37 The Hunt

Darkness began to creep into the University as the sun set, inviting a chill into the already cool air. The eerie feeling was overwhelming. It was distracting. I hadn't felt right since I lost Oshun. How did anyone get her to leave the hospital with them? Oshun was not the type to just leave with some stranger after all that had happened to her. She would wait for me. What did they do to her? Nothing made sense.

I arrived at the building Penny was murdered in, which seemed untouched as it always did. It just sat there all these years, almost like an evil relic displaying the darkness of the history in this place. It was so weird how everyone just went about their normal lives in a place that was swarming with death and mystery. It's amazing the things you begin to pay attention to when your world begins to fall apart.

I never thought about Penny or the Ancestors or anything other than living a normal life before I met Oshun. I was just like everyone else. Nothing really mattered if we didn't see it or experience it for ourselves. I guess things must change at some point. Nothing is designed to stay the same forever. This is definitely not the change I wanted in my life.

I reached in my pocket to feel for a small flip knife I shoved in before I left home. I had to have some kind of defense against whatever I would meet up with. It wasn't much but at least I wasn't empty handed. I walked up to the front doors leading to the abandoned building and pulled the handle. The heavy door opened immediately with a loud creak. If I was trying to sneak up on anyone I sure as hell wasn't doing a good job at being inconspicuous or quiet.

My hair stood up on the back of my neck and I realized my breathing was shallow. Get it together, Keno. I couldn't let this place get to me. I had to focus. I stepped slowly through the doorway, into the long, dark hallway. Something about this place was different. I couldn't figure out the feeling I was experiencing, but it didn't matter. I had to keep going.

The halls went on forever. Every door I passed was locked and dark. The smell in the whole place was nauseating. It was the stench of death and wet dog. This was just what I needed. This dreadful smell along with the crazy shit that was going on was more than enough to call it quits. If I wasn't trying to save Oshun, I would be done. I almost threw up in my mouth twice. I did not sign up for this fuckery.

A familiar voice was faint in my ears, suddenly. "Help me." Was I hallucinating? Was that Oshun? It sounded like her. I sped up my pace and tried to walk in the direction of the whispers. "Please help me." The delicate voice continued. It was difficult to determine which way I needed to go based on the quietness of the sound. Door after door I kept checking. Door after door was locked. I kept hearing the whispers. It wasn't getting louder or softer. What was going on? I kept going, trying to listen as hard as I could. Frustration began building inside me. This was taking too long. Where is she?

I decided to go up another floor which looked the same as the first floor when I arrived at the top of the stairs. The stench was stronger on this floor. I pulled my shirt over my nose and mouth to mask the scent as I continued looking for where the sound was coming from. The doorknob turned and a door finally opened, revealing a room that was completely dark just like all the other rooms. The smell was stronger than ever in here. I turned on the flashlight from my cellphone to cast some form of light in the creepy, dark room.

The room looked like a hurricane had passed through it. There were chairs thrown around that had broken from the impact of hitting the walls or falling on the floor. The chair that belonged to the former teacher of the class was ripped with the filling falling out all over the floor. The desk was flipped over with some of the drawers ejected out of it from impact. It looked like there was some kind of struggle or fight that happened in the room.

There were small droplets of a red substance that began a trail from the side of the desk that continued towards the left of the room. I followed the droplets as they began to look smeared. Was this blood? There was more of the red substance with each step in that direction that lead into a large pool of dark blood which filled the corner of the room.

My heart jumped into my stomach at the sight of shoes, attached to a human body. I trailed my light up the body to reveal a slumped over Professor Anelo. The phone slipped out of my hand as I tripped backwards over some broken rubble. I jumped up to all fours and frantically felt for my phone which was nearly impossible to find with the light facing towards the floor. "Come on! Where the hell is it?"

Finally, I was able to feel my phone and I quickly grabbed it, shining the bright light back in the direction of the professor. The professors face and chest were mauled as though a large animal attacked him. Why did I get the feeling that the perpetrator could be the Wendigo? Most of Professor Anelo's blood seemed to have emptied out of his body. His skin was pale as though he had been slumped over in the corner of the empty room for days.

Professor Anelo was Oshun's professor. What in the fuck was going on! Who would do something like this? The Professor was a good man. He didn't deserve this. Who would want everyone in Oshun's life gone? I have to get out of here fast. Who knows if whatever did this to the professor was coming back. I needed to find Oshun and get out now!