Page 37 of Insidious Monsters
“Um…Nand, what are they doing?”
I stood slowly, blinking away the black dots that filled my vision to find myself surrounded by the ghosts.
One by one they held out their arms, showcasing their wrists, where a dark symbol rested. This was different to the one on the fake Toby’s wrist.
“Archie, do you see the symbol on their wrist?”
“Sure do. What the hell is it?”
The ghosts tightened their perimeter, bringing the chill of the grave with them. It filled my lungs, stealing the oxygen in my blood and making it hard to draw a breath.
“What…” Archie pressed a hand to his chest. “Shit.” He flickered, going momentarily incorporeal. “Feeding off me.”
“Back up.” I injected authority into my tone. “If you want my help, you need to back the hell up. If you hurt him, you lose me, understand?”
The ghosts stopped advancing but they didn’t release us; instead, two words filled my head in a unified breathless whisper of desperation and pain.
“Avenge us…”
They dispersed like fragments of a dream. But the heavy, cold weight in my belly and the chasm of dread opening in my chest told me they were much more than that.
Seven ghosts.
Seven missing mystics.
“What the fuck just happened, Nandi?” Archie asked.
“I think we just found our missing mystics.”
* * *
“Where are we going?”Archie asked as I dragged him back toward the steps.
“Anywhere but here.”
“I don’t understand.”
I spun to face him. “Archie, if the ghosts of the missing mystics are here, then it means that they werekilledhere.”
His eyes grew wide. “Why the fuck are we standing around chatting about this. Let’s go.”
He took my hand. We headed for the exit but were cut off by shadows slipping down the stone steps.
Several figures dressed in brown hooded robes blocked our path.
Archie and I ground to a halt.
“What is this?” Archie asked. “Underground monks’ rave?”
One of the figures stepped forward and lowered her hood. She was petite, her dark hair peppered with silver. Her dark eyes gleamed from behind a pair of extravagant glasses studded with tiny gems.
She fixed her gaze on Archie. “I suppose you think you’re the funny one.”
Archie sniffed. “I like to maintain a modicum of humor to my repertoire of communication, so yeah, I’m the funny one.”
She smiled coldly. “Unfortunately for you, you’re also soon to be the dead one.”
Things were falling into place, slotting into the grand puzzle like jigsaw pieces. “You’re Margie.”
