scampered behind it. It pounced at Lott, propelled by its powerful rear cat legs, its clawed talons skittering with a thunderous clickclick-click against the hardwood floors.
Lott lunged out of its way, barely avoiding a swipe which would have sent his entrails spilling out against the wall like a dashed pumpkin. Scrabbling against a litter of bones, he slipped on the thick paste that might have been its urine. The boys disappeared into the darkness of the stairwell. Lott dashed to the left then to the right, seeking to juke his way past it, but each move was met with the creature cutting off any path toward the stairs. It toyed with him now, its head cocked at a curious angle as if deciding whether to plunge its beak into his eye sockets or reduce him to a crimson smear with its claws.
Claws raked across his shoulders, producing scarlet stripes. Thrown off balance, he stumbled about and whirled at the sound of a terrible screech. It hurtled through the air. Lott pivoted away from the lethal talons, barely avoiding the scrape of chitin against the wood floor. Lott shouted, hoping to startle it, threw the piece of wood at it, then broke to his right in a full-out dash toward the stairwell. Hit in the face, the creature flapped its wings again, the powerful breeze knocking Lott off balance as it hooked its claws onto his face. It lifted him into the air, the susurrus of his screams seeming to please it. Opting not to crush his skull on the spot, it flung him across the room. Lott slammed against it, falling to the ground like limp meat, his fall broken only by landing in a pile of its excrement. Its horrible tail wrapped around his leg, drawing him toward it, squeezing him to the point where he could no longer feel. The rest of the creature's body turned to inspect him. It reared back, preparing to dive its beak directly into his chest.
With a snarl, Kay leapt from the shadows, landing on the creature's back. He tore into the scruff of the beast's neck, his jaws clamping down on its thick cords of muscle. The creature let loose a screech. Lott grabbed the nail-studded piece of wood and swung it into the side of the beast's head. The head jerked and it toppled though it raked a claw through the air, catching Kay in his side. He winced, his flesh opened in red gashes. Fearing the creature might renew its assault, Lott sprang between it and Kay, poised to club it again, but the creature didn't stir. Its chest rose and fell. Lott glanced at Kay then, filled with rage, turned back to the creature to smash its skull in. He stood there, rooted to the spot, its still form beneath him. Releasing the spear of wood, he scooped up Kay and climbed up into the waiting darkness of the stairs.
The shadows steepened with every step, closing in on him with a pressing closeness. It seemed to swirl and congeal, eddies of darkness, shadows within shadows.
'Percy?' Lott cried out. The darkness swallowed his words. 'Had?'
Kay, bundled in his arms, lightened. Immaterial, as if dissolving in the umbra fog. Lott's heart quickened. Every muscle in his arms and legs throbbed with ache. He mentally traced each gash as each wound throbbed. The quiet times only made him reflect on his pain.
The dark grew deeper still. Lott inched along the stairwell. Traumatized and numb. Disembodied, he was a lost soul cast adrift in an obsidian sea. Bruises of metal and insulation underneath electrical boxes and tentacles of wires tripped him as he skulked. His hand pressed against the wall, like a blind man in a labyrinth, searching for anything which allowed him to believe he was still real. Paint flaked from the walls beneath his touch. The distinct smell of cat piss filled his nostrils. Somewhere in the distance, he swore he heard someone humming 'Jesus Loves the Little Children'.
'Percy?'
'Good-working, conscientious thieves.' With the strange acoustics of the stairwell, the voice boomed from everywhere at once. 'Young and inexperienced. Wandering an unknown land, ravaged by war.'
'I don't understand.'
'You only pass if you speak true. You have three chances. Who are you?'
'Lott.'
'Liar. You have never been the man you believed yourself to be.'
'But I…' Lott began.
'What do you seek?'
'I seek the grail.'
'Liar. You seek what we all seek. Forgiveness. Redemption.'
'I…'
'Where were you when she needed you? When she needed you to be the man you claimed you were. Hoped you were. Where were you?'
'I don't know. I was lost.'
'Ask the question,' the voice commanded.
'What question?' Lott asked.
'Ask the question. The one you truly want to know the answer to.'
'Where is the grail?'
'Liar. Will you ever be forgiven? By God. By your friends. By yourself. For you… darkness.'
The night swallowed Lott.
Percy emerged onto the second floor. He leaned against the wall next to the stairwell, then slid down it until his butt hit the floor and he slumped against his knees. The darkness frightened him, the voice moreso. It troubled him, in a too-knowing sort of way, so he pushed the entire encounter out of his mind. Two bedrooms faced the front of the property and two bedrooms faced the rear, the large master suite before him. A barrel-vaulted ceiling towered above him. Had trundled out of the darkness of the stairwell, innocent eyes nonplussed, and squatted down beside Percy.
'You hear the voice?'
Had nodded.
'It scare you?'
Had shook his head.
'Really? It scared me. A little. Kind of like a storm.'
Had cocked his head as if admiring or studying the movement of Percy's mouth.
'It asked me secret things.'
Had stared at him with no recognition in his eyes.
'Think we should wait for Kay? Or Lott.'
Had peered into the darkness, then shook his head no, as if he, too, knew secret things.
'Okay.' Percy scrambled to his feet and took Had by the hand. He checked each of the two rooms overlooking the backyard. Each room was empty. He walked past the door to the master suite to the other rooms. The two facing the front were identical. Both had huge walk-in closets and bathrooms with broken toilets. Both had a bedroll in the corner. And both had clear views of the winged lion statues.
'Edward and Hugh,' Percy said. 'They look like an Edward and Hugh.'
Had smiled at him.
Percy led them back to the master suite and turned the doorknob. Across the room was another door. Between them and that door was a man seated in a wicker chair. With a thin but muscular build, his jersey showed off the measure of his tattoos. Half of his body, like a living X-ray detailing his skeleton. Though his face was too thin, his eyes, hazel and glassy, were determined. He exuded power and fierceness. The man wasn't one to cross.
'You a long way from home, hese.' Black made no effort to move, just stood there as if entranced. His eyes fixed on the large boy, perhaps assessing him, perhaps dismissing him, perhaps not really seeing him.
'Not really. I live just up the street,' Percy said. Still holding his hand, Had slipped behind him.
'You lost?' Black took their measure in a glance. If he perceived a threat, he didn't let on.
'No. Just looking for something.'
'You 'just looking for something' in my house?' Black said. 'You like Christopher Columbus and shit. 'Discovering' a land already occupied by people.'
'This is your house?' Percy gaped about in awe. 'It's nice.'
'I stay here. You got to have a place to lay your head. No one knows that really. Only the people I trust most.'
'I don't know you.'
'I know. So when you say you up in my house 'just looking for something', guess that makes you a thief. We know how to handle thieves around here.'
