Death Cursed (Death Touched, Book One)

Chapter 8

The sewer was now illuminated by long rows of tall incandescent light bulbs that-from their rough filaments-showed their great age. They sat in small metal bowls and sourced their energy from a long wire that trailed just below their bowls. Both sides of the sewer tunnel had the same row of illumination.

Not only was the darkness gone, but so were the puddles and filth. The metallic walls of the culverts changed to ancient, crumbling bricks, filtering the filth between their porous surfaces to create a dry walkway.

Jack looked down at Nena's gaping mouth and smiled. "You were saying?"

She shook herself and looked up at him with wide eyes. "This is. . .people made this?"

"I wouldn't say people," he told her as he tugged her along down the tunnel.

The sewer pipe led on for another fifty yards before it came to a stop and the world opened. Before them arose a huge area the size of four football fields that resembled an old-fashioned subway station. The walls and high ceilings had scraps of paint and graffiti, but no natural light flowed down from above. Large electric chandeliers two hundred feet above the ground lit up the space.

The station had two tiers with the second accessed via stairs on either end of the ground level. The entire second level of the terminal was a towering block of businesses with several double-door entrances and a glass dome atop them that reached to the curved ceiling. The buildings were held up with spare strips of metal roofing, planks of wood, and a lot of faith.

Dozens of shops with their interiors sunken into the bottom of the upper tier lined the long wall on the ground floor. Twice that many homes made of strips of metal and old wood stuck out from the walls to the left and right of where they stood. The shop windows were filled with everything a person could want, from clothing to food.

Throngs of people walked the wide streets on the upper tier and ground level. They were young and old, man and woman, and many were dressed in shabby attire of patch pants and coats. A few men in ragged police uniforms stood at the corners watching the hustle and bustle. Their attentions were most especially on the numerous people hidden beneath black robes as they hurried on their way to the dark corners of the small city.

A few vendors with handcarts strolled the impromptu city square between the residences and the tiered shops. Their ringing voices shouted their wares.

"Hamburgers! Hamburgers for sale! Get them while they're hot!"

"Newts! Fresh newts for a fresh poison-er, potion!"

"Cauldrons on sale! Two for the price of one! Can't make a good spell without one!"

"Fresh fish! Two eyes or three!"

"What do you think of the Terminal?" Jack asked her.

She gawked at a pair of cackling old women as they shuffled past with their white hair wrapped around their extra-long fingers. "It's-um, interesting."

His eyes flashed with a wicked light as he stepped down out of the tunnel and onto the cobblestones that made up the floor. "Let's see how interesting it can get."

A small plastic ball bounced out of the crowds and toward them. It rolled to a stop at the base of the sewer culvert. A boy of eight rushed after the toy, but he stopped ten feet away when he noticed the strangers. His bright blue eyes flickered between the ball and the group.

Nena smiled and bent down. She plucked the ball off the ground and bounced it back to him. The boy's face brightened and he met the toy halfway. He gave them a grin and a wave, and disappeared into the crowd.