Page 10 of Wings of The Wraith
I was certain I was alone here. No one else had hung back.
Did Darius come back?
There was a giggle. I was certain that was what I heard, but it made chills run down my spine, and heightened my senses.
Another giggle sounded but it was more of a cackle. The way a witch would laugh in that exaggerated manner movies used for effect.
But was real.
I stood up and walked to where I’d heard the sound. There were more footsteps which echoed across the wooden floor.
I stopped at the base of the stairs and looked up at Tony’s office, the door was open, and someone was inside.
The cackle sounded again.
Was this one of those times when I should just call security?
I figured it had to be a student or someone like that. Maybe one of the other TA’s.
Who would be in Tony’s office laughing?
I walked up the stairs but stopped by the office door when I saw a willowy looking woman, dressed in black, black so dark it looked like smoke. Her long black hair flowed all the way down to her hips and swished as she glided past the shelf with Tony’s family pictures.
“Fat bastard, don’t you think?” she teased. She didn’t look at me, but somehow, I could feel her gaze on me. “Men are such strange creatures. We love them and we hate them. At times it’s as if we can’t live without them. That is our downfall as women. Never let any man know you can’t live without him.”
“I’m sorry, who are you?”
“Sorry?Are you sorry? And why?” Still she didn’t look at me.
“Do you know Tony?” I decided to ignore the strange question.
“In my world I’d feed him to the dogs for supper. He’d make good entertainment. I’d watch until they ate him right up and spat his bones out. For some strange reason though, I can’t get them to eat eyes. So, they’d leave that.”
What kind of crazy had I ran into?
“Look, I’m going to have to call security if you don’t tell me what you want.”
“That is easy. Alyssa, I’m Balmora, and I’m looking for you.”
When she turned to face me, I froze. Froze from the shock of what I saw before me, and from the need to question my sanity.
The woman’s face was covered in scales, like a dragon. Her eyes were black, but then they split into three, and holy fuck she had three pupils in each eye.
I screamed and screamed again when she lunged for me, then stumbled over my own feet and fell backwards.
“Get to the nearest window,”said an urgent voice in my head.
A voice in my head?
I didn’t have time to wonder if I’d heard right, the woman was coming at me full force.
I screamed and found the strength to get up. Then I ran for all I was worth.
I ran until I got to the end of the corridor and fucking hell, she suddenly appeared at the end of the passageway.
Just like that.
And, she was floating in the air, hair billowing out like it was caught in the wind. So was the dress she wore but it didn’t look like a dress anymore. It looked like smoke. Black smoke, thick and tangible. Tangible enough to touch.
