IX. Pursuit

Darrus felt the heat envelope him the moment he stepped from the door. He stood above Hell's most recognizable feature--the Lake of Fire. The screams of the damned wafted up to his perch, nearly a mile above the molten surface. Very few souls had been added to the Lake since the Middle Ages--there were punishments far worse to the modern soul--but in the end all of hell would be confined within the Lake. On Judgment Day, the Savior would return to Hell after being absent for so long, this time not to taunt Lucifer, but to initiate a cataclysm that would send all Hell screaming into the Lake. What happened after that wasn't in the propheciess. It was said that Lucifer knew what happened next, but he wasn't talking.

The Lake was ideal for the destruction of an unholy trinket like the bell that lie in Darrus' hand. Darrus extended his arm over the platform and dropped it, watching it until it dipped beneath the surface of the lava below. Without a word, he slipped back through the dread portal he had emerged from, coming back to Lilith's room in the brothel.

"It's done. I watched it hit the surface." he said.

"About time. Now let's find this wayward Nightmare of yours, before it retreats."

"You start at the top of the house." said Darrus. "And I'll start with the sewers beneath. The odds of it escaping before it runs into either of us are slim."

"What makes you think I'll help you?" asked Lilith. "You promised me that that bell would be gone days ago!"

Darrus hand came down on Lilith's wrist. "Because you have no choice."

Lilith sneered, but went through the door to the attic of the brothel and began her search.

"Unbelievable." said Darrus as he took the door to a hatch in the sewers. "She made me pull rank on her!"

There was a splash and a growl from a dozen feet away. Darrus saw what had caused it immediately; it was a Nightmare, but not the one he was looking for. He'd have to dispose of it. He walked calmly through the ankle-deep water, grabbed the alligator by the jaws, and tossed it up and out of the water. Rather that hitting the surface of the pipe, it disappeared as it rose, going back into the mind of whoever had spawned it.

"Sewer gators. I don't understand why everyone is so afraid of them. There's not even a suitable nesting ground for them down here." Darrus muttered, continuing down the pipe. Ten feet from where he'd disposed of the alligator, a creature the size of a large dog leapt from the shadows at him. It was covered in mangy black fur, had glowing red eyes, and trailed a hairless, whiplike tail. Darrus caught it in mid-lunge, and disposed of it the same way.

"And sewer rats can't actually get that large!" he continued.

Lilith searched through the attic. A spindly-fingered old woman blocked her way, dispatched to its creator's mind by a quick slap on the cheek. Ghosts stared at her from every shadow, dozens of red eyes hid beneath each bed. A few quick movements and they were no more. The work was annoying, if not taxing. Lilith went down to the third floor.

Given to the length of sewers and watermains in New Liberty, it took Darrus longer to reach the first floor than for Lilith to reach the second. By the time they'd converged on the ornate main stairway, both had become frustrated.

"Nothing?" asked Darrus.

"Oh, that's hardly the problem. There's plenty to talk about, but none of them were even close to your description of that thing. The only thing I found that even had a tentacle was living under one of the beds, and it had no head. I suppose you've done equally well?"

"Unfortunately." said Darrus. His hand went to his chin in thought.

"So, it looks like the damn thing was killed in the blast, just like everyone except you." said Lilith. "We've done all this for nothing!"

"Not..." said Darrus. He was grasping at threads, pulling together half-remembered details. "Not...necessarily. Give me a moment."

Lilith waited with her hands on her hips. Her fragile beauty now radiated with exasperation. "You do realize I have work of my own to be doing?" she asked after a few moments.

"Wait! I think I have it!" said Darrus, pounding a fist into his open hand. "Make sure no one leaves, especially anyone with a broad-brimmed hat!"

Darrus stormed off without another word, searching each doorway for the man he was looking for. His search came up empty.

Darrus came through the door to the main entrance.

"Did anyone in a broad-brimmed hat come through here?" he demanded of the entrance girl.

"I..." she yawned. "Don't remember."

Darrus would have coerced her in the human method, but simply didn't have time. He strode up, put her in a headlock, and pressed his hand to her forehead, ignoring her screams of protest.

"Then I'll help you remember! Now, did anyone looking like this--" Red light flickered around the edges of Darrus' hand. "--leave in the last hour?"

The girl's face was blank. "Yes." she said in a toneless voice.

"When?" Darrus pressed.

"In the last five minutes."

Darrus dropped the girl to the ground and was out the door before she hit the floor.