Posthumous Education: Fred the Vampire Accountant #8 by Hayes Drew

Author:Hayes, Drew
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2022-12-06T00:00:00+00:00

7

“It’s bad,” Lillian surmised, examining the exit room for herself. After Gregor and I trekked back to the group, we brought Lillian, Bubba, and Al down the hall of the horrifying mural, leaving the students with Fidealous. All of them were unsettled by the paintings, but it was the obstacles blocking our exit that were the real problem.

“That much silver would at least slow down most parahuman species out there, if not leave them writhing on the ground. Without you, Gregor, and the fey, I’m not sure we’d have any hope of getting through.” She kept turning her head, examining the room from new angles, hunting for a way through.

“My big question is what triggers all those traps?” Bubba wondered. “Presumably the humans running this place used the exit, too, otherwise why go to all the trouble to keep parahumans from following? Is there a set path that won’t set off any traps, do they react when someone moves too slow, or is there some magical parahuman detection system?”

Thinking back on the facility so far, I shook my head. “We haven’t seen anything like that, and these seem like people who would have put it to use if they could.”

“Unless they saved it for the point where it’d be most effective,” Bubba countered.

Heavy footsteps sounded from nearby, the unmistakable sound of Gregor advancing. “I will determine the method of activation.”

Plodding out into the sea of silver threads, Gregor kept his pace steady, unbothered by the shiny material. Gargoyles lacked that particular parahuman weakness, along with our more prodigious healing capabilities. I wasn’t entirely sure how or if those facts correlated; Gregor was never one for long chats. He made it roughly ten feet across the room before the first trap activated.

Streams of green-yellow goop burst from the ceiling, pouring through the room before oozing down grates in the floor. Plenty of it ran along the silver threads, coating them as they slapped against Gregor, burning away his jacket and shirt wherever they touched. He quickly retreated, moving with unexpected swiftness, and tore off the outer layer of clothing.

A few seconds later, the acid stopped. Gregor approached once more, this time going at a snail’s pace and halting regularly. He followed his exact route as before – down to the steps, so far as I could tell. At the point just before he’d encountered the acid, Gregor picked a new direction, walking to the left instead of forward. He made it an extra three steps before the acid started to rain once more – too slow this time, as the gargoyle was already retreating.

“It appears the trick is a particular route, rather than a set pace,” he reported, bits of his shirt still eroding as his dense skin remained unbothered.

“All right, let’s take stock for a moment.” I mentally tabulated our assets and challenges, one of which felt far more considerable than the other. “We’re not entirely helpless here. Three members of our group are fey, plus Gregor and I have a silver immunity of our own.

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