Titan Song by Leonard Petracci

Titan Song by Leonard Petracci

Author:Leonard Petracci [Petracci, Leonard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-08-10T04:00:00+00:00


Chapter 40

Arial

“Keep up,” snapped Matteo as Arial followed behind him, a stitch forming rapidly in her side. Already she regretted drinking nearly the entire pitcher of water he’d left out with her, along with a single stale biscuit that she’d had to completely submerge to be chewable. The mix of caloric deficiency, dehydration, and a severe lack of sleep all contributed her now deadweight status on Matteo, whose constant reprimands were the only reason she kept moving at a pace mildly resembling a jog.

She’d spent the entire night before in the boiler room, and to her horror, Divi had not been bluffing when he’d stated to turn up the heat. The small enclosure had become even more stifling, but knowing that the door in front of her was unlocked, and that she would be released made the experience more bearable. That small measure of control pushed the hours by quicker, and even allowed her into short, fitful bouts of sleep, interrupted by panicked checks to make sure the door was still unlocked.

But even with control, Arial knew that she couldn’t open the door to retrieve water or decrease her body temperature in the cool cellar. And she knew the implication that Divi had made when instructing to adjust the boiler room to medium—that there was a high setting, one that she had yet to experience. One that would make her current experiences look like a warm spring day.

Divi had left her with her homemade spike when she retreated, almost like a souvenir or a prized memento. He pushed it into her hand as if it should be treasured, like a parent hanging up their child’s A+ spelling test on the fridge or scrapbooking their first steps. Only once during the night had Arial taken up her weapon once more, when she heard Matteo calling for Divi.

“Divi,” he had said, his voice muffled by the door as Arial pressed up against it, her ear to the heavy wood. “It’s Zeke. He’s leaving on an expedition within the hour. He’s saying there are no updates for you—still no reports of survivors from the village, and he has confirmed from the body count that there are no captives. The number of skulls are exactly as you said—the entire village, minus your own. Was there anything else you needed to talk to him about?”

“Good news from a tragedy, hope from the ashes,” intoned Divi. “Yes, we still need to know his connection to our new recruit. Ask for her background.”

Arial bit her lip as she heard Matteo trudge back upstairs, presumably using the bar phone to contact Zeke, who would not be aware of her current situation. In a moment, he returned with the response.

“Zeke says that she was with him when he arrived at the remains of the village, that she was with him when he found your mother. She tried to save her, but they were powerless by the time they arrived. It was too late. Apparently, she and her crew were part of a film documentary studying insects in the Amazon, that had hired on Zeke as a guide.



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