Empty

Chapter 20

Without thinking, he shoved her away. She dropped her gun in shock and crumpled over. He scrambled to grab his tranquiliser and get behind a door.

Gasping with relief, he struggled to catch his breath and leant against the wall. It wouldn't take long for her to shoot the door off its hinges, but he had bought himself a few seconds.

He took in his surroundings. The room was pitch black and it took a while for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He reached into his pocket to take out his torch and shone it around. There was a door on the other side with a chair wrenched under the handle. That was a definite red flag, but he didn't have a lot of choice. He heard footsteps just outside the door back into the house and moved the chair to the other handle, then took a deep breath and opened the door.

It led to a long staircase, going down into the basement of the house. It was impossible to see anything past them, even with his light. He hated the dark. There was nothing to assess. He had to literally blindly trust his instincts. He heard banging on the door and swallowed.

Crossing himself, he took off his shoes so his feet wouldn't make a sound and ran down the stairs.

He came to the bottom of the stairs and turned out the light on his torch. He didn't know what he was waiting for. Maybe he could shoot her quickly before she could shoot him. He didn't like his odds much. She'd always been a little better than him at targetry. He stumbled backwards and felt for somewhere to hide. He leant back against the wall and touched flesh.

Not just any flesh. Warm flesh, damp with sweat and blood. He yelled out in shock and turned on his torch. He had to clamp his hand over his mouth to keep himself from screaming again.

There was a human being tied up in the basement.

The boy looked up at him. He didn't immediately come across as someone that needed to be restrained. His hair stuck up in all directions and he had circles around his eyes that rivaled a raccoon's. His face was gaunt, like he hadn't slept in weeks, and his wrists were raw with blisters. Some sort of black liquid trailed out from under his eyes and down the side of his mouth, but he didn't seem entirely aware of it. He had an unusual face, in that his features were sharp in a way that might have made him look dangerous, but his expression ruined the illusion. He looked scared.

It was the face he'd been ruminating on for days, but in the dim light, it looked completely different.

A rag had been tied around his nose and mouth so tightly that the skin around it was turning white.

He hesitated, then pulled it down.

When he did, the boy breathed a sigh of relief. "Th-Thank you s-so much, I... I couldn't breathe in that -"

"What the hell are you doing down there?" He whispered urgently. "Did she tie you up?"

"I... You don't... She didn't tell you..." The boy squeezed his eyes shut, before looking up at him. "Okay, so, so, I'm not... I-I'm one of them."

"You mean..."

"Yes, and I'm being open with you about it, so don't shoot." He spoke quickly, staring at the tranquilliser which was still in his hand. "Wh-Why are you here? Is something wrong?"

Luke took a step back, finally making out his colourless eyes in the darkness. They were whiter than the whites that surrounded them, and his dark pupils dilated and swirled in a way that, when focused on, clearly wasn't human.

He reminded himself that the thing was tied down. It couldn't hurt him.

He heard a loud gunshot and the sound door falling off its hinges. "Th-There's a cupboard to your left," the empty whispered. "Go, quickly."