The Attic (Completed)

Chapter 27

Ian opened the back door of the mansion a crack and peered out into the yard. The sky was slate and the rain showed no sign of letting up. A low fog was spreading across the greensward, obscuring the outline of the forest.

Taking Lily by the hand, he pushed his way through the door and they moved across the lawn, staying low to the ground. When they reached the trail, the heavy-duty gnarled branches served as an umbrella, reducing the rain to a drizzle. It was icy cold and Lily began to shiver; she was wearing a zippered jacket and jeans, her hair wet and flat against her cheeks.

"Where's the swamp?" she whispered.

"About a fifteen-minute jaunt from the workshop." He stopped, turning to face her and pulling her closer to his side. "But there's something I have to warn you about—"

"—did you hear that?" She interrupted, eyes widening.

"What?" He shot a glance to his right, where she was gesturing.

"I heard something moving." Her voice was barely a whisper now.

He glanced in the direction again, scanning the thicket. "Can't be Kurik," he said in a hushed tone. "He's way ahead of us."

A branch snapped in the foggy distance.

Ian's back went rigid. Putting a finger to his lips, he motioned for Lily to follow him. Keeping down, he went to a thick log on the opposite side of the trail and ducked in behind it, pulling Lily all the way down beside him, their cheeks to the wet forest bed. They looked out at the trail from a gap beneath the log.

More twigs snapped, closer now, and a creature appeared in the gloom before them, fog swirling around multiple insect-like legs. From the middle of a bulbous torso rose a head with an elongated skull. Its six eyes were ablaze like fireflies.

Ian kept a protective arm over Lily's back.

The creature moved closer to their side of the trail, flicking its eyes in the direction of their hiding place. Had it seen them? Caught their scent?

Seconds passed, an entire minute, rain dampening their backs, and the creature started off again, disappearing into the fog. They waited until the footsteps had faded to nothing and until several minutes of silence had passed after that.

"What was that?" Lily whispered, her face only inches away from his own. He fought the urge to move a strand of hair away from her cheek.

"A Leerk," he said with an exhale. "One of Morack's mindless soldiers." He stood up and Lily followed suit, brushing wet leaves and muck from her jeans. "I don't know what it's doing here though," he said in an undertone, senses on high alert. "I thought I'd captured all the creatures Auguste let through . . . unless—" His pulse quickened, sudden dread constricting his throat. "Lily, where is the key to the trunk, the one you took from Bogart's cage—do you still have it?"

"I . . . I hid it in my dresser but—" She frowned. "When I went for my car keys, the bedroom was ransacked . . . "

"Mike," they said in tandem.

"The trunk has been opened then," he said gravely, moving around the log and back onto the path. "The inner key has been missing since Auguste's death—Kurik must have taken it. We'll have to be extra cautious. There's no way of knowing how many Leerks have been released—and who knows what else."

They hurried toward Ian's tree, keeping an eye on all directions.

"I hope I never see Alvernia," Lily said in a whisper. "It sounds like a horrid place."