The Unwritten Sin

Chapter 42

The two moved up onto the street, and Wilder fingered his pistol nervously. "Get your weapons ready," he said, "This is the end of this tunnel. We can go back down, but it's two blocks from here."

"I don't remember that entrance."

"No, it was somewhere I found before I met you. Don't worry, James. I think you'll love it."

He flashed James a wicked smile, and bolted out from their shelter, into the open street. James followed him, cursing under his breath. The mothership was hovering not far away, directly above the Great Hall, as it had been since the sun rose. The cannons had not stopped firing, but it seemed the smaller strafing planes were nowhere to be seen.

"What do you think it's doing?"

"I have no idea. I'd love to think they are trying to come across less hostile," James said. He gasped, and his eyes widened. "What is that?"

He pointed, and Wilder saw at once what he was talking about. A shadowy figure, with a hazy outline, stepped out onto the street, and it's eyes glowed a vibrant purple. In a blink, it was gone.

"That is a creature we have yet to see," James said, and his words were suddenly cut short as Wilder pushed him down flat onto the concrete. 

"Heads up!" The creature was zipping towards them at the speed of light, crossing the several hundred meters from it's original position in a matter of seconds. Wilder fired his pistol at it, and was unsurprised when they went straight through.

"What the hell!" he cursed, as the being rushed through the two of them. Wilder felt immediately sick and he doubled over, puking. James got up from the concrete, his face bloody. 

"A psychonaut," he said, "that one, I have heard of."

"What?"

"Yes, there is literature that touches on them. It's said that Abel defeated them and learned their ways." He waved his hand. "I think that one was mostly a fictional story, to be honest. A myth."

"Oh is that all."

James frowned at him.

Wilder wiped his mouth. "Let's get down below," he said, "it's gone for now, but it'll be back."

"These," James said as they picked their way among the rubble beyond the vehicle they had been hiding behind, "are easier to fight. I didn't get any of the negative energy because the crucifix repels them. You aren't wearing one, they will prey on your negative energy, trauma, bad memories, etc, and make it all come out physically."

"That's disgusting."

"Worse than that, the more they run through you, the more you will deteriorate. Until you start bleeding internally and die. Those in particular want to take your soul, and turn you into one of them."

"Okay, yes, let's hurry. I don't need to be some purple eyed freak," Wilder said jokingly. His stomach still hurt.

He led James through the wreckage towards a cellar on the east side, attached to a seedy bar with a broken neon sign reading "The Horny Whore."

"Care to explain why you were here before you met me?" James asked, the bitterness in his voice evident.

"Don't worry about that," Wilder said. "I used to come here a long time ago. But," he paused. "It paid the bills."

James' face changed from bitterness to a look of pity. Wilder led him to the cellar door, and unlocked the coded lock. "This is where they keep the alcohol, mostly. But there was a big secret," he said, "and you're not going to like it."