The Pulptress (17 page)

“
I do not know what those
creatures are, but I would be very happy to never see them in the
light.” she shook her head, “Come, we keep moving.”

After some hesitation I
pulled the flashlight back out. The walls had fewer bones, they
were scattered across the floor; most were broken and crushed into
fragments and dust.

The smell of dirt made the
air heavy as we continued through the halls. Somewhere, the sound
of the strange creatures echoed lightly, and I just hoped we
weren’t heading towards them.

Eventually we reached an
area where all of the bones had been picked from the caverns in the
walls; all that remained were a few battered pieces on the ground.
A few torches had been bolted into the walls and they cast a low
amber glow on everything.

Paulette knelt down to look
at one of the bones left on the ground when that same
nail-against-chalkboard noise raked across my brain and I felt
sick. Lurching towards us was a group of men all dressed in rotting
rags. Their skin was a sallow yellow and was so thin that I could
see their bones just under the surface. Their eyes were pure black,
no pupils, nothing but emptiness. Their feet were heavy, shaking
the ground with every step they took towards us.

Before Paulette or I could
react to move away, one of the creatures struck Paulette, she
crashed into the wall and struggled to her feet, gun in hand. She
fired a shot and the bullet cracked into the man’s skull. His head
rolled back and he hit the ground hard.

I grabbed Paulette and
yanked her to her feet as I pulled out my own gun. “Shit.” I heard
Paulette mutter beside me, “The Chiffonniers…They are
real.”

There were a lot of these
things, a lot more than we had bullets for, “Get your knife ready
Paulette.” I cocked my pistol, and aimed carefully. Every shot had
to count.

My first shot hit the
closest one between the eyes; he dropped, knocking down the two
behind him. The next three shots rattled in quick secession, taking
down three more with clear precision. Paulette fired off her last
shot, and worked with her knife, though it did little to stop the
men. Their skin would rip and peel off, exposing bone but not
stopping them.

In another shot my gun was
empty and the crowd of creatures hadn’t even slowed. I saw one grab
Paulette by her hair and slam her head into the limestone wall. The
cracking sound made my stomach roll.

I struggled to get to
Paulette’s side. Punching, kicking and fighting my way to her. I
took a few down, my knuckles burned and bled, but I wouldn’t stop
until I was able to reach Paulette. Just as I touched her arm, I
felt a sharp tug on my ponytail and then found myself flying into
the ground. The world went suddenly dark and still.

I woke with a searing
headache that burned from my temples down to my neck. I was in a
large, lightly lit alcove that only had a few skeletal remains
tossed around beneath my feet. My arms were tied above my head,
hooking me to the wall. Twisting my wrists, I struggled to slip
free, but only managed to knock myself off of the hook and to the
ground. The air knocked out of me, I stayed still for a moment,
just trying to remember how to breathe.

With a few awkward
contortions, I was able to pull the thin emergency blade from my
shoes and began quickly sawing through the ropes that bound my
hands. Occasionally the blade slipped and gashed against my skin
but I didn’t care, I was beyond letting a simple cut dissuade
me.

As I sawed I tried to
inventory myself. The weight at my hip was gone so I knew my gun
was gone. The throbbing in my head and neck had subsided, mostly at
least, and I could wiggle all of my fingers and toes.

The thin blade sawing
through my binds wouldn’t be much good against those things, hell;
it was barely cutting through the rope. Tossing off the last of the
rope, I stood and went to see what I could find. There was no sign
of Paulette or Pascal. Only two torches were lit and they flickered
wildly, casting shifting shadows crawling over the
floors.

Kicking around a few of the
piles of bones, I realized there was really only one option left if
I wanted to defend myself. I grabbed some of the rope and a few of
the smaller broken bones. Carefully knotting the bones together and
tying them around my knuckles, I tried to plan out what to do. I
needed to try to find Paulette, Pascal and Amaury, then figure out
what was going on. Who was that British guy and what were those
things?

The bone knuckles were
awkward and I knew they would make moving my fingers in small
motions challenging, but they would pack one helluva punch. I threw
a few test jabs, letting my fists slice the air. With the right
blow I knew I could crack skulls.

I spotted some scratches in
the wall and began to follow them back into a hallway. There were
fewer torches to light the way and I had to keep a tentative hand
to the wall to keep myself on path. More bones littered the floor
and I struggled to not stumble over them all.

The scent of rot and dirt
hit me hard and I steadied myself against the wall. Those things
were close.

I slid forward and peered
into a large cleared out chamber. Inside I could see Pascal tied to
the wall. He was bloody and unconscious, but I could make out the
steady rise and fall of his chest. He was alive. Standing near him
was a group of those rag and bone men, the British man and a
strange woman.

The woman was wrapped in a
cloak with only her head exposed. She was close to my age, I
guessed, with dark hair that had been adorned with bones. Her pale
skin was translucent and when the light from the torch hit her I
could see the lines of her skeleton.

“
Shall we finish him?” the
British man asked her, “He’s swine.”

The woman ran her hand down
Pascal’s throat, pressing two sharp nails into the soft hollow of
his throat, “Leave him alone, Richard. We have no shortage of
bodies here. Don’t be so hasty to add more to our
collection.”

“
And what of the women we
found in the catacombs?” The man, Richard, asked, though his hand
remained on the sword at his side, his gaze firmly on
Pascal.

“
Bring them here and leave
them. I would speak with them, see what news they bring with them,”
she smiled, “But please Richard, try to behave and treat them well
enough.”

“
Of course,” he lowered his
head in a small bow.

“
I’m going back to my
chamber, come get me when the women are here.” She reached over to
softly tousle his hair before leaving the room, heading out of the
exit to the north.

Richard watched her
disappear from the hall before pulling the sword from his side, and
moving for Pascal, “Sorry chap, no hard feelings but I think it’s
time you have a little accident.”

My feet moved before my
mind realized what I was doing. I hurled myself through the throngs
of the creatures and launched, fist first, into his face. The crack
of his jaw sent a thrill through me as I caught my feet, skidding
to a halt in front of Pascal.

Blood oozed from Richard’s
nose and he’d fallen to his knees, hands to his face, “Get dat
bith!” he sounded out and the creatures rushed at me.

I kept my arms moving,
punch after punch, aiming at anywhere I could find to hit. I didn’t
stop until one went down and then it was straight on to the next.
They were slow and heavy, but they went down after a few blows to
the head.

One grabbed my left wrist
and started trying to pull me off the ground. Before my toes left
the ground I threw an uppercut, crashing through his jaw and
sending his head slamming backwards. It snapped at an unnatural
angle and his grip fell from my wrist.

I caught the next one in
the ribs and then the temple. It seemed to go on for days until I
was left panting, gasping for air and barely able to stand with a
hoard of those things around my feet.

Richard had managed to get
back to his feet, his eyes were starting to swell black and blue
and his nose was still bleeding. His sword unsteady in his hand, he
turned towards me.

I was still panting,
shoulders slumped and heart racing as he charged me. I rolled to
the side, metal blade whizzing overhead and clanging against the
ground.

I grabbed a handful of dirt
before staggering back to my feet as he whirled to charge me again.
The dirt flew into his face and he choked, coughing, and blindly
beginning to flail the sword.

I waited for the right
second to duck under his arm, just missing the sword and punching
with all the energy I had left. I felt my bone knuckles crack as
his nose collapsed and lunged upward into his brain. His eyes went
suddenly open, too bright for just a moment, before he fell to the
ground and didn’t move again.

I collapsed near him and
wheezed for air. My arms were on fire, my hands were numb, my chest
was going to burst and I thought I would never be able to breathe
normally again. I knew I’d never fought that hard before in my
entire life and I wasn’t sure I would be able to find the energy to
even stand back up.

I didn’t know how long I
lay on the ground before I finally got onto my hands and knees and
crawled over bodies and bones and back to Pascal. I had to use the
wall to help get back to my feet and begin untying the
Frenchmen.

He seemed to be stirring
and woke before I had managed to free his hands.
“Where’s…Paulette?” he groaned.

“
Dunno. They grabbed her
when we came down here looking for you.” I slid back down the wall
to the ground and closed my eyes for a few moments.

Above me, I could hear
Pascal moving, his shoulders and neck popped before he sat beside
me, “Any idea where she is?”

“
No… the ringleader girl
went out that way, and I came from that hall so I guess the third
hall is probably the best place to start.”

“
Well, come on
then.”

I heard him stand and
reluctantly opened my eyes to look up at him, “Just a minute to
rest?” I asked as he collected Richard’s sword from the
ground.

“
Come on, you’re the
Pulptress. Get up. Let’s go get my sister and Amaury.” He offered
his hand.

With every muscle in my
body protesting, I took his hand and let him help pull me to my
feet. We began slowly walking through the last tunnel leading out
of the room. My feet were dragging and I felt like I was making
more noise than an elephant as I made my way behind
Pascal.

The Frenchman was very
quiet, he walked with a faint limp, and I could see bloodstains
down the back of his shirt. I wondered how bad his injuries were,
but he refused to stop to let me look over anything.

It was only a few stumbling
feet down the hall before we found Paulette, tied unconscious to
the wall. Pascal pulled the knife from me and went to untie her,
carefully catching her before she could hit the ground.

“
She look okay?” I
asked.

Pascal nodded, “She looks
hurt, but is breathing.”

He softly shook her,
“Paulette, wake up. We need to move.”

Paulette groaned softly and
opened her eyes, “...You’re not dead.” she smiled
faintly.

Pascal laughed, “I know
you’re disappointed but try to get by.”

“
Paulette, can you stand? We
need to keep moving.” I asked, I was anxious to find Amaury, stop
that bone-woman, and to get out of this place. I’d never been so
eager to see the sun again.

“
I think so,” Paulette said
as she gingerly put her weight on one leg, then the other. She
winced faintly, “Ah, that’s a bit sore, but I’ll live, don’t
worry.”

Pascal kept his eyes on
her, but didn’t move to try to pick her up or coddle
her.

“
We have any weapons left?”
Paulette asked, “All of mine are gone.”

I held up my hands, bound
with rope and bone, “I’ve got these and that knife that cut you
free.”

“
This sword,” Pascal held up
Richard’s sword, “But I think that’s it. We’re going to have to be
careful.”

“
When am I not careful?” I
smiled and Paulette shook her head.

“
Let’s just get this done
with. I want a cigarette,” Pascal grumbled.

We kept quiet as we moved
back through the hallways and finally took the path the bone woman
had taken.

It was thinner than any of
the others. It looked like it had been carved more recently, the
walls didn’t have the puckered, tired feel of any of the other
chambers. There were no alcoves, not even any bones littering the
floor. It was utterly empty aside from a few very small torches lit
along the way.

“
This was not here when we
were children,” Pascal murmured, hand to the wall, “Someone has
been carving new paths. How could they do that without someone
knowing?”

“
The same way that an army
of Chiffonniers has been raised without anyone knowing?” Paulette
countered, “How often do you think these chambers are checked? Not
this far out, not often.”

“
Sh...” I hissed, “Listen,
that noise. It’s those things again.”