The Devil's Guard Dog

Chapter seven: And Yet, So Far

I was covered in my own blood, sprawling on the floor as the cold ground stung my stomach. My eyes were closed, and I felt like falling asleep through it all, looking like the remains of a wounded soldier who had lost in combat.

The door to the cell unlocked and swung open, the daily meal being carried in by the hooded cultist, however this time he was met by the unsettling sight of my own body. “Jesus Christ…” He sighed as he set the platter on the ground, walking over to me and crouching down. He looked over my body, seeing the dried blood and assuming the worst as I didn’t move. “Looks like that bastard finally got you huh? Was wondering when he’d get hungry enough to actually do it.” He spoke to himself as he went to roll me over, more than likely going to check for a pulse, however, he didn’t exactly get very far with that.

The moment he touched me, I heard a heavy and wet “FWHAK” that was quickly followed by the blunt, and recognizable echo of wood colliding with something hard. The cultist fell on his stomach beside me, out cold as I rolled over enough to look up at Dicaius, seeing him brandishing the wooden table leg in his hand and spinning it playfully as he stood over us. “You know, I think I’m going to enjoy using weapons.”

“Fuckin’ took you long enough, I thought you said he’d be coming in any minute? I was falling asleep before he finally decided to show up.” I said as I began to get up, dusting myself off.

Dicaius shrugged, letting the wooden leg fall to his side, his hand still loosely clasped around it as he clicked his claws against the shaft. “Either he was late getting here, or I misinterpreted what time it actually was. Either way, just search him and take his clothing so we can move, someone is bound to notice he’s gone eventually.”

“Right.” I said, quickly taking off my jacket that was still soaked in my own blood from my now healed neck wound, threw it to Dicaius and then began working on undressing the cultist. He was a bit stalkier than myself, and this meant that his robes sat loosely over my shoulders, however I pulled the drawstrings tight around my waist to hold them on, and then pulled up the hood to cover my eyes. It was strange seeing one of them without the robes, very normal looking clothing adorning him underneath. I half expected him to be some deformed or marked up weirdo, however he looked completely normal, probably someone I’d pass on the street without a second glance. I suppose it was that way with a lot of people though, you could pass a serial killer and not even notice it in your daily life until you hear about some poor sob getting stabbed on the news. An almost frightening thought to know how little we truly pay attention to the people around us, or just how well the real monsters are able to blend in.

I looked through his pockets and grabbed a set of old looking keys that were attached to a large ring before turning back to Dicaius as he held out the wooden leg. “Here, you’re going to need this. I can handle myself, so it would be better placed with you.” He said, and I nodded, taking it from him and sitting it against my chest under the robes, hooking it under the sash around my waist to hold it in place, keeping it hidden.

We both said nothing as we made our way out of the cell and closed the door behind us. I slid the bolt into place and used the keys to lock it, hoping that would buy us a little more time to get out. The plan was to get to the ritual chamber and climb out without a fight, however we both knew it would be unlikely that we wouldn’t run into anyone, so I figured a disguise wouldn’t hurt if someone saw us walking, hence the robes. We were both fairly weak, me still recovering from blood loss, and Dicaius recovering from any number of things done to him in his time here, so a fight wasn’t exactly a good option. We’d either run, hide, or take the others out without confutation. This was our only shot at getting out, and as for how to scale the wall to the surface, we figured we’d cross that bridge once we got there.

I let Dicaius take the lead and told him the directions as we went, trailing behind him because, well, let’s face it, I’m not the best fighter, and because it was still nearly pitch black down there and unlike me, Dicaius could see in the dark and would be able to spot trouble quicker than I. We both wanted to run, but resigned ourselves to walking to avoid as much unwanted attention as possible, keeping our ears open.

It was taking some time for us to get there at a walking pace, and silence between us wasn’t ever not awkward, even in this instance. Truthfully, how could it not be? I was with a man who wasn’t even a man to begin with, not to mention openly admits to enjoying eating humans for survival. He’s not exactly approachable. Because of that awkward tension, I broke the silence, keeping my voice low. “What do you think you’ll do when you get out of here?”

“Are you seriously asking stupid questions again?” He asked, his tone bordering on snappish, and glancing back at me with a look that basically told me to shut up, however I wasn’t one to exactly listen to that hint.

“Oh come on, you’ve never been mortal before, and never been around humans in their own world. That has to be going through your head right now, what you’ll do, how you’ll live, what your future will be.” He was silent for a moment, thinking it over, and even from the back I could see the gears turning in his head before he let out a brief sigh.

“I don’t know… maybe go hide up in your mountains or something, get away from everyone so I don’t get shot.”

“Pretty sure you’d be labeled a Wendigo if someone saw you up there.”

“It’s not like there’s many other options for someone… something, like me. I can’t have the “normal” life most of you have.

“Maybe not, but there are other options out there. Maybe not normal but you’re not going to be left out on the streets.”

“Look, don’t we have more important things to focus on right now? Enough with the twenty questions bullshit.”

“Hey, there’s no reason to be hostile, especially with someone who’s offering you a home.”

“We don’t have time for… what did you say?” he asked; his demeanor softening as he stopped dead in his tracks, letting me pass in front of him as he fell silent.

I turned back to him, placing my hands in the pockets of the robes. “You heard me, I’m not just going to let you be homeless.” He turned his head to the side slightly, watching with that confused dog look again, and I continued. “We may not get along that well, but you didn’t ask for this, and you sure as hell didn’t deserve it. You’re an ass hole, stubborn, hard-headed, and about as gentile as a gorilla in a glass tuxedo… But I don’t hate you, you’ve helped me, so let me return the favor.”

He just stood there, quiet, blinking a few times before training his gaze to the floor. “…But I hurt you, why would you want to live with something like me?”

“Well, I have a cat.”

“I... The fuck does that mean?”

“I have a cat. His name is Felix, he’s half outdoor and half indoor, kinda comes and goes as he pleases. Every once in a while, usually in the early morning, he’ll come back with a dead bird in his mouth, trotting around with it like he’s the happiest little bastard on the planet. We have robins around my apartment complex that I particularly enjoy hearing during the summer, and you can probably imagine exactly what kind of bird Felix likes to stuff between his cheeks.

“I hate it when he does that, it makes a mess and like I said, I like those stupid brown and red birds, but never once have I gotten mad at him for it.”

“What are you driving at here, Fletcher?”

“What I’m saying is, how can I get mad at something that’s in that animal's nature? Yeah, I like the birds, and I hate seeing them dead, but I can’t be upset with Felix for doing what he does naturally, just like I can’t get mad at a dog chasing a squirrel, or a gopher for digging holes in the lawn. It sucks, but how could I possibly be mad at that? And why would I ever judge you for what you do?”

He was silent once more. Truthfully, I could never hate him, the thought of him feeding from people made my stomach turn, but he couldn’t help it, I couldn’t force him to starve himself just because I didn’t like what was natural for him. Morality over the subject was a moot point, because if I judged him for how he was born, then how would I be any better than him?

After a good thirty seconds of silence, he looked up at me, drawing in a deep breath, and releasing it in a steady, and almost relieved sigh. He came up to me, placing a hand on my shoulder, and dawning a surprisingly gentile smirk as he looked down at me. “You know, you’re a lot wiser than you let on. For a human at least.”

“I can’t tell if that’s a complement, or if you just called me stupid again.”

“Well you’re still a dumbass, just less so.”

“Yeah, well, fuck you too.” I said, and for the first time, he let out a chuckle that didn’t set me on edge, in fact it sounded calm and genuine, and I think we both silently agreed that even though we were starkly different, we were actually friends.

It wasn’t long before we were quickly brought back to reality, both of us being pulled away from the moment as footsteps could be heard from behind us, followed by several voices. We both exchanged glances with one another before continuing down deeper into the tunnels, quickening our pace and making our way out.

We came up on the large double doors that lead to the ritual room, both of us hurrying over and opening them. We tried to be as quiet as possible, however the old hinges protested to the movement, creaking and moaning as we opened them, the sound echoing down the halls, an unavoidable alarm that sounded off our exact location.

We both shut the doors behind us, shoving a heavy steel bar across the door seam on the other side to hopefully keep the cultists out for a bit. The sky above us was a soft grey, the room covered in an ethereal mist as shades of a blue and orange sky shown slightly beyond the veil of cool morning dew.

Dicaius quickly ran over to the far wall, brushing his hands over the engraved stone as he looked up to the edge of the chamber. “There’s no way we’re climbing this. It’s too smooth and slick from the air, even with my claws, there’s no footholds.” he said, looking back at me.

I glanced around the room, trying to think fast and see if there was anything we could use to climb. My eyes fell on the pillar in the center of the room, or more specifically, the chains hanging from it. “Get over here and help me.” I called out to Dicaius as I bolted up the steps, wrapping one of the chains around my arm, and grasping the links tightly in my hands. Dicaius came up behind me, catching on to what I was doing and grabbing the slack of the chain. “Ok. One, two, THREE!” We both jerked the chain back and pulled, hearing the links strain and the loud crack as it went stiff up to the stone, however, didn’t budge. “Fuck… one more time. One, two, THREE!!!” I called out and we both grounded ourselves, putting all our strength into it as the chain strained once more, this time the stone cracked and groaned, before abruptly popping as the anchor whipped out, sending me flying back as chunks of cement flew with me.

Dicaius caught me by the shoulders, the end of the chain falling to the ground with a loud and metallic clang. We both dragged the chain back over to the wall, looking up. “Ok, we need to get this spike up there and see if it’ll get caught on anything. Then we climb out.” I said, and Dicaius took the chain from me.

“Got it, just stand back.” He said, taking the chain in both hands and beginning to swing it. I stepped back, watching as it went around in circles, picking up speed and momentum before Dicaius whipped the end of it up and over the side of the wall. Slowly, he began to pull it back, chunks of dirt and debris falling over the edge as he did. For a moment, I thought this wouldn’t work, the debris that followed the chain down was nothing but small stones and loose soil, and I thought there was nothing up there for that anchor to catch onto. However, just when I thought the end of the chain was going to drop back down, it hit a snag, and after a couple pulls, it stayed, Dicaius even put all of his weight on it to make sure.  “Ok, it should be safe. You get up there and I’ll follow.” He said as he waved me over.

I felt my heart race, the small flicker of hope growing into a raging inferno as I was almost shaking. We were so close, just one short climb and we’d be out, I could go home, and we could go back to a normal life. No more pain, no more dark cells and cold ground, no more shit food and looming sense of danger, no more fear. Just me, a warm bed, and I began thinking that the first thing I was going to do when I got back was take a two-hour-long hot shower, and buy myself the biggest cheeseburger I could possibly find.

I went over and grabbed the chain, giving it a slight tug before I went to climb up, however I stopped cold when a sound came from behind us. A click, a very familiar, very recognizable click that made my stomach sink, and a lump formed in my throat. I couldn’t do anything but stare at the stone wall in front of me, that sound washing away all hope I had, and when Dicaius reacted the same way I did, I knew it was over.

“How dare you disrespect this holly ground. Did you really believe we would let you go so easily?” The voice spoke, but it sounded far away, down an echoing tunnel, yet it was the only thing I could hear, filling my head. I turned back slowly, even my breathing had stopped at this point, as I was now face to face with the leader, and staring down the barrel of a revolver, his thumb still pressed to the hammer on the back.

“You are in our home, children. And you do not get to leave until we say so.” His voice wasn’t like that of a preacher anymore, more like a stern and oppressive father figure that talked down to his children. I went to say something, both Dicaius and I looking back at him, however, my attempt at talking was drowned out by the loud discharge of the weapon.

I closed my eyes and flinched as the gun fired, but no pain came. I could hear Dicaius’s breathing pick up, and I looked over at him at my side, dread saturating my emotions as I saw him clenching his stomach, and a deep red stain beginning to form under his clothing.

I could feel the tears well up in my eyes as another shot went off, this one hitting his chest and he fell back onto the cold ground. Seeing him lying there, the blood beginning to pool, that dread was replaced by anger and fear as I looked back to the cultist. I’m not violent, however seeing Dicaius shot and bleeding, knowing all the pain this piece of shit caused… I wanted him dead.

He pointed the gun at me, a smile creeping onto his face as he trained the barrel on my chest, and let off two shots, sending me to the ground to lay with my friend.