“It’s over here.” I directed them to the burned settlement.
The fact that Amber didn’t lead them here sooner was beyond me but this was definitely leading us in the right direction. The buildings she actually showed them might have well-been sheds compared to this place.
“What do you think, Stefan?” Lucas asked him.
“The people of old lived here,” he said bluntly.
“What does that even mean?” I raised an eyebrow.
He cleared his throat a couple times. “This area. People used to worship rabbits. They thought it would bring them luck. The village burned down randomly, and everyone perished,” he wrung his hands together.
“How do you know that?” I crossed my arms.
He looked over at Keira. “He studied the history of this area back in college. That’s why he joined us, to begin with,” she smiled.
Very convenient, how mister new guy knows everything about this area. If I didn’t know any better I’d say he was holding out on us.
“It could’ve been the wolves that destroyed this place all those years ago?” Clarisse brought up.
Lucas pondered this for a second, “The wolves burned the place down? Seems unlikely.”
“Just throwing ideas out there,” she leaned against a tree.
“Our investigation is over yet. I still have to show you guys the basement,” I mentioned.
“I don’t like the way you say that,” Clarisse laughed weakly.
We headed towards the house with the evil basement. It was starting to get dark out at this point. The whole settlement was looking more and more ominous by the second. I was afraid to bring them here. Not only were there the creepers in the basement but more wolves were prowling the area.
“Ok, here we are.”
Lucas and Keira walked around the building. They inspected every square inch of the place. If I had to guess they were looking for weak points.
“I don’t like it,” Keira announced at least.
“Whether you like it or not there’s evidence down there,” I reasoned.
She clicked her tongue, “We can find evidence elsewhere. This place is going to fall over if you look at it funny.”
“I was already down there. It’s perfectly fine,” I crossed my arms.
“It doesn’t make it right,” Keira argued.
Lucas stood in between us, “We don’t really have any other choice.”
“I told you!”
“Zip it,” Lucas warned. “This is how we’re going to do this. We’ll send two people down. They’ll be in and out. The rest of us are going to be back up.”
“This is ridiculous,” Keira muttered.
“I’ll go down there.” Mostly because I want the least amount of people down there as possible.
“Ok. Anyone else volunteers?”
There was silence. I knew for a fact that Keira and Lucas weren’t going. They were too much of wimps to take on an actual hard job. The last thing I wanted was Clarisse down there. She was way too precious to witness any of it. I don’t know if I trust Stefan yet if anything goes. If it were up to me I’d go by myself again. Not that I even wanted to, to begin with.
“Stefan? Are you up for it?” Lucas put his hand on his shoulder.
“I can handle it,” he said while scratching his arm.
I swear luck was not on my side.
“Alrighty then, let’s get going,” I nodded to Stefan.
I went down first. I knew where all the weak points were. I also had the advantage of knowing where the basement was.
I stood at the top of the stairs looking down into the abyss. Not knowing what was down there would’ve been better. Ignorance is bliss or so they say. Whoever they are is completely right. Rats, cobwebs, evil children with feral wolves, no thank you.
Before going down I created a flame above my fingers. Stefan followed close behind me. He felt more like a lingering figure than anything that was down there. Six foot four and doesn’t speak, the definition of an ominous.
“I’m going to warn you, this place isn’t exactly wholesome,” I whispered.
“Ok,” he stated simply.
I immediately looked in the same corner of the basement as before. The child and wolf were there again. The child had beady eyes with their head tilted to the side. They looked less than happy to see us. The wolf cub snarled.
“I bet you’re happy to see me,” I laughed meekly. Their expressions didn’t change.
“Stay behind me,” Stefan appeared in front of me. As I said, ominous figure.
He gingerly walked their way. Each step is louder and louder than the last. I could once again see the mischief of rats. They were running across his feet over and over again. He didn’t seem to notice.
The wolf snarled louder. It was probably my imagination but it looked like its teeth were getting bigger and bigger. The child’s head was straightened on their body again. Their gaze pierced through my skull.
I watched as Stefan picked a stone off the ground. He tossed it in his hand a couple times before placing it in his pocket. He was getting ready to attack. I still had a flame in the ready in case for some reason he couldn’t take care of it.
"There’s something over here,” Stefan announced.
“What do you mean?” I yelled back.
“It looks like a red scale.”
“A red scale? That makes no sense.”
He knelt on the ground. Sure enough, he came back up with a red fish scale in his hand. My knowledge of fish was albeit non-existent but there were no creatures like that around here. The nearest water source was three miles. How did it even get here, to begin with?
Stefan finally reached the child and the wolf. The wolf had backed away and was now whimpering at him. The child’s face had relaxed. For the first time, I believed that it wasn’t going to kill us.
He kneeled down in front of the child, “We’re here to help you-” his voice was cut off.
“Stefan?”
The child smiled. Stefan was frozen in place. I ran towards him. Just as I had taken my first step I heard a rumbling sound around us. The building was shaking. I had a hard time keeping my footing. The only thing that mattered to me was getting to Stefan in time.
I couldn’t as the building came tumbling down around us.
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