was twice the effort, and I wasn’t sure how long I could keep it up. I wasn’t practiced at wielding fire in such conditions. Skirting around the building, I looked wildly around for somewhere, anywhere, I could possibly hide.
I caught sight of an open drain on the other side of the road. Or rather, I smelt it before I spotted it. Its stench was so vile, it stunk up the entire road. As the rain started falling more heavily, I couldn’t pause to think. I darted in and out of the broken-down vehicles—many of them strewn right in the middle of the road—to reach the other side. Arriving at the edge of the drain, I leapt into it.
Thick, dark sludge swallowed up my feet, legs, and torso. But my only concern right now was keeping my hands above the liquid. I’d realized too late that dropping down in here would ruin the matches—which were still in my pocket. Now covered in this slime, they were useless. At all costs, now more than ever, I had to keep my fire blazing because if it went out, I would be completely and utterly defenseless.
Left and right of me was a long tunnel—with several more openings at intervals. The tunnel was not tall enough for me to stand to my full height. Bending over, I began hurriedly wading forward.
I’d heard that Bloodless were deterred by very strong, disgusting odors—like the smell of a decaying corpse, for example. The rotten substance surrounding me was definitely a rival to that. It was all I could do to stop myself from vomiting as I forced myself to continue wading forward.
I looked back over my shoulder, praying that I was alone down here… but I wasn’t. The stench hadn’t worked. Jumping down here and ruining my matches had all been in vain. Maybe they were just that starved for blood that they tolerated the stench.
With heavy splashes, Bloodless had begun piling down into the drain after me.
Now I was in a worse position than when I had still been above ground. Half of me was submerged in this liquid. Half of me, completely unprotected by my fire.
As they moved toward me, I surged the fire in their direction, hoping to scorch at least the first few that led the group, before continuing to hurry onward.
Now, I had to find a way back up. Even if it was raining. Even if it killed me.
Down here was certain doom.
A pale beam of light shone up ahead, trickling down from the road and into the depths of the gutter. I could just make out a ladder leading up to it, attached to the side of the wall. Another entrance to the sewage system. It didn’t seem like it was that far, either, but wading through this thick grime slowed me down considerably.
I managed to reach within a few feet of the ladder when an ice-cold, hard, bony hand clamped around my ankle. I screamed, kicking with my shoe as hard as I could. It felt like the ridge of my sole made contact with the attacking Bloodless’ face beneath the sludge. Whatever it made contact with, the hand loosened, allowing me to pull away.
I hurried forward with desperation I’d never experienced in my life, but made it only another couple of feet before another hand grabbed me—my left knee this time.
And then, without warning, a sharp pain shot up my left leg. I felt … fangs. Sinking into my flesh. Closing around me. Razor-sharp teeth that felt like sharks’ jaws.
One’s got me.
One’s biting me!
I let out a bloodcurdling shriek as I struggled to free myself, but as I did, the fangs only sank deeper.
“No!” I screamed, as if my volume would save me. “No!”
I kept fighting to pull away while maintaining the fire protecting the upper half of me. But fighting only increased the pain. My flesh tore beneath the monster’s teeth, and soon began to sting unbearably from the toxic substance I was covered in.
I was in a state of shock that this was actually happening. A Bloodless had gotten me. Was biting me. This can’t be happening.
Although any reasonable person should have expected to get caught, I couldn’t
I caught sight of an open drain on the other side of the road. Or rather, I smelt it before I spotted it. Its stench was so vile, it stunk up the entire road. As the rain started falling more heavily, I couldn’t pause to think. I darted in and out of the broken-down vehicles—many of them strewn right in the middle of the road—to reach the other side. Arriving at the edge of the drain, I leapt into it.
Thick, dark sludge swallowed up my feet, legs, and torso. But my only concern right now was keeping my hands above the liquid. I’d realized too late that dropping down in here would ruin the matches—which were still in my pocket. Now covered in this slime, they were useless. At all costs, now more than ever, I had to keep my fire blazing because if it went out, I would be completely and utterly defenseless.
Left and right of me was a long tunnel—with several more openings at intervals. The tunnel was not tall enough for me to stand to my full height. Bending over, I began hurriedly wading forward.
I’d heard that Bloodless were deterred by very strong, disgusting odors—like the smell of a decaying corpse, for example. The rotten substance surrounding me was definitely a rival to that. It was all I could do to stop myself from vomiting as I forced myself to continue wading forward.
I looked back over my shoulder, praying that I was alone down here… but I wasn’t. The stench hadn’t worked. Jumping down here and ruining my matches had all been in vain. Maybe they were just that starved for blood that they tolerated the stench.
With heavy splashes, Bloodless had begun piling down into the drain after me.
Now I was in a worse position than when I had still been above ground. Half of me was submerged in this liquid. Half of me, completely unprotected by my fire.
As they moved toward me, I surged the fire in their direction, hoping to scorch at least the first few that led the group, before continuing to hurry onward.
Now, I had to find a way back up. Even if it was raining. Even if it killed me.
Down here was certain doom.
A pale beam of light shone up ahead, trickling down from the road and into the depths of the gutter. I could just make out a ladder leading up to it, attached to the side of the wall. Another entrance to the sewage system. It didn’t seem like it was that far, either, but wading through this thick grime slowed me down considerably.
I managed to reach within a few feet of the ladder when an ice-cold, hard, bony hand clamped around my ankle. I screamed, kicking with my shoe as hard as I could. It felt like the ridge of my sole made contact with the attacking Bloodless’ face beneath the sludge. Whatever it made contact with, the hand loosened, allowing me to pull away.
I hurried forward with desperation I’d never experienced in my life, but made it only another couple of feet before another hand grabbed me—my left knee this time.
And then, without warning, a sharp pain shot up my left leg. I felt … fangs. Sinking into my flesh. Closing around me. Razor-sharp teeth that felt like sharks’ jaws.
One’s got me.
One’s biting me!
I let out a bloodcurdling shriek as I struggled to free myself, but as I did, the fangs only sank deeper.
“No!” I screamed, as if my volume would save me. “No!”
I kept fighting to pull away while maintaining the fire protecting the upper half of me. But fighting only increased the pain. My flesh tore beneath the monster’s teeth, and soon began to sting unbearably from the toxic substance I was covered in.
I was in a state of shock that this was actually happening. A Bloodless had gotten me. Was biting me. This can’t be happening.
Although any reasonable person should have expected to get caught, I couldn’t
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