Eve's Hollow by Charles Bedlam (best free e reader .txt) 📕

Ransley stopped walking. Estelle did as well. She was afraid that she had upset him. Ransley stared up at the sky. The fog was moving. Ghostly shadows of taller buildings faded in and out of view.

“I'll tell you what,” he said, looking at Estelle with a soft, kind smile. “Let me entertain you with one of my old hunting stories over some tea when we get back. Then, we'll call it even. Deal?”

He held his right hand out to Estelle. She was taken aback by his gesture. She returned his smile and took his hand.

“Deal,” she said.

About half way down the walkway, Ransley told Estelle that the end of it would be the end of their rooftop travel. From there, they'd travel on the ground where it would be more treacherous. Estelle and Ransley spent the walk to the stairs at the end of the walkway in silence. He stopped her at the very top of the stairs before descending.

“Before we go any further, there is something you have to know,” he said.

“What is it?”

“The entrance to Rodrick is overrun by the Punished so we will probably have to find another way in. Once we're inside, we have to stay close, just in case there are any surprises waiting for us. Now would be a good time to take out your gun.”

Estelle followed his suggestion. He drew a handgun.

“Let's go,” he said.

Ransley took the lead down the iron stairs. Estelle realized as the buildings grew taller around them that she missed the rooftops. She preferred to be high up instead of low to the ground. Being on the ground in Eve's Hollow made her feel small and she absolutely hated feeling small. Grigori made her feel small too. She hated him just as much. She knew this was the path that she must follow, though. They reached the ground level in what was a large alley way.

The usual were strewn about; trash, debris, human corpses torn apart by the Punished. The coast was clear as far as Estelle could see. One end of the alley was far closer to them than the other. To their left was the street and to their right, the alley extended into nothingness. Ransley moved toward the street and kept to the right side. He stopped at the corner and peered out and around for any creatures that may have wanted to slaughter them.

“All clear,” he said. “It's not much farther now. A couple of blocks that way and a few more down the left, there.”

Ransley pointed down the street. Estelle took the lead this time, walking and taking in her surroundings. She still was not used to this city. She wondered if all cities were as large as this one. During her travels in her past life, she had heard tales of cities or occasionally listened to the news on a radio. These were her only sources of knowledge from the outside world. She was very embarrassed to admit that she was ignorant to many things in the city. Commodities to these people such as cars and the hundreds of stores that they could visit were fresh concepts to her. She still could not fathom how man could build such grand structures. The only things that towered over her were mountains, trees, and concrete homes, but not skyscrapers. This concrete jungle was very odd to her indeed. She knew, though, that she couldn't keep wasting time thinking about her ignorance. She pushed those thoughts away and pressed on.

After the couple of blocks, they turned down a street called Bishop Ave. Ransley told Estelle that Rodrick was at the end of Bishop Ave, at the bottom of a large hill. They were able to navigate the street without incident. There were no Punished here and stranger, there were no bodies. Estelle wondered if the people who survived here got away. There were fewer cars here as well, giving them a lot more walking room than they had before, but fewer places to hide.

As they progressed, they came to the top of a hill. Once they reached it, the road continued down at a slight angle. The buildings stopped at this point and a series of trees on either side lined the road all the way up to a large iron gate that closed off tall stone wall. More lines of trees formed a small patch of woods around them. From the top of the hill, the mental institution could be seen. It was a tall, dark structure that looked like an old, dark mansion with four prominent spires at the corners.

Rodrick's courtyard was easily visible with several more trees. The stone wall surrounded the institution. Enclosed within the gate was a large black mass, gently swaying back and forth. Estelle's heart dropped.

“Is that what I think it is?” she asked Ransley in a quiet voice.

“Mhm. I'd say that there's about two-hundred. Maybe two-fifty. This is as far as I came. But if you want answers regarding your Guardian, that's the best lead we've got without having to venture further from home.”

Estelle and Ransley walked down the hill, sticking to the right side of the road, near the trees. The hill made them walk fast, but neither were in a hurry to face the coming obstacle. When they reached the gate, the stone rose up twenty feet. Iron spikes on top of the wall lined it all the way around. Ransley and Estelle knelt down next to the opening of the wall where the iron gate was.

“So how do we get in?” Estelle whispered.

“Let's go around the side.”

They followed the wall to their right, into the trees where it was darkest. They kept the wall on their left side as they watched their step over roots, broken branches, and rocks. The broken branches left small patches of dead leaves on the ground. The rustling of their footsteps were so loud in the silence that Estelle thought that they'd be discovered by the hoard of monsters on the other side of the stone wall. Keeping low to the ground, they tried to move slower.

“There must be a way in,” Ransley whispered over his shoulder.

“Look,” Estelle said, pointing ahead of them. “What about that?”

A few feet ahead was a small hole in the stone wall. Here the wall had been broken in, as if someone took a sledgehammer and beat the wall, creating an opening just large enough for a small man to crawl through. When they approached it, it had been covered with vines, some dead, some surprisingly lush.

“We can cut through,” Ransley said, drawing a small single-sided hunting knife from the inside of his coat.

He promptly began to cut through the vines. Estelle drew her knife and did the same. She found that if her blade cut through flesh like butter, then cutting through vines was almost the same as cutting the air. In no time, the vines were cleared and so was their path. Ransley insisted that he climb through the hole first. That way if anything was waiting on the other side, he would be the only one to die. Estelle was astounded at how clam he was on the subject of losing his life.

Ransley got down on his hands and knees and crawled a third of the way through the opening. He waited and Estelle held her breath. She partially expected something to grab him and pull him through the hole. After a few moments, he disappeared through.

“All clear,” he called. “Come on.”

Estelle passed through the hole and joined Ransley on the other side. They had come to the side of Rodrick Institution. A grand lawn, dotted with large trees wrapped around the sides and back of the building. Estelle and Ransley crouched near a tree that was next to the hole. From where they were, they could see the shadows of tress in the yard toward the back, and about half a dozen or so Punished toward the front. Estelle peered toward the Punished and tried to make out individual faces.

The corner of the black mass of monsters was visible as well. She was not able to make out faces, but she was easily able to see the glowing dots that were the eyes and mouths of her enemies. Seeing the Punished confused her. There was the quiet little girl in the back of her mind who was afraid of these glowing-faced beasts. But there was also the killer that she used to be. Killing that Punished before reuniting with Ransley awoken something inside of her. When she saw them, she didn't just feel sacred, she felt excited. This was not the time for excitement though.

In the darkness, Ransley could just make out the windows on the bottom level.

“Think we can get in through one of those?” he asked.

“It's worth trying. Do you think we'll be safe inside?”

Ransley waited a moment before answering.

“Well we don't know what's in there,” he said, still looking at the windows. “We don't know if anyone's moved in since your man moved out. But there's only one way to find out. Let's go.”

Still low to the ground, Estelle followed Ransley across the yard. They continued to use the trees for cover against the Punished. Once they reached the side of the building, they weren't a problem any more. They walked along the side of the asylum and the windows came down to Ransley's waist. He tried several of the windows, but they seemed to be locked and each attempted only ended with a frustrated grunt. After the fourth or fifth window, they came to one who's bottom pane of glass was broken. The space in the window was too small for a grown man, but not for a young girl. Ransley looked at Estelle and she seemed to know what he was thinking.

“Help me up?” she asked.

Ransley knelt down beneath the window and locked his hands on his knee. Estelle placed her foot in his hands and Ransley boosted her up to the broken window. Being careful of the jagged shards still left, she climbed through and opened the window from the inside. She placed her hands at the bottom and tried to open it. It didn't budge. Estelle strained and grunted and her hands began to hurt. With a shutter, though, the window came loose and she heaved it up, allowing Ransley to climb through. She was surprised that an old man like him had the strength to climb through a window. None the less, she grabbed his coat and helped to pull him through.

The inside was very dark. No lights of any kind were present. Tall shadows stood around them. Estelle heard a flick, then Ransley's flashlight lit the room. It seemed as though they chose to enter the institution through a book-keeping room. The shadows around them turned out to be large stacks of books and papers. Many stacks were sloppily placed upon desks while the rest were stacked on the floor.

“Did you hear that?!” a voice shouted from outside.

Ransley pulled Estelle to the wall and he crouched down under the window. He placed his index finger in front of his mouth and hushed the girl. As they waited, several more voices approached. Angry, hostile voices.

“I know I heard it!” another Punished said.

“There's nothing here! There's nothing anywhere!”

“STOP SCREWING ME AROUND!” another bellowed.

They couldn't determine the number of Punished that was there, but their voices began to fade away as they continued to search the outside of the building for nothing. Ransley and Estelle moved away from the window and looked at it.

“That was close,” Ransley said. “Let's get going. Gun at the ready, eh?”

Estelle nodded and held her gun up. They found the door to the room and Ransley placed his hand on the knob. He turned it and the old wooden door creaked open. He aimed his flashlight as well as his handgun out the door. He moved