Oh, How We Drift

Chapter Nineteen

19.

Chris had somehow expected the lobby to be different after his absence. He had imagined that the paint on the walls would have changed, or maybe the patterns on the marble floor would have been rearranged. It was strange to think how the world didn't miss you when you were gone, it just kept on ticking; now that he emerged from the revolving doors, into the lobby of his old office building for the first time in what felt like forever, he could see that nothing had changed. The floor was still a lightly polished marble that shone in the light of the overhead bulbs. It was still a vast, empty space that seemed impossible to cross, the elevators on the other side disappearing into the distance. But most importantly...it was empty.

There was nobody waiting for them. No welcome party of guards, ready to take them to whatever place Death chose for them. No brothers of the apocalypse, smiling devilish grins and holding scythes in their hands, ready to take their swing. Nothing. Just an empty lobby, devoid of all workers and people. It seemed almost too empty, almost too easy. It was a far cry from the streets outside, bustling with business women and men in suits, all on their way to something important. This world never stopped, there was always someone dying...so why had his office completely shut down?

"Something's not right..." Jules whispered, grabbing Chris by the sleeve and tugging like a little child at his side.

Chris turned to her with a grimace, "I know," He said, frozen in place, looking around for anything that might give him a clue, "There should be people here...we just saw them, coming out of the doors..." His head was a jumbled mess, what had he missed? What hadn't he thought of? He gathered himself and looked at the other two, stood slightly behind him by the big revolving doors, "Move with me, don't stop moving, you got it?" He asked, the other two nodded their heads nervously and waited for his first move.

Chris drew a deep breath, he felt his blood run cold for the first time in centuries, a shiver ran up his pointed backbone, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he prepared to bolt for the elevator doors, crossing his fingers for the best. But that was when he saw it, a yellow glint in the reflection of the marble, the slightest piece of golden colour in a shadow mirrored on the ground. He looked up, towards the ceiling above the shining shape, and to his horror he saw the demonic wolf from the University library...Pestilence.

"Go to the elevators! Now!" He pointed to the right, sending the other two running across the lobby towards the row of metal doors at the other end, running in a semi-circle around the horrible beast; the dog had now dropped down from his perch on the ceiling, landing with a crash on the marble floor. His long claws scraped into the stone, carving deep gashes in the rock as he turned his attention towards Jules and Ahdi, running across the lobby. The hound snarled, bearing his huge, yellow, sharp teeth and sending gobs of ugly spittle flying outwards across the room.

Chris panicked, there was no way he would reach the other two in time if the dog decided to go after them; he had to distract it. He put two fingers in his mouth and made a shrill whistle that echoed around the empty lobby, "Over here you ugly, one-eyed bastard!" He shouted, getting the beast's attention, "That's right, you want me, don't you? I thought you were ugly before but now...wow, let's just say your eyes were your best feature." The animal stared at him and started walking towards him, bearing its teeth in some form of demonic smile. Chris kept going, keeping one eye on the beast that approached and the other on Jules and Ahdi who were moving swiftly across the lobby, now halfway to the elevator doors.

The dog suddenly stood up, no further than fifteen feet from Chris, who stood with his back to the revolving doors. The animal morphed into the hulking, shabby looking man from before; the one Millicent had taken an eye from. He stared at Chris with his remaining eye, standing still for a moment in the middle of the lobby, before speaking in a low, gravelly tone, "You were an idiot to come back here Christopher. Especially with the girl. You really think that your taunting is going to stop me?"