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The sounds of the city mask my footsteps as I creep along, closing the distance between me and the men I’m pursuing. They’re obviously not in a hurry to get where they’re going, and while I can hear them talking and laughing as they walk, I can’t discern what they’re saying.
Damn it.
I have to minimize the distance between us if I’m going to catch anything they’re talking about.
We make it a few more yards before a brick wall materializes out of the darkness at the end of the alley. It’s a dead end. My stomach drops to the ground with the realization. There’s nowhere for them to go. There’s nowhere formeto go.
Did they come the wrong way?
Am I missing something?
I debate turning back and abandoning the whole thing, but a knot in the pit of my stomach urges me on. A compulsion so strong, I can feel it in my bones. I need to find out what they’re up to.
I slip behind the last dumpster in the alley, cautiously reaching for my pocket, and my fingertips brush the hard edge of the taser. Can’t be too careful. I can smooth talk myself out of most situations, but having a weapon adds another layer to my confidence. It’s hard to feel entirely helpless when you have the ability to conjure 50,000 volts of electricity at the press of a button.
The men freeze in their tracks, and I catch my breath, my eyes glued to their movements.
Elio approaches the brick wall and places his hand flat against it. From where I’m hiding, I can’t see what he’s doing, but after a few seconds, he steps back. The bricks begin to melt away, dissolving like plastic in acid until a six-foot-wide black hole gapes before them.
I’m vaguely aware of a deep-settled tug in my bones, begging me to step closer to the wall, and a sudden chill makes the hairs on my arms stand on end. Whatever exists within that darkness is calling for me, and every fiber of my being is begging to answer the call.
Neither Azarius nor Elio is fazed, but my heart is racing erratically in my chest as I struggle to process what I’ve just seen.
Was this magic?
Vandalism?
Before I can give it any more thought, the two men step forward and are swallowed by the impossible blackness in the wall.
My chest lurches.
I’m left staring after them, my eyes trained on the spot where they disappeared, my jaw hanging in disbelief.
Following them seems like a bad idea. Terrible, even. I have no idea where this hole leads, and I’m not sure I want to find out. Maybe they had a good reason for their secrecy after all.
But the overwhelmed pull I feel dragging me toward the black void increases as the seconds trickle by.
As I’m still debating, the edges of the hole begin to quiver, and then it starts to shrink, the brick reappearing, seemingly untouched.
Fuck. It’s closing!
If I’m going to follow them, it has to be now.
I leap out from behind the dumpster and break into a sprint, my feet pounding against the unforgiving pavement. The wall is reappearing quickly, but my legs move faster, and just before the hole closes completely, I leap into the darkness.
ChapterThree
Devyn
For a moment, there is nothing but the pitch blackness that consumes me.
No sky.
No alley.
No up.
No down.
