Chapter Twenty-Six

 

The little girl wasn’t all that little. She looked about eleven. But she was clearly miserable. She sat beside the bed, her cheeks wet with tears, her black hair bunched into a messy knot at the back of her head. Even in this sad state, she was very pretty.

The woman lying motionless in the bed was obviously her mother. She had the same small nose, the same rounded chin, the same striking beauty, but she was deathly thin, almost withered. Her eyes were closed. She didn’t respond to the people gathering in the room.

Her daughter clung to her hand as if desperately trying to anchor her to this world.

Charlotte gave the girl’s shoulders a reassuring squeeze. Her name was Siena Lowe. Her mother’s name was Shondra.

Holly and Alicia stood on the other side of the bed, observing the sad scene.

Eric stood in the doorway, feeling like an intruder. He didn’t know what they were supposed to do here. A tragedy was playing out before him, and it was truly heartbreaking, but he didn’t see how they could possibly help. He was sure this same depressing scene was taking place in countless hospitals all over the world. The circle of life, some would say. Everybody died. These women were all very remarkable, but as far as he knew none of them had the ability to change that.

The telephone beside the bed rang. Charlotte answered it. A puzzled expression crossed over her face and she looked at Eric. “It’s for you…”

Eric stood up straight. “Me?”

She gave him a shrug. Don’t ask me, the gesture said. She held the phone out to him.

He took it from her and lifted it to his ear. “Hello?”

“Don’t you feel it?”

“Isabelle?” He reached for the phone in his pocket, confused.

“It’s a hospital,” she said. “You’re not supposed to use cell phones in hospitals.”

“Oh. Right… But how’d…?”

“I called the operator to connect me to the hospital in Luscher and asked for Shondra Lowe’s room. Duh.”

“I see.”

“There were ways to do things before the internet, you know.”

“I know that…” But he felt a little embarrassed, anyway. Isabelle was such a clever girl that sometimes she made him feel quite stupid.

“But seriously, can’t you feel that?”

“Feel what?”

“Something’s not right in that room.”

Eric looked down at the woman in the bed. Except for the fact that she looked too young to be on her way out, except for the fact that a young girl was losing her mother too soon, he saw nothing he’d call unusual.

“It’s not natural,” Isabelle told him. “She’s not sick. She’s under attack.”

“What?”

“There’s something in that hospital. Something evil.”

“Seriously?” Eric stared at Shondra Lowe’s still body lying before him. Evil? That was quite a word. He wasn’t sure he’d ever encountered anything he’d actually call “evil.” He’d met bad people. They were selfish, opportunistic, egotistic, even murderous, but evil? Even the monsters he’d encountered hadn’t been what he’d call evil. They were mindless, doing the bidding of their masters, or else possessed agendas of their own, none of which seemed to be the enslavement, consumption or corruption of the human race.

Perhaps it was recklessly optimistic of him, but he found it difficult to believe in such a thing as true evil.

“Deadly serious,” Isabelle insisted. “We have to help. And soon. She doesn’t have long.”

The girl didn’t look up from her vigil, but Holly, Alicia and Charlotte were all staring at him. Charlotte had her head cocked in a curious way. She was wondering who he was talking to, of course, but she also looked like she’d half expected this, like she knew something was going to convince him of what she’d already known.

She knows things, Holly had told him.

“I’ll contact Delphinium,” Isabelle promised. “Let her know what’s happened. You need to search that hospital.”

“What am I looking for?”

“You’ll know it when you see it. Or…at least, I will.”

“How do you know what it is?”

“It’s one of those things I picked up in my travels. It’s not good. And it won’t stop when it’s done with her. If you don’t stop it, not only will that woman die…so will the girl.”

Eric felt his stomach clench. He looked down at Siena. She didn’t give any indication that she even knew there were others in the room. “Okay…” was all there was to say.

“Charlotte should have an idea of where to start looking.”

Eric nodded and hung up the phone.

Charlotte didn’t ask who was on the phone. Instead, she asked, “Do you understand now?”

“I do. But we don’t have much time. The magic man’s followed us everywhere tonight. This place will be swarming with imps and ogres and maybe worse things in no time.” At this, Siena finally looked up, her red eyes regarding him as if he’d just announced to the world that…well…that imps and ogres were coming… But he didn’t have time to convince anyone he wasn’t crazy. “The longer we stay, the more danger everyone here is in.”

“And Del and the others are in trouble,” Holly reminded them. “The longer we take, the closer they are to confronting the magic man. And she’s already told us we have to face him together or we’ll all…” her eyes dropped briefly to Siena, “…you know…”

Eric nodded. “Right.” And according to Isabelle, Shondra Lowe didn’t have much time, either. They were all running out of time. He fixed his eyes on Charlotte. “Isabelle said you’d have an idea where to start looking.”

“Maybe,” she replied. She didn’t waste time asking who Isabelle was or how she knew such things. “But I’m not sure what I’m looking for.”

“Something’s attacking this woman. Something evil. And it’s in the hospital.”

She considered this. It was clear she’d spent the past twelve years living with witches, because she didn’t question for a moment that an evil presence was killing Shondra Lowe. “If there’s something here, it’ll probably be in the north wing basement. That area flooded a while back and it’s pretty well been emptied out. If anything’s living in this building unseen, that’s where it’ll probably be.”

“Let’s get going.”

Charlotte nodded. Looking at Holly and Alicia, she said, “You two stay with Siena. Keep her safe. In case he shows up.”

They promised her they would watch the girl and then Charlotte led Eric out the door and down the empty hallway.

It was strange leaving Holly behind. He’d grown accustomed to having her with him on each of these bizarre stops. He’d learned to trust her. But she didn’t know anything about this hospital or the thing that had apparently ensnared Shondra Lowe.

“So what do you know about this thing?” he asked.

Charlotte glanced at him. He had the distinct feeling that she felt the same about him as he did about her. He was a stranger, after all, an outsider. But Holly told her she could trust him and so she was willing. “Only what my gifts tell me. Which isn’t much, I’m afraid.”

“They told me a little about your gifts while we were driving here. They said you know things.”

She nodded. “I came here to help people. It’s what I do. It’s how I use what God gave me.”

“Admirable.”

She shrugged. “I would’ve died if Del hadn’t found me. I know that. I have to give back where I can. And I do help people. My gifts tell me things. Like you said, I know things. I don’t always know why or how, but I do. I know if the little girl with the broken arm is being sexually abused by her father. I know that the old woman with the broken hip was trying to kill herself. I know when the nurses are being neglectful. I know when the doctors have made a misdiagnosis. I can fix these things. I can make it better. Usually. But this time… As soon as I first laid eyes on Siena and her mother, I knew something was terribly wrong. I knew it wasn’t natural. Something evil was at work.”

Eric nodded. It was precisely the same thing Isabelle had said. She’d felt something in that room, something that shouldn’t have been there, something wrong.

“For the first time, I didn’t know what to do. Del forbid me from using magic, but I was tempted. I almost used a spell anyway, just to ask what I should do.”

“But you didn’t?”

“I was going to. Honestly. I just didn’t know what else to do. But that was just a couple days ago. While I was boiling the water, I realized that something was happening out there. I knew Del was going to be coming for me. So I just…waited. I thought she’d come herself…”

“She has to stay at the farmhouse. She’s maintaining the blanket.”

Charlotte nodded. “Yeah. I should’ve known that.”

“How long ago did you meet Siena?”

“About a week and a half ago now. Her mother came in with pneumonia. Everything looked normal, but then she just lapsed into a coma. They don’t have much money. They don’t have insurance. They don’t even have any family. They can’t afford specialists to tell them what’s wrong. So they’ve pretty much just given up on her. Not that it matters. I’m pretty sure that if they took her out of the hospital, she’d die.”

It made sense. Isabelle said the source of the illness was inside the building. Eric doubted it would move with her.

Charlotte led him down a set of stairs and through a pair of doors marked “No Entry.” Beyond here, it was clear that the janitors didn’t waste their time. The entire corridor was filthy. A damp, moldy stench hung in the air.

“They’re supposed to be having this entire wing remodeled next year, so they’ve let it go. No reason to spend any money on it, I guess. Kind of creepy isn’t it?”

Eric looked around. “I’ve been in worse.” And he had. Just last month, he’d explored quite a few abandoned structures in worse shape than this. One of them was even on a hospital campus. It’d sat much longer than these hallways, and it had once been an asylum, which automatically made it even creepier than a hospital for some reason.

But he was beginning to wonder why there always seemed to be creepy, abandoned structures on these strange journeys. It was as stubbornly reliable as the stupid cemetery and the scary-as-hell villain with the insane, supernatural powers.

Charlotte shivered as she looked around. “It never occurred to me that there might be something down here.”

“Is your gift telling you anything?”

She stopped and looked around. “Yeah… It’s telling me I should be scared.”

Eric nodded. “I get that all the time.”

“It almost never gives me all the information. I have to work for it.”

“I know how you feel.”

“What’s going on out there, anyway? You said something about imps and ogres? I thought they were near impossible to summon.”

Eric glanced at her. Once again, he was struck by how much these girls all knew about the rules of magical monster summoning. “Clearly not. He has an army of them. We’ve been attacked everywhere we’ve been today.”

This clearly concerned her. “That’s not good.”

“Not at all.”

His phone chimed in his pocket. A text message from Isabelle: THE END OF THE HALL

“I thought you said I couldn’t use my phone in a hospital.”

YOU’RE NOT IN A WORKING AREA OF THE HOSPITAL

Eric scratched at his chin. “Okay. I guess that makes sense. What am I looking for?”

IT’S HARD TO EXPLAIN. IT’S SORT OF LIKE A TENDRIL SNAKING THROUGH THE BUILDING

Eric looked around. “I don’t see anything.”

IT’S NOT PHYSICAL

Eric frowned at the phone. “What do you mean ‘not physical?’ Is it magic?”

IT’S PSYCHIC

“Are you sure?”

I’M POSITIVE

Eric stared down the dark hallway. “So what does it mean?”

I HAVE NO IDEA

Charlotte was fiddling with her necklace and watching him. “What’s the deal? Who are you talking to? How are you talking?”

“Isabelle,” replied Eric. “We have a psychic connection. She’s in my head.”

She stared at him for a moment, digesting this strange bit of information. “But you need a phone to talk to her?”

“I need a phone to hear her. She’s in my head. I’m not in hers.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Sounds crazy. I know.”

Charlotte held up her hands. “Hey. I’m a witch. You’ve got an Isabelle in your head. To each his own.”

“I kind of like working with witches,” Eric decided. “You’re a very open-minded people.”

VERY CONVENIENT, agreed Isabelle.

“So Isabelle knows where this thing’s hiding?”

“End of the hall,” replied Eric. “She can feel it. It’s psychic.”

“Like her.”

“Right.”

Charlotte turned her attention toward the hallway in front of them. “Does she know what it is?”

Eric glanced down at the phone.

NO IDEA. BUT IT’S STRONG. YOU SHOULD BE CAREFUL

“Always,” he promised.

Charlotte glanced at the screen. “You’ll have to tell me how you two met.”

“Holly can fill you in on our way back to Delphinium when we’re done here.”

“Sounds fascinating. Can’t wait.”

“Thrilling story,” Eric agreed.

“I’ve got to be honest,” she said. “I’m kind of scared out of my mind right now.”

“Pretty sure that’s normal.”

The lights were on in the hallway. They appeared to be wired with the lights in the previous corridor. But the rooms in here were all dark. The only light was coming from small, dirty windows. A surprising number of things had been left in here to rot. Each room was still furnished with a bed, a nightstand and even a small television mounted to the wall. A wheelchair stood abandoned in the middle of the hallway.

“No offense,” said Charlotte, “but I really wish Del was here.”

“None taken. I kind of wish she was here, too. Something tells me I’d want her on my side in a fight.”

“She is formidable.”

“What about you? Can you throw spells like Holly and Alicia?”

“Thrusts? Yeah. And I can use it three times if I have to before recharging.”

“Nice.”

“Still not confident about this, though.”

“That’s good. You should stay on your toes. Holly’s thrust didn’t stop ogres.”

“Fantastic.”

They approached the end of the hall. Another set of double doors waited for them. A sign above them informed them that they were approaching the intensive care unit. But someone with a morbid sense of humor had spray-painted the word “morgue” over the top of it.

“Cute,” grumbled Eric.

IT’S IN THERE, Isabelle informed him.

Eric wished he had Delphinium’s dagger, but he’d left it in the minivan, under the seat. He hadn’t dared try to sneak it into the hospital. That had seemed like a good way to get arrested.

The old ICU was dark and dreary. The floor was covered in grime. Mold grew on the walls and ceiling in dirty patterns. Most of the furniture had been removed from this room, leaving the space mostly empty.

Eric and Charlotte stood in the doorway, peering in.

There didn’t seem to be any kind of monster lurking in the room.

THE BACK CORNER. TO THE LEFT

“There’s nothing there,” said Eric.

YES, THERE IS

“I can’t see anything.”

GET CLOSER

“Do I have to?”

YES

He sighed and began walking toward the far corner of the room.

He couldn’t see anything. He tried squinting, glancing from the corners of his eyes, even opening his eyes as wide as they would go, but the place was empty. Clearly, he didn’t have psychic vision.

Charlotte shuddered. “Cold in here.”

It was. It was also damp and drafty. But he thought it should be warm and humid given the weather outside.

He fixed his eyes on the far corner. There was nothing there. And yet Isabelle insisted that there was. What couldn’t he see?

He crept closer. Ten paces from the corner of the room. Five paces.

STOP

Eric froze. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

ABOVE YOU

Eric’s heart leapt. He lifted his eyes to the ceiling. At the same time, he ducked down, half-expecting something to lash out at him from above.

But still there was nothing. Only a gaping hole in the ceiling tiles, revealing an empty plenum space above.

FEEL IT

“What?”

YOU CAN’T SEE IT. YOU HAVE TO FEEL IT

Eric closed his eyes. For a moment, there was nothing. But then he did begin to feel it. Something was there, hovering right above him, a great, dark mass of…something… It reminded him of every kind of thing that had ever made his skin crawl, from snakes and spiders to scorpions and leeches. It made his stomach roll over. All he wanted to do was turn and flee the room, to get out of this basement as quickly as possible.

But when he opened his eyes, there was still nothing there.

Had he only imagined it?

IT’S REAL, Isabelle assured him. AND IT’S EATING SHONDRA LOWE FROM THE INSIDE OUT

Eric shivered and took a step backward. How was he supposed to kill something he couldn’t see?

Charlotte stepped up beside him, her eyes fixed on the exposed plenum space above them. “It’s there, isn’t it?”

He nodded. “Definitely.” It was growing out of the ceiling like a tumor. He could almost feel it pulsing. The picture in his head was of a blob with long, snake-like tentacles, but he had the distinct feeling that it was probably much more complicated than that. It was probably as close as his mind could come to comprehending the thing. After all, if it was a purely psychic creature, it wouldn’t necessarily need to conform to physical laws of nature.

“What do we do?”

But Eric didn’t know. He’d never encountered anything quite like this before.

SPELL? offered Isabelle.

Eric showed her the screen.

Charlotte read the word and then looked up at the ceiling again. “Worth a try.”

The two of them backed away and Charlotte thrust her hand toward the missing tiles. She gave a fierce grunt, as if she’d just pushed a very heavy object, and five invisible projectiles shot from her fingertips.

Eric didn’t see any such projectiles. They were invisible, after all. But he felt that warm breeze move through the room and saw five gory craters appear out of thin air.

A great, bulbous shape rippled into view for a moment, shrugging outward and knocking down several more tiles that fell to the floor with a loud clattering.

He could almost have believed that he’d only imagined it, that she’d merely knocked down the ceiling tiles with the spell. But before he had time to doubt his eyes, he realized that he could sense the thing’s tendrils. Dozens of them snaked across the ceiling and down the walls, like a network of veins. Each one pulsed grotesquely.

Strangely, the tendrils and the body of the thing weren’t actually connected. It was as if they were separate entities, but he could feel that they were one and the same.

He didn’t have time to ponder this bizarre fact further. One of the tendrils shot out from the wall and struck him in the chest. Instantly, he fell backward onto the floor, his entire body twitching. Pain filled him, as if a fire were raging through his entire nervous system. He cried out and tried to grasp the thing that was attacking him with his hands, but there was nothing to grab. It still wasn’t real…

Things were crawling over his skin, but he couldn’t see them. When he tried to brush them away, his hands passed right through them.

Something wormed its way into his mouth and passed right through his clenched teeth. He couldn’t even bite it.

The room grew darker around him. His vision blurred. In another few seconds, he was going to be just like Shondra Lowe, unconscious, helpless and at the mercy of this monster.

He heard Charlotte calling out to him. He tried to respond, tried to warn her of the danger, but it was too late.

Darkness closed around him, swallowing him.