Return Ticket : Judas Investigations: Book Three by Edward Rose

Author:Edward Rose [Rose, Edward]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Some people are great at directions, it’s like they have a map inside their head that always sets them on the right path. I am not one of those people. I’ve learned my way around the City through time, experience, and bloody-mindedness, which means I’m pretty damn good with places that I am familiar with, and absolutely useless anywhere else.

Needless to say, I’d never crawled through this network of vents before, and I was looking for a room that I’d never seen, so I was starting from a pretty shitty position. The sound of pattering feet was also getting louder, echoing all around me, which wasn’t helping with my concentration.

If I had to guess, I reckoned that the suite of surgery rooms was somewhere ahead and to my left, as I’d initially veered off to the right after climbing into the vent. I knew it couldn’t be too far, I just needed to find my way there and get out before whatever was making the tapping sound caught up with me.

Just ahead there was a glow of light spilling around the corner of the ducting, which meant another opening, similar to the one I’d used to climb in. I upped my pace, wriggling along as fast as I could. By now the tapping sound was all around me, and I could swear I could feel the metal of the duct vibrating slightly.

I probably shouldn’t have, but the need to look behind me was overwhelming, although looking back over my shoulder was physically out of the question. The only available option was to roll over onto my back, and even that wasn’t easy in the confined space. I nearly got myself wedged halfway, which would have been a pretty awful way to die, stuck diagonally in a vent and nibbled to death by massive spiders. The thought was horrific enough to give me an extra burst of adrenaline, and with one final jerking movement, I was flat on my back.

For a moment I thought all that effort had been for nothing. There was no sign of anything behind me, just the rattling of the ducting ringing in my ears, and an empty space veiled in darkness. My arms were still stuck by my sides, but I was able to move my hands. It was enough for me to summon a handful of Magick, a little ball of light to see more clearly. It wasn’t much better than a cheap torch, so not exactly flashy, but I didn’t have a torch, and even if I did, I wouldn’t have been able to reach it.

With a flick of my fingers, I released the glowing orb and sent it bouncing down the duct away from me. The inside walls were corroded and worn, nothing out of the ordinary. But as the ball of light bounced its way around the corner and out of sight I caught a glimpse of a silhouette. A shape with a compact body and long, spindly legs.

It looked like I’d found the source of the tapping, or more specifically it had found me.

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