Into the Sewers

I crouched down in the dark, trying to make myself as small as possible. I could feel the damp, cold concrete through my thin t-shirt. There was a steady drip-drip towards the back of the pipe I’d chosen to hide in.

The echoes of my pursuer's voices were deafening, bouncing around inside the pipe. I could no longer tell where they were located in the cavernous sewers. Closing my eyes, I tucked myself tighter to the wall of the pipe, praying that my pursuers would soon grow weary and leave.

Seeing a shadow near the mouth of the tunnel I was inside, I moved quickly toward the intersection of pipes behind me, hoping to avoid detection. Bumping my head, I bite my tongue, trying to keep from crying out. Reaching the junction, I crawled backwards inside a smaller one, praying I was fast enough. Pulling my hands in just in time for a beam of light to sweep the pipe I had just left.

“Hector! I found their shoes!” I hear a voice holler out and echo down my pipe.

“Good, we’re on the right track, let’s move out!” I hear Hector’s words bouncing off the walls.

I could hear them sloshing through the grotto, walking to the other entrance, and heading down that passage. As their voices faded off into the distance, I took a chance and began the tedious process of extracting my bulk from the pipe I had chosen. Making as little noise as possible, I started making my way to the grotto, hoping to escape the way I had come.

Easing my way out of the pipe, I scanned the surroundings to make sure no one was near. Seeing no one, I quickly made my way across to an entrance away from the voices searching for me. So intent was I on the archway, I didn’t hear the splash behind me. Therefore, the whack on my head took me completely by surprise, knocking me down.

As I rose to my knees to regain my footing, I felt a kick in my bony jean-clad ass. A deep voice behind me laughingly said, “Where do you think you’re going, Wimp? I ain’t letting you go anywhere.” Then another kick to my ribs as I bounced head first into the wall of the sewer.

As he grabbed my head, trying to shove it below the water on the floor of the pipe, I could feel the heat start to rise in my body as I tried to fight back. Throwing my head back, I connected with my attacker’s nose. With satisfaction, I listened to him yowl as his grip on me loosened. As I stood to my full height, he cowered before me and screamed, “Hector, this wa…!”

Not letting him finish, I quickly twisted his neck, breaking it, before I hurried on again. Now, I could hear Hector and his posse’s voices growing closer again. As I crossed the threshold of the pipe junction, I was unaware that my shirt snagged on a piece of rebar sticking out, ripping my shirt as I rushed through.

“We’re coming for you, Deumus! You can run, but you will not escape!” Hector menacingly yelled from somewhere behind me.

The heat continued to rise in me as I pushed myself to go faster. I passed three side pipes before I suddenly turned right at the next one I came to. I was running so fast I almost missed the turn, and bashed into the wall of the tunnel I was turning into, unaware of the smeared blood from my busted lips I left behind on the concrete. As it smoked and sizzled, searing a design into the pipe, I continued more carefully along my way.

“Hey, Hector!! We found the trail this way!! We’ll be on them in no time!” I heard what sounded like two different voices, which may have been a short distance behind me, but the echoes made it hard to pinpoint the origins.

“We’re coming for you, Deu!!”

“Keep running, Freak, it excites me!”

Maniacal laughter filled the sewers, bouncing down the pipes and returning to my ears in an insinuating caress that oddly stimulated my reflexes. My blood was an ember starting to flare, as I looked for a spot to wait for the two I knew who were not far behind. My skin was beginning to itch in anticipation of what would happen next.

Pressing myself firmly up to the inside of another grotto opening, I waited for the two trackers to catch up with me. I listened to the hollers of the group as they made their way towards my position.

“Don’t lose the sum’a bitch!” I assume the one called Hector calls out.

“Bas’ard’s going to pay for what he’s been doing!” From someone else.

“He’s going to pay for what he did to my girl Lisa!” Another person screams.

“...Ey, this wa..”

“...At blood on the w…”

“...Ok here, hecto…”

“...Own that tunnel.” Once again, Hector’s voice broke through the cacophony.

“On it, boss!”

“Let’s go get this over…”

So many voices, so many echoes, all speaking at once, and none of them making sense. Only Hector’s voice was sounding clearly through all the noise.

Finally, the two who were on my tail barged out of the pipe I had previously exited and ran past me. Sticking my foot out, I tripped the second one as he passed me. Jumping on his back, I quickly twisted his neck, breaking it, so I would only have to deal with the one before I continued again.

Straightening up, I watched him as he turned to face me. As I stood to my full height, flexing my shoulders, he took a step backwards. Stuttering, he said, “D-d-don’t c-c-ome another step closer! I’ll shoooo!!”

Smiling, feeling a tingling in my whole body now, I leaped. Ripping him limb from limb, I turned and headed down a tunnel that would lead me back around and behind my pursuers. With glowing eyes, I quickly trotted towards my prey and grabbed him, bashing his head into a wall.

Rushing rapidly, I passed two side tunnels before coming to a T-intersection, and turned right towards the origin of the echoes. Nearing the voices, I slowed, attempting to avoid detection as long as possible.

I begin scratching my scalp, and I feel a velvety protuberance. Smiling widely, showing my many teeth, I come upon a straggler in the rear of the posse set out to find me.

“Whatever you do, don’t let Deumus get near you. Kill them immediately upon sight, or forfeit your eternal soul forever,” Hector was saying, as he adjusted his Jesuit collar.

“They are swift and agile, don’t let their appearance fool you. Be prepared to act without hesitation.” He continued as I leaped on the straggler, ripping his head off, before he knew what had happened.

With each person I killed, a new tattooed design appeared upon my flesh. With each soul I absorbed, each tatted line glowed brighter. With each person’s rage I met, my body fed off it, and the change began to happen faster than normal. What used to take months to build up to was now taking moments.

“Hey, Henry, see if you can raise Tony and Blake on the ‘walkies. Will ya,” Hector ordered. When Henry didn’t answer him right away, Hector and the last three members of the posse turned slowly around.

To see me. In all my hellish glory. Right before I ate their souls.