THE WORLD OF RUINS

S01-CH02

Njabulo must have mistaken my yelling for primal fear of the monster. His eyes hardened with misplaced heroic resolve. He made a stance and ripped his katana from its sheath. “I don’t care if you’re a complete idiot, I’m not letting a comrade get eaten.”

And right on cue, something enormous peeled itself from the darkness. The demon waddled forward with a stretching sound. It was obese with six massive arms that were dragged across the ground. Its head was small compared to its body with beady yellow eyes that glowed.

Njabulo inhaled sharply and immediately shot forward. The demon roared and one of the massive forearms shot out aimed at Njabulo but he jumped, performing a backflip and the demon’s blow slammed into the concrete, sending dust exploding outward and leaving a crater.

​Njabulo landed cleanly on the demon’s offending arm which was still partially embedded in the floor and started sprinting along its surface toward the thing’s head.Three other hands shot out, two coming from the front and one snaking around from the left, aiming to pin him against the demon’s own oily body.

Njabulo shifted his weight, preparing to execute a defensive slash. But ain’t no way his speed was fast to slash all three of those. I took an exhausted breath and stood up. –

This job is such a pain.

Before Njabulo could swing, I blurred forward. And closed the distance instantly, I then grabbed the back of his collar and yanked him off the demon’s arm just as all three limbs slammed together in the spot he had been. I stopped twenty feet away from it. “I saved your life twice, dweeb.” I muttered, letting go of his collar. And then I started walking slowly toward the monster, picking up the katana he’d dropped when I dragged him away.

The massive creature seemed insulted by my rescue of its snack and all six hands shot out at me simultaneously, covering the twenty feet of open space in maybe ten seconds. They were impossibly long but too slow for that amount of demonic energy.

The first arm came, I sliced through the wrist in one smooth motion. The second swung from the left and I twisted around it, cutting straight through the elbow. The third tried grabbing from behind, I spun the blade in a backward arc and severed it at the joint. Black blood spurted everywhere, sizzling on the floor.

The demon wailed, stumbling back. I inhaled deeply and sprinted forward, closing the gap in an instant. My target was the neck, I raised the katana and swung but a massive hand grabbed me from behind.

Before I could twist free, the demon hurled me. I was launched straight across the floor and felt the crack of the wall giving way behind me as crashed right through, landing in another room. I groaned, sitting up and slowly climbed out of the rubble. “That was not cool.” I said to the demon and as I looked at it’s demon’s body. –

All six hands were back, it’s regeneration speed was at its peak. Meaning if I want to go for that neck, I need to be faster than it can regenerate.

From where I stood, I blurred without a second thought and the flash-step cracked the ground under my feet as I vanished. The demon saw me coming and instantly shot all six arms, whipping them like tidal waves.

One came at me from the right, I ducked under it then cut it down from the elbow. Another from the left and forced it me to jump. The third came straight down from above, I flipped my body in midair. Two arms chased me, snapping forward.

My feet slammed on the wall and I used it to generate speed. Then I kicked off with all my strength and the momentum sent me shooting upward like a bullet. Everything slowed. The demon’s beady eyes widened and its arms twisted, trying to intercept me but it was too late.

I flashed the blade one last time, cutting deep through the greasy neck. And it’s head tumbled off, rolling across the floor as the massive body staggered and dissolved. I landed lightly on the ground, exhaling. Behind me… Njabulo stood several feet away, frozen. I flicked the remaining black blood off his katana and turned to him, resting the katana over my shoulder.

“I’m assuming.” I slowly said, moving close to him. “That wasn’t the demon that kicked you into the water, am I right?”

​“No. That first one… wasn’t this huge. And I’m not sure if any of them is the one moving this apartment either.” Njabulo replied.

“Well.” I sighed, handing the katana back to him. “Then this is going to be the longest night.”

And I stepped past him. Njabulo scrambled after me, still shaky but keeping up. We moved deeper through the dark hall and we were already halfway through, when I turned back to check behind us again and immediately when I blinked. I was back outside, standing on the curb of Colrado Street.

Njabulo was nowhere in sight and I turned around. The Old Ridgemont Apartment building stood exactly where we had left it, the front door ripped off its hinges. The thought of finally going home hit me. But what was I supposed to report to the Captain? Yeah, that was the problem.

I took a deep breath and stepped through the doorway again, bracing myself for the shift but nothing happened. I was standing in a ruined apartment lobby. The ceiling was water-damaged, the floor covered in broken plaster and rat droppings. –

​So the demon chooses those that it wants in its playhouse and those who aren’t invited. Once you’re in you can’t go out, not unless if wants you out. And after it kicks you out, you can’t get back in. What kind of power is that? That place was like a different reality from where I am now.

I stepped back outside and looked up at the crumbling roof of the four-story apartment building.

​And I looked across the street at the opposite building and I bent my knees. Then launched myself across the street, landing on the opposite building’s wall. I then built momentum and sprinted straight toward the ledge. I shot upward, cutting through the distance between the two buildings and landed on the Ridgemont rooftop, then straightened and cracked my neck.

My eyes scanned the rooftop but nothing moved or felt odd. I frowned, bringing a hand up to rub the back of my neck and I took one step toward the rooftop door then the world snapped, instantly.

​Uh?

I wasn’t on the rooftop anymore. I was somewhere back in the pitch blackness of the apartment, standing precisely on the edge of the pit of churning black water.

​“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I muttered, shoving my hands back into my damp pockets and before I could take a step, the room shifted. I was yanked down and I hit the ground on my knees.

This time I was in a room. An old apartment unit with mold climbing the walls and half-lit by a flickering bulb.

Someone else was here. She spun toward me instantly, letting out a terrified scream and she was about to swing the thing she was holding like she was trying to take my head off.

“Clarissa?”

She froze mid-swing. “Yanga?”

She then launched herself forward, throwing her arms around me. I awkwardly patted her back but immediately pulled away to reclaim my personal space.

​“Yeah, it’s me. Are you alright?” I asked, shoving my hands in my pockets again. My eyes immediately went to her hand, specifically what she was about swing at me. “What is that you have on your hand?”

​She pulled back, still clutching the object protectively. It was an ugly knot of dark red bone and sinew, constantly leaking a slow trickle of demonic energy.

​“This?” Clarissa swallowed hard. “I don’t know what it is but I snatched it from a demon that separated me from Njabulo.”

Her voice dropped to a whisper after that and she said something in Afrikaans I couldn’t quite catch. I leaned in, impatient. “What did you say?”

​Clarissa snapped her head up, her eyes wide with terror and she shouted at me, her voice breaking. “There’s another demon in here that terrifies even the others, Yanga! And it’s looking for you!”