The Fall of the Society

Chapter 44: Horror Unleashed

Sid crawled forward into the darkness through the cool wet grass. There could only be one way that this location had been compromised, and he did not want to think about that just now. Something was wrong within the building ahead of him, and he needed to sort it out before moving forward. He knew there were people inside that would be counting on him to get involved.

As he drew closer to the building, he noticed tracks in the grass and gravel around the doors. There had been a struggle, and someone had been dragged back inside. Anger coursed through him; this was his fault. They had been expecting him but had received a different unexpected guest. Someone that harbored ill will toward him and those that will or have helped him in the past. How had they found this place? There must have been a leak, someone talked, but he could not believe any within his organization would do so unless under extreme duress. Maldion had been taken, but he would have died before he talked.

He crept closer to a window, light was glowing from it, but it had been covered with paper from the inside. Whoever was inside and not supposed to be there was going to pay. Were they expecting him, or had they come here simply because of a faint connection between him and this place? Footsteps passed slowly by the window, and he could feel the vibrations on the wall. The person inside must be large to create this much of an effect while moving that cautiously. Words were carrying on the night breeze, there were at least two people inside.

Sid reached back and drew one of his blades from its scabbard and stepped in front of the door. Gently, he reached forward and turned the doorknob, swinging the door inward silently. There was no sound as he stepped into the first room and saw the streaks of blood on the floor. The furniture here was disheveled and broken. Someone had put up a fight, but the result was not to their advantage. The first person appeared to have fought in the hopes that the second would get away.

Silently he moved into the next room and saw that the door going down into the basement had been smashed inward. The blood streaks led to this door and disappeared into the darkness below. Stepping onto the top step, there was a light shining under a damaged door to the left at the bottom. The voices he could hear were coming from this room, no other sounds moved within the building.

"That one did not talk, or he didn't know anything," a voice carried. "We need to keep this one alive as long as possible."

"I know what I am doing," the second man shot back in a raspy voice. "I do not interfere with your task, do not get involved in mine!"

A scuffling sound came from behind the door as a crash shook the door. "I am in charge here and you will do as I say!" the first voice rang out, no longer trying to remain low.

"Get your hands off of me!" the raspy voice gasped. "Serena will not be happy if we have nothing more to show for this than two bodies!"

The first man laughed, "She will not care! She wasn't even sure this place was actually connected to Maldion's operation. No stone left unturned she said, annihilate the entire group, even if we have collateral damage. Keep this one alive for as long as possible or you may end up collateral damage as well!" There was another crash, and the heavy footsteps crossed the room. "Give this coward adrenaline, he is fading."

Scuffling footsteps moved behind the door as the sound of rustling inside a case began. A low groaning started a moment later. "Not time for that yet coward," the raspy voice said happily. "Now, tell me why you are here, in this desolate location."

The words that escaped the injured man were inaudible and weak. Sid was grasping his blade so tightly that his hand was shaking, rage coursing through him like a crashing tidal wave. A thud and a low grunt finally pushed him over the edge, and he pushed the door open. What he seen within was the stuff of nightmares. A man was strung from the ceiling, his flesh eviscerated, his cheeks split from his mouth to his ears. His left eye was gone, and his muscles and bones were visible in his forearms and legs. To top the scene off, he appeared to have been finished with a blood eagle, as his ribs were forcibly bent outward away from his spine.