Page 34 of Outcast

“I’m not the sit-around type,” I agreed. “And now, not only is the fucking world depending on me, so are people I care about.”

“So what do we do now?” he asked.

“We go into the city, find Crew, and kick his ass for being stupid.”

ChapterFourteen

Harlow

“Government officials are speculating that the economy is to blame for the downfall of society, but nearly every American citizen disagrees.”

“I’m not sure which officials are saying that or how they’ve come to that conclusion.” Someone else scoffs. “This is clearly the work of a terrorist organization. Mark my words, we’ll hear the real reason and you all will finally see what I’ve been pointing out for years.”

The others shifted from foot to foot. “No one wants to embrace that theory out of fear.” A woman tried to calm the man down.

“Fear is rampant in our streets!” he yelled back.

The panel of experts argued back and forth, speculating on things they would never truly understand. The one they all thought was crazy was more on par than the rest. This was no economic downfall, but the work of demons.

The camera panned out over New York City. How the demons had reached that far, I had no clue.

Monty had explained that with the portal wide open, the tethers that kept them in Ridgefield were gone. I just hadn’t expected them to literally take over the country, and likely beyond, in mere weeks. The destruction was insane and people were terrified. Rightly so.

“As long as the portal remains open, they can go as far as they want, as long as they want? No drain to their power or consequences?” I questioned my demon commander.

He nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. Or at least I’d assume. We don’t exactly have this happen every day in Helheim.”

“How would their power not drain regardless?” Hiro questioned. “That’s a lot of distance.”

“The rules of this world don’t exactly apply,” Kol pointed out. “Gargoyles are tied here to Dark Haven specifically. The demons are different and their magic is part of them as well.”

“Great.” I sighed. “Now we get to go out into the city and see what’s happening.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to just figure the portal out?” Roman questioned, likely because, as a gargoyle, he’d be left behind.

“Not if the city is now a threat to this building,” I said.

“My guess is that it’s literally Hell on Earth outside of Dark Haven,” Hiro guessed. “Every city they’ve shown on the news has been worse than the last.”

That was an understatement. Stores were broken into, desperate people trading for supplies, bodies lining the sidewalks, shootings, destruction, bombings, the list was endless. There wasn’t a single major city unaffected. They had yet to show us how the rural areas and suburbs were doing, but I could only imagine it was more of the same.

I already felt an urgency to close this portal, but now it was amplified.

“Then what are we waiting for?” I questioned as I stood from the couch. We’d reclaimed the common room and Drake got the TV working enough for us to tune into the news.

Reaching out to Helheim was just as easy here and soon I had us all in black clothes, hoping they’d give us an advantage sneaking around the desolate city.

“I’m staying here with the gargoyles,” Layne said. I could see in her eyes she was afraid to leave Stravos’s side. It was probably for the best, especially if any confrontation with Crew occurred. At least I knew she’d be safe here, Stravos would die protecting her.

We made our way to the front doors of Dark Haven. It was strange to see it so dark and empty. Even when the demons had flooded the halls, it wasn’t this desolate.

Like when we stepped out of the portal, the city was far too quiet. I’d expected screams, sirens, the works. It was pure silence, as if this portion of the city had been abandoned altogether.

From the debris and destruction out here, it likely was. Every car on the street was stripped for parts. There wasn’t a tire or door in sight. Fire barrels were set up on the street corners, but they’d long run cold.

The diner across the street was the only one that had boards over every entrance. It was likely Crew’s doing before he left. He may be an idiot but a small part of myself believed he’d drawn things away from Dark Haven for her.

The rest of the businesses were nearly gutted. Jagged pieces of glass hung in their window frames. Shelves and displays were left empty, and trash littered the floors. If they hadn’t boarded up the diner, then they’d have starved here.

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