Gomez'

us sweat seepe

bedded right in the center was a jag

base of the spike w

hed the spike, instant

icky. It wasn't old tree sap;

g jolt, I reali

explanation. Maybe they put the s

silhouette had been clearly visible for a split seco

d it jus

me, its wooden beams creaking under the weight of time. Cobw

mbling old buildi

slithered d

ajar, revealing a sliver of total darkness behind it. My eyes were drawn

houette slowly peeked out from behind the crack of

lump forming

tal and crashing hard onto the dust-covere

n, completely par

flitted across the gap in

ked away. A second later, the sliver of moonlig

pitch-black darkness. It felt like a m

upted in

mbling blindly in the direc

ood. I shoved against it with ev

llably, but I clamped both hands

r help, but an icy, primal instinct told me I couldn't. Whate

all fours toward the incense alta

cally and wedged m

ng. I buried my face between my knees, praying to a g

stling sound. Like something bei

g closer. Slo

lize it. A stray dog? A rat? But th

d. Two skeletal hands

-across the stone tiles. It was the exact same silk

in a shar

n't a

ather, whatever

lization clamped

thing crawling on the

she dead? Wasn