"Hey, you remember what I said last year, right? We're Zombie Boy and Ghost Boy. I'm not ever gonna leave you."
"Promise?"
"One hundred percent."
***
In which Alistair fights the monster that possessed his friend alongside his friends, while trying...
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Chapter Twenty-One: The Holloway Investigation
(The Flayed, Pt. 3)
***
The Holloway house looked normal.
Nothing about it made it look like an inter-dimensional smoke-monster was possessing an entire family, but Alistair supposed that was what the Mind Flayer wanted—to not have anyone suspicious of the people it Flayed, and keep hiding until it fulfilled whatever plans it wanted to do that involved the people it took over.
And probably involve killing us all, Alistair thought dryly as they got out of the car and walked up to the door. Hugin stayed on his shoulder—the street was empty, and there was no way Alistair wanted him to stay behind in the car. Not when, considering how terrified the ghosts were of being Flayed, he didn't know if his raven could get Flayed, too.
Hugin gave a comforting caw, sensing Alistair's anxiety. Hugin be fine. Should be worried about this flock.
Alistair gave a tiny nod, stroking Hugin's beak. Hugin was right. They needed to worry more about the Holloways right now.
Crowding together on the porch, Nancy rang the doorbell. When no one answered, she rang it again. And when the door didn't open, she and Jonathan turned to El. El looked at the door, and with a jerk of her head, the lock opened.
The door creaked inward, horror-movie-like, and they crept inside, Nancy calling out, "Tom? Heather?"
As they headed deeper inside, Max muttered, "Jesus, it's freezing," holding herself and rubbing her arms.
Alistair gulped, as he too felt the icy air inside the Holloway house, as Hugin—who would have been thrilled—only ruffled his feathers and croaked uneasily, eye darting around, saying, Don't like this.
Neither do I, buddy, Alistair responded as he looked at his friends. There was only one reason why the air conditioner would be cranked up to Arctic-levels. And it wasn't just because of the heat.
As they headed deeper into the freezing, and so far empty, house, Alistair registered a sharp, sterile smell, almost overwhelmingly powerful. Cami coughed on it, as Nancy asked, "Do you guys smell that?"
Nobody responded, but it was clear they all did as they followed the smell, and came to a disturbing sight.
"Oh. Oh God," Nancy muttered as she held a hand to her mouth—as they all did, looking at the kitchen.
Bottles of cleaning products and chemicals were opened all over the place, their contents dripping out. A part of the kitchen counter had been corroded away, a piece of the cabinet peeling away, as chemicals dripped toxic aqua down the sides, the smell of all the different chemicals so strong it made Alistair's head swim.
