Dead End: Midnight Hollow by Penn Cassidy (free novel 24 TXT) 📗

There was a low, flickering light down there, and I knew I had to go that way, even though my brain told me not to. A cold draft swept up from below, leaving behind what sounded like a long drawn out howl.

“I’m just going to wait right here. Good luck and don’t get killed.” Maddie pushed on my back with a small pat and gave me a thumbs up when I turned to look back at her like she was crazy, then I stepped past the threshold.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence. If I don’t come back in thirty minutes, send backup.” I swallowed thickly and offered a small grin just before blending in with the dark.

I moved along the stone steps carefully, my hand skimming the wall to help me balance in the darkness, and ignored how wet the walls were under my palm and the smell of mildew heavy in the thick air. I kept my eyes on that small spot of light up ahead, watching it grow bigger and bigger the closer I got.

My hand was trembling with nerves by the time I got to the bottom of the stairs, having to duck down under low ceilings, and finally saw that the light was a torch with a handle attached to the stone wall. I grabbed the torch off the wall and bumped the ceiling with my head as a noise startled me, the sound of humming emanating from the tunnel straight ahead, with more flickering flames in the distance.

“You are a motherfucking badass, October. Stop being a chicken butt and follow the creepy noise to your destiny…” I muttered in a half-assed attempt to boost my confidence and nodded in complete agreement with myself.

With a deep breath, I hunched over and most likely headed straight into my own demise, because who in their right mind would traipse into a cult meeting at midnight in a freaking underground tunnel? I swore it was like being in a mummy movie—every noise startled me, and the lights played tricks on my eyes. The flickering flame made it look like shadows were moving in creepy swirls. The noise grew louder the closer I came to the end of the tunnel, and it sounded like multiple humming voices in tune with each other.

“She’s here, she’s here. The legacy has arrived,” a lone voice whispered as I stepped into the light. “Join us, October Grimm.” I stepped into the opening of a circular room.

Grimm. My dad’s real last name… A legacy.

The ceiling was shaped like a dome made of bricks that were covered in moss from aging and crumbling through the years. Columns ran in a circle around the room, each supporting flickering torches and casting a spooky orange glow on the eight figures standing in a circle with hoods drawn over their faces.

“Elite, elite, elite,” they were chanting in low, humming voices that echoed, bouncing off the walls, until it seemed like hundreds of people were talking at once.

Then suddenly, they stopped. The abrupt silence was deafening as their hooded faces turned to face me in sync. I couldn’t stop shuffling on my feet, feeling the pressure of their heavy gazes. I could feel them judging me.

“Um, hey. Hi. What’s up?” I cleared my throat with a nervous chuckle and decided it was a tough crowd when no one said anything. I straightened my legs awkwardly.

Shit…did I just curtsy? Oh god, I totally did.

“You’ve been chosen to join the Society. Since the beginning, we have built and structured this university. Carried it on our very backs, on our legacies. We are the creatures born with great power and unbroken bloodlines. Welcome, necromancer.” A hooded figure stepped forward with his arms wide open, laughing lightly as he spun in a slow circle until he was facing me again.

No fucking way…

“Cal?” I asked in disbelief, and his answering chuckle let me know it was in fact that little liar under the heavy cloak. “Why didn’t you just tell me?!” I punched him in the shoulder. “God, I feel like an idiot!”

“That's enough of that! We didn’t come here to make friends!” an all too familiar voice said with a sneer. She stepped out of the circle and closer to me, a-cat-that-ate-the-canary grin spreading across her red, painted lips that I could just barely make out under the hood.

“Seriously, Payton? I can’t say I’m surprised, actually. Were your parents super powerful clowns or something? Did they tell extra funny jokes?” I was pushing it, but she was a huge bitch and needed to be put in her place.

“Aren’t your parents rotting underground?”

I stilled, hands curling into my palms painfully. I suddenly pictured a million ways I could kill this bitch and hide the body. She swirled her sickening green hair around her finger, playing the same game as I was, and I really wanted to punch her in the boob until she looked like a crying clown instead.

“Shut the fuck up, Payton. She belongs here just as much as we do and you know it, so pull that red booted foot out of your bony ass,” Cal said with a dark glare at Payton.

I raised a brow. There was a different side of the mayor’s son that I didn't think he showed very often. Something dark and a little dangerous. I’d have to warn Mads about that side of him, but I was pretty sure she’d only clamour to get his attention even more.

“As if, Cal. She doesn’t belong here! She didn’t work her whole damn life to join the Society. It was just handed to her because her parents were legacy. She’s a stupid fucking mortal!” Payton fumed, her breathing growing erratic as she pointed a gloved finger in my face.

“Hey! Said ex-mortal is standing right in front of you! You got something to say, say it to my face, you coward!” I made a bring it on motion with both hands.

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