Two or three hours passed since Atticus had left Kalista. He sat against a wall, closest to where he had entered from.
Within the confines of the House of the Abandoned Atticus waited. Outside of the walls, in the direction of the city were the sounds of a crowd.
It was strange, however. The crowd shouted and cursed at something or someone. The sounds of a brawl could be heard through the walls. Someone, or a few someone’s, were very angry. At what? Atticus didn’t know. But he could guess.
The sounds coming from within the building in the opposite direction where the lobby was located, were completely different. The shuffling of feet. High pitched voices flirting with lower toned men. Singing, clapping, laughing and more escaped through the cracks in the door into the House of the Abandoned.
The noise of the crowd grew. Atticus was positive that nearly half the city had gathered. But before long it had died down to a point. The murmurs of a select few ticking away at time.
The weight of Atticus’s head grew heavy as it bobbed up and down. The patterns of his breathing became slow and steady. His vision quickly faded.
Although his body was falling into slumber, his mind remained awake. Atticus was aware of the room he was in and the things around him. The thing he was the most conscious of was his body.
The tips of his fingers and toes turned cold. His body became heavy. The beat of his heart rapidly decreased.
In the back of his mind, loud warnings were ringing. The thoughts in his head frantically begged him to wake up. But there was a larger portion of his mind that was begging for sleep. For rest. And somehow Atticus knew that if he let himself go now it would be the best rest he would ever have.
A hand touched his shoulder and shook him.
Atticus struggled but managed to open his eyes. Without realizing it, Atticus had laid his body on the floor, his head resting on cold stone.
Kalista knelt over him, her brows pinched together in worry. “You scared me.” She whispered. “You feel so cold. I couldn’t see you breathing. I thought you were gone.”
Atticus pressed his face into his hands and yawned. “I suppose I was very tired.”
“I hope it was just that.” Kalista rubbed his arm and offered a sympathetic smile. “Get up. If you want answers we need to leave now while we still have time.”
Atticus lifted himself off the ground, his body shaking beneath his weight. Kalista went under one arm and held onto his side in support.
“Do you think you can do this?” Kalista asked.
Atticus pulled away and waved a hand. “I’ll be all right.”
“Fine.” Kalista walked to the secret staircase and gestured. “Follow me.”
Atticus followed closely behind Kalista as she led them back to her room. She cracked open her door, glancing down the hall. When it was clear she signaled for Atticus to follow.
Kalista led Atticus down a familiar hall. One he had walked a few times before. It was decorated with clean tapestries and an assortment of busts. Forever lights lined the walls but glowed dimly.
As they walked, they passed closed doors. Some of the rooms had obvious tenants which were housing customers while others were dark and quiet. Atticus tiptoed through the hall, deeply aware of the noises he made that could alert anyone of their presence. Afraid that someone could catch him at a moment’s notice.
The two reached the end of the hall where a single door stood. Kalista put her hand on the knob and opened it.
When they entered, Atticus was exposed to a small room that had many tunnels. Several of the tunnels were filled with debris, blocking them from entering. The one tunnel that was open had piles of dirt and rock pressed on the side. And in the corner of the room someone moved the excess dirt there. From the looks of the pile the job had taken a long time.
This was where the Emerald Hall met the Catacombs.
“We need to keep going.” Kalista said as she hunched over, squeezing herself through the tunnel.
The tunnel was smaller than most Atticus had experienced. He crawled on his hands and knees as he made his way through. Even though the tunnel was dark and Kalista hadn’t brought a light source he could still see something odd on the ground and sides of the wall.
A trail, uneven and dark, stained the stone he crawled on. Atticus touched the dark spots. It was a liquid. Thick and sticky. When he brought his hand to his face, the familiar scent of blood floated off his fingers.
The pit of his stomach turned. This blood was not fresh but fresh enough it was still wet. And as they got deeper into the tunnel the smell of blood and raw meat grew stronger.
Atticus froze, his heart racing. Bile rose to the back of his throat and his instincts screamed for him to run. But he pushed forward. He needed to.
The two came to the end of the tunnel, Kalista emerging first. When Atticus entered, he was met by men on either side of him quickly securing him in their grasp.
“What is this?” Atticus shouted as he struggled against them. He looked to Kalista with hurt in his eyes, but she wouldn’t meet his gaze. She shuffled into the corner; her head hung low. “No! Kalista, no!” Atticus shouted.
“I’m sorry, Atticus!” Kalista exclaimed. “But it’s not what you think.”
Atticus scanned the space around him in a panic. There were cubbies filled with caskets similar to the rest of the catacombs. The only difference with this place was the amount of living people in it and the lone stone coffin that sat dead center.
The coffin had been leveled at the top, turned into a flat surface. It was covered in blood, from the top to the sides. And on the top of the coffin was what looked to be a dismembered body.
Atticus struggled and fought against the men, but they held fast. A scream erupted from the pit of his stomach, echoing through the tunnels.
In the corner something moved. A man stepped into Atticus’s view. A face that was terrible and familiar.
Edan.
Edan smiled as he approached Atticus. The man wiped his hands on his pants then extended one to Atticus. Atticus looked down at his hand and saw that it was sticky with blood. Edan glanced at him up and down, the smile tightening.
“Will you take it?” Edan asked.
Atticus tried lifting his arms in a shrug but the men at his side stopped him. “I’m a little held up.” Atticus said.
Edan chuckled as he shook his head. “That’s funny.”
“I suppose.” Atticus mumbled, casting glances at Kalista who still refused to look at him.
Edan raised an eyebrow when he noticed the looks that Atticus was giving. “Feeling betrayed, Atticus?” Edan asked. Atticus remained silent. “Don’t feel that way.” Edan continued. “She is only doing what she thinks is best. Now tell me, what do you want to know?”
“I think I already have my answer.” Atticus spat.
“If you think you know, then tell me.” Edan challenged.
“You’ve been killing people for food. Slaughtering them here, disposing of the bones somewhere in the catacombs and then eating them.” Atticus said matter-of-factly.
Edan nodded, stroking his beard. “Yes, yes. That’s about right.” Edan answered. “Do you know why?”
Atticus leaned forward until his face was inches from Edan’s. “Because you’re evil.”
A heavy sigh left Edan’s nostrils. His head bounced up and down while his mouth twitched. “I see why you think that. But that’s not the case. You want to know why? Because I’ve been doing what the gods have obviously given up on doing for us. I’ve been feeding the people.” Edan stepped back, arms spread out wide and face lifted to the ceiling.
“Feeding the people? You’re a murderer!”
Edan frowned, yet the corners of his mouth remained upturned. “Am I though? Or am I the only one doing what needs to be done in order for us to survive? Look around you, Atticus! This is our life. There is nothing else but Terrenus. There’s nowhere to go. And if you haven’t noticed, food is running awfully low around here.”
“That doesn’t mean you need to reduce yourself to murder and cannibalism.”
“It’s already happening, Atticus. All I am doing is taking those that went and hurt my own and used their meat to feed my own.” Edan pointed to Kalista who looked uncomfortable with his attention. “Without me you wouldn’t have any food, right Kalista?”
Kalista shifted on her feet, her eyes trailing every which way but not near them.
“Kalista?” Edan pressed.
“I would have struggled, yes.” Kalista answered.
In that moment Atticus’s stomach growled. Edan gave a sympathetic smile, holding up a finger in the air.
“I’m not the villain, Atticus.” Edan said as he reached behind the tomb and pulled out a knife. “I’ll show you.”
Edan leaned over the table and began to cut the body, tearing away at it. Once he had gotten a handful of meat out, he stuffed it into a bag and tossed it at Atticus’s feet then pointed to it.
“Consider it a gift. I’m sure you need it more than I do.” Edan said.
“I don’t need it.”
“Ah, but you didn’t say you didn’t want it.”
“I don’t want it.” Atticus seethed.
Edan picked up the bag and tied it around Atticus’s neck. “Keep that on you. It’ll feed you for the next few days. Maybe it’ll feed your new family too?” Edan said with a wink.
The blood drained from Atticus’s face. “What do you know?”
Edan shrugged. “I know that Io talked to you about things she shouldn’t have. That makes me angry but I’m willing to forgive it if you take this piece of meat and eat it.”
The thought of eating human meat turned Atticus’s stomach. But if taking it was all Edan really wanted, what would be the harm? They were already dead.
“What do you get out of this? Why would forgiving her be so easy if I do this?” Atticus said.
“Because it would kill you from the inside out.” Edan replied. “I’m a simple man. If something is mine it’s mine. If I’m stolen from, I get angry. And Io was supposed to be mine, but she went back to you. So, if you die from the inside, you won’t be hers anymore and we will be even.” Edan beamed from ear to ear and gestured to the guards.
The guards let Atticus go, dropping him to the ground.
“This can’t be that easy.” Atticus said as he got to his feet.
Edan waved his hand. “Believe whatever you want. I’m a simple man with simple needs. And you have your answers. You’re free to go.”
Kalista ran to Atticus’s side, trying to wrap her arms around him. Atticus moved away, unwilling to let her touch him.
A look of hurt came over her face but she removed her hands from him.
“You should probably go.” Kalista said.
“Yes, I think I should.” Atticus replied. He looked back to Edan who waited patiently with a smile on his face.
“Just remember to eat it, Atticus.” Edan reminded him. “I’ll know if you don’t.”
Atticus retreated into the tunnel, never looking behind him. Thoughts raced through his mind, the biggest question repeating constantly. What should he do now?
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