The All-Seeing Eye by Rae Else

Author:Rae Else [Else, Rae]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-09-10T04:30:00+00:00

- Chapter Eighteen -

Breaking and Entering

They lined up their equipment on the lowest steps. They left the air valves on their tanks open and kept their masks around their necks, ready for a quick getaway. The passage was low, forcing them to crawl. After a few metres they found a boarded-up hole above their heads.

They listened a while for any noises above, but all seemed silent. El noticed Talus’ frown. He was probably wishing that he could phase out to be sure the coast was clear but the empousa blood in his system made it impossible. After a few minutes of silence, Dan hit at the boards. They were damp and seaworn, giving way easily. Their path clear, Dan heaved himself up through the newly formed hatch, then helped Talus and El up too.

Beyond was a bare cavern. As they entered, El spotted a large, metal container. It was open, its lid propped up against the wall. El wouldn’t have regarded it any longer, but Dan fished out his camera from the pocket of his diving vest to photograph it.

Talus was looking at Dan questioningly.

‘It’s how Janos deduced that the Waseem had moved the empousa,’ Dan said. ‘He saw the metal container arriving here.’

Talus walked on without comment. El examined the container, noting it was deep enough to hold a body. Talus had said that graeae couldn’t see an empousa’s power. But Janos had predicted that the empousa would be here because of the transportation of this container. El continued to blink at it, thinking about the stories about vampires travelling in coffins. Maybe there really was some truth to those tales.

Steps led up to the left but they proceeded through the cavern, advancing into the next room. This was a more fully-formed space, its walls and ceilings properly shaped and angular. Automatic lighting came on and illuminated the cold, grey room. A few metal counters and cupboards ran along one side. Dan opened one of them: a refrigerator. Shelves of vials containing a dark, thick liquid were inside. He snapped a picture of the fridge’s contents before pocketing one of the vials.

Talus was at the other end of the room and opened a larger cupboard. He grimaced.

‘What is it?’ El whispered.

‘Nothing,’ Talus said, closing the door.

Dan strode over. ‘I need pictures of everything that implicates the Waseem.’

Talus was still frowning but nodded. He looked over at El. ‘You might want to stay where you are.’

Her heart drummed but she edged nearer as Dan opened the cupboard door.

‘Keep quiet,’ Talus cautioned her as she approached.

As Dan took pictures, El looked into the shadowy space. From the light leaking into the cupboard, she saw that it was a freezer: a whole room like a restaurant or butchers might have. There were people … corpses … piled up within. In the flash of Dan’s camera, El caught sight of a pale, blue-tinged face and a mop of hair, but the overriding impression was of a tangle of limbs.

El gagged and turned away. The freezer was full of bodies, yet they weren’t here because of this injustice.

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