Chapter 9

I dug the phone out of my pocket and smashed the button. I waited for the ringing to start, but nothing happened; there was only silence. Panic filled my heart and I decided to quit by hinging up and then redialed for the very last moment.

Nothing, I then saw the symbol on the screen that the phone had no network.

"You have to be joking." I nearly cried. "This can't be happening!"

A scrapping sound interrupted the flow of my terrified words. I snapped my phone shut and bit my lips until I had a taste of blood. Some instincts told me that I had to remain quiet. Even though it seemed impossible, that was real. The hallway, the creature, the sound; it was all terrible, incredibly real.

The scrapping noise became and grew louder, and was soon followed by a crash as something heavy struck the floor. I slide down the corridor, my back pressed against the wall to keep as much distance between me and Simeone's door as possible. I stopped, raised the candle, and peered down the tunnel. A section of the ceiling had fallen in and, as I watched, a figure dropped down from the newly formed hole. I caught my breath and cringed back against the wall.

The dead candle still gripped in my hand, invaders not far from me, but invisible in the darkness. Simeone's cries grew louder in the next room as he called the newcomers to him. "Over here!" I pressed myself tighter against the wall, trying to be invisible as the footsteps drew nearer.

Someone grabbed me and pulled me into the open. In my panic, I dropped the candle nub and scrabbled to free myself on one hand. A thick masculine voice spoke over Ortiz's cries, "Well, well well...it seems D is in an attempt to hide a little treat from us, and wants it all for himself, does he? The laughter that followed made my blood run warmly.

A cool hand touched my face and slid towards my lips. Thoughtlessly, I had to sink my teeth into it. I cried out and jerked my knees upwards then I felt like I caught him in either the groin or the stomach.

It then released me, the only thing I had in mind and the only thing I could think of was to run towards the locked doors and hopefully meet D.

I slid to a stop and banged on it with a clenched fist, shouting for the man who had invited me into the nightmare. I didn't know anything else to do and my panic screamed too loudly to come up with a plan.

A sudden cold hand closed around my throat and pulled me backward with inhuman strength. I heard myself scream but thought it sounded foreign and far away. I gripped my cell phone tightly in my hand and tried to use it like a rock to hit my attacker about the head. He caught my hand and squeezed it until I cried out and the phone slipped off my fingers.

I heard it hit the ground, followed by a sickening crunch as he stepped on it.

Before I was able to wait sorrowfully, he raised his hand and stabbed me hard in the shoulder with something sharp. "Nooo!," I raised the alarm. A burning sensation shot down my arm and I cried out both in surprise and pain.

The door jerked open and D stood in the doorway, framed in a glaring blaze of light. His black hair was wild about his face. Blood splattered across his pale features and his dark eyes were filled with anger. As if to make the scene more surrealistic, he brandished a bloodstained sword.

Without saying a word, he pulled me from the attacker and threw me behind him, the intruder lunged and D lashed out at him with the blade.

I stood stunned, and terrified while I watched what felt like a scene from an old movie. The sword flashed in the light, while the attacker expertly dodged. He seemed so much trained, was he? He maybe would have gone through some training to go through that.

But what about D? He also knew how to use a sword, he looked like Mh I shouldn't remember the actor's name, but my nanny had watched him in the old black and white movies.

How was some weird junkie squatter trained in sword fighting? The questions disappeared from my head as the attacker lunged past D and nearly crushed me. I stumbled back, tripping over a piece of flaming wood. With a cry, I hopped away from it, my eyes drawn over the rest of the basement.

The pile of wooden crates was a blaze, like a miniature bonfire without the fun. Something lay nearby, also engulfed in fire. It looked more like a body.

My eyes bounced away from it to find two more, unburned. They lay faces down on the basement floor. Dark puddles spread beneath them. The sound of feet pounded down the stairs and I looked to see someone running down them.

He hopped over the last few, bounced around the fire, and landed by D. He snatched for the sword, but D dodged away. The first attacker took advantage of the distraction to pounce on him, but D knocked him away so that he slammed into the back wall near the door.

With a snarl, he spun towards the newcomer and threw him back. The man screened as he landed in the middle of the flames, sending up a shower of sparks and flaming wood. I jumped back, hands up to block the cinders.

The man's shrieks grew louder as he pulled himself out of the fire, his body already engulfed. His flaming arms waved as he hit himself, his cries reaching a fevered pitch of agony and terror that made me want to save him.

"Water!" I screamed as I struggled to have these words come out of my mouth, but immediately, D grabbed my arm. "No, let it be!."

"But..."