Horizon, Soul Guardians Book 3 (11 page)

Kara and Devon were left in the
darkness. After a moment, Kara’s eyes adjusted to the blackness
around her. With the M-suit she could see better in the dark than
when she was alive. She guessed this was how cats saw in the
darkness.

“
Let’s go,
freak
.” Devon sauntered
towards the door leading to the basement.

“
Wait!” cried Kara.
“Shouldn’t we use a moonstone for some light? It’s pretty dark in
here.”

“
No, moron. We don’t want
anyone to know we’re here. Unless you’re looking to die—then by all
means … light one up.”

Kara made an obscene
gesture behind his back.
I really do hate
this guy.

Grateful that her eyes were adjusting
better to the darkness, she followed Devon through the doorway and
down a flight of stairs. A wall of blackness hit her. The basement
was nearly pitch black. She could only make out a few feet in front
of her. The sound of their boots scraping the floors echoed around
them. Kara couldn’t tell where the basement walls ended and where
they began. She could see Devon’s back move up and down in a
rhythmic motion.

A hiss sounded from somewhere behind
her.

Kara whipped her head around.
Something moved in the shadows. She blinked and it was gone. Only
darkness stared back at her. Were her eyes playing tricks on her?
At times, back when she was mortal, she would wake up from a
nightmare to see a black shape hovering before her eyes. It would
freak her out, but as soon as she blinked, the shape would
disappear, and she would be left staring at her empty room. Maybe
this was the same thing. She wondered if Devon had seen it, too.
She turned back around. Devon had disappeared.

“
Hey, Devon?
Devon!”

No answer came. Her voice
echoed through the darkness.
What the
hell?

Kara leaned against the wall. This
must be part of Devon’s plan. He would try and kill her here. This
was his chance. He was probably hiding in the shadows ready to
strike at any moment. She cursed herself for being so foolish. She
thought about going back.

Something moved in the
shadows.

Kara flattened herself against the
wall. She reached inside her jacket and drew another soul blade.
She wielded the two blades before her. She strained to see. She
wasn’t about to let herself be beaten down by Devon. She would get
him first. Gently she pushed herself off the wall and took a step.
She concentrated on the sounds around her—a drip of water from an
old pipe, the screeching of metal against metal—but no
Devon.

Red eyes flashed in the
darkness.

A dark shape rose. Kara could just
discern the shadow of a human form, small and childlike. It was
bent like an insect. Abnormally long arms brushed the ground. Claws
scraped the concrete floors. A low cackle sounded in the darkness.
The foul smell of rotten flesh burned her nostrils—a
demon.

The red eyes moved lower, and Kara
could see the demon crouch down, about to leap. She leaned forward
and steadied her arms. She was ready.

Hands grabbed Kara by the throat, and
she flew into the air. She crashed against the wall behind her and
slipped to the ground. The hands wrapped themselves around her
throat. Her neck was on fire. She lifted her blades and hacked at
the limbs around her neck. The demon let go.

She heard the sound of scraping to her
right. Ignoring the pain in her neck, she flailed her arms in front
of her, cutting through the darkness like a mad woman. Kara
strained to see, but it was no use. There was only darkness.
Another cackle of laughter caught her attention. Her anger rose. It
was taunting her. The demon knew she couldn’t see it.

Kara reached deep inside and called
upon her elemental power. She desperately tried to tap into that
energy she knew was hidden inside her soul. And once again, it let
her down.

Frustrated, Kara cursed herself for
not bringing a moonstone. Her only weapons were her two soul
blades, and they weren’t exactly helping her to see. Red eyes
danced before her. The demon was enjoying itself.

Pain pierced at her back. She
staggered forward. Her back was on fire. Kara cried out in
excruciating pain. She turned and swung her blades at her invisible
foe. But she only cut the air.

She steadied herself. Another pair of
red eyes watched her from above. It hung from the ceiling like a
fly. Now there were two of them. What were these demons? She felt
the panic rise in her. How was she to fight back when she couldn’t
see? She was an easy prey for them.

A scraping sound came from down the
hallway. Kara counted a dozen more pairs of red eyes coming her
way. She didn’t have time to think. There were too many. Too many,
and it was too dark. They would be upon her in seconds. The sound
of their gaping maws echoed in the dark. The hairs on her arms
rose.

Kara whipped around and pushed her
blade into a demon’s eye. Wetness sprayed her face. The creature
let out an ear-piercing wail. With her other blade, she slashed at
where she imagined its head would be. She heard a soft thud, like a
chunk of meat hitting the floor. The demon crumbled at her feet.
She jumped over it and dashed down the hallway. She didn’t stop to
see if the others had chased her. The eerie scraping of claws
against the concrete floors sounded behind her.

Kara ran blindly down the hallway. She
stretched out her left hand and ran her finger tips against the
wall. Suddenly the wall ended. Kara dashed into the opening to her
left. Something caught her foot, and she crashed into some kind of
glass wall. Shattered pierces of glass exploded all around her as
she fell onto the floor. She staggered to her feet, shaken. She
felt something in her head. She reached up and pulled a large shard
of glass out of her forehead. Light poured from the gash. Kara was
able to see a little. Chunks of glass poked out from her M-5 suit.
She was covered in broken glass. She could hear the demons
approaching. She didn’t have time to remove the glass.

With the little light coming from her
forehead, Kara bolted down another hallway. She could still hear
the demons’ claws scraping the floor behind her. The putrid smell
of rot reached her nose again, and she sensed hot breath near the
nape of her neck.

They were close.

Kara ran down more halls and through
corridors. She passed many openings and rooms that were littered
with junk. She couldn’t see beyond that. She had just enough light
to see five feet in front of her. The M-5 series were strong, and
Kara was thankful she hadn’t tired—just yet. But one thing was for
sure—Kara knew she was lost.

She was deep into the bowels of the
asylum. With the demons on her trail, her prospects didn’t look
very good. But she was determined to find her way out. She knew she
was in the basement. She needed to find stairs to go up to the next
level. At least on the first floor she could jump out of a window
if she had to. She doubted whether she could find enough water to
make the plunge back to Horizon. If she had some luck on her side,
maybe she could find some washrooms. There had to be washrooms in
this enormous building—maybe on the upper floors. Yes. Kara
increased her speed and ran down the corridor—a dead
end.

The hallway stopped abruptly. A large
white wall stared back at her. She remembered passing an opening
only moments before. There was no escape. She would have to fight
her way out through a corridor of demons.

Kara whirled around and brandished her
soul blades. She wouldn’t go down without a fight.

At least thirty demons scurried
towards her. There were too many. Some crawled from the ceiling and
the walls. Glowing red eyes flashed with hunger. She would cut as
many as she could and make a run for the doorway. The light coming
from her forehead illuminated them clearly. They were definitely
humanoid, with unusually large heads and slimy black skin that
covered their skeletal bodies. They looked bent and broken, with
abnormally long arms that dragged behind them as they crawled
closer. Their foul smell burned into Kara’s nose like
acid.

They lunged.

Kara lifted her blades and struck down
as many times as she could. Their claws ripped at her head, her
limbs. They were trying to rip her apart. Kara slashed off the
hands that tried to grab her face. Pain erupted in her side. She
cried out. Three demons had their mouths attached to her sides.
They were eating her m-flesh—they were eating her. She tried to
call out to her power, but she was too frightened. There were just
too many. Her panic rose as she hacked away at their black limbs.
Her face was wet with their blood.

More demons came.

She felt the weight of a dozen or more
bodies on top of her. Their hands covered her eyes. They pulled at
her head. She felt her soul blades yanked from her hands. Panic
engulfed her. She wasn’t going to make it out.

Then they were gone.

Kara stumbled and fell. She looked
around. The demons had vanished. She examined herself. Large gashes
and bite marks covered her entire body. Light spilled from the many
wounds. Her M-5 suit was stronger than the regular suits, but she
felt that it had been damaged. The demons had done a number on it.
She pushed herself up and staggered back towards where she had last
seen an opening—

Hands grabbed her.

“
Got her.”

Kara thrashed around. Devon and Al
held her tightly by her arms.

“
What are you doing? Let me
go.” Kara struggled against their grip, but she couldn’t pull free.
She was lifted in the air and carried down the hall. She kicked and
screamed as hard as she could. She smiled when she hit Al in the
face with her boot. A soft yellow light poured from a room up
ahead. They dragged Kara through a doorway and into the room, never
letting her go.

The room was filled with old rusted
medical equipment. Jars of blue and yellow liquid covered the
entire back wall. A single metal bathtub stood at the far end of
the room. Large metal restraints were welded into the concrete
floor and against the wall behind the tub. Another pair of metal
restraints dangled from the ceiling by a chain above the tub. Dark
stains covered the floor at the foot of the bath. A chill passed
through Kara. This is where they experimented on the
patients.

Cassiel stood with his arms crossed
over his chest. “Ah. There she is.” He lifted his brows. “And
injured, as I hoped she would be.”

And then it hit her. This was supposed
to happen. Like an idiot, she had been lured into another trap.
“You wanted this to happen to me,” Kara spit the words out of her
mouth. “Didn’t you?”

Cassiel smiled and pointed to the tub.
“Put her in.”

Devon and Al threw Kara into the
bathtub. They pinned her down easily and fastened the restraints.
Kara pulled at her restraints.

“
Of course. I wanted you
weak. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to kill you.”

Kara scrambled around and managed to
sit up. “How … how can you do this,” she hissed. “You’re an
archangel! You’re sworn to protect the mortals! Let go of me!” Kara
kicked with her feet as hard as she could.

Cassiel shook his head. “Ah … Kara …
Kara … Kara. How little you know. The mortals are the problem, dear
girl. Don’t you see? For thousands of years we have been forced to
save their miserable souls. And for what? What do we get from it?
Nothing. Why should we waste our energy on lesser beings? Why
should we care about their mundane lives?”

He walked over to the shelves and
grabbed a large white plastic bottle. He read the label and shook
the contents. “Do you know what this is?” He turned and sauntered
towards the tub.

“
Who cares?” Kara’s anger
flared. Cassiel’s betrayal ran deep. “I trusted you. How could you!
Get me out of this, Cassiel.”

“
I’m afraid not.” He
unscrewed the top. “You see my dear, I need to get you out of the
way. You’re the only one with enough power to do some real damage
to our lord. And we can’t have that now, can we?”

Kara pulled at her chains. “You’re
following the words of a madman. Can’t you see? This is madness.
The mortals are not the enemy. Asmodeus is!”

Cassiel held up the bottle for Kara to
see. “This here is acid. Just a drop burns through metal.” He
smiled wickedly at Kara. “Your mortal suit will melt away within
seconds. You’ll be left without a shell—an easy kill. It’ll be
quick, I promise.”

Kara watched Cassiel tip the bottle.
“Stop!” she cried desperately. “The Legion will find out. You’ll
pay for this.” She tried to stall for time.

The archangel laughed softly. “How can
they? There won’t be anything left of you to be discovered.”
Cassiel tipped the bottle.

A scraping sound came from beyond the
threshold.

Suddenly, a large dog lunged at
Cassiel’s throat.

The archangel staggered sideways, and
dropped the bottle. It splashed onto the floor, barely missing the
tub. Cassiel fell to the ground as the great dog tore at his neck.
Cassiel was lost in a layer of dark brown fur. But the archangel
was strong. He tore the dog from his body and snapped its neck. He
tossed the dead dog to the side. A smirk materialized on his face,
pleased at his success.