Gomez'
us sweat seepe
bedded right in the center was a jag
base of the spike w
hed the spike, instant
icky. It wasn't old tree sap;
g jolt, I reali
explanation. Maybe they put the s
silhouette had been clearly visible for a split seco
d it jus
me, its wooden beams creaking under the weight of time. Cobw
mbling old buildi
slithered d
ajar, revealing a sliver of total darkness behind it. My eyes were drawn
houette slowly peeked out from behind the crack of
lump forming
tal and crashing hard onto the dust-covere
n, completely par
flitted across the gap in
ked away. A second later, the sliver of moonlig
pitch-black darkness. It felt like a m
upted in
mbling blindly in the direc
ood. I shoved against it with ev
llably, but I clamped both hands
r help, but an icy, primal instinct told me I couldn't. Whate
all fours toward the incense alta
cally and wedged m
ng. I buried my face between my knees, praying to a g
stling sound. Like something bei
g closer. Slo
lize it. A stray dog? A rat? But th
d. Two skeletal hands
-across the stone tiles. It was the exact same silk
in a shar
n't a
ather, whatever
lization clamped
thing crawling on the
she dead? Wasn
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