs and fell onto her body. Her fingers plunged into the depth that had been Lauren's throat, touching a viscous substance. Crying out in revulsion, she withdrew further until her back landed against the wall.
Light flickered from the doorway, dim at first, but rapidly growing brighter.
Click. By her feet.
"Karen? Where are you?"
"In Lauren's room!"
Enough light seeped through to reveal the woman's silhouette. She was almost on top of Karen. Pulling her legs to her chest, she thrust them at the barely visible head.
Her right foot connected with the woman's face, knocking her back.
Ellis appeared in the doorway, the flame of his candle dangerously close to going out. His chest heaved from running through the halls. His eyes nearly bugged from their sock
ets when he saw the woman attacking Karen.
"How can this be?"
As the candle flame lengthened, Karen saw the source of the clicking. She had seen one of the men tearing away at the woman’s left cheek, revealing her teeth. Without the muffling effect of that skin, her teeth produced a loud click as she hungrily chomped at the air.
"Don't ask questions, help me!"
Ellis crossed the room in two strides, his ample belly jiggling as he went, and swung the sword. The top of her head flew across the room, sliced away by the powerful blow. The crown bounced off the wall above Karen and landed on the floor beside her.
The woman's body fell forward, straddling Lauren's.
"Oh, Lauren," Ellis said, noticing her for the first time.
Karen sat against the wall, shaking uncontrollably. Tears poured down her cheeks, leaving clean streaks on her dirty face.
Ellis stepped across the corpses, set the candle on the bed, and held his free hand out to Karen. "Come on; let's get you out of here. Don't look at them."
Karen tried to speak but couldn't find the words. Hooking her arm around his, she stood on unstable legs, eyes everywhere but her butchered friend.
After moving her away from the mess, Ellis grabbed the candle from the bed and handed it to her.
"I'm sorry it took me so long. Every time I tried to run the candle almost went out."
The shakes hadn't left Karen yet and she was having trouble keeping a grip on the small candle holder.
"Stay right here. Don't run off again." He turned back to the room.
Karen grabbed his arm. "Don't leave me out here!"
"I need to cover Lauren. She deserves better, but that's the best we can do for now."
Karen stood in the hall, watching the shadows waltz over the walls. She felt numb all over.
Ellis emerged from the room a few moments later with both sabers. The realization of what had just happened seemed to be settling in; his face was drained of its rosy color.
"Dave must have been wrong. She couldn't have been dead. He wasn't the smar−" He stopped himself mid-sentence, not wanting to speak ill of the dead.
"She looked deader than a door nail to all of us," Karen said.
"The dead don't rise and walk. It just can't be."
Karen wasn't sure that could be taken off the table at this point. After what she'd seen today, anything seemed possible.
Chapter 12