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Isee a hallway in front of me, austere and white. The smell of disinfectant and food hangs in the air. I realize at once that this is a hospital.
Frida walks along the corridor and keeps glancing around as if searching for something. What’s she looking for? She repeatedly glances over her shoulder, and when she’s sure no one’s watching she opens a door to one of the rooms and peers inside. After a moment, she closes the door again and continues on her way.
When a nurse passes, Frida turns her face away and quickly hurries on. She’s approaching an elevator and a stairwell when the door to the stairwell is flung open and someone jumps out. They grab Frida and pull her through the door, dragging her down a couple of steps so that the two of them can’t be seen from the corridor.
“What are doing sniffing around here? Are you looking for me?”
I recognize the person at once. The sight of her shocks me to the core. It’s Chloe – the first goddess of destiny I ever met, who took her own life right in front of my eyes.
She holds Frida in a headlock and squeezes until my great aunt almost suffocates. Frida tears desperately at her attacker’s arms until she loosens her grip. Now Frida can croak out a few words. “Yes, I was looking for you.”
Her honesty seems to surprise Chloe, and she grants Frida a little more oxygen. “You’ll never get your hands on me. Tell your people …”
“I’m here to warn you,” said Frida. “The Tempes suspect that there’s a goddess in this hospital. It won’t be long before they track you down.”
Chloe scoffs. “Do you really think I’m so incompetent that I’d allow myself to be caught?”
“No, but the Tempes won’t give up. And when they find you, they’ll …”
At that moment, my body is jolted by a shock wave. I feel a frighteningly destructive force and hear a shout. Dust swirls through the air and dirt rains down on me. I’m no longer inside the memory bubble, and I find myself staring incredulously at Alfredo, who’s standing a few yards away from me with his transformed caiman. He lowers the hand he just used to conjure the wall of dust that exploded beside me.
Frida scrambles to her feet. Did she throw herself in the way to protect me? She takes a few limping steps toward Alfredo and growls. Blood trickles from her thigh.
“How did you get in here?” I ask Alfredo. If I draw him into a conversation, maybe it’ll buy me time so I can find out what’s actually going on here.
“It didn’t occur to you that I’d be keeping you under surveillance?” He looks at me contemptuously, as if I’m the stupidest creature in the world. “My key spirit recognizes your smell and your odeon. He can sense when you leave the house. You’re naïve if you think I’m not tracking your every move. Especially since this is exactly where I hoped to catch you. I figured it couldn’t hurt to come and see what you were up to in the Odyss today. It was a pitiful spectacle the way you turned tail and ran from the fallen. You’re no fighter, and you made that clear again today. I can’t help wondering what you’re doing with this thing here.” He nods at Frida. “Actually, I don’t care. This is the opportunity I’ve been waiting for. You had to come back to the Odyss at some point. I know you lurk around in here from time to time. But this time, you’ve run straight to your doom. And given me the perfect opportunity to take my revenge, finally.”
I shudder, and it’s hard for me to disguise my horror. Alfredo followed me and Frida here in order to make good on his threat. What’s he planning to do? Does he intend to kill me? But why now? He’s had so many opportunities to do that. And didn’t he say death was too good for me? He must have some other plan. Something he can only do here in the Odyss. Whatever it is, I need to tread very carefully.
Frida doesn’t see it that way. She wants to end this guy. She lunges at Alfredo with a loud snarl. He swiftly merges with his spirit and holds up his hand. A massive wall of dust shoots out of the ground and then hurtles down toward Frida in a wave. She leaps out of the way of the crashing debris, but Alfredo doesn’t stop there. Spikes shoot up out of the ground like lances to impale Frida as she runs for her life.
“Go, Yoru,” I command my spirit, sending him odeon. Without hesitation, he runs to help Frida and hurls several fireballs.
Alfredo intensifies his attack to make it harder for him. Alfredo tries to impale my fox too, causing more and more stone lances to shoot out of the ground. I raise my hand and throw a fireball to clear his path.
Meanwhile, Alfredo’s caiman is chasing Frida, and now he pounces. I see it in time to come to her aid with a hex, but it’s intercepted by a wall of dust. Casio stays on his feet and continues pursuing his target undeterred.
“Yoru,” I call out again. He quickly summons one hex after another. Soon, the air is filled with dust and fire.
Frida is hit by a chunk of rock and goes down. I quickly run to help her. Casio catches up to her and rears up, about to inject her with his poison. I hurl another fireball, but then I feel strong arms wrapping around me from behind. Alfredo’s body presses against me, and I hear his voice in my ear. “It was only a matter of time before I got my hands on you. You couldn’t dodge me forever. You and Ayden will go through hell for what you did to my brother.”
I get goosebumps all over. Yoru scampers to my aid. Frida’s still lying on the ground and the caiman is almost upon her. Her shoulder is injured, and she’s struggling to get back on her feet. I have to do something! It can’t end like this.
I instinctively raise my arm and ram my elbow back as hard as I can, hitting Alfredo in the gut and making him groan. Then I turn around and ram my knee up into his crotch. Alfredo lets go of me, and I turn and try to put some distance between us.
I hear a tearing sound like teeth sinking into flesh. And sure enough, when I look up, I see that Casio has bitten into Frida’s calf. She fights back fiercely, but she can’t free herself from his merciless grip.
Yoru is on his way to me, and I send him her way and command him to throw a hex. It hits Casio, but he’s seized by such bloodlust that he only lets go of her for a moment. He clamps his jaw down again and punctures an artery in her leg. I hear a howl, and I’m seized by a chilling sense of dread.
Alfredo laughs, and I turn to look at him. He’s kneeling on the ground, panting. Then I see that he’s holding something in his hand. The smile on his face frightens me, as does the triumphant look in his eyes. He’s looking past me. I slowly turn around and see a door. Apparently, it’s possible to use your key in this room to summon doors. By why did he do it? I’ve barely finished thinking this before he lunges at me. I never expected him to get back on his feet so fast. But his rage and hatred spur him on.
He slams into me with full force, grabs hold of me and drags me with him, opening the door and shoving me through it. I hear Frida’s bones snapping and the hideous noise of her guts being shredded, but she doesn’t utter a sound. All I hear is Yoru’s faint cries, but even his howls fade into an endless leaden silence as I sink into the blackness.
Chapter 27
Black. Everything around me is black. I don’t know where I am and can’t see anything at all. And then there’s the creepy silence. I can’t hear a single sound, and that’s almost worse than the all-consuming darkness. I’m breathing hard and fast, but even that makes no sound. Where am I? What is this terrifying place that Alfredo’s thrown me into?
I move my legs and try to walk, but I feel no ground beneath my feet. But I’m not floating either. Am I moving forward at all? I don’t know, and that scares the shit out of me. I raise my arms, but I can’t really feel them anymore. Where do they end? How far do they reach? My fear builds and turns into sheer panic.
