Kiss of Osiris

Chapter Nine

Her blood ran cold and dark hands clasped at her heart. "Al?," "AL?," she said. He had gone out ahead to scope for traps. Only silence. Crap! Oh god! That hieroglyph...Cthylus, the skinchanger. Oh god, why was that there? When she went back she couldn't find it. It didn't make any sense. She swore on her mother's grave she was the symbol for Cthylus the dread of men. Blue skin, squid face, skulls...yep that was it! The fact that it vanished (unless she was losing her mind) and now that Al was missing, took a toll on her psyche. She had run out of food hours ago and the stress of the trip was getting to her. Dammit! And now Al her "protector" was gone. This got bad real quick.

She called his name again and again. Nothing. Her heart beat madly. Fear, yes fear. Concern? Yes, but only for myself, right? Like a lightbulb, it went off. She was worried about Al, psychotic killer that he was. Sure he was a monster, but weren't all of us really? With the same amount of power wouldn't people act the same way as Al, maybe even worse? God, those "explorers" turned on us real quick didn't they? 

Perhaps they had planned it from the start. Nah that was silly, what should she care if something happened to Al. He had it coming. He said so himself. He even tried to kill himself, at least once, maybe more. But god, that story, that story was something else. He never chose that life. It was forced on him, he had to kill to survive, it's not like he really enjoys it deep down.

 All he wanted to be was a priest for his village. That was taken away from him. All he wanted was to leave a peaceful life with his one true love. What's her face? Aren, yes that's it. Ow. Nope, that wasn't a twinge of jealousy, nope nothing at all. Who would've thought that such a beast had such a tender heart, at one point anyway. And he watched her die in his arms. They could have had so much more time together. But those men, those bastards, killed her and would've killed him too if they had the chance. Heh, good luck with that. Still, when she thought about it, it made her really sad. She was starting to pity him. Sad ol' monster.

Suddenly, a scream! It reverberated through the corridors loudly. Is that Al? Of course, it is who else would it be? Evee was surprised to see herself running over in the direction of the scream. Why was she running? She shut it out. She would process that later. Al was her ticket out of here. Yup, that was it. Her eyes widened in astonishment. Al lay on his back, a pull of blood surrounding him. He looked dazed. Whoa, what could be down here that would hurt him this badly? Bewilderingly, a surge of anger went through her. Just friends. Without thinking she started walking toward him.

STOP!

Evee froze. Wha- 

"That's not me! That's not me! Evee!" 

Her head spun around in confusion. This makes no flipping sense. One Al lay bleeding out on the ground. The other is over there. Yelling at her. 

Her tired, stressed mind fractured and she started laughing hysterically. Two Als? Yeah, sure, why not? The more the merrier! She laughed madly. Both Al's looked at her in horror. Oh, well no more of that. Collecting herself she tried to change the subject. 

"Um, which of you is the real Al? And why are there two of you?" "I Am!" they both said. It was almost comical. Like a bad skit (or bad writing *cough cough*). Evee sighed deeply. Of course this would happen. This night keep on getting worse and worse. Or maybe it was day now? She didn't know what time it was or how long they've been down here. She looked over at one of the bottomless shafts and considered throwing herself in.

 Okay! No time for twenty questions! She was getting antsy and the claustrophobia was starting to get the best of her. She remembered she picked up a loaded gun from one of the bodies from earlier. There you go. Easy peezy lemon squeezy. She reached in and nonchalantly pulled it out. Both Al's eyed it with great concern. 

"All righty then, here's what's gonna happen. I've been in here for a long damn time and I just about had enough of it. I'm gonna shoot you both in the kneecap unless you tell me which one is real and what the hell is going on." Both looked identical, they even had the stomach bullet wounds and dried blood. Eeny, meeny, miney moe! She looked at the one who shouted at her. "You! Think fast! Prove that you're the real Al or I'll shoot ya!" Al One looked at her blankly, not able to think on his feet...

Well, that doesn't bode well for him. 

The corridor echoed as she gave him a red badge of courage. To the kneecap. He fell over and yowled like a cat. Spewing expletives like rain from the heavens. She turned to Al Two who looked at her in alarm. "And you! What say you?" Thinking quickly, Al Two said, "Then ask me a question, Evee." Fair enough. 

"Okay, how did we meet?" Without missing a beat he said, "I...saved you." Right answer! "And you false Al," turning to Al One, "any last words before I pump you full of lead?" Grunting in pain, he said "You dumb whore!"

 she was about to give it to him when he said, "I once flicked a booger at you. Should've flicked more!"

 Oh. Oopsy-daisy.

Her mistake realized she lowered the gun. Guilt washed over her, and her cheeks flushed red. "Oh, Al, I'm sorry! God, I shot'cha right in the kneecap didn't I?" She turned to face Al Two, but he was gone! She swore. Where did he- 

"There! Up There!"

 She looked up and screamed. It was a creature from her deepest nightmares. Terror personified. Paralyzed by fear the Thing leaped towards her. It was blue as the sea and had a horrid squid-like face. Its face "opened up" to reveal rows of white sharp teeth...