As Vora and her escort walked through the city, they experienced some great people-watching. Vora would grab Klev and point whenever she found people amusing. One of them was a Chime who set out a tray of food for stray cats behind a cigar shop. Another was a middle-aged man frantically looking at his pocket watch and appearing very bitter.

“Have you ever watched ‘The Lone Witch’ before?” Vora jumped on a short wall.

“Sorry, I haven’t. Is it good?”

“I rather liked it. I could relate to the witch. She’s pretty, and she has secret powers. She suffers greatly in the moving picture. Shunned from those around her, and her powers are dark and cruel.”

“Kind of scary. I probably won’t see it then.”

“Aww. Come on. Baby.”

“I-I’m not.”

The pair approached a renowned, shady spot: an old, abandoned flour mill. Vora turned to Klev and replied, “Let’s prove it then. This factory is a shortcut. But it’s dark and spooky. Care to join me through it?”

“N-no way. I heard there is a hive of Soot in there. It’s far too dangerous for us.”

The Soot were horrendous creatures oozing foulness, said to be what sinners turn into after death. They were like feral animals. They had ivory skin and ebony features, just like Chimes, but that was where the similarities ended. They were grotesque in shape, had gray blood, and dark-silver eyes. Each was unique in their skills. Some could regenerate, create fire, increase their size, etc...

“Soot? You don’t have to be afraid of Soot, Klev. I have one that lives around my house who’s nice. He even wears clothing sometimes.”

“I-I think it’s best to go around,” he replied nervously.

Vora pondered for a moment, then said with an evil smirk. “If you do it, I’ll wet your cheek.”

“Wha-Why would I want that? Hey. No. Wait,” Klev pleaded with his hand outstretched. Vora had already entered the mill with a spring in her step. He followed in a more reluctant fashion.

The large, abandoned flour mill had three floors, several machines with peeling white paint, metal tubes spread everywhere, and old piles of flour on the ground. They were like dunes in a desert.

“Echo!” Vora screamed. She never got a response back from her ethereal self.

“Please, don’t do that,” Klev begged. “This is a building of nightmares. Let’s go quickly.” With a focus on the exit, he snatched Vora’s hand and dragged her along. For once, he made Vora blush rather than the other way around, but he missed her reddened cheeks due to the darkness.

The two were startled by a clank of metal pipes. A pair of silver eyes poked around the shadows, moving quickly. Then it noticed the two and came closer.

“We have to run now, Klev whispered.

The Soot crawled into the light. His body was like a boy’s, with thin limbs, big hands and feet. He was walleyed, had nostrils without a nose, and had a wide mouth with upward snaggleteeth and drool. He had dirty brown hair on his head.

“Puggly!” Vora screeched, then covered her mouth. “This is the Soot I was talking about. He’s harmless unless you’re made out of rotting fruit.”

Puggly responded by breathing heavily, his black nostrils expanding and shrinking. “Mmmmaaa,” he groaned with a high pitch.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Now that Klev examined the Soot, it did resemble a pug. “Are you sure he’s safe?”

“He’s fine. Even better than that, he hates other Soot, so him being here means there’s a good chance there are no others.”

Puggly’s eyes widened. He vacated, crawling up the wall like a tree frog, and entered a vent. Vora snapped her finger when Klev froze from the Soot’s sudden movement. She motioned her head, and they proceeded through the mill.

The pair found their way to a shipping area. There were large doors that allowed HCs to enter and pick up thousands of pounds of flour. The doors were shut and anchored at the bottoms with rusted locks, but a regular door was next to them. They could have vacated the mill, but between them and the exit was a fat Soot.

“Grrraga…”

The Soot had the shape of an incredibly obese man but without a head, an extra arm on one side, a large mouth on his stomach with flat teeth, and a scaled tongue. The Soot was bloated and drooling.

“Should be fine to just walk right by it. Just treat it like any other animal, Klev.” But Klev didn’t move. “Let’s go. Just don’t look at it.”

“I can’t.”

“The exits right there.”

“I can’t, Vora! I can’t do it. I’m scared.”

The fat Soot looked to Klev, then turned toward Vora. It shot out its fat tongue like a chameleon and snatched her up. She squealed and beat her fist against her binding.

The Soot would eat Vora, and Klev needed to do something rather than stand there. Against his gut judgment, he grabbed a pipe that was rusted and sharp on one end and threw it like a javelin. It pierced the Soot’s eye, and he dropped Vora.

“Nice shot.” Vora stood. “Can we leave now?”

“There’s more.” Klev pointed toward their exit that another Soot shaped like a praying mantis in front of. Its blades were ebony, and its head quickly swiveled sporadically.

Vora rejoined Klev and pulled him up a stairway. “There will be a fire escape or emergency door on the higher floors.”

The two had to guard themselves as a bat-like Soot swooped at them with hawk talons. After it missed, Vora glanced downward at the fat one to see it removing the pipe and regenerating.

“The fat one can heal.”

“Yeah, very impressive,” Klev replied with a panicked, sarcastic, high-pitched voice.

Vora tugged them into an old office, nearly avoiding the bat again. She slammed the door, and they collapsed with their backs against the wall. They were panting heavily.

“We can get out of this, but you must calm down,” Vora told Klev. She peered out the window, then ducked her head. “It’s best we sneak out.”

Klev wasn’t listening. He was covering his head, completely pale. That’s when Vora knew she’d made a mistake. They shouldn’t have come in here; they Should have kept walking.

Then Vora had an idea; she had a deep instinct. Perhaps if she could make those pain crystals, she could use them as some type of weapon. But she had to inflict pain on someone, and it certainly wouldn’t be Klev, never. There was no chance of doing it on a Soot, either, less she got her head cut off.

The purple-haired girl, in a now-torn dress, darted around. She opened and closed the drawers of the decrepit desk entombed in this lost office.

Klev, who was sitting fetal, raised his chin from his knees. “What are you looking for?”

“Something sharp… I need—Excellent!”

Klev watched with a stunned gasp after Vora jabbed a sharp letter opener right into her upper thigh. She shrieked so loud he had to cover his ears. After the blood-jolting scream was a thing of beauty: butterflies. A swarm of butterflies with crystal wings of varied colors emerged from Vora, fluttering around her.

“Where did they come from?” Klev stood and reached out for one. After barely grazing it, he recoiled, and tears filled his eyes. “It burns really bad. Vora, don’t touch—”

Vora held out her finger, and a butterfly landed on the tip without consequence. A stream was pouring from Vora’s widened left eye. “This is my fault. I’ll get us out with this horrible gift I have. I absorb pain and turn it into some magic crystals—I’m not sure how it works, to be honest. I can use it to get us out.”

Vora exited the office, and Klev indeed followed. The bat Soot screamed like a woman being murdered and swooped at the young teens. Vora threw out her arm, and one of the butterflies intercepted the Soot, slicing through its body like a razor. She and Klev moved out of the way as the Soot crashed to the floor.

Where the butterfly penetrated was cracking like it were glass. But the flesh was still that, flesh. Breaking flesh was unbearably painful. The bat Soot stood and swiped at the pair, knocking them against some equipment and containers. They banged and crashed and whimpered. All of Vora’s butterflies faded into empty air.

“I can’t control it at all,” Vora explained when Klev helped her to her feet. “It’s just going back into my body.”

Klev grabbed a fire axe that had been freed from a busted emergency box on the wall. I’m going to do something. I can now. I’m not helpless anymore. I will save us, Mom.