Howling Fury (Book 1) (Being Edited)

Chapter 2

I cautiously approach the sewer entrance with my twin iron blades clutched in my hands. Iron is the weapon of choice when dealing with a ghoul. It has the same effect as acid, burning the ghouls fleash right off its body wherever it touches. Not the most pleasant of things but it gets the job done I suppose.

I reach the opening and grunt at the smell. It's enough to knock me back a few paces, my stomach gurgling in protest. It smells like rot, mould and something far less pleasant and I have to take a few deep breaths before I am able to pull myself together. I start breathing through my mouth to get used to the smell. The ladder leading down to the sewer is covered in mushy goo which I guess is the source of the smell. Disgusting. The ghouls secrete this goo as a warning to other supernaturals, or at least that's the running theory. No one is completely sure as to the reason for their secretions. I It's still disgusting though.

And of course the slime has to be all over the ladder, which I have to go down to save a pain-in-my-ass reporter. I squint down into the darkness but can't tell how far down it goes. With an idea coming to mind I cast around for something that will help fulfil my need. After a second I spy a small stone. I bend quickly and pick it up, weighing the tiny object in my hand. Leaning over the dark entrance again I allow the stone to slip through my fingers and pause, straining my ears to listen. After a moment I hear a "thud" then a "plop". Great. I guess water is better than slime. I close my eyes and prepare myself before stepping forward and dropping down into the darkness.

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The smell is almost unbearable down here. It reminds me of death and decay which causes an uneasy feeling to settle in my stomach. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I'm walking in sewer water up to my knees and doing my best not to touch the slime covered walls. Gross. The water drips from my hair and I gag as I pull something solid out of it. I don't even pause to look at what it is. I just throw it away and hear it land somewhere with a satisfying plop. Again, disgusting.

I know by the smell that this must be a large nest. There are so many different scents that it's hard to get an exact number. Though I can't help the small sliver of hope that courses through me. Maybe there won't be many ghouls down here. This could be a newly formed nest and the queen my not have been able to breed for very long.

My own stupidity forces a hysterical laugh to burst from my throat. There is a distinct scent in the air, rotting flesh and it smells as though it's been here for at least a few months. Plenty of time to breed a small army and once hatched, none of them would have left. The little ones tend to congregate around their queen, like hundreds of orphaned children around one adult who can provide for them.

A scream for help catches my attention. It doesn't sound too far away; just ahead and to the right. I lift my nose to the air and sniff. I can barely make out anything because the stench is so pungent but I catch a scent which I know doesn't belong here. Definitely human. Slowly, I make my way towards the noise, preparing myself in case anything decides to jump out and attack me.

I hear a roar of rage from ahead of me and freeze. It is the roar of a very unhappy beast. A very unhappy queen ghoul. I would not like to be on the retrieving end of her rage, though I have a suspicious feeling that I'm going to be whether I want to be or not. I step forward and a form lurches out of the shadows and tackles me to the ground.

I raise my knife, fully intent on slitting the creature's throat. As the cold metal touches it's throat the firgure whimpers and shies back. "Pl...Please don't kill me." I pause before pushing the shadow off me, only to reveal Yale; dirty, smelly, afraid, but very much alive. I slowly move my knife away and give him a distasteful look.

"Relax. I'm not wasting my time killing you. I'm here to kill these things not a pathetic excuse for a human." I put my blades back into their holsters and sniff the air. The queen is close and is not happy about loosing her meal.

I watch as his body relaxes before a confused look passes over his face as he watches me sniff the air. "What are...?" A loud bellow interrupts him. Yale whimpers, cowering away from the sound and closer to me. "Please get me out of here," he begs, his hand reaching out to grab me. I instantly back away and growl at him. He flinches away and gives me a puppy-dog look. How pathetic.

I roll my eyes. "Fine," I grunt, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck and shoving him ahead of me. "Start running." I didn't have to repeat myself. He takes off faster than a bat out of hell. Hearing a crash behind me, I look over my shoulder and see the queen rushing towards us, closely followed by dozens of ghouls; all of their beady little eyes fully focused on me. "Oh crap" I mutter, before taking off after Yale.

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I don't know how long we have been running for but I do know that Yale is incredibly slow. "Will you hurry up? I think I'm about to run you over." He doesn't even reply but I can see him make an effort to speed up. "If you don't hurry up, the queen is going to have a lovely little meal and we're the appetiser. Now move!"

It is no good though. I can hear the ghouls far behind us; but not far enough away for me to feel comfortable. They will struggle to track us down, I hope, but they know this place better than we do and we can't run forever. Well I can but Yale can't. If only humans had as good hearing as I do. Perhaps then Yale will be inspired into running faster.

We enter a huge cavern-like space. Pipes line the walls all around and above us and another entrance stands at the opposite side of the cavern. Unfortunately it is blocked by rocks and metal. The pipe must have collapsed at some point which in turn lead to a cave-in. Great. No escaping that way. 

I hear Yale whimper in front of me. "What...we...gonna...do?" he groans between breaths. He looks around frantically before turning around to me. "We...have...to...go...back." He moves to tip-toe past me but I grab his arm. He moves his mouth to argue but I put my finger on my lips to quiet him. The ghouls are not far away and they may hear us talking. I can hear their claws scraping across the metal as they search for us. "No we can't. They're coming" I whisper.

I watch as panic floods his face; his eyes widen hilariously wide and his mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water. I sigh at his expression but do my best to hide a smile. He doesn't even notice my failed attempt to hide my smile. What an idiot. Too busy panicking about his own life I suppose. "Calm down monkey boy. I'll think of something." I look around.

Okay. One exit is blocked by debris and the other is about to be filled with hunderds of little creatures who want to eat our hearts, not to mention their leader who probably just wants to tear us to shreds for running. The only things we have are the pipes lining the walls above us. The pipes in a position high enough off the floor for an ambush. A smile slowly spreads over my face. "Come on. I have a plan."