A Myth to the Night

  Chapter 21: The Shadow of Fear

  I dropped my scythe and ran downstairs. When I rejoined the Toussaint soiree in the foyer, the festive mood had vanished. All was replaced by confusion and disorder. The party music had halted, and a droning buzz echoed around the room as students tried to figure out what had just happened. Many of them huddled around a girl who had taken off her mask. She waved it frantically while continuously crying out, “The Demon of Stauros is killing my boyfriend! Help! Help!”

  To my bewilderment, many of the students seemed not to be taking her seriously. I weaved in and around the dense crowd, making my way over to her. She kept shouting, yet, instead of going to her aid, some of the students only snickered. I heard a few even mocking her.

  “Wouldn’t surprise me if she was high. Her boyfriend probably is, too.”

  “Probably playing a joke.”

  “Yeah, her boyfriend pulled the fire alarm during our midterms to get out of them. She was in on it, too.”

  The rest of the students in the room continued to look at one another, confused about what to do. They looked as if they weren’t sure if they should stay. Was the party over?

  I walked toward her. As I squeezed through the last circle of students that had crowded around her, familiar faces caught my eye. To my surprise, the students were standing shoulder to shoulder with phantoms, who blended in seamlessly with the rest of the crowd.

  “Somebody, anybody, help him . . . please!” She broke down in sobs. Two figures rushed toward her—Ahura Mazda and Sun Wukong. I followed them immediately.

  “Did she say which room he’s in?” I asked. “There are dozens of rooms upstairs.”

  “We’re trying to get through to her,” Sun Wukong said. “But she’s completely lost her head.”

  “Her mind’s unclear, clouded with shock,” said Ahura Mazda, patting the girl’s head. She continued to weep, seemingly unaware that we were next to her.

  “It’s-it’s t-the Demon of Stauros,” she hiccuped. She spoke to no one in particular. “I know it! He’s forcing him to run into the wall and thrash against the floor. . . .”

  She sucked in a huge amount of air and suddenly sank to her knees as her eyes rolled back in her head. The old man and the giant monkey caught her before her head hit the ground. I didn’t move. I was still digesting what she had just said.

  What would force her boyfriend to run into the wall and thrash on the floor? There was only one person I had seen being coerced into those actions—the insane man in the video Max had shown us when the four of them had moved into the cellar.

  “She’s fainted,” declared Sun Wukong, fanning her face with a giant furry hand.

  “Move back!” I shouted at the crowd as they inched forward. “Move back and give her some air. Call the infirmary! Call for security guards!”

  “Take her outside—the fresh air will do her some good,” said Demeter.

  Ravana stepped forward, discreetly cloaked in a hooded cape that covered all his heads except one. He moved behind Sun Wukong and lifted the girl. He cradled her in his arms cautiously, careful not to expose the fact that he was using five pairs of arms. I was about to reach over and help them carry her, when I heard a shout in the crowd.

  “Hugh!” I looked in the direction of the shout and saw Drev coming toward me. Pamina was by his side.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, looking at the girl being carried away by the phantoms.

  “She’ll be fine, but someone needs to go upstairs,” I said. “There seems to be a rather distressing problem. . . .”

  I stopped as I saw J.P. and Irving move up beside Drev.

  “Finally, some action at this sad excuse for a party,” said J.P.

  “What happened upstairs?” asked Irving.

  “It seems that her boyfriend is in trouble,” I began, pointing to the girl being carried out of the foyer.

  “Her boyfriend? Tyler?” asked Irving. His tone had risen, and he frowned.

  “Tyler has a girlfriend?” I couldn’t imagine that the thug who had attacked Irving and his friends earlier in the cemetery had the gentility and charm to attract a girl. But then, I also would never have imagined that someone like Drev could win over a girl.

  “Yeah, weird, right?” snorted J.P., as though reading my thoughts. “She’s a pothead like he is. A match made in heaven.”

  “Has anyone gone upstairs yet?” asked Drev.

  “No,” I said, looking at the students who continued to linger in the foyer. Now that the girl was gone, they continued on as though the incident wasn’t a big deal.

  Drev looked at both of his roommates. “Then we should go and check it out.”

  Irving silently took a step away when he heard the suggestion.

  “No way,” said J.P. “Are you kidding me? You weren’t there in the cemetery! That guy deserves to get beaten up by whoever. Plus, Tyler’s girl probably freaked out because Tyler OD’d or had a spaz attack while shooting up. C’mon, we all know he’s the one to go to if you want drugs or need someone to get stoned with. I’ve seen him high more times than I’ve seen him sober. Let the trustees or the chancellor deal with the mess upstairs.”

  “What mess?”

  I turned when I heard Max’s voice. He was holding someone’s hand in his. I was curious to see who his new sweetheart was. She was hiding behind him as though afraid to show herself. I took a step to the side to take a quick peek at her face. I frowned when I saw Siren. What was she thinking? Surely she understood she couldn’t see him again after tonight, unless she was planning on telling him that she was a phantom.

  She bunched up her upper lip and bared her teeth at me like an angry cat. I twisted my mouth and nose in disgust. I was about to pull her aside and confront her, when Drev spoke.

  “Drugged out or not, I’m going upstairs to check it out,” he said.

  “No!” said Pamina. Her eyes were filled with fright. “Don’t.”

  “It’ll be really quick. Wait for me down here,” he said, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead.

  “Don’t go alone,” said Pamina. She looked over at J.P., Max, and Irving with pleading eyes. I saw Irving shift uncomfortably. Max and J.P. turned their faces away. Finally, Irving surrendered.

  “Don’t worry, Pamina. We’ll go with Drev,” he mumbled.

  “Sure, why not?” J.P. conceded reluctantly.

  “We?” Max asked, turning to Irving and J.P.

  “Better hurry it up,” I said, turning my attention away from Siren. “There are over two dozen rooms upstairs, and we don’t know which one he’s in.”

  “Then we’ll have to split up,” said Drev. He looked at the four stairways, each leading up to the second floor. Two of them were on the opposite wall from where he was standing, and two were behind him. The others followed his gaze.

  “If you find him,” said Drev, “just call for help and the rest of us will get there.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” said J.P.

  Irving nodded.

  Max let out a long sigh and turned to face Siren. “Hey, cutie, I’ll be right back. It’s . . . it’s just that these guys want to check out what’s up there and—”

  She pressed her finger to his lips to hush him. She then pulled away and planted a kiss where her finger had been. I shook my head.

  “Um,” said Max, blushing fiercely, “P-P-Pamina will be here. She’s nice, and you can talk to her while I—”

  “We’ve met before, Max,” said Siren, giving Pamina a wink. Pamina smiled back at her.

  “You guys have a class together?” he asked.

  Siren nodded. “Something like that.”

  I was irritated that Siren was pulling Max along like a lovesick puppy on a leash. I would have a word with her, but it would have to wait.

  “All right, let’s go find him—and find him fast,” said Drev. They all nodded to each other and then dispersed to each of the four stairways. I turned to head outside and check up on Tyler’s girlfriend, when I fe
lt someone grab my arm.

  “Hugh,” said Pamina. She was shaking, and her voice trembled. “Please stick with Drev.”

  “Pamina, he’ll be fine.” I took her hand in mine and gave it a squeeze.

  Pamina leaned into me, as though afraid others would hear her words. “It could be the Shadow of Fear.”

  I was stunned. The idea hadn’t crossed my mind, but I didn’t doubt Pamina for a second. She knew what she was talking about. After all, she’d encountered the Shadow of Fear firsthand. She knew how it took possession of people.

  “Stay with him, please,” she repeated. “I have a feeling if he sees it, he won’t call for help. He’ll try to fight it on his own.”

  I gave a halfhearted nod. If this was the Shadow of Fear, what could any of us do? We were powerless. Would we just watch this kid die as he thrashed around the room? What if the Shadow of Fear attacked one of them? I inhaled slowly, heaving my chest upward and outward.

  I moved through the crowd, toward the stairway at the corner of the foyer, the same one that I had seen Drev ascend. The staircase was opposite from the one I had descended after my encounter with Parafron. Parafron! Where was he now?

  I had forgotten about him and was now worried about what the lunatic might be up to. He had been angry that Pamina was back, but I now believed that anger was directed at me. All the better.

  As I climbed the stairs, I heard dance music start up again. I took one last glance at the foyer. Everyone had gone back to enjoying the party as though nothing had happened. I was about to turn away, when from the corner of my eye I saw a white-cloaked figure with wings attached to its back. He was different from all the rest—the only one dressed all in white.

  I stopped and squinted to see who it was. The figure stood close to the wall, away from everyone, observing the crowd. The shadows of the gargoyles mounted on the walls obscured him. When I got to the top of the stairs and had a bird’s-eye view, I saw it was Parafron! He was disguised as an angel. The irony!

  I kept my eyes glued to him as he began moving from the periphery toward the center of the room. I waited to see where that madman was headed, but two students dressed in black robes blindsided me. They came screaming at me as they ran from the hallway toward the stairs.

  “IT’S THE DEMON! GET OUT OF HERE!” they yelled, waving their arms frantically. They raced down the stairs as though the devil himself were chasing after them. A murmur swept through the crowd. The two kept hollering as they ran through the foyer and out of the building.

  I looked down the barely lit hall from where they had come. I caught a brief glimpse of an outline of Drev as he disappeared into the shadows. I quickened my pace. As the light from the foyer lessened and the hallway became darker, I slowed. A loud thud echoed. It sounded like a table crashing to the floor. An agonizing wail followed. And a stench pervaded my nostrils—the same nauseating odor that I had encountered while sitting on the rooftop with Pamina that afternoon.

  I continued into the darkness and soon found myself floundering, without any sense of direction. Several moments would have to pass before I realized that there was a door at the far end of that dark abyss. A faint light seeped out from under the bottom. The light was a weak crimson-orange glow that barely allowed me to see where I needed to go. The stink, no doubt, accompanied the light through that narrow gap.

  I heard another loud clatter, followed by a moan. I continued toward the noise.

  Drev’s voice ripped through the air.

  “Let him go!”

  He was behind that door, in that room, and he was not alone. I picked up my pace, running toward Drev.