The Satchmo P.I. - Living Amongst Monsters - Chapter 24

therneau (58)in #story • 7 years ago (edited)

Chapter 24: On the verge

Stella barely managed to get the pallet propped up against the side of the pipe. The Faceless Man's men were closing in rapidly and as she climbed up she managed to reach the small ladder heading up into the smaller pipe.

When she reached the top of the ladder she tried to push up against the manhole cover. Pain shot through her ribcage and she had to bite against her lip to stop herself from screaming out in pain. As she was just about to try again she heard their footsteps closing in. They were now only a few paces away.

Stella wanted to cry out, the terror and fear gripping deep into her soul. “They’ll find me” she thought. Stella drew as deep a breath as she could and tried to remain as still as possible. Her legs and arms were shaking though, both from the pain she felt all over and the pure exhaustion.

Then she saw the first body passing by, quickly, then another and another. Stella couldn’t hold her breath anymore. She let the air out of her lungs, looked up at the cover and tried with what little strength she had left to push it out of the way again, yet it hardly moved.

“Help!” Stella yelled out in her mind. “Please help me!”

She tried to push against the cover one last time and could feel herself busy fading away, absolutely no more strength left to fight.

As Stella pushed she suddenly felt the cover move out of the way, as if it had been ripped from above. Stella was dazed and confused as she felt the sunlight fall on her skin. Then she felt someone grabbing her under her arms and pulling her up.

All the different pains went shooting throughout her body and Stella groaned slightly as she was being lifted out and away from the darkness. She vaguely heard a man talking to her and somehow knew that she would be safe now.

Stella looked up at Cameron and all she could say was “They’re coming.”

All the while The Faceless Man had been watching them through Cameron’s eyes. Smiling inside he thought “My troops are on their way.” He’d already commanded those down below and had Captain Moss and some officers on route to their location.

The Faceless Man kept watching as Cameron gently carried Stella. He moved a few paces away from the manhole and gently lay her down on a thick patch of grass.

“Just hold on a little longer” Cameron whispered to her, tears running down his cheeks.

With that he turned his attention towards the manhole where he knew the men would soon emerge. He could now sense that The Faceless Man had been watching through his eyes. Cameron gave off a wry smile and decided not to block him from his mind, yet.

“One day, soon, I will come for you” whispered Cameron. “Right now, I’ll make you watch as I destroy what you have created.”

Not a minute later, the first man appeared. He leaped clean out of the manhole and landed square on his feet, staring straight at Cameron. Then, two more appeared, quickly climbing out and moving to the sides of the other. One let off a shrill scream which immediately caused Stella to cover her ears, weak as she was. Cameron just gave him a slight glance and exploded towards the three men, ready to destroy anything that gets in the way of him getting Stella to safety.

Image source: https://pixabay.com/en/man-woman-composing-dispute-2933991/