Darkfall: Deathborn by Lee Mountford

Author:Lee Mountford [Mountford, Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2022-08-24T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

After the interrogation, Assandra said they would have to go down to her basement to gather what she needed. Theodore had ordered her to be released from the chair, but her hands remained bound behind her back. She led them back through to the kitchen, where she told the men to move the large table and pull back the rug. A wooden trapdoor with black iron hinges was revealed. Max, Theodore, Assandra, and four Deathborn, including Jack, were taken below ground.

Jesus, Jack thought. This was what he’d expected a wytch’s house to look like.

The footprint of the basement was approximately the same size as the floor above, spanning the full width and breadth of the house. The ground underfoot was concrete, and deep joists ran from one side wall to another, holding up the floor above. The walls down there were bare brick, but predominantly hidden by cabinets, bookshelves, and loose shelving. Multiple crates were stored down there, some covered with blankets, and there were piles of hessian sacks full of hidden things.

There were four tables spaced across the floor, similar to the one in the kitchen, though some had built-in drawers in the sides.

However, it was the other items in the basement that intrigued Jack.

Animal carcasses, small and large, were packed into glass jars filled with yellow liquid. They were all stacked either on the floor, or on the cabinets and shelf space. Bones hung from the ceiling on twine or rope, all forming different symbols and bizarre patterns as they slowly twisted while suspended.

Open books rested atop the tables; there were old leather tomes with yellowed paper, as well as hand-drawn diagrams showing symbols Jack didn’t recognise. The pages also showed illustrations of human body parts, including eyes, half a human head, and in one what appeared to be a cross-section of a brain.

As well as the animal carcasses, there were many jars in the cabinets containing herbs, plants, and liquids. The room had an odd, sour odour to it, which Jack couldn’t quite place.

‘Is this where you carry out your insidious incantations, wytch?’ Theodore asked as he pushed the girl to the centre of the room. She didn’t answer.

Jack noticed Max slowly walking around the space, inspecting the cabinets, crates, and shelving. He looked over at Assandra. ‘Before we begin,’ he said, ‘I want you to show us some of the packages you collected. I want to see one of those creatures.’

She held his gaze for a moment. ‘I don’t have any more left.’

Max studied her, then shook his head. ‘You’re lying. Do you honestly believe we won’t turn this place upside down and find them anyway?’

There was a pause. The wytch looked like she might explode in anger. Instead, she sighed, then nodded to an area close to the far wall, where something was hidden beneath a hessian blanket.

Max walked towards it and pulled the covering aside. There was a small stack of boxes, all about half a foot in height and width. The tops of two had been removed, while the others remained nailed into place.

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