Filip's eyes darted from one woman to the other. In the back of his brain he couldn't believe that he was about to be killed. These two were deadly. He had no doubt. Just as he had no doubt they would kill him. He struggled to clear his mouth so he could speak, while at the same time desperately trying to come up with something to say.
“spying” he finally managed to get out. He swallowed and tried again. “I wasn't spying” he corrected. “Not many out since IT began wandering the streets. Just needed a bit of coin you know. Not spying.” He swallowed audibly again trying to force the fear out of his mind and voice. He knew he couldn't force it out completely but maybe he could disguise it. And for a moment he succeeded. Puzzlement replaced fear as he thought about what else the woman had asked.
Everyone knew of the the lady hiring people to kidnap pretty men. No one who had accepted the job had ever returned, and now no one would work for her. She had eventually stopped trying. These two women seemed comfortable enough here in the sewers, not like rushers for some money bag, yet they didn't know about the men.
“Some black lady hired several coves, you know the kind that don't ask many questions, to scoop up some folk off the street. She was some money bag, all fancy and the like But she paid well. Except the bitch said I was too ugly for the job.”
He didn't mention he was kinda glad of that now, the sting of the insult was still there.
He scrambled to find more to tell the women, if he kept talking that could buy time. His description wasn't great, but it did sound familiar. Wealthy woman with fair skin and dark hair. She was Slim, tall, cultured, arrogant, and superior, all that a rich woman was. “The coves she hired disappeared. She hasn't been around in awhile, no one has, not with the creature roaming the streets. If IT catches you that's the end. We all know that.”
He wasn't sure what else to say and was silent for a moment, but in the silence he heard a noise, and one that made his blood even colder than it already was.
The lumbering shuffle run on the stones above him.
“ITs here” he gulped in a voice that was so low it was hard to hear. The lumbering footsteps were heavy and somewhat off stride, like IT was running with a limp. He could even hear it speaking to itself, heavy raspy words that Filip was afraid to hear. “Mother. Lover. Mother. Lover.” In a low gutteral voice those words were repeated with long gaps between each, like it was struggling to think or remember or pronounce.
With a gasp of terror, the footsteps were almost directly above them now, Filip broke and ran blindly into the dark tunnel, slipping, skidding, even smacking into walls despite how well he knew the lay of the land down here. Everything replaced by fear of the thing above them even though there was no way it could get to them from where it was. Fear was a powerful thing.
Aleksandra’s eyes widened as the sound of the beast overhead reverberated through the tunnels. Whatever it was - it was big, and probably not something she wanted to get to know very well. Her current filth drenched state all but forgotten, she paused to listen, getting a feel for just how massive the creature was. A sinking feeling welled up in her stomach as the lumbering footsteps thundered above. The normally reassuring weight of her sword and guns suddenly felt far, far too little. She thought of the powerful rifles that men insecure in their masculinity would take to go hunting game in Africa - how she wished she had one of those rifles now, to face whatever it was that lurked just above them.
However, judging by their the little man’s reaction, and his words just prior, this… thing, whatever it was, was almost certainly connected to the disappearances. She wasted no time in sprinting after him, catching him by the collar and tripping the man into the same filth she herself had gone sprawling into a moment before.
Before he could react she had dragged him back to Lucie, slamming him against the wall and snarling in his face, in what little Czech she knew, “Too ugly? Too bad. You take us up, help us hide. Then follow.” Turning to her compatriot she raised a sewage covered finger to silence any protest, speaking in English, “Before you say anything, this is our best lead, and this lead is as good as it’s going to get. Say what you want about the chance of us dying, we won’t get a better chance than this.” \
Whirling back around to Filip, she got in close to him, looking the man dead in the eye. “That thing might kill you. Maybe painful. I will kill you if don’t follow instructions. Definitely painful.”
Lucie remained silent as Filip spoke, smirking in that sinister fashion as he rambled on about not spying on them, and this "It", whatever it was. There was a certain sense of satisfaction in watching his eyes dart this way and that, obviously trying to look for ways out, hoping to escape them with his life. Lucie had no intentions of actually killing him, but that didn't mean she'd dispel the fear that currently made him talk so easily.
She would have dismissed his mention of this "It" thing, had it not been for their reason for being out here in the first place, and the mysterious disappearances. What he told them about the woman matched with their current information, too, so there was nothing new there. If anything, it told them that she wasn't all that mysterious, if people did know of her.
They were interrupted from the gentle tremors that went through the sewers. Something big was walking up above them, and whatever it was it spooked Filip. Spooked him enough that he threw all caution to the wind to escape, only to get tackled by Alexandra and pushed up against a wall.
She missed what her compatriot said, too busy tracking the sounds of the thing walking above them. She did, however, take notice when Alexandra reverted to English. She said nothing in response, smiling coquettishly. "I wouldn't dare disobey." She motioned for the other to lead the way. "Shall we?"
***** New Post Begins here: old info copied for easy reference******
Filip’s heart was racing, eyes wide and slightly unfocused. All signs of fear and it was plain it was not his two captors who had him afraid. He was as superstitious as any of the lower class citizens of Prague and when he was confronted head on with the object of his superstitions he had no recourse except fear. Despite his bravado and despite his original confidence in himself and his prowess these two were forcing him to face what he feared above all and he hadn’t the will to do so.
Aleksandra threatened him with death, painful death but still death. What was above was beyond death and though he claimed to be a christian now the roots of the folk superstitions of the land were still strong. He had even dreamed about a lake two nights ago. He should have known Death was near.
Aleksandra sighed at Filip’s reluctance. It would seem this situation would require some more physical persuasion. “Right then…” she muttered to herself in Russian, grabbing hold of the man’s arm and dragging him along behind her. Speaking down to the man in her broken Czech, she once again threatened him. “I know way out of sewer, street rat. You want to avoid monster? Help hide, else I use you as monster snack.” She grinned sadistically at him, “I am sure that death it offers is truly horrifying. So if you want to avoid that…” she let the sentence hang in the air, continuing to drag the man along behind her.
Contrary to Filip, Lucie followed with casual ease. If the prospect of meeting whatever was above frightened her, she didn’t show it. She constantly kept watch on Filip, however, her silence and oddly amicable expression was as much a source of calmness among them, as it was potentially terrifying. What manner of person could smile when they were to be confronted with something other people saw as a monster or demon?
“You shouldn’t be so hard on him,” Lucie said to Aleksandra, speaking Czech for the benefit of their captive. “He’s been a willing help so far—” she turned her head to smile too kindly at Filip “—I’m sure he’ll continue to guide us if we treat him with a little kindness.”
The vision of the lake from his dream sparkled in his mind's eye. He knew now there was no escape. He would die. He was still filled with a nameless fear and it was enhanced with the light of certain knowledge. He would rise as undead to spread disease and terror through the city streets; that’s what happened when flesh eaters killed you. And as confident as these two were he had no delusions that they could stand against the creature above.
Maybe he could find a way to kill himself ahead of time. He grasped onto that hope. He closed his eyes when he spoke, still trembling, trying to buy time once more. Not time to escape but time to die safely. His first thought was to provoke the crazy one into killing him; it seemed like something he should be able to accomplish if he could only clear his mind enough to figure out what needed doing. He caught Lucie’s words and nodded once, terror still evident on his face.
“It doesn’t come down here,” he said almost absently and completely truthfully, his mind was elsewhere trying to combat fear so he could think clearly. “It doesn’t go up or down.”
His tone shifted, growing more belligerent and he shifted in Aleksandra’s hold. His desperate plan was the only thing he could come up with, fear had overwritten logic.
“Come on you kravo zasrana” he snarled trying to put as much hate into his tone as he could. “Nedomrd!” He hurled insults as he tried to push ahead of Aleksandra, so he would be the one leading. “You wanna stay down here and have a shit throwing contest with a monkey? Move!”
He wasn’t only trying to goad Aleksandra. It was clear they were determined to leave the sewers and if they were to do that they needed to get above ground, and then up a building, before It passed by. He tried to catch a sound of the creature but he couldn’t hear it over the noise the three of them were making.
The creature, for Its part, couldn’t have cared one tiny rat's hind end about the people in the city now. It’s only goal was reaching the forest. It had even stopped being “stealthy”. Though that was something of a misnomer as it was never exactly stealthy; it was just much more dramatically noisy now.
The streets through which it ran were empty, devoid of life...human and other. Everything was well hidden as the thudding footsteps could be heard echoing through the strangely empty streets. Its seven foot frame and premium body ensured speed and his footsteps were already in the distance by the time the trio emerged from the sewers. Much to Filip’s relief; short lived relief when he realized what his panic might have cost him.
Lucie glanced at Filip out the corner of her eye, her expression neutral and thoroughly unimpressed. Her gaze flicked up to Aleksandra for a moment, catching her eyes, then said. “If you cooperate, you won’t be harmed. Not by us, not by whatever the thing above us is. Work with us, and you’ll go free.” She once more flicked her gaze at Aleksandra, her look one that brooked no argument.
Filip looked from one to the other then towards the entrance. He hadn't a clue how he had tangled himself up so much and he couldn't figure a new way out of this mess. His hope of escape seemed snarled beyond anything he had every imagined and he had no faith in the promises of safety dangled in front of him. Firstly he didn't trust either of the two who had cornered him; they were unquestionably dangerous but it was a known danger. Not the supernatural danger posed by The Creature.
He seemed to have little choice in the matter and pushed onward, trying to race the creature to where the tunnels met the surface. He made an abrupt turn, taking him down another sewer he knew would reach the surface in short order.
The weak moonlight filtered down ahead of them and he knew that over time the denizens of the sewer had placed a pile of stone blocks under the opening creating a rubble pile that served as a sort of ladder; this opening was used to dump the garbage from above so the smell was extremely foul, and the “ladder” was slick with rotted food and worse. It was, however, the quickest way to the surface.
He sprang up the carefully placed stone blocks, his footing sure despite the disgusting slime that coated everything; he had spent too long in these sewer tunnels to be bothered too much by the scummer that was everywhere. He grabbed the lip of the opening to the surface streets and without even looking back he pulled himself through into the fresh night air. He assumed the other two would follow; and if they didn't that was one less problem.
The silence in the city above was disturbing. There should have been at least some noise, but there was nothing. This meant the creature was near. He cast about wildly looking for someplace, anyplace, to climb. Up or down. Those were the two places the creature never went...the roofs and the sewers were the safest places. An older wall nearby caught his eye, the stonework was crumbling enough to provide good hand holds and without waiting he began to climb, seeking safety from the creature on the rooftops.
Flip had no way of knowing this but The Creature had already passed this way, in fact it wasn't all that far ahead of them, but moving fast as it could. Simple minded and a single thought drove it; if the trio wanted to follow it they would have to be fast before it vanished out of sight all together.
Aleksandra raised an eyebrow at Filip’s attempt to goad her - she knew exactly what he was trying. Make her trip into a pool of the most putrid filth imaginable? That was a near death sentence. Intentionally begin saying the stupidest and most baiting things he could after making it clear he feared whatever was on the surface more than her?
It was laughable.
She simply increased her pace, dragging him behind her once more - maybe she would use him as bait for the monster if the need arose. Meeting the creature seemed to be what he feared above all, so she figured she might as well oblige him.
Immediately, as he scrambled up the ladder, she followed right behind him, securing a vicelike grip around the his clothes once more. She waited with her captive for the third member of their merry little band to join them. In the meantime, she scanned the streets intently for anything out of place or potential vantage points that offered ideal concealment if necessary.
Lucie was the last to crawl up onto the street, the putrid stench of rotted food, and probably worse, stuck to her like it did the others. Once they were done, she would spend the next three hours in a hot bath.
Senses honed over years of training and practice allowed her to take in the surroundings within the first second of getting up. And there was nothing, which was the problem. No sound, no sign of rats or nighttime birds scurrying about. She couldn’t even hear anything beyond her own quiet breathing and the rustling of Filip and Aleksandra as they both climbed a nearby wall, the latter holding onto the other like a metal cuff.
“It’s not here,” she murmured, loud enough for the other two to hear. A few steps brought her into the shadow of the very same wall her companions stood upon, hiding herself from view. “So either he’s yet to come here, or he’s past this place. Eitherway, it’s close.” Her eyes fell to the ground, a hand already on it to keep her steady in her crouch. “I’ll find out.”
And with that, she sent out a pulse: An inquiry. ’Not human, come by’.
It was a simple question, asking for anything that had come by that wasn’t human, not entirely at least. As predicted, the first impression she got were that of innumerable insects, birds, rats, stray cats and a few dogs. But there was one… Something that wasn’t entirely human, yet still was. Her throat bobbed, the only sign of any sort of unease. Whatever this was, there was both something human and inhuman about it. What’s more, she would only have gotten the response had it already passed.
“It’s past here.” She gazed up at Fillip. “You know where it’s headed? Lead the way. My promise from earlier still stands.”
Filip was perplexed. How in the name of the secret hells did he know the creature had gone by? The atmosphere was definitely a clue that it was near. Surely these two knew that...knew what the silence meant. They were wise to the ways of these dark and uncertain streets obviously. But he was done in, drained out. He just shrugged and scrambled down as best he could. He knew where the monster headed but where it was going...he hadn't a clue in the world. These two could beat him, torture him, kill him. Whatever. It wasn't going to help. The Creature might be just around the corner too. He had no faith in the declaration that it had passed.
Dragging his captor along with him, at a much reduced pace this time, he followed alley to street and street over the river and to the city's edge. It wasn't far in the grand scheme of things but the silence that permeated the area they walked made it seem much longer. The silence moved with them, keeping them trapped in its bubble and it was this that Filip trusted to mean the creature was moving ahead of them. If it had not yet passed by they would either have been caught or be surrounded by those going about their normal nocturnal business; dangerous true but far less danger than The Creature brought with it.
It didn't help that the moon alternated between shining out creating long bizarre shadows and hiding behind clouds plunging the area into grim darkness. There were no guards here, no one to note their passing, and in these not-quite-slums there was no wall or structure separating city from the wilderness around. They emerged from the city not a quarter mile from where Johanna had entered the forest earlier that very same day. A cleared swath of land long since harvested of any resource usable by the local peasantry was all that separated them from the wall of vegetation looming in the distance, the boundary of the wild lands.
The atmosphere was eerie enough but when they reached the edge of the city the dark forest looming beyond the wide clearing was enough to bring Filip to an instant halt, his legs just refused to move. Love, money, threats, promises, he would not go further unless they dragged him. Which they very well could.
“There” said Filip his voice far weaker than he expected it to be and yet still loud in the strange silence. “You can just make out the trail it takes. No one is stupid enough to follow it; that would be death. In fact almost no one has been in the forest since The Creature; even the hunters won't use this area. Not that there's anything left to hunt. ”
He was right, even in the rum light they could see what must have been an old deer track now widened to the width of a pregnant cow. It was used, clearly not on a daily basis but often enough to be clear. Branches were broken along the path, to a height of just over seven feet, creating an arched pathway that was quickly swallowed up in the thick darkness of the forest at night. Even here there was no noise. That was the first impression anyway. But if one listened hard in the unnatural silence they could hear the distant sounds of something big moving through the growth, an occasional crunching of branches signaling its passing.
Lucie stood quietly, straining her senses. She could hear something moving from afar, something big. Whatever it was, it wasn’t hurried. Right ahead of them, this creature waited. The first true step towards unveiling the mystery behind the kidnappings.
Filip had done as asked. He had led them to this Creature, and although it was still a ways off, they were close enough that they could easily track it. His end of the bargain had been upheld, so now it was their turn. So Lucie turned towards Filip and drew a dagger from her belt.
He visibly flinched at the sight of the glinting steel, but didn’t run. He had known it would come to this, known that tonight would end like this. So when Lucie reached out for him, he steeled himself as best he could, awaiting the inevitable… only to find the dagger pressed into his hand, his fingers reflexively closing around the handle. His eyes opened, confusion written in every facet of his expression as he took in the, admittedly, very well crafted dagger. Lucie only smiled, those amber orbs twinkling. “A promise is a promise. You are free to go—with a little payment.” She grabbed him by the shoulder and gently pushed him back towards Prague proper.
As Filip left, his gait staggering from equal parts relief and adrenaline leaving his body, Lucie turned towards the forest, though eyeing Aleksandra warily. “Don’t touch him,” she muttered in English, an warning undertone to the words. “Our target is ahead of us—in there. So, shall we?” She motioned towards the forest, as if in invitation.
