The legacy of the dark blood

Chapter 19

The garden

Amidst the constant sounds of gunshots, hellish screams of pain and deep confusion, Liz felt Chris guiding her towards a place whose direction she could not identify, as the tear gas also afflicted her. Among those voices from beyond the grave that were slowly dissipating, she managed to identify Bernard's voice after one of his characteristic screams.

Tears were still running down the agent's cheeks, her cough was exasperating, however, it didn't take long before she was able to make use of her five senses again. In the midst of a slightly blurred image that became progressively sharper, Liz distinguished her colleagues still wearing gas masks, who withdrew once they realized the health improvement in her state of health.

The first face she could see was Bernard's, whom she ran to embrace with desperation and enthusiasm despite persistent symptomatology. She did the same with Chris, who was gaining more and more confidence in her.

"You had us worried," Chris mentioned to her, looking at the girl with somewhat melancholic eyes, which were later replaced by a somewhat mocking smile with which he continued his speech, "I think it's very difficult to ask you to stay out of trouble.

"So it seems," replied Liz calmly.

"All that matters is that you are safe, at least for now" said Bernard to his friend smiling too, although a sudden thought changed his expression for a worried face "But now they must be looking for us, we have to move from here."

Even though Bernard's statement seemed accurate, Chris was not entirely worried about the situation.

"Relax, we'll be safe here for now, besides, we've still got work to do here- said the German officer."

"What do you mean?" Bernard asked him, a bit overwhelmed with the idea that they would not leave the graveyard as soon as they had hoped.

"We will run a greater risk if we go out into the forest at night, we have noticed that this is when the beasts from this place come out to prowl the surroundings of Reich der Finsternis" Chris' statement did not entirely satisfy Liz, who remembered her first confrontations with the villagers from the surrounding villages, which took place in broad daylight. However, before she could mention anything on the matter, the police officer anticipated her "For the day we have only sighted the villagers, wolves..., the executioner, some hunters, anything that has any human or animal form, although we have not yet hit upon the cause."

Hearing the exceptions mentioned by Chris seemed to give a new course to the investigation. They were unable, though, to find any link between all the demonic entities that had been seen in those surroundings. The common feature that had been identified in all of them was the peculiar dark color of their blood.

Liz did not understand exactly what Chris was basing on to affirm that the executioner and all his infernal army would not find them in the place where they were, which the girl stopped to look at calmly. It was incredible that within that world of doom and death could breathe an atmosphere as solemn and fascinating as the one spreading around them. In front of her lay a small garden of extravagant multicolored flowers on either side of a cobblestone path leading to an old cottage; the fragrances emanating from the flowers were refreshing and subtle, although in the background Liz felt a sudden dizziness, which she attributed to the effects of the tear gas. Bernard approached her showing concern, although his course was interrupted by his companion's hand communicating that she was fine.

Chris ushered them all into the small hut that seemed to be a place meant for gravediggers, judging from the various rusty working tools inside the place, although there were also a few pieces of furniture to the side in a rather rustic style. The place was as similar to a home as the agents could imagine, since nowhere was there any presence of the nefarious scenes that evidenced the lack of sanity of all the creatures that had crossed their horrid odyssey. The state of the facades showed, however, that the place had not been abandoned for a long time and they did not rule out that it was the hiding place of some human being. Liz did not understand how her companions had found such a place.