No Turning Back

Chapter Fourty: The Lifting Of The Veil

It was well into the night when Kiana suddenly awoke. The fire continued to flicker away as Primis gently snored beside her. The scene was peaceful and comforting but suddenly something was urging her to leave the safety of her nest. It was a deep dreaded feeling within the depths of her gut.

Kiana lay there as the feeling gnawed away at her. The more she tried to push it out of her mind the more intense it became. She really did not want to concede to it since, for once, Kiana felt safe and protected as she lay in her little fortress with Primis. And this feeling always preceeded disaster when ever she gave in to it. No, she was determined that tonight was not going to be one of those nights.

After what felt like hours of just laying there with her mind in conflict; Kiana soon felt herself dosing off again. But her restful sleep was quickly cut short when she heard the bushes rustle nearby. She jolted upright and scanned the area as her eyes caught the tail-end of a faint shadow disappearing behind debris. 

"Nope, not doing this tonight", she whispered to herself.

Kiana convinced herself that it was only her mind playing tricks on her. There were no undead to worry about and Samantha no longer plagued her dreams. There could not possibly be any danger to worry about - the shadow was not real! Plus, the group would be leaving this facility soon anyway since Richtofen was about to finally teleport the generator to Dr Gersch.

They would soom be onto the next destination and finally away from this dreary dilapidated cosmodrome. All Kiana and Primis had to do was simply follow behind and continue to observe Richtofen until everyone was sure it was the real him. The rest of the details would be sorted out later.

But then, Kiana sighed as she felt the feeling return. The momentary distraction had not been enough to permanently expel it. In what was more an act of defeat than anything else; Kiana finally gave up and conceeded to it - if only to get what was going to happen over with. And she could hardly sleep now - with whatever was lurking about.

Kiana slowly placed Primis' arm back by his side. She sat up and prepared herself before finally sliding out from beneath the stairs and out into the open air. She put on her coat, slung her famas on her shoulder and took one last look at Primis' peaceful face before braving the darkness. 

The usually draughty facility was replaced with stagnant air. With each step, the air felt tense and electrified as Kiana passed through it. It was not long before the weight of uneasiness forced her to stop as she became overwhelmed with the feeling.

Kiana took a deep breath and looked up at the sky as she tried to wait for the feeling to pass. As her eyes looked to the east, there was only darkness. But as they shifted to the west, the bright full moon set the looming clouds alight as their edges lit up with a brazen glow. Each cloud that passed seemed to slowly graze over the earth as it glowered down at the inhabitants. Even the heavens reflected the hostility of the atmosphere. 

Kiana finally compelled herself to push on as she continued through the alleyway and took a sharp right. As she descended the steps down to the centrifuge room her heart skipped a beat. Through the darkness, the floor seemed to pulse as if it were alive. She took a step back as her eyes tried to focus on the moving shapes through the darkness. The pale concrete floor had been engulfed in dark shades of verdigris and slithering serpentine bodies. 

"Snakes?" Kiana murmured to herself in disbelief.

As she continued to squint through the darkness; the floor continued to writhe before a vermillion sap seemed to bleed from the floor.

"What is this?! B--b--blood?! N--no...My mind is playing tricks on me!" Kiana tried to rationalise as she struggled to stay calm.

Then, the mass of bodies seemed to slowly recede - revealing the concrete floor beneath. But before Kiana could let out a sigh of relief, the floor began to crack as thin slivers of light escaped and lit up the room. The fragmented concrete then began to fall away; revealling a bottomless pit and a deep crimson light emanating from its bowels. Kiana shook with fear as a low guttural growl bellowed from the depths whilst the distant echos crashed against the walls of the pit towards her.