What Following Brings (5 page)
Read What Following Brings Online
Authors: S. E. Campbell
The two of them began to run again, and the mist
did
something strange. It grew thicker. Denser. Eden felt as if she was trying to run through water. She threw a
panicked look at Sergeant Dale, wishing she knew what was going on. This was horrible.
“
What
'
s happening?
”
Eden asked.
“
The Raiders are angry,
”
Sergeant Dale said.
“
They
'
re trying to slow us down so whatever that thing is can get us.
”
The closer they got to the prison, the thicker and denser the mist became. It became less like running through water and more like trying to run through mud, and then, finally, solidifying cement. Up ahead, Eden heard the sound of shuffling again and saw a massive black creature lumber in front of her.
She
couldn
'
t make out what it was. It looked
like an animal, maybe a bear or
a massive wolf. Before
she
could try to make out what she
looked
at, the creature burrowed into the ground and the earth concaved around it as if it had never been there. Once
the creature was gone
, the ground began to vibrate again. The
monster
was going to break apart the earth and make another ravine.
Eden stole a look at the prison, which was close now. Maybe a hundred feet. They could make it. She was determined to. Eden yanked Sergeant Dale hard to the right by pure instinct seconds before the earth cracked again. The vibrations caused them both to tumble and fall, but neither of them wasted time on swearing. Eden was up again seconds later, and Sergeant Dale was right behind her.
The
fog was so dense now
that
had
she needed to breathe, the Raiders wouldn
'
t allow her to. The Raiders were that powerful, and so was
the
Satan Spawn burrowing below the earth and
causing the plates to split. Eden
'
s mouth
clamped shut
in determination as she waded through the mist.
We
'
re going to make it.
We
'
re
going to make it.
I know we can.
I can
'
t afford to let anything happen to me until I find my five.
Up ahead, she saw the gates of the prison swing open, and a group of twenty Demon soldiers poured out.
“
They
'
re going to help us,
”
Sergeant Dale said.
“
Once the lanterns get hereâ¦
”
“
But will they do much good against whatever
the
burrowing creature is out here?
”
Sergeant Dale did not respond.
As the new soldiers grew closer, the mist began to grow less and less dense. When the soldiers made it to them, the mist evaporated completely. Eden
looked
around, desperate to see where the burrowing Satan Spawn was. She didn
'
t see a large, lumbering creature anywhere, and she a
lso didn
'
t feel the earth shake
either.
Maybe it was gone.
A young soldier with blond hair stepped forward and
gazed
around, wide-eyed.
“
What happened, sir?
”
he asked.
“
Where are the others?
”
Sergeant Dale exhaled.
“
I
'
mâ¦
I
'
m not one hundred percent sure.
”
Eden
gazed
into the night and realized whatever had attacked them was gone, but she knew a Satan Spawn like that couldn
'
t have been afraid of the prison or the soldiers inside.
So why did it disappear
? Eden thought,
frowning.
Unless it didn
'
t want to be seen.
Sergeant Dale grabbing her arm disrupted her thoughts.
“
We
'
re leaving now,
”
Sergeant Dale said.
“
I
'
ll take you to your cell.
”
Eden nodded, unbelieving she was actually grateful to go to prison.
****
The gratefulness evaporated the moment she stepped inside the large wooden doors of Cantica
with six soldiers guarding her, including Sergeant Dale
.
All around her were rows of prison cells, plain rooms where prisoners sat with sad, tired expressions on their faces.
. Eden had never seen so many unhappy people in her entire life, not even at high school.
Eden paused to look at them
.
Sergeant Dale tightened his grip and began to pull her forward. She noted he did this gently, not at all like he had before.
There was a flight of wooden stairs leading up to the next floor, and Eden was led up them to the next group of cells. If she thought the base floor was bad, this was much worse. Every person on this floor was infected with Morsus. Their souls were black, and they lay groaning on the
stone tiles
or on piles of hay while crying out or silently
quivering
. Eden exhaled a shaky sigh.
“
Why don
'
t you cure them?
”
Eden asked, tearing her arm away from Sergeant Dale.
“
We do this to them,
”
Sergeant Dale said, seizing her arm again. When he pulled her to
him, he dropped his voice.
“
You saved me, so I don
'
t want to see you tortured for bad behavior. Just shut your mouth and don
'
t say another word.
”
He
squeezed her arm harder in warning and then released her.
Eden
stared at him for a moment, stunned, before quieting down. It hurt her so much to look at the other suffering souls she shut her eyes and made Sergeant Dale continue to lead her.
When
he
slowed down, she was forced to open her eyes again.
They had come to yet another flight of stairs, but they were smaller and they had to walk single file. Eden went in front of
h
im
but behind a trio of other soldiers, who led her up the wooden steps.
The next floor shocked her. There were no metal cell doors
,
with bars
where she could
see the prisoners
, just long rows of rooms with heavy wooden doors. She stole a worried look at Sergeant Dale, who grabbed her and began to lead her down the hallway.
“
This is a special floor,
”
Sergeant Dale said.
“
We only h
ave one other person
o
n it besides you, and he
'
s locked away tight.
”
Eden didn
'
t say anything as she was led to the door at the end but her
chest
ached with foreboding. She was going to be locked away all alone.
While her sentence would give her time to try to figure out how to get out of here, she would still be immersed in silence.
At least before she had been with Adanna
,
and Aaron had been able to visit her occasionally and talk to her through the bars. There would be no wa
y Aaron could do that here without a door key.
As Eden stood silent
ly
,
Sergeant Dale
dug around in his pocket
,
pulled out a thick set of keys
,
and unlocked the door. The door sprung open and Eden
gazed
around a small brick room with piles of sand in it
.
She
wrinkled her nose at the foul smell of moss. She noted right aw
ay
there were no windows,
just stone
. She would be all alone in
her
cell, and she had a feeling that soon, she could add being tortured to her list of problems.
“
Go on,
”
Sergeant Dale said, pushing her forward.
“
How long am I going to be locked in here?
”
Eden asked, wide
-
eyed.
“
Trust me, there will be few times when you are let out, and when you are, you will wish you
'
d been left inside.
”
Eden gulped and stepped forward into the cell.
Eden sat on the floor
,
staring straight ahead, thinking of Adanna. What if
the
burrowing
Satan Spawn got to her? She shuddered at the thought. Yet there was nothing she could do while being locked in here to help her. As she frowned, gripping her pants between clenched fingers, she heard the sound of loud banging outside of her cell door. She
looked
up, frowning.
To her surprise Sergeant Dale stood
outside the
door, frowning down at her.
“
You okay?
”
he asked
, stepping inside and leaving the door partially ajar behind him.
“
Yes,
”
Eden said, struggling to her feet. She was so grateful for company she was
happy
to see him.
“
Thank you.
”
Then a horrifying thought struck her. She remembered Sergeant Dale
'
s words.
“
Trust me, there will be few times when you are let out, and when you are, you will wish you
'
d been left inside.
”
Was he coming here to torture her? Perhaps he was.
“
You aren
'
t here to do something to me, are you?
”
she asked in horror,
nervously tugging her hair
as if he might stri
ng her up against the cell wall right then and there.
Sergeant Dale shook his head.
“
No. I came here to check up on you.
”
“
You
don
'
t have
to
check up on me
because I saved you
, you know,
”
Eden said.
“
Most people wouldn
'
t have let you fall.
”
Pausing, Sergeant Dale
gazed
at the ground. Eden wondered whether she had said something wrong.
“
It was just at that moment, when you saved me, I started to question how I ended up here,
”
Sergeant Dale said, but then he
looked
up and stared at her furiously.
“
But don
'
t you dare tell anyone I told you.
”
“
Who am I going to tell?
”
Eden asked, waving around at the cell.
“
The moss?
”
“
No wonder Satan and Donovan are trying so hard to keep you encaged,
”
Sergeant Dale said, gripping his head and narrowing his eyes in confusion.
“
One day with you and you already have me questioningâ
”
“
Hello? Eden?
”
a voice said from behind
Sergeant Dale
.
“
Eden, are you okay in there?
”
It was Aaron
.
Why is he calling me? He could get in big trouble if
he
'
s
caught.
Sergeant Dale
appeared
confused, and she wouldn
'
t trust him, even though she doubted he would tell she had
an accomplice in this place. She went rigid with fear.