The dim hallway we’re in is in the basement of the Administration building. To the left is the portal to Nova’s Hub, and to the right is a dead-end. On the other side of Cherry Blossom is an old storage room that’s the size of Rez’s bathroom. The last time I was in there, it wasn’t a complete mess, but it was kind of dusty, as if it wasn’t a popular area to go.
Knots frantically turns in a circle before roughly digging his hands into his scalp and pulling his hair, jostling me on his shoulder. Before I can send a sarcastic comment, he lets out a bellow that rocks me to my core.
“URGH!”He screams.
Chest heaving, he releases his hair.‘Can you smell them or pick up anything?’he snaps. The muscles in his shoulders tense as he waits for my answer.
Turning my head, I try to scent Levi or anything besides the slight mold in the air.‘They were here, but it’s faint,’I admit.
‘FUCK!’he screams. ‘I mean, you’re tied to Levi and the other Horseman, aren’t you? Shouldn’t you be able to feel him?’
‘The only thing I feel is a strange annoyance that isn’t coming from Rezzi-bear because it’s a darker resonance I’ve never felt before,’I bark out with frustration.
My teeth gnash together as I have the undeniable urge to bite his neck or piss on him, but I take a deep breath and try to be the bigger man here, and I catch a whiff of something in the process.
Is that a hint of Angel’s perfume I smell? That god-awful, smoky, flowery stench that I’m sure she thinks every man is attracted to. It makes me want to hurl.
‘Are you even listening to me, hairball?’Knots grumbles as I scramble off of him.
‘No, Firewood. I’m not.’I pointedly ignore him as I sniff the air. Following the stink trail, I walk into the storage room. Knots stays on my heels, so I roll my eyes and answer him to get him off my literal tail.‘I don’t know how it works with the Horseman, just like I’m sure you had to learn how DK’s worked initially.’
Taking a quick look around, I notice a few differences from the last time, and I jump up on a few stacks of boxes to get a higher perspective.
‘But speaking of connections, why aren’t you reaching out to Levi?’I throw back at him.
‘Ugh, I’m not close enough, it’s a proximity thing for me.’He sighs in frustration.‘What are we doing in here? We should be looking for Levi and the Harpies,’Knots nags, throwing a glare my way when I turn to look at him.
‘I’ve been in this room before, Knots, when Rez and I first got here to Purgatory, however long ago that was now. The boxes and items all look the same, and it still smells like old books, but there’s no dust,’I point out, getting up on the top shelf and peering along the crack against the wall. There’s a sizable gap between the wall now that wasn’t there before.I wonder why…
“And I should care about that, why?” he asks as I hear him jostle things around.
‘How dense are you? Why hasn’t Rez thrown your ass into our fireplace yet? We could always use another log on the fire.’I sigh before spelling it out.‘Pawpaw’s room, where the portal is, has dust in the corners or spiderwebs. Why doesn’t this room, when it’s a storage room of all places? How often are youcoming into a room like this and cleaning to keep spiders and dust from gathering?’
‘You might not, you could just be throwing a spell and cleaning the entire room within seconds.’Knots rolls his eyes.
‘There we go, youdohave a brain cell in there. Congratulations. Maybe we can upgrade you to a plaque to hang on the wall. So now that we’ve figured that out, why would someone use a spell for astorageroom?’
‘You might be right.’He narrows his eyes, admitting his defeat.‘But there’s no way you came up with that on your own.’He points his finger at me.‘Your IQ is as high as a damn mophead. What did you pick up out there?’Knots rightfully accuses me.
‘I smelled Angel’s perfume. It’s faint, but it’s here,’I confess.‘Even the DKs tracked them to this point, and they aren’t here. So they just disappeared?’
‘No, they must have either slipped through a trap door or are hiding right in front of us. Because if they used a spell to portal from here, I could feel the residual magic,’Knots agrees with me.‘I’m going to check along that wall at the dead-end to see if there’s something there,’he announces before walking out.
‘Right behind you, doorknob.’Taking the same route I did to get up, I hop down. That is, until I jump down to the last stack and find no boxes.
‘Damnit, Woodpecker!’I yell out as I step out into nothing and instinctively tuck myself into a tight ball.
That’s what he was shuffling around, fucking boxes.I careen off different surfaces—soft, hard, round, and square—while listening to Knots’ laughter in my head. I feel every bump, thump, and crack as I hit every surface on the way down within seconds, before landing with an oomph and rolling to a stop against a wall.
Unfurling, I stretch out and hear a click as my head lands on the ground, giving away another inch. Glancing around, I look for any noticeable change. It’s the sound of a slight grinding that pulls my attention to the right. A small piece of the wall, the size of a football and as tall as one, slides along the wall, revealing a way into another room. If I had reservations about walking into the unknown, they vanish when I get a more pungent whiff of the vile harpy’s stench.
Hobbling through, I find myself in an opening the size of an air duct.So, obviously, a human wouldn’t be using this, so what would?As my eyes adjust to the darkness, a faint glow catches my attention to the right, which is the only option for me to go. Granted, there shouldn’t be anything back here since, according to the hallway, there’s a dead-end where I’m going.
‘Did you get lost, Whiskers?’Knots chuckles.‘Or did you get stuck somewhere and I have to save your furry ass?’
‘You’re hilarious, Plankton,’I scoff.‘Did you find where the Harpies went?’I throw back, knowing damn well he didn’t, since I’m getting further than him.
Take that, fucker. Lynx one; Firewood nada.
