Relic and Ruin

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

APOTEMNOPHOBIA – FEAR OF PERSONS WITH AMPUTATIONS

The inside of the frat house was chaos. Nyx could hear her heartbeat as she scrambled through the crowd of bodies. Glancing over her shoulder, she could see Erebus hot on her heels, face stricken.

Nyx dodged a group of boys catching each other as they jumped from staircase railings, her gaze settling on a flash of red hair and a black hood. "Alice!" she yelled.

Eris appeared then, pushing her way downstairs at the sound of Nyx's distressed voice.

"Eris." Nyx grabbed her arm at the bottom of the stairs.

"Bub, what's wrong?"

"There's something in the fore—" She paused, watching Eris's face change as the stench rolled through the house.

That's when the screaming began.

Through the window, Nyx saw the crowd outside turn toward the tree line. Toward the screams. Her blood pumped in her head, her breathing loud and ragged. Eris grew paler by the second. Erebus looked grim.

No one moved.

Then: howling. A chaotic symphony of moans and hellish wailing surrounded the house. Nyx looked at Erebus. He gave a single stiff nod. "I'll be back," he said before disappearing into the crowd once more.

The horrid smell now invaded the house like a thick fog.

Alice took her cousin's arm, eyes wide. "Nyx . . ."

The howling hit a crescendo. The crowd of humans littering the backyard started to stir. Nyx's eyes remained fixed on the tree line.

The wails ceased as a man appeared, stepping through the trees. He was flanked by four other men. He was tall, dressed like a naval officer of some sort, in a broad hat with a single long feather, a sword, and boots. The man removed his hat and swept into a deep, flamboyant bow.

A boy on the lawn burst out laughing. His friends soon joined in, albeit nervously. "What the hell do you think this is, man?" the boy shouted before turning away. "Go home! Halloween's not for another month!"

Nyx looked closer. The man's skin was a sickly looking blue-gray. His clothes were tattered, covered in mud, dirt, and dark, dried stains. His sunken cheeks set his jaw at an odd angle.

Zombie.

She looked at the men behind him. Two of them were also sailors, another a blood-stained baker missing his lower jaw, the last a businessman in a tattered suit and tie, blood and gunk dried on his face.

Nyx watched as the captain reached into his coat, a wicked smile spreading across his face. In one long-nailed hand, he produced something red, dripping, and gooey. He reared back and flung the red mass toward the laughing boy and his friends. It hit the boy between the shoulder blades and slid down his back before landing on the cement with a wet splat.

The boy slowly turned and looked at his feet. Those around him screamed and jumped away.

Bile climbed up the back of Nyx's throat. It was entrails. Stomach and intestines. But whose.

"Oh shit." Eris covered her mouth. Alice turned around, mouth slack, eyes full of fear. She mouthed Nyx's name, shaking.

Nyx looked at the captain again. His mouth was set in a stiff, flat line. He reached into the pockets of his coat once more and pulled out a piece of folded cloth.

He held it up to the crowd. It unraveled with a single jerk. It was a plain blue pullover, covered in blood.

"Hey," said someone in the crowd, "isn't that Troy's shirt?"