Ghosmoure Saga: Discovery Ch. 05

Chapter 5

*-*-*(Author's Note: Chapter 5 was much easier to write than Chapter 4, which is why I got a bit carried away with the word count reaching past 12k words. There's about 3 chapters worth of content in this update but I decided to just wrap it in a singular chapter instead. Like I said, this chapter was much easier to write than the previous one, with the foundation already laid. Just FYI, there are also multiple Point of Views in this chapter signified by the *** symbols followed by the character's name. Also, this chapter landmarks the point in the story where spicy scenes are gonna show up more and more. (Finally). There will be one present here. And more to come in the upcoming updates. As well as an action scene. With that said, thank you so much for the encouraging comments in previous updates and constructive feedback is always welcome. End of Author's Note)*-*-*

***Lee***

I ran in the darkness, thinking Kit and Tan were not far away. I thought the nerve-wracking trills in the shadows would be my biggest worry. I was wrong once more. Again, the strange phenomena of this place were playing tricks with my mind. I had thought my sisters not a hundred meters away but as I kept on running towards their light, it seemed to me that the stretch of the hallway did not close the distance no matter how fast or how long I ran. I tried to keep the light steady with my pace, the mural on the walls and the pillars were thus twisted in my haste, assaulting my mind as I sped through that dark corridor.

From what could be judged of their art, an ordinary layman can infer that the people of the First Star were near-obsessed with fornication and love-making. Here, in the darkness of this temple, the depicted lewd acts were an assault to my periphery as I sped down the corridor. I was reminded of the painting of Hell made by Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights. Chaotic, surreal and nightmarish.

I feared the worst, that I would be condemned to run this stretch of unending darkness till I die of exhaustion, until finally, I reached the end of the corridor and where my sisters had set up a secondary excavation site with LED floodlamps and the remainder of the equipment. The path veers off to the side and into a bigger chamber than those I had passed. The pillars leading up to the chamber seemed grander and more ornate than the ones before. I looked back to hallway and with my mind now clearer I estimated the distance I actually ran, upwards of 400 meters from the entryway. I shook my head in disbelief. It wasn't that far, thinking clearly now, but while I was in the thick of the darkness running..... it was mind boggling and misleading.

I saw that they managed to haul one of the smaller equipment cases and I recognized one of them. I opened it up and after a short rummage, found what I was looking for: LED road flares.

They reminded me of those circle pagers diners use to signal the meal ready for the customer. However, these were circular, rugged and compact. With a bright orange ribbing design of heavy-duty plastic for the LED lights. I tweaked the settings and started throwing one after the other in sequential distance, I threw the first one the farthest and then less and less short with each passing throw. I threw ten with a light pattern setting that strobed down the expanse of the dark hallway. I hoped it would prove traversing the darkness again not as unpleasant when we move out. It makes me wonder how those two got through here.

I ventured deeper into that last chamber in a light jog. I glanced at my watch and saw we still have a few hours left till nightfall. I wanted to be at the Esmeralda by then. As I glanced around this chamber, I realized this might be the largest in the entire temple, made with those same stone-like composite. I heard faint echoes ahead and recognized Tanner and Kit's voices bouncing on the cold stone murals. The chamber led deeper still and I got the feeling that there is more space up ahead.

My breath was snatched from my throat as my eyes took in what I saw.

A larger atrium, with a door of monstrous proportions, set in a wall of cold solid magma. Gone were the stone-like material. Here in this place, the volcano's life blood had completely encased everything in black igneous. Save for the two giant doors, which appears to be made of thick, smooth and polished obsidian glass. At a staggering 300 meters high, it was an imposing, frightening structure. I could not tell how thick it was. It was etched with symbols that weren't quite the same with the script of the First Star Civilization that I knew of. If ever there was a place on earth that could lead to hell, these gates would be it. I shudder to imagine what lies beyond those dark colossal gateways.

I shook myself, reminded that there are more pressing issues. I spied my sisters standing before the sealed doors, almost antlike in comparison. Was this the same gate in Tan's binder? The one mom had been searching for? Whatever the case, this door must not be opened. I gained a terrible sense of foreboding just by laying my eyes on it. Hell, the longer I stayed in this atrium, the more I thought I could hear whispers in the wind. The faster we could get out of here, the better.

"Kit, Tan--Pack up your things and get moving" I said loudly, turning them away from whatever they were discussing in front of the obsidian gate. I might have to unload some of the equipment cases and make room for them in the trailer. With the ATV at full speed, we'd maybe make it back to the Esmeralda in maybe a hour and a half.

"What? Why?" blurted Kit, sensing the urgency in my voice. I saw that they removed they removed the helmets of their skintight bodysuits.

"We are not alone in this goddamn island," I said straight, not caring if they think me delusional or paranoid. I didn't have the patience to talk in circles at the moment, "I saw movements, here in the temple. Some sort of..... animal. Crazy as it sounds, something has made a home here. A lot of somethings. Followed its tracks and found their nests. Nests, Tan. This temple is their nesting ground! They are probably nocturnal if they are nowhere to be seen during the daytime but I saw their scouts watching us from a distance. When night comes, they'll crawl out of their holes and you don't want to be caught in the open by these things. We have to go, Now!" I told them, myself shaken and hoping to spur them further. The creatures have not attack just yet, may be even lethargic with their biological clock similar to those of nocturnal animals in nature. Where these the so-called Heirs mentioned in the notes?

But why the things hadn't attacked me so close to their territory could be anyone's guess, I am not inclined to find out personally. Maybe they are curious, not used to human presence but that doesn't mean we must overstay our welcome. They had teeth and claws that are well suited to a predator in the brief glimpse I saw one. Their eyeless visage has ingrained in me a primal sort of terror and I have no mistake of the malice they would bring once the rest of their warrens fully awakens. They didn't have eyes, so they must rely on another form of sensory, either by hearing or scent. That also means they may not be diurnal hunters. One thing is certain however, we have to leave.

But now comes the hard part: convincing my sisters to abandon this mission of theirs.

"We'll have to come back to this island--" I reasoned to them, or at least Kit. Tanner did not face me, eyes still scanning the giant door and its symbol. I continued regardless. I know she can hear me, "--with better equipment and more personnel. I am not risking it out here in the dark. We are out in the open and surrounded from all sides. The Esmeralda is a good three hours away on foot with this terrain. Nightfall is little more than two hours away. With the ATV and both of you on the trailer, we can shorten travel time in just an hour. Maybe an hour and a half, tops." I waved for them to follow, and made a heading towards the exit.

I stopped and turned, not sensing them moving from where they stood.

Kit only looked back to Tanner for confirmation. Tanner turned around and looked at me coolly. Tanner didn't seem the least bit surprised to what I said. I was expecting disbelief and ridicule, not indifference. Her eyes were calm and unyielding.

Tanner glanced and nodded at Kit and my younger sister took this as a wordless signal to talk to the side, away from me. Kit gave me apologizing peep before scurrying off with Tanner. I threw my hands in the air. Unbelievable! Again, they leave me out! I wanted to pry them from one another and make them tell me what is it they're hiding, what lies behind that door. But I foresaw how that could just easily blow up into an even bigger argument, with Tanner dredging up my past sins like how I left the family. A typical family squabble with ammunition made out of the remembered slights over the years. Typical and infuriating, especially with time is of the essence. We'd only just be wasting time and breathe we could use to get out of dodge.

I know Tanner wasn't leaving till she was satisfied and Kit would follow Tanner to the jaws of Hell if need be. I bit the insides of my lips to the point I risk making them bleed. I felt like yanking my hair out at the frustration my sisters cause me.

God damn it! Those two were more becoming more and more like mom with each passing day!

I paced back and forth away while my sisters talked things through. I counted the milliseconds wasted not getting back to the ship. The soles of my boots threatened to erode the floor with my pacing, indestructible alloy or no. Finally, the two of them broke off, having done with whatever it was they were talking. Their discussion couldn't have lasted five minutes, five minutes we could have used to beat sundown. Tanner looked to me with a gaze that was harder than I have ever known her give. I felt my stomach drop at the sight of it, of what it means. Oh no......

"We cannot just up and leave," Tanner began, enunciating her voice as if she was speaking in front of thousands. It's a tone I've seen her use in assemblies and debates she conducted when we were children. Tanner continued, "This is something mother had been searching for all her life and we actually found it. This is knowledge the likes of which the world has never seen and to abandon it on the basis of some.... 'animals' that you may or may not have seen is just an utter waste of such invaluable treasure." She said with a wave of her hands, dismissing my concerns. "We owe it to the world to uncover the secrets that is buried here," she ended, almost out of breath. It was the most impassioned I have ever heard her, while still remaining regal and poised.

For a while, I only stared at her, speechless. Then...

"What the fuck are you talking about Tan?!" I shouted at her. Kit was visibly taken aback. Tanner's eyes went wide for a split second before regaining composure.

Suddenly all my woes that I thought that I had locked up well and tight came crashing down through my lips, "What is here that is worth risking our life for, huh Tanner? A bunch of rocks from a people that has been dead for eons? Are you willing to risk your life to join them in the grave? What has ever the pursuit of this knowledge brought? I only wanted to be a normal family, on the few days we could actually be together. But it's just this family's tendency to always seek trouble when there should be none. Never content on what we had, always striving for more and more and MORE!" my voice was loud, echoing off the atrium. My heart thundered in my chest and I felt my throat was dry. But I had more to say.

"Is it too much to ask? For stability? And now, here we are: In some godforsaken island in the middle of fucking nowhere, doing the same thing that got our parents killed, hoping for a different outcome. This is fucking insanity, Tanner!"

In a flash, Tanner backhanded me across the jaw.

I should've anticipated the retaliation. Especially with the harshness of the words I said, I should've anticipated some form of reprisal, physical or verbal. I made it a point of pride to avoiding such blows when we were kids, be they from the disciplinary ones from my mother or the near-constant ones from my older sister. But I was so caught up in the heat of the moment, I did not see Tanner's backhand to my face. It was the same kind of discipline mother employed whenever we got too unruly as children. A stern backhand to the cheek. Tanner had taken to that to discipline me when we were younger. I never saw mother struck Tanner (golden child that she is, she did have a purported moment of rebellion. I never saw the event itself, nor the circumstances leading up to it, only the aftermath when she walked out of our parent's study with a small bruise in her lip when we were children.) I know for a fact that Kit had never once earned such a reprimand, being the baby of the Ghosmoure litter. It was a reaction mostly reserved to me, the blacksheep of the Ghosmoure clan.

This one, though, was the hardest of it all. My head turned to the side at the blow, and if I hadn't had good footing, I would've stumbled from the sheer force. A deafening silence followed after that loud strike. Kit's eyes were as wide as they can be. I tasted the iron tang of blood on the inner corner of my lips. I wiped a small trail of it with my thumb. I returned to fix Tanner with a calm gaze. I am not angry. It was a logical reaction from Tanner. If only I controlled my outburst then this wouldn't have happened. But as I stared at my older sister, what lies behind her usually stoic blue eyes were anything but calm and logical.

"Don't you dare say that!" Tanner spoke through gritted teeth, almost snarling through bitter hate. I saw a myriad of emotions, untangled in her steel blue eyes. For the first time in my life, I caught a peek in the true inner workings of my older sister, and I realized with grave error, that my sister didn't have as much control over her own emotions as I initially perceived. In my travels, I have met people who had complete understanding of themselves, their flaws and weaknesses, and thus appeared to be in control of their lives, in the eyes of others. But Tanner, as I see her now, did not command her emotions. She was not in control of them, she may appear so but what she actually had done was deny them. Threw them down a deep dark abyss in the inside of one's soul and left it there, giving the illusion of control and calm to others. Leaving them to fester and rot in the darkness of one's mind. And that, I think, is a reckless and stupid thing to do.

But I am not one to judge.

I feel rage swell up, not because of the strike but because I could see the stubborn conceit evident in that gaze of hers, even now. Whatever I say, she will refuse to leave this island. And I wanted to hurt her back for there is nothing quite like the pleasure of revenge through words laced with hard truth. "What, dead?" I replied, "My god, don't tell me you still haven't accepted the fact that they are gone? They are dead, Tan. It sucks but that is what is. They made their choices. We need not follow in their mistakes," I will not deny that there is a hint of smugness in my tone, to see my words rile up my brilliant sister like this but petty vindication aside, what I spoke is true. And deep down, no matter how much she denied it, Tanner knows this is true as well. True and logical. Something the scientific mind of hers could not disregard so easily.

I could see in her eyes she was agreeing to some of what I said, the gears turning, but still she remained pig-headed out of sheer pride.

"You stupid, ungrateful child," she snarled back at me, spittle spraying the air before her full red lips, quite uncouth of her really, "We are at the cusp of greatness and untold power and still, like always you run away, afraid to grasp it. You waste the privileges our parents gave you. Waste their love. But with this," She gestured to the giant obsidian door, "This is a chance we could not miss."

Then I noticed a change in her eyes as she looked at the door. Her gaze softened for an instant. They were almost innocent-like. The hardness in my heart was chipped away at the sight. Another side of hers that I rarely saw. Tanner then spoke softly, not to me but more to herself, "Then everything...... everything in the world would be made right again." She stormed off, closer towards the obsidian doorway to study it further.

"What the hell does that supposed to mean Tan!? Tanner!!" I was shaken by her words, by the look in her eyes then. They were one of yearning, the kind of yearning true men of faith have that makes them sanctified as saints. The kind that yearns for the divine in this Earth. And that frightens me, for there is no creature on earth half so terrifying as a truly just man.

"Please Lee, we just need a little more time." Kit spoke to me, bringing me out of my ruminations.

"With what Kit? You don't tell me anything. What is in that black door that both of you are willing to risk your life for?" I said to her. Kit didn't say anything. She refused to meet my gaze.

My shoulders drop, Kit of all people, my own baby sister, would not tell me of their real agenda on this island. Did she not trust me? Or I had done something to hurt her? Both questions caused a pain deep inside my chest. Whatever the case was, it was probably my own failings that she refuses to trust me fully. There's not quite pain like regret.

I sucked in a steadying breath and gave them my ultimatum. I still have a duty as a brother to perform, "One hour. That is all I will give you. Then, I'm forcing you two back to the boat. I'll have to tie you both up if I have to. I don't care if you hate me for the rest of your lives but at least you'll be alive to do so," I told Kit as I ready to pack our things, my back turned to her.

***Kit****

Great. Just great.

Kit could feel a pain beginning to throb behind her eye. There was a coldness in her stomach but it was not purported by the threat of the supposed monsters lurking in the dark. Instead it was the cracks widening again between her older siblings. Just when she thought she was making progress. It was one step forward, two steps back.

One thing at a time, she told herself.

Though Lee's warning gave her doubt and made her anxious, she could never abandon this mission. All the things their family built over the generations were on the edge of ruin. There were other things that she hadn't told Lee, in part not to trouble him. Their family's enemies were prowling, looking for weaknesses where they would strike. Without their parents, the Ghosmoures' fortune where but a shadow of its former self. Tanner could only do so much in leading the company, she was still one woman in an environment teeming with other predators: The D'Argelouse family, The Ashburghs, The Valkenhoorns and many others circling the Ghosmoures like wolves.

This island's discoveries would elevate and save the name of Ghosmoure from ruin brought about by those that would wish them harm. She would not dare voice it in front of Lee, not yet, though her heart bleeds for her brother.

You cannot gain anything without risk.

And this was a risk Kit and Tanner were more than willing to take.

"Tan, whatever you plan you cooked up, I suggest you hurry," said Kit.

"It will not take long, Kitten," Tanner really was in a bad mood to be using Kit's full name. Kit decided not to add into the problem and shut her mouth instead at the feeling of patronization from her older sister. "We only have to decrypt this final puzzle and release the seal from goddesses in this tomb," Tanner continued, going back to studying the door's inscription.

Kit paced back and forth, though she made a point to do it quietly as not to irritate Tanner further. She had never seen Tanner that bewildered before. Truly, Lee has a gift when it comes to poking at the nerves of the golden child of Ghosmoure. Tanner, for the most part, returned to her calm and calculating self. Though Kit decided to tread the ice lightly, for good measure, talking about a different topic other than the sibling spat they just had, "Are the Heirs really here? I thought you said the volcano eruption should have driven them away."

"Either that or our brother is seeing things. Or the more plausible reason that he is snooping through our notes and is disturbed by what he saw. He has always had a vivid imagination and the knowledge of that of the First Star Civilization is not for the weak of mind," Tanner replied icily.

Kit suppressed a sigh, "Tan, do please consider that Lee was a Marine and his senses were always sharper than yours or mine, even as children. So if he says they're here, they're here."

Tanner did not answer, quietly studying and making notes of the doorway. The silence was so palpable in the cavern that Kit could hear the sound of Tanner's scribbling against the paper of her notebook. Even when he is not here, Tanner would not give an ounce of appraisal of their brother. Kit rolled her eyes at that. Damn the Ghosmoure stubbornness!

"Once we open the gate, then what?" asked Kit, to alleviate the silence.

"We will be protected," Tanner answered outright. Kit blew a quiet air of relief. The last thing she needs now is Tanner snapping at her or giving her the silent treatment. Tanner went on with her answer, "That much is certain. The goddesses would recognize our efforts and our heritage, grant us boons and favor for the rest of our mortal days..... and maybe even beyond as well. Undoing the seal to their prison is no small feat. I poured it all from every research and even mother was certain of it in her notes."

And look where it got them, But Kit kept her lips shut.

A thought occurred to Kit then. It was a stupid thing to ask but it must be asked. Opening the prison of unknown eldritch entities is a hazardous undertaking. Kit and Tanner have been prepared for it their whole lives. But Lee? Kit didn't want her brother to end up in an insane asylum. So far, he seemed okay for now. Being this close to the prison of the goddesses does things to those of untrained constitutions. But what then when they opened the seals to the prison that holds two eldritch entities?

"And what about Lee?" Kit blurted. It was like chucking in a grenade, danger close. Kit closed her eyes and prayed she wouldn't get hit by shrapnel.

Surprisingly, Tanner answered calmly and immediately with no hesitation, "I will do what our parents should have done. I did not understand why they were so.... 'coddling' with our brother. He was never that special, certainly did not striver for excellence like you and me. But now with our parents..... absence, I am the head of the family. I will show Lee what is the glorious truth and legacy of the Ghosmoure clan is, something our parents had failed to do. Rather than convince him with words, I will show him irrefutable fact of the Ancient Powers," she said with a thud of her notebook closing.

Kit was shocked. Beyond shocked, she was stunned. Was Tanner going to expose Lee to the presence of the Goddesses?! That could cause untold damage to a mind untrained and unprepared! Kit was about to voice her protests when....

"I am done deciphering," Tanner declared and handed the book to Kit.

"There is a receptacle here, underneath all this crust. One for a blood tribute, we need to find it."

Her protests put to a pause. She thought it would take Tanner days to translate the inscription on the doorway, if not weeks. Kit leafed through her sister's notes excitedly, not lifting her eyes to speak and pointed to a spot not far away, the work of several lifetimes soon at hand, "Already found and unearthed it in my initial inspection. Twenty yards that way, dual receptacle design of the Caldarini classification."

It was a set of grooves sculpted into the ground, feeding into the doorway. At first glance it may appear as a spiral in design but in closer inspection, one gets a distinct impression of intestinal in nature, with long curves that dance and twisted on itself rather than the circular concentric motions of a spiral. In ancient times, blood was poured in copious amount during rituals to appease the gods. How much blood depends on the quality of the blood itself. Some are more valued than others.

Kit thought she heard her sister give a sound of approval, a "hmph". That would have given Kit a small bit of elation but her eyes were on her sister's notes. Tanner was the far better linguist and cryptographer but Kit feels like the way to undo the seal to be...... easy. Too easy in fact.

"That's all? A blood tribute from the Lineage of Servants? For something as grand as unsealing a pair of goddesses and not even a life sacrifice at that. I don't buy it, there has to be more, like redundancies and protections, " Kit voiced her concerns.

"And indeed, you are correct," Tanner assured her. Kit glanced up to her sister and was shocked to see Tanner had begun the bloodletting by rolling one of her sleeves and running a small knife on a spot on her forearm. Kit swore under her breath. With rituals such as these ancient designs, there was no knowing how much blood would be required. Tanner went on ahead without giving Kit much warning which was dangerous. The blood on the receptacle was already a pint of Tanner's blood. Kit quickly added hers to the mix.

The blood began to pool up on the receptacle. There's got to be two pints worth on it. Kit started to feel lightheaded but resolved to stay focus. Tanner didn't seem the least bit unfazed.

"Look Kitten, does that answer your concerns?" Tanner pointed with a nod to a small tearing in the air, just a feet above the receptacle. Hardly the size of a nail, it looked as if it was a miniature blackhole manifesting. A tear in reality. A moment later a circular metallic like object manifested, the size and shape of a toy marble, though bigger in size. Kit got the feeling the bloodletting ritual complete at the object's appearance. She took out a bandage in one of her suit's pockets, one with sown in clips and wrapped it around her bloodletting wound. Tan had already wrapped hers securely, Kit didn't even notice when she had done that.

"What is that? A key?" asked Kit when she was done wrapping.

"In a way, yes." Tanner replied. She plucked the marble hanging in the air. Tanner turned it in her hands, studying the object.

"Okay, so what's next? Do we find a keyhole in the door? Cause I checked, there isn't any that could contain a locking mechanism," Kit offered.

Tanner looked at her as if the answer was obvious. Kit merely shrugged. Her older sister sighed. Tanner pointed to a stanza in her translation of the writings on the doorway, "A sacrifice of blood. The passions of flesh. Speak the name forgotten, Where life and death enmesh."

"We're already done with the first part, Kit. Can you guess what's the next step in the ritual?" Tanner asked in a somewhat playful tone that surprised Kit. Kit's mind whirred as she turned the poem inside her head in different angles, trying to decipher their meaning. All the while Tanner began to unzip the top portion of her suit's collar, to the point where it showed her clavicle. Suddenly, Kit stood straighter.

"Oh no," Kit said with realization. Her heart skipped a beat.

"Oh yes," Tanner took a step towards her.

"Lee isn't far away," Kit reasoned, hesitating. She hadn't realized she had taken a step back.

"Just far enough," Tanner replied.

"He'll be back any second," Kit answered back. As if in answer, the sound of equipment cases tumbling down echoed from the outside chamber, Lee making himself busy with preparation.

"Lee gave us an hour. That is more than enough to do what needs to be done," Tanner said in a husky whisper that sent Kit's blood rushing and her heart racing.

What needs to be done, huh? Kit had only been inducted into the Society for only a year. A novice by all accounts, if it were not for her being a legacy and all the privileges her station entailed. At nineteen, she had only dabbled into what is called the Higher Arts. All her life she was prepared but never actually taken part of any rites or ritual till she came of age at eighteen. One of the most potent rites were the Rituals of Flesh and Passions.

The potency of any ritual is magnified further when it correlates with another of the Rites. For example, the closeness of the blood ties. Like family. Kit was still coming into grips with it, even after a year. She was among the best amongst her peers when it comes to blood rituals. But the ones concerning Flesh and Passions?

Yeah, she never admitted it to her friends at the Society College. She knows they'd make fun of her.

"I suggest we do this quick. Unless you want Lee to catch us in the act and have the dilemma of explaining of what we are doing," Tanner teased her in a lurid tone. Kit never saw this side of Tanner. Never knew her older sister could be teasing.

Would Lee ever understand? No, Kit doesn't think he would. Kit was not a depraved pervert, or so she likes to say to herself. The first and foremost thing the Archeologic Society ever teaches you is this: you cannot claim to know everything. There is knowledge that is beyond human understanding and comprehension. Power that defies the mundane laws of men. The power of gods. And yet it could be grasped, with the right methods.

How would the world shudder to know that among the upper echelons of its society, there exists a cabal that caters to eldritch and unknown powers? Powers that had a hidden hand in the creation of life itself and altered the course of history?

Madness and chaos no doubt. Which is why only the trusted and the faithful are ever indicted in its inner ranks.

Tanner put the marble-like object inside her mouth and cusped Kit's shoulder and cheek. Kit was frozen where she stood, akin to a deer in the middle of the road, staring into the onrushing headlamps. Kit became distinctly aware of Tanner's scent, it was one of honey and jasmine. Heart thudding in her chest, Kit has no choice but to participate in the ritual.

You cannot gain anything without risk.

Kit steeled herself.

Tanner's soft lips pecked at Kit's own lips. A soft kiss, just a small peck. By then Kit had closed her eyes and let her sister guide her, frozen in between indecision and duty. Her heart hammered like crazy against her ribcage, making her blood boil and probably sizzling against the cold air of the temple. She felt Tanner go for another soft peck at her lips again, this time Tanner lingered, nibbled at Kit's lips softly pulling and kneading it as she did so.

Kit's stomach flipped at the sensation, blood rushing in between her thighs and she struggled to keep a steady footing. Tanner's tempo increased and Kit replied in kind, hoping to fulfill her role. Their lips smacked against one another, tasting each's fluids. Her older sister imparted her lips with her tongue, venturing into Kit's mouth where few others have ventured. As much as Kit may seems like an outgoing and adventurous personality, she doesn't really date as much as people would think. She didn't have that much experience as she let people believes. Tanner however...... who knows? She has always kept her cards close to her chest, even amongst her remaining family. Kit has only caught glimpses of it. Like this moment here.

Tanner carried the metal object on the tip of her tongue, pushing it against Kit's own tongue, urging her to play with it. Kit understood her sister's wordless signals and pushed on the marble, their tongue in a dance of lurid passion. Kit could feel her saliva intermixing with that of Tanner's, spilling to the corners of her mouth in a lewd dripping line of wetness.

Their tongues wrapped against one another, the heat burning to a blaze as their appetites conjoined. Kit tried not too think to hard that she was committing incest. The greater the taboo, the more potent the result of then ritual. Her common decency and morals clashed with the base passion she felt deep in her bowels.

A slight thrumming was present in the air. A slow crescendo, feeling like the atmosphere of expectation before a storm drops. Which meant that the ritual was working. The marble ball resonated and it too began to vibrate in the union of their tongues and spit.

The strength of blood it is called.

Kit is squeamish and rightly so at the act of incest. But it is a doorway to powers she had thought impossible. All it takes is a price. By the standards of the Society, the current generation of Ghosmoures are quite reserve. In contrast to some of the Families within the Society, where they performed acts thought unspeakable by the rest of common human decency, behind closed doors and walls on a daily basis.

The powers that be, those that exist beyond human comprehension can make their will manifest through their servants. All they need is the right catalyst to enact their will in the physical world. From beyond the realm of thought and dreams and spirit, through enacting taboos and blood rituals, all of the miracles by the Ancient Powers could be made possible. Even a thing as granting immortality can be a trivial thing for those powerful entities.

"It's not happening," Kit noticed after a couple more minutes of tongueplay with Tanner, the crescendo of power had stalled to a plateau, neither rising nor falling but at a standstill.

Tanner momentarily broke away from Kit but did not let go of her hands on her younger sister's body. She spat the marble ball on the palm of her hand, still vibrating. Tanner thought for a moment, machinations working behind her eyes. When Kit saw the look on her eyes once more, she knew that Tanner came to an answer.

"Tan what are you doing?" Kit asked, as her sister's hands became more.... inquisitive. Aggressive. Sliding down her supply young body.

"Still not enough," Tanner muttered under her breath and grabbed Kit closer. Tighter. Kit's nipples had grown erect and hard in course of the french kissing. And despite the additional padding in her suit, her nipples were prominently poking outwards, pressed tightly against Tanner's slender frame.

"Like you said little sister, it seems too easy for breaking a seal. We need to perform something more profound. Something more.... primal," Tanner whispered close in Kit's ear in a low husky voice full of desire.

The gods are theorized to exist beyond the physical and emotional planes, in a place where time holds no meaning. They are drawn upon this plane and the only way to commune with them is through certain states of the mind. Strong emotions that bordered on madness. Emotions such as Euphoria, Bliss, Rapture and Exaltation.

Kit felt wrong, so very wrong and indecent. And yet..... that feeling of wrongness and the intense sensation she felt in her groin caused a friction in her very soul, the kind that draws the attention of a being that isn't bound by human concepts of morality and decency. They say there are two wolves in every person. A white and black one struggling against one another for dominance.

The extreme guilt, the maddening pleasure. These were like a bonfire in a place of absolute void, a place where such beings have grown deathly bored in their eternal existence. And for such acts of service, they reward their servants.

Tanner, with the vibrating marble ball in between her index and middle finger, unzipped Kit's suit with one hand and slid her fingers on the bare flesh underneath. Kit let out a cry of indignation as her sister's hands explored her body. It was a short lived protest, as Tanner's deft fingers holding the vibrating marble ball, slid in between Kit's thighs, caressing and eliciting a moan that escaped Kit's lips. Her older sister's long slender fingers danced around the lips of her throbbing cunt and Kit bit down her lips to stop herself from crying in pleasure, fearing it my echo down the halls towards Lee.

There was still a shred of decency that remained in Kit, unknowingly, as she tried scramble out of Tanner's grasp but Tanner showed a surprising amount of strength holding her in place. The thought of shame and the danger of being caught added fuel to the fire. And making Kit, shamefully, dripping wet.

Tanner's fingers slid through effortlessly, welcomed by the moistness of her little sister's pink embrace. The marble ball throbbed against her pink walls and Kit's eyes rolled to the back of her head as Tanner explored her innermost folds with nimble precision, penetrating and caressing in rhythmic motion with the grace of a symphony.

Tanner seemed didn't want to do all the work as she guided one of Kit's hands beneath the space of her own suit, zipper coming down ever lower. Kit wanted to refuse. She had never done this sort of thing before, never even got to third base. The closest she ever got was second base with her cousin Skye back at the College. They were both trying to reach the next phase of their practice but both of them were too inexperienced and shy.

Now, the black wolf of lust triumphed and Kit decided to give in. She could not keep it contained any further and leaned against her sister, planting a kiss on Tanner's exposed neck. Tanner sucked in a breathe as Kit's kisses turned to biting and nibbling on her nape. Tanner retaliated by increasing the speed of her fingering, causing a moan to escaped her little sister's lips.

The sound of squelching filled the air loudly. Kit's heart raced faster. Will Lee hear and investigate? Will he catch the two of them in the midst of an embrace of taboo and lust? The possibility of being caught made the wall of Kit's womanhood to squeeze and tighten around the vibrating marble ball.

"Yes, that's right," moaned Tanner, guiding her sister to her exposed breast as her flesh was gradually liberated from its restricting confines. Kit didn't need further encouragement, leaning down and putting the pink sensitive nubs of her older sister in her mouth. Breathe escaped Tanner's lips. Kit's hands found their way to Tanner's groin and with playful euphoria, slid two of her fingers within. Tanner groaned, momentarily stopped in her own fingering of her sister's cunt. Kit motioned her fingers in a come-hither motion inside Tanner's pussy. Tanner recovered and renewed her vigor, splashing the groin area of Kit's suit with her cunt's juices as the marble ball's intensity began to increase.

The earth began to rumble alongside their pulsating embrace. Sister to sister, blood to blood. Completely engrossed in their lewd worship, Kit had failed to notice the offered blood coalescing towards the doorway. How could she, the vibrating ball inside of her flooding wet cunt turned her insides into a mess, rocking her to her very core.

The embers of passion deep inside Kit increasingly began to swell, as did Tanner's. The ball emitted a light within Kit.

Kit couldn't keep it contained anymore as her moans turned to wails. Kit had been so distracted that she realized that Tanner had been uttering a chant.

"Y'ha-nath'gh ugg'drath ven'kai moruul Tazus!"

"Ek'lora tharan'zu, vul k'noth yhaal'drik Xidrross!"

Kit's insides clenched as her cunt exploded into an intense orgasm, squeezing tightly around the marble ball, fluids squirted and drenched the insides of her suit. She held tightly against Tanner who followed suit, a few seconds apart, back arching and racked with tremors as her cunt exploded into a euphoric blast.

The inscriptions on obsidian door was lit in white hot light, and with a great final rumble, roared open.

***Lee***

I was supposed to be making room in the trailer, making good with what little time we have before nightfall. Instead I slammed my fist on the nearest case, making a dent on the material, then paced back and forth in place like a madman. Just for good measure, I kicked a case and it toppled to the cold hard ground. I just need to let off the steam from dealing with one of life's notorious bane of individual sanity: Family.

There's not quite that could get on anyone's nerve like the family you're borne into.

I needed to cool off, get my mind away from the thoughts of my sisters and started unloading the nonessentials, all the while muttering profanities mostly at Tanner. As I did so, my eyes were wary of the shadows and the dangers that were lurking within. I turned all available LED lamps we had on hand and aimed it towards the encroaching darkness outside the hallway. They would hardly stop the creatures should they press towards me and my sisters but at least I'd see them coming from a good distance off. I promised to give them an hour to gather whatever data they need.

As far as I could tell, this was a dead end, without any more warrens the creatures could get through. Those giant doors had been sealed shut for thousands of years and withstood tectonic shift in the earth's crust, nothing short of a bunker buster could pry them loose, so I don't have to worry of the creatures from pouring out through there.

Unfortunately, the only possible exit was straight through the long dark corridor rife with warrens. I was hoping the ATV would be fast enough to speed through hallway. Hence, making room on board the trailer and dumping the cases to lighten the load. The equipment my sister's brought were worth a lot of money but life far outweighs monetary value, so out they go. I kept a constant eye on the lurking shadows. Every now and then I'd hear the skittering of loose stone out in the darkness. And if I look careful enough, I could see the quiet hush of movement there. Their scouts were content on observing for now. I glanced at my watch, it was 1600 hours now.

I gave them one hour. And Tanner would make use of that one hour as much as she can.

My hair suddenly stood on their ends. I felt an abrupt feeling of vertigo like the ground I stepped on reversed its gravity, my very spirit upended as if it had been pushed out of my flesh. I realized the sensation at once, it was like in my dreams, only this time I was having a waking nightmare. Images flashed violently before my eyes, of the silhouette of what appears to be two people screaming in warning, followed by an onslaught of lights that came from nowhere, making me stumble.

And then silence.

What the hell was that?!

I looked around, akin to a hare ready to bolt, watching and waiting for the sound of the hidden wolf that has set me upon its gaze. Some fight you stand your ground, while others you run as fast as you can. This belong to the latter category. The world was unfair, and no good deed goes unpunished. We'd like to think that standing for what is just is valiant would reward us a good and long life. I had learned a long time ago that is not to be. And as it pains me to say, my time to die is not yet. I have family to watch over.

I cursed at myself. The lockerbox was back towards the entrance, atop the ATV's trailer. One hour or not, It's time we get out of here. After a brief search in some of the cases, I took whatever tools I could use to make up for a weapon, a small multipurpose pickaxe. It was better than nothing. I don't have time to run back to the entrance. I headed to where I last saw my sisters: the black gates.

A force reverberated through the chamber, an explosion of wind that blew in my face as it passed, followed by a sound that filled me with such dread I halted in my steps. Screams. Only it wasn't Tanner nor Kit's. It was a scream that belonged to no human throat. A scream that reverberated right within my brain and threatened to split it down to the grey matter. I grip my head in my hands. It was so loud and deafening I was brought to my knees and moaned as it intensified with each passing millisecond. I realized with shock as another voice joined the unholy screeching and recognized it was my own. Images flitted once more in my eye. Of creatures and beings that made no sense. I could not grasp what I was seeing in my mind. It was the scream of tens of thousands of souls wailing in agony.

As fast as it had come, so too did it leave. It suddenly stopped on its own.

I slumped in relief on the cold hard floor of the temple, straining to support myself back up. It felt like my thoughts had taken a power drill and scraped it along the base of my skull. Blood leaked out of my nose. Something trickled down my nape and I touched it. It was blood leaking from my ears. My thoughts then turned to another......

Kit. Tanner.

I could feel it, something bad had just happened. Something really, really bad. My instincts flared red. Groaning, I put my feet beneath me. I wobbled for just a step. My second one was firmer and I took off in a shaky flight, the lethargy of the psychic torment wearing off with each footstep. I hurriedly rushed to where I last saw my sisters, in the large cavern with the giant doors. When I got the atrium where the doors were, I was rooted on my spot and gaped at what laid before me. I involuntarily took a step back before regaining my courage and forced my will from breaking.

The giant obsidian gates were wide ajar, a soul-quivering wind burst out of it, stinking of sulfur and something else. Something foul and rotten. Too stand there was like staring into the very maw of the dark hell itself. Remembering what I came here to do, I went to find my sisters and see them fallen together on the ground before the unsealed gateway. I sprinted to where they lay on the ground, just before a strange markings on the floor. Grooves etched in a twisting manner. I kneeled down to check if they are all right. I breathe a sigh of relief to see them alive and well, as well as the situation permits anyway.

"Tan, is that it?" I heard Kit mutter. My brows shot up as I saw the front zipper of her suit was widely open. Her hair was disheveled and there was drool on the corner of her mouth. The hell? I thought.

"No, no... something isn't right. They are supposed to be released... I-I do not feel anything, Not their power," Tan chattered to herself, I was about to ask why the front of her suit was also open but stopped before I could form the words. The sight of one of her exposed tits, with an obviously erect pink nipples made me glance away.

I was about to ask what the hell happened and how the hell did they opened the giant-ass doors when I heard something.

There was a rumbling from deep beneath the earth. My eyes turned to the darkness of the doorways. Something was coming for us from the darkest depth of those obsidian gateway. I could not see them, not with that impregnatable darkness. But I could sense them. Too many of them. Hurriedly, I pulled both my sisters to their feet, "We cannot stay here! We have to move!" I urged them, pulling them by the arm and driving them onward to the outer chamber.

As we ran, I heard Kit muttering under her breath, zipping her suit back up. "Shit!.... not the only one...... other seals....... should've known it looked too easy!"

"What the hell did you two do?!" I yelled to her above the oncoming din. It was the sound made by onrushing clawed feet. So many that the very earth shook in its wake.

Kit and Tan only shared a look. Goddamn these two idiots! But first I have to get them both out of here alive. "Come on! On your feet and don't look back!" as I shouted those words, it was followed by a wide chorus of undulating shrieks echoing in the unending shadows, as if in answer. My God.... they were so many of them. Dozens? Hundreds?

"Go! Go!" I yelled to my sisters. I did not have to hold back in my run, Kit and Tan were in good enough shape that they kept up with me. We sped through from the chamber into the hallway, following the strobing orange lights of the LED flares I had set up.

400 meters to the exit, to freedom. We ran as hard as we could. Pillars passed us by in our wake. All around us, I could feel movement in the shadows. And at our back, the unmistakable force of a stampede crashed through the outer chambers and followed us in the long hallway of the temple. I did not heed my own advice, I cast a quick look back and regretted it instantly. There were so many of them, hundreds, bounding for us in all fours. Eyeless white horrors with needle-like teeth and razor-sharp claws six-inches long bounding for us in a near-endless tide of white death.

We ran for our lives.

300 meters, their kin that inhabited the hallway began to rouse as well, joining the hunt at our flanks.

200 meters. We overtook the rest of the horde but not by much. They were steadily gaining. I saw from my periphery that the fleetest of their ranks break off and dove in on us like wolves.

150 meters. Kit almost got pounced. One took a bounding leap, using a fallen pillar to gain height, aiming to take down my little sister. It met the pointed end of my pickaxe as it dove and it crumpled to the ground.

90 meters remaining, I realized we are not going to make it. The horde was right behind us. I didn't need to look, the scent of decay hit the back of my neck like a volcanic hiss.

In moments like these, a second is all it takes for life and death. One second that could last an eternity to pass. My father was not remiss in reminding me that should anything happen to him and mom, it was up to me to protect my sisters. This was my duty. To be the man of the house. Without thinking further, I acted.

"Tanner! You take Kit and make sure to get to the Esmeralda!" I tossed her the keys and she caught them before realizing the full meaning of what I said. She looked at me with wide eyes.

"Lee, what the hell are you--," Kit shouted as she ran past me while I slowed down. She tried to stop me with an outstretched hand but Tanner pulled her hard to keep on running. I knew she would try to stop me. She was too good natured for her own good. Tanner on the other hand.... has the will to do what needs to be done. Steel her heart now and mourn later.

I turned to face the vanguard of claw and terror.

And so, I rushed forward, to withhold death from taking my sisters. Hoping to cause the rushing horde to stumble just long enough for my sisters to get to the ATV and increase their chances of escaping.

I did not fear death by gunshot. Those can be quick, like turning off a switch on a person's life. But fang and claw? To be mauled to death? I will not lie and say I am not scared. But as Kit's words came to me, that there are far worse fates than death, to live while others died, I was spurned onwards. I raised the pickaxe and braced for the oncoming pain of being torn apart. I screamed my defiance and my fear away unto these unholy abominations on God's green earth. I go to my death, so that my family could live.

Only for the creatures to rush past by me, unnoticed and unheeded.

I looked back and to see all of them were making a bee line towards my sisters. I did not think. I swung the pickaxe as hard as I can and struck one of the creatures' head. A loud crack and the thing toppled to the earth, making the ones behind it to stumble and fall. But they recovered quick and hardly stalled the rest of the horde. Another, I kicked at the shin with all my weight. A satisfying snap sounded and it flew to the ground in front of it. I hope to cause a crushing press. Its kin merely trampled the over the creature, not a care in the world. Didn't try to avoid, just stepped over it.

I made a mistake of trying to grapple another passing creature, snatching it by the waist with both arms. It lashed, its claws digging into my forearms. With rage, I slammed it against the rushing tide of white horrors causing those hit to stumble amongst themselves.

It was no use. I was a single stone trying to hem in a rushing river of white death. The eyeless monsters had but one goal in my mind, my sisters. I even stopped attacking them and they paid me no heed at all. I was hardly any different to them like a dumb rock in a middle of a river. They were going after my sisters in single-minded determination. But why?

My sisters were only twenty meters away from the entrance. I could see the outline of the ATV parked near the front.

"No!" I screamed as they reached my sisters. My heart almost leaped to my throat, fearing the worst.

But the worst did not come to pass. Instead, they grabbed them by the wrists and limbs and ankles, and hoisted them above the horde as a dozen different clawed hands restrained them. The damned things were intending them to whisk them off!

I fought towards the head of the tide of claw and fang, filled with a desperate wild fury only a man defending his family could muster. I elbowed, swung and kicked my way to the front. The things were in a frenzy. I was reminded by those zealots on Evangelical TV, screaming and crying in their megachurches. The mania these things were in were hardly any different. My clothes was rent to tatters with their wild swings of claws. Kit and Tan kicked, making the parade of horrors slow.

I was hardly any different from the things that held and dragged my sisters.

"Kit! Tan!" I yelled to them.

"Lee! Help us!" screamed one of them. I couldn't tell, not in this chaos of snarls and shrieks.

The ones at the front were wildest with fervor, pushing and pulling among themselves like a crowd at a rock concert, completely entranced in wild euphoria. I roared as I pushed through, I could not see who it was but I managed to get my hand on one of my sisters. Kit or Tan, I couldn't tell. I grabbed hold of the familiar material they wore on their suit and began pulling them to safety.

That was a mistake.

The horde had been ignoring me before but as soon as I laid hands on one of my sisters, the creatures attention turned to me.

Teeth sunk into me in an instant. One in my leg, one in my shoulder. The worst one was on the arm that held my sister, three beasts sunk their needle-like teeth on my forearm. I didn't scream. Couldn't scream as much as I want to. I saw as another stretched its maw so wide like it was unhinged from the joint and sunk its horrific teeth into my left ribs. The air in my lungs simply escaped through my lips. Tears welled in my eyes from the pain.

Still, with desperate strength I held on to my sister. The bleeding was fast. I began seeing things at the edge of my vision. White light and the mirages of memories of the past. The feeling of nostalgia flooding in my chest.

It was not good. Not good at all. I knew this feeling. It was the feeling of death's grip slowly coiling around my heart. It was a feeling I had only felt twice before. Once on a cold night on the city streets. And another on the line of fire and duty.

Still I will not let go.

"Lee!" I heard a voice shout. With blurry vision I saw a flash of red hair and blue eyes filled with terror meet my own gaze amidst the white tide of horror. Tanner's eyes met with mine and they changed from terror to disbelief. I didn't know what she saw. My state must've made quite a sight for her to react in her current predicament.

I could not think straight. Too much blood loss. Losing awareness. I felt a jolt of force on my back but oddly no pain. Something had hit me, I am sure. I could feel blood leaking at my back, feel the air kiss my exposed flesh moving there, slashed open. Against my wishes, my arm went slack, losing control of the tendons in my hand. My hands dropped to my side.

The monsters stopped their attack as soon as I let go. My vision was swimming in blood as I hit the cold hard ground. Coldness seeped into my bones and veins as my lifeblood ebbed away. Sounds turned to echoes, as if far away. The shrieks of monsters, the cries of help from my sisters. My fingers shivered as I tried to crawl towards the horde of albino monsters and to my sisters carrying them back to the depths of the darkness we ran away from.

Darkness clouded at the edge of my sight, growing stronger.

Oh, how easy it is to let go then, to enter a sleep that never ends. To go where there is no more fear, strife and pain. How easy. Something in me fought still, would not dare close my eyes but powers outside my control, such as the pints of my blood spilling on the merciless godforsaken floor, said otherwise.

Breathing was becoming difficult. Felt going to sleep. I could hear Kit's screams, calling my name. So tired..... so very tired...

I just need..... to rest my eyes for a bit.

And the darkness welcomed me.

***

Keep going warrior, uttered a voice in the darkness. It was calm and soothing like the golden rays of sunshine on a lazy summer afternoon after a nap.

Your mission is not at yet at an end. It hasn't even begun. So close... so very clos, it said. A woman's voice.

I was still in darkness, my eyes closed. I was alive but barely. I could not move my body, blood loss has sapped me of strength, save for the feeling in my fingers. Shaky and trembling, I forced them to move, to drag me against the cold hard floor where I remembered falling. My body slid against the surface of strange stone of the temple, lubricated by my blood.

Just a little more, encouraged the voice.

I don't know how long I did that. My sense of time was askew. I have trouble recalling the events of the past couple minutes. But move my body inch by bloody inch I did.

Yes.... The voice said, delighted somehow.

He needs more than just words of encouragement, sister. Said a new voice, another woman but this one was cold and unforgiving like the gale of a coming storm atop a red blazing wildfire in a forest. Full of ice and fury. He needs strength.... This new voice added.

But with what little we have...... said the softer golden voice.

It will be enough... to do what needs to be done.... reinforced the harsh voice.

Whilst they talked, I kept on crawling. I didn't have enough strength to open my eyes yet. But my fingers came across the familiar touch something smooth and hard: the surface of equipment cases we brought. I had crawled near our equipment and supplies near the mouth of the temple. Which meant.....

Rise, Heir of Ghosmoure.... We have need of you yet...... The two voices spoke as one.

A surge of strength flowed through me. I opened my eyes and it was true: I was where we dropped most of our equipment. My eyes scanned around and found what we have been running towards. The ATV.

Lightheaded, I feel I could drop dead at any moment. The sight of the olive green lockerbox, not six feet away as it was toppled in the chaos of the horde rushing by gave me glimmer of hope.

I gathered what little strength I had remained and forced myself to stand up. I wobbled the first couple of steps. If I fall now, I don't think I could get back up. Biting down the insides of my lips, I bent over despite the bite wound on my side. My fingers was slick with blood and I kept on slipping on the scrolling mechanism. I almost keeled over as a dizzying wave of nausea passed me by. Until, finally, the lock clicked open.

I opened the locker box and the sight of salvation inside brought me renewed vigor.

***Tanner***

I fought with all I had. I kicked, I punched and I screamed. It was no use. Their clawed hands, too many to count, grabbed me by the arms and the wrists and my legs as well. But they were all jostling to grab hold of me that each was getting in the way of the other, making their grips to loosen and allow me to kick and yank it away.

But resistance was tiring. I am tired.

And so was Kit, tears streaking freely in her eyes but ever defiant as she struggled to break free. I know all too well that those tears were not out of fear for herself, not entirely. But for the fate had befallen our brother.

My guts twisted at the memory, even if it had just been moments ago. Lee. Bloodied, and most likely cut to pieces. My lungs tightened and a heaviness unlike I have ever felt dropped on my heart as the memories kept on repeating in a loop inside my head. He tried to buy us time, knowing he would die in the process. He fought through an army of daemons from the abyss, a feat with no positive outcome. An outcome he must've foreseen just like I had. Which is why he entrusted me to have the will to do what must be done to save what remained of our family.

He held on, despite knowing the odds that there was no scenario where he was walking out of it alive. There are indeed fates worse than death, and not having done everything in one's power to save your family is among them. And now he is dead.

And it is my fault.

This is the hell of my own making. Chances and possible tomorrows with Lee were now lost forever. All those memories of the somber young boy I had known had come to an end and no new ones will ever be made. They are gone. An abrupt end made all the more painful that in his final moments the strength of his character shone through in the face of death and darkness.

Something dared to come out of my eyes. My throat tightened. I bit down on my lips, tasting the iron tang of blood. Better my blood than tears to come out. I do not deserve such sorrow that I only brought to myself. Do not deserve the pity. Should have heeded Lee's words. Should have acted with more caution.

That was the hell I had found myself in. The one in my mind at least.

But I doubt I would live long enough to suffer through it further, as another kind of hell seems to wait for me in the afterlife, which shan't be long as things stand. I turned my focus away from the hell I created inside of me to the one happening before us.

It was like catholic procession of saints, with the monsters carrying us over their heads like venerated saints.

Where were they were dragging us? They could have easily rend us to pieces in seconds. They took great care not to hurt us badly. With those pointed teeth that would bleed a man out in minutes and claws that could disembowel with one slash. Instead they held us by the wrists and dragged us, bounding our ankles and grabbing hold of each our limb.

Whatever it was we had done; the seal yet remains intact. The goddesses still trapped. Then why would they--..... No... no it couldn't be...

This was a feeling I could not suppress, could not abandon. It struck me like a lightning bolt made of ice. This had a mind of its own and it sank its fangs deep into my mind and heart.

It was fear.

Fear for another fate far worse than death. If my suspicions are right, that very well might be the cause why we aren't dead just yet.....

He is waiting for us.... down at the bottom.

It would be a mercy to die now.

Something trickled down my cheeks as we were carried deeper and deeper back into the darkness of the temple, into the very gates of hell itself that I opened. They were tears.

BANG!! RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!

I snapped my head as a chatter of explosion rippled through the temple. A jet of more bursts ripped through the undulating shrieks and shrills of the horde, white figures exploded in viscera and gore. A line of the creatures dropped to the ground, their bodies riddled with bullet holes.

I saw a figure standing through the midst of white horrors. A figure drenched in his own blood, madness and fury in his eyes as he strode through the eyeless monstrosities spewing fiery death in his hands.

Lee. Bloodied, bruised and alive.

In his hands was the intimidating silhouette of a machinegun.

In his back was an entire arsenal fit for a one-man army.

***Lee***

I didn't know how I was still standing. Tried not to wonder too much as I let loose the BAR M1918 I had in my hands, firing in slow controlled bursts. I didn't want to risk hitting Kit and Tan. I unloaded two full mags into the horde before they realized I wasn't letting them leave with my sisters. Individual creatures broke off from the main horde to neutralize me. None made it ten yards close of me. I flicked the firing mode from slow to fast and doused their counterattack in a spray of bullets that severed limbs and exploded stomachs. They were so packed so tightly against one another that one bullet would penetrate at least two of the creatures and sending them to the grave in a tatter of blood and gore.

Good, it saves me bullets to spare.

Shadow caught my eyes to the side, a creature that had flanked away while I focused on the onrushing mob, hoping to catch me unaware. Clever beasts.

Claws descended on me, just in time to raise the rifle to block the creature. I didn't let it think for a second longer, kicking it in the gut, sending it sprawling to the ground. It recovered, whip-fast and immediately lunged back at me, intending to rip my face in three pieces. Its eyeless head exploded like a grape as I let loose a shot.

I let out another controlled burst of the BAR, going into a jog as I tore through their ranks. Dozens lay dead and bleeding at my feet. The BAR dispatched a good hundred of the fuckers. Mag empty, I didn't have enough time to reload another as they realized the threat that I had become. Must not let them regroup, to regain their momentum.

I cut through the horde, littering the hallway with their dead. How many were these things? Still they did not give up, redoubling their efforts to go back to where they came. Back to the giant obsidian gateways. Until I caught up to the main body of the horde just outside the caverns leading up to the giant doors.

Tanner and Kit, sensing the beasts distracted, didn't waste this opportunity to resist harder and break their grip on their wrists and ankles, slowing the vanguard further up ahead.

I dropped the BAR on ground and switched to the Remington shotgun that was slung at my back.

BOOM!

The nearest one that tried to lunge me flew in the air, hitting its comrade, with a hole in its chest.

BOOM!

Another got eviscerated, half its head and entire left torso gone in a single blast. And so it went, filling the entire chamber with the loud blast of my shotgun until that too ran out of ammo. With no time to reload, I switched to another of my close-quarter kit, a specially modified machete meant for flesh and bone and my M1911 pistol. Their number had reduced to the point that I saw Kit struggle so hard that they dropped her to the ground. Tanner followed suit not a moment later. The creatures shoved among themselves to hurriedly pick them up, adding more to the chaos.

This was my chance.

I closed in on them, slicing and shooting my way to where I last spotted my sisters. A tangle of them was trying to pick up whoever it was on the ground. I couldn't tell whether it was Kit or Tanner, as she flailed wildly, kicking and bucking like a bronco.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Bodies dropped to the floor and the rest turned on me. It was too late for them. I put a hole in the head of one, lopped the head off another with one swing of the machete and disemboweled another on the return swing of my blade. The rest I dispatched with the squeeze of trigger until the it too ran dry, evident by the empty click-click sound the pistol made.

Good thing too, as none were left standing within the chamber.

I dropped to one knee, out of breathe. The dizziness was coming around. I don't know how I lasted this long. I've fought in firefights with wounds before but not like this. Something moved to the side that caught my eye. In a pile of bodies, something shifted. I gripped on the machete once more. Had I missed one? A lock of red hair burst through the corpses, sucking in air as if she had been underwater. I grinned. It was just Tanner. She was safe. But where was Kit? Had to say a few words before I bleed to death.

"Kit, sound off! Where are you, kid?" I said aloud, in good humor. Better to die with a smile in my face. This had been a miracle. Now I could die in peace knowing both of them could leave the island. I broke in small tired laugh, the kind of laugh people do when they do bone-tiring work after a hard day's labor. This felt like that.

I waited for Kit to say something. Nothing.

Only silence.

The horde was reduced to a mere handful. Scattered. The survivors bounded off to the darker parts of the temple, retreating. Good fucking riddance. I have trouble keeping my eyes open. Seems my lucky streak was coming to an end.

Tanner was in front of me, eyes full of worry. She had a loop of bandage dressing in her hands, checking me for my wounds. The look in her eye said as much as to the severity of my wounds. Ha! I was right! I wanted to lord it over her but everything was starting to shake.

Tanner was trying to say something but I have trouble hearing the words. She was gesturing to something in the chamber beyond. I failed to realize that the fighting had brought us close towards the mouth of the cavern that held the giant black doors. Everything was becoming blurry in my eyes. Tanner was really afraid about something.

"What?" I managed to ask. She pointed frantically in the distance.

I looked up just in time, there, some one hundred meters away, Kit grabbed hold of one of the giant doors, eyes wild and defiant. One of the creatures, a small one, probably a youngling, stood on top of her, holding her lips shut while a handful of the adults tried dragging her inside. I saw Kit wiggle her head ferociously, giving her mouth enough space to bite down hard on the creature. It screamed and fell away.

"Lee! Help me!" She screamed. The creatures pulled harder.

My heart thundered in my chest. I tried to get back up, only to fall forward into the ground. My strength was spent. Small tremors shook my thighs and my fingers as the coldness of blood loss returned. I raised the M1911 to fire off a shot, but I forgot I had to reload.

BOOM!

One of the adults got hit and went down. I glanced to my side to see Tanner had picked up and reloaded my Remington. She let off another shot. But at this distance, the Remington's explosive firepower and accuracy was less effective. Tanner managed to only wing another of the adult creatures pulling at Kit.

Finally, her arms shaking, Kit couldn't hold on more. She screamed as they dragged her into the darkness beyond. Her screams echoed in the abyss, in the temple and into my very soul. Screaming my name as I looked in wide silent helpless horror.

The last thing I saw before the darkness took my vision was her pleading beautiful blue eyes full of terror. They accompanied me as I fell into the darkness of unconsciousness and exhaustion.