Jonah led Ash by the hand across the floor to the fire exit’s stairwell. The scratching and clicking of the creatures were nearly to the top of the stairs. Their ascent was drawing closer so they could hear the gnashing of teeth and the gurgling of their saliva as clearly as their own breathing. As Jonah and Ash pushed through the door, they wasted no time in climbing the stairs. Jonah worried that the loud banging of their shoes would alert the creatures to their location but knew that escaping was more important at this point. Reaching the top of the stairs, they both desperately fumbled to find the hatch that would lead to the roof. The stairwell was as black as a mine shaft, the poor light of Ash’s phone was not enough to even see the walls. After a few minutes of swiping and scratching they both sat on the stoop. The clicking and scratching of the creatures was no longer in earshot but the fear that at any moment the sinister clicks and gurgles would fill the world around them made them both fear the worst.

Jonah, his sight already blurred by the crack in his glasses, sighed and tried to make out Ash in the darkness. All he could see was the turquoise streak in her hair, lit up in the light of phone like phosphorus strands floating in the darkness of the sea. Sweat glistened on her collarbone and forehead, seeping all the way into her shirt. This surprised Jonah as they had not been running for that long. He hoped the sweat was from fear and she was too driven to tell him otherwise. Yet he couldn’t help but feel that she was unwell, despite looking the picture of health. She turned to him, her eyes emitting a cold glow in the darkness.

“Can you hear them?” She whispered.

“No, but that doesn’t mean they are not there. What are they? Some type of big lizard escaped from the zoo?” He asked, not believing his own words.

She sighed, setting her phone in between them as faint lantern.

“You really are this skeptical?” She pushed.

“I am not one to jump to conclusions, Ashlyn. I tell my students all the time. Know the facts before making leaps or guesswork. And I have only seen these things in the dark. Once I see them in the light I will-”

“What?” She exclaimed, yet still trying to keep her voice low.

“I don’t know. But I do know if I think…than…than…I will have to reevaluate everything. Even my own view of the universe and…that…that is something I won’t do unless I have no other option,” he said confidently, despite a slight hint of fear in his voice.

Ash nodded.

“Okay. But if they are what I think they are, then tear gassing this place or setting it on fire won’t even hurt them. What do you suggest?”

Jonah ran his hands through his hair.

“I don’t know. Perhaps…perhaps we corner them. It might not be that hard to do given that they are blind.”

“How do you know they are blind?”

Jonah swallowed, rubbing his ear continuously as if he was applying an invisible shield.

“One of their…um…teeth was right by my head. If it was able to see it would have bitten down…but it didn’t so I have to conclude that perhaps they are in fact blind.”

“So, you think there is a surplus of giant massive blue-eyed big lizards, with opposable thumbs, prehensile tails, sharp claws, razor teeth, and are also blind, who happen to be in a university library in Boston that no one was aware of till today? But my theory will reshape how you see the universe?”

Jonah was annoyed by her logic but found it difficult to argue with. He hadn’t even mentioned one spoke to him. He was keeping that to himself.

“Alright Miss “know-it-all” why did they just happen to show up when I was down in the archives. I mean the library was fine until…”

Jonah’s voice trailed off and he reached for Samson’s book in the back of his belt.

“…until I found this,” he said, finishing his thought.

Ash looked at the book.

“You found Samson’s other book!” She said excitedly, before clasping her hand on her mouth.

They both held their breath. The eeriness of no sound crept into their bones. As they were about to relax the familiar scratching was heard three flights beneath them. The scratching continued, more scratches building with each second. Jonah stuffed the book quickly back in his belt and began his frantic search for the hatch. Ash was also quick to her feet, shoving her phone haphazardly into her pocket with the light still peeking out of the top. The two of them swung and waved their arms back and forth, desperately trying to grab anything. After only a few swings, Jonah stopped and placed his hands on Ash’s shoulders.

“Ashlyn, I think it is higher than we anticipated. If you get on my shoulders, we might have a better chance,” he said in between breaths.

She nodded. He cupped his hands and bend down to lift her up. She stepped into his hoist and he launched her upwards towards the hatch. She flailed wildly at the blackness briefly before her wrist connected with a hard metal object in the dark. She let out a loud wince almost knocking herself off balance off Jonah’s shoulder. The scratching continued as the sounds of the door being knocked down filled the stairwell. Ash gripped the metal tightly, pulling hard on what she prayed was a lever. Pushing with all her strength, she pushed the metal forward. To her surprise she was lifted off of Jonah’s shoulder, as the momentum of the hatch opening outward was so powerful that she went with it. Landing on the roof, she tumbled onto the pebbles that covered the surface, scraping her knee as she did.

The horde was drawing closer. Jonah could feel the stairs shake as they drove their nails into the concrete. In a moment of terror, he began to leap for the opening, knowing it was out of reach. Ash regained her bearing and reached down the shaft, extending her arm as far as it would go. Jonah in his fear snatched her arm at the wrist, nearly pulling her back down. She dug her feet in and let out a loud scream. His feet, only a foot or two off the ground, kicked and failed for any support. Ash grimaced, holding her breath as she continued to dig in her heels for traction, tears seeping from her eyes.

“You’re too heavy! I don’t think I can hold you!” She screamed.

Jonah swung his other arm at her, just missing her fingers, as he continued to sway, attempting to grab anything he could to stable himself. Without warning he felt the most pain he had ever felt emanate from his calf. Regrettably he looked down to see one of the creature’s teeth dug deep into his pants, his blood flowing down its face to a sea of dead blue eyes.

The extra weight snapped his grip lose from Ash and he began to fall into the pit of monsters, catching his fingertips on the hatch just before his descent. He cried in pain, swinging his feet at the beast, trying to shake it off his leg. The screams and blood only aggravated the creatures beneath him who blindly jumped and nipped at his sides scraping and scratching him. He tightened his grip on the hatch, but it was no use, with the creature fixated on his flesh he could not pull himself up or even change position. All his strength was channeled into holding on. Ash grabbed a handful of pebbles and threw them at the creature, where they bounced off and clattered down to the concrete with no real effect. She bit her lip and crawled behind the hatch.

“I’m sorry,” she cried.

“Ashlyn wait. Wait!!” Jonah screamed.

She closed her eyes and pushed the hatch shut, sealing him inside with the creatures, leaving him alone with nothing but the ghastly light of their eyes. He held his breath and awaited death, knowing she had to do it or they both would be killed. As he felt the creature dig its nails into his side in attempt to climb up, he also felt the same momentum Ash had. The hatch reopened with the same velocity, arcing Jonah out of the abyss and carrying him upward. The force was so powerful the creature was taken up as well. Jonah, like Ash before him, landed on the pebbles hard, knocking the wind out of him. The force of the landing dislodged the creature’s grip on his leg, and it tumbled back down the shaft, digging its nails into the side to stop its fall. Without a second thought, Ash jumped to her feet, and pushed the hatch down with all her might, closing the gap and severing the creature’s fingers as the hatch came crashing down. The creature below snarled as fell into the fray of its own kind.

Ash rushed over to Jonah whose leg was staring to drain nonstop. Tearing open part of his pants she tied a tight tourniquet around his leg. He sat up, running his hand along the side of it.

“Can you walk?” She said in between several deep breaths.

Jonah nodded and pulled himself to his feet, limping slowly across the library roof. He only made it a few feet when he collapsed again, feeling the blood leaking through the tourniquet. Ash caught his shoulder, attempting to drag him further before the pair of them collapsed just shy of the library’s large skylight. Jonah coughed, attempting catch his breath. He lay his head against the skylight and looked up at the stars. Ash applied pressure against his leg, the blood coating her fingers. Jonah could feel the loss of blood traveling to his head and he felt that at any minute he was going to pass out. The stars were bright, slowly losing their glow, as several clouds began to roll in. He placed his hand on Ash’s shoulder.

“I told him to “fuck off”,” he mumbled.

“What?” She responded, half listening.

“I told him to “fuck off.” Those were the last words I said to my brother. Fuck off. Turns out he was right.”

Jonah fought the urge to cry as he knew that would make him spiral faster. He stared at the stars, trying to make sense of the world he found himself in. Where creatures and devils roam, completely unchecked. He wondered how he would fair in the end. Would his good deeds be enough to save him or was he doomed to the pit with those creatures? As he began to drift off, a stabbing pain ran up his leg, wrenching him awake. He looked down to see Ash had torn a portion of her shirt off, exposing her navel. Her stomach was coated in a thin layer of slime, he couldn’t identify. She had used the torn shirt to fully secure his tourniquet and stop the bleeding. She laid next to him and stared up at the stars, resting her head.

“I told him I didn’t need him. That was the last thing I said to him. Before I found the blood.”

She looked at Jonah who was starting to regain a small bit of color in his face.

“We met at this cute little park near the church. Samson said he wanted to meet by the playground, I assume it was so I wouldn’t yell at him. I went and he talked about faith and forgiveness and doing the right thing. I was angry and I told him I didn’t need him, and I left him there. I assumed I would see him again at the church I never thought…that was it.”

Jonah held her hand and she nodded slowly.

“I do need him Jonah. Same as you. Maybe there is some hope he is alive.”

“Did you see those creatures? If Samson said he dealt with the devil himself than that means there is something worse than these. I love him but I cannot see how he survived.”

She nodded, biting her lip in a poor attempt to mask her need to cry.

“Can you move?” She asked, in a poor attempt to change the conversation.

“Yes, but weakly. Perhaps you still have the magic that healed you immediately?” Jonah joked.

She chuckled under her breath and lifted him up under her shoulder. They slowly began to move towards the fire escape ladder on the far end of the roof when movement from under the skylight caught their eye. The creatures jumped from floor to floor. Climbing the walls and bookcases in a frantic search for something. Jonah stopped Ash from walking, motioning to the creatures.

“Let’s not stick around for them to find us,” she said sternly.

“Look, they move in groups, touching one another on the shoulder or the tail as some sort of signal. That is not animalistic, that is organized,” he said fearfully, every third word getting caught in his throat.

“All the more reason for us to stay on the move,” she protested.

“No, if they are organized than that must mean they are after something…but what?”

“Jonah, we got the book. If we stay here any longer, there is no doubt in my mind, we end up dead.”

“I think they want the book and they won’t rest until they get it. I think that is what Samson was trying to warn me about I think…I think if we run, they will track us down until we give them the book.”

“So, what do you suggest?” She asked meekly.

Jonah leaned his hand against the glass and looked out over the distant skyline of Boston that was slowly being covered by the dense clouds.

“We make sure they never leave.”

Jonah stared intently into the skylight. The creatures began covering the walls on all sides. Digging their long nails deep into wood, stone, and metal. The over amount of them created the look of a hive, swarming and climbing up the honeycomb. Ash tightened his tourniquet, slowly placing him once again under her arm and carrying him to the other side of the roof, setting him down just above the ledge. Jonah held his breath as he continued to look out over the Boston skyline. Even with the heavy cloud cover moving in, he was happy to see the flickering lights. The distant sound of scratching and gnarling brought him back and he sat up, clutching Samson’s book in his hand.

“How do you expect to take the fight to them?” Ash said, doing her best to mask the fatigue in her voice.

Jonah handed her the book. She opened it and began to page through the contents. Her eyes widened with the possibility of hope.

“Do you think he knew they were coming for the book?”

“I wanted to tell you this in stairwell before we were interrupted. Think about it. The lights went out right as I grabbed the book and they are blind. If Samson thought I was coming here to get the book, he didn’t want…whatever those things are to get out.”