That cinched it. Violet delivered as strong a kick as she could muster, driving the point of her shoe against the side of Crowley’s head. The magician rolled on his back, eyes tightly closed. He looked very old like that and Violet almost felt sorry for him.
Almost but not quite.
“I thought you were gonna kill him,” Jasper said.
Violet held up The Damned Thing, which was still covered by its sheet. “I’m not doing anything this thing tells me to.”
“Where are you going?” Eloise asked. She looked shaken and confused, continually blinking her eyes as if to ward away troublesome thoughts. Violet didn’t know why she’d attacked her but assumed that Eloise had succumbed to a desire to claim The Damned Thing again.
“I’m going to end this,” Violet said. Without another word she began walking down the hall, heading towards the basement. She’d rounded the corner and begun approaching the basement door when she heard someone clear their throat behind her. She froze, grip tightening on her pistol. She tried to remember how many bullets she had left…
“Just me, doll.” Violet relaxed only slightly. Armitage walked up beside her, a cigar dangling from between his lips. He held up one of Violet’s cigarettes. “Want one?”
“Where’d you get that?”
“Found it on the floor back there. Must have fallen while you were fighting. I watched the whole thing but stayed out of it.”
“How brave of you. You should go wait with Jasper and the others. I don’t need any help.”
“You say that now… but you don’t know. Maybe old Lucifer’s gonna jump out of that pit and try to rip you open.”
“And you’re going to help me then? Or just stand back like you did back there and see who comes out on top?”
Armitage shrugged, chewing on his cigar. “You don’t want the help, you don’t get the help. I was just trying to get this thing over with, just like you. I’m ready to go back to Atlanta and get back to the old routine. I’ve had my fill of demons, hauntings and creepy old magicians.”
In that regard, Violet believed him. She felt the same way, in fact. “Fine. Come on. But stay out of the way and don’t get any bright ideas about grabbing the statue for yourself.”
“Never even crossed my mind, doll.”
Together, they descended into the Hellmouth’s home.
Chapter XII
Violet felt her mouth go dry as she looked upon the Hellmouth. The stench from it was almost overpowering and she thought she heard something deep below slithering somewhat wet and sticky. The floor seemed to rumble at its movement. The Damned Thing had gone quiet, but she didn’t know if that was out of fear for what was to come or anticipation. She hoped that old Sinclair Watson was right and that this would end the horrible affair.
Of course, it doesn’t mean that I’m going to be safe. I haven’t looked at The Damned Thing yet but I’ve had it in my possession long enough for the curse to affect me, I’m sure of that. Violet took a deep breath and moved towards the pit.
“Wait a second, doll.” Armitage took his cigar out of his mouth and tossed it towards the Hellmouth. It vanished into the pit, dropping out of sight. “Let’s see how deep that thing is.”
They waited but never heard the sound of it hitting bottom. A few seconds after it disappeared, a plume of smoke rose up from below, bringing with it more of the foul stench. Armitage began to cough, burying his face in the sleeve of his coat.
Violet squinted through the smoke but took a few steps towards the Hellmouth. The Damned Thing no longer felt cold. In fact, it was growing increasingly warm. Not only that, but its shape seemed to be changing. It shifted in her grip, moving like a living thing. She was about to hurl it with all her might towards the pit when a tentacle emerged from the rift in the floor. It felt along the edge of the Hellmouth and then was joined by three more that looked identical to the first. The four limbs flattened their tips on the ground and pushed upwards, pulling a massive form up from below. Through the smoky haze, Violet could see that it had the basic body of a man, including its genitals. But where the arms should have been were two tentacles on each side. Its face came into view, a horrible distortion of normalcy. Its nose was elongated and twitched like an elephant’s trunk while its eyes were glittering crystals. The tentacles held it aloft for a moment before settling the flabby bulk of its body down on the floor.
Violet took an involuntary step backwards before remembering why she was there. She jumped to the side and threw the statue past the creature from the pit. The monster made no move to stop her and The Damned Thing was gone a moment later, falling into the shadowy depths of the Hellmouth. Violet thought she heard a plaintive scream that sounded like her own, echoing up from the passageway to Hell.
Armitage swore under his breath. Violet couldn’t make out what expletive he’d chosen for this moment but she was sure it was a choice one.
“Violet Cambridge,” the creature said. Strangely, its mouth did not move as it spoke but the words were not simply in her head. “You have come to our attention.”
Violet was sure that this was not a good thing. She raised her hands, keeping her gun pointed skyward. “It’s over. I came here to throw that statue into the pit and I’ve done that. I just want to turn around and leave now.”
The strange beast turned its head sideways, studying her as if she were a peculiar life form that it had never encountered before. “We would have uses for you.”
“I don’t want to know what that means. I don’t want to know who or what you are. I just want to go home.”
The creature threw back its head and laughed. The sound echoed through the basement and chilled the blood of both Violet and Armitage. Something about it seemed to particularly unnerve Armitage, who began whispering a litany of curse words and fumbling with something in his coat.
When the Hellmouth beast ceased its mocking of her, it leaned close enough for her to smell the rancid odor from its nostrils and lips. Still, the mouth did not move but the sounds were crystal clear. “The Damned Thing is the just smallest representation of me. It contains a sliver of my soul. Do you understand what that means? Your enemy, Crowley, he sought to release the demon within. I tell you that I am that demon. I am The Damned Thing. I stand before you as a pale shadow of my former power. Long ago, a group of men and women trapped me on this plane of existence. They carved my soul into pieces and hid them in those accursed statues. Every time one is opened via the rituals, my power grows and I come closer to being able to leave this world.”
Violet’s eyes widened. “So there are more of those statues?”
“There are nine more. Two have been opened and you have just tossed one into the pit. I will reclaim it and open it myself. But I am limited in how far I can travel. I can influence mortals through the statues but I cannot travel far from the Hellmouths. I need human agents to find them.”
“So it was your voice that I was hearing all along, mimicking my own.” This realization made Violet all the more afraid. That meant that The Damned Thing — the real one, the one standing in front of her now — had been watching her all this time. “And what does all that have to do with me?” she asked, though she was afraid she knew the answer.
“You have shown yourself to be a human of rare perseverance. I can promise you many things in exchange for you being my agent in this mission. Locate the other statues and either return them to me or open them yourself. I can teach you how. Just tell me what you would like as your reward… eternal life; immunity from the ravages of aging; the power over the minds of others; incredible wealth. The possibilities are endless and all are within my grasp to offer!”