Tower Race

Old old old... I think it's still good, but I haven't read it.  Posting it here to prevent it from being lost.  It's part of "Circle of One" in which Benjamin is a priest from long long ago fused to a demon.  Here, our Heroine has learned some secrets and realizes she is in immediate danger.  She has been marked as a target for a few nasty demon assassins.

Her hand was burning as she threw open the front doors of Sidhe Towers.

The shadows skittered across the alley on the far side of the street.

Closing the doors, she could see the eyes of three seekers, fixed directly on her now.

She muttered the words and pulled a burin from her boot.

The hooded figures walked slowly, but with purpose towards the citadel.

Sam etched into the glass of the doorway an inscription surrounding an inverted triangle. "You have no passage."

The figures, bone white humans, walked directly up to the door, fixated on the sigil, contemplating it. One of the creatures slapped a hand against the metal frame, shrieking like an angry cat.

Sam stepped backwards, flailing her hand behind her, finally catching the elevator buttons. Her chest was hurting from the adrenaline. The machinery of the elevator engaged, and the whirring sounds competed with the whispers of the three gaunt creatures outside.

The wraiths stopped whispering and, in perfect unison, gazed at the ward on the glass, and then turned, peering through the glass, attempting a glimpse of their quarry.

With a resounding ding, Sam exhaled, and one of the tower elevators slid open. Sam stepped backwards into the elevator, resting against the rear of the car. The door did not close. “Shit.” Sam whispered to herself as she reached forward to stab a random floor.

"Like unto sheep."

Scarecrow man stepped into the open door, and Sam recoiled. His gauze covered hands prevented the doors from closing. Straw fell from the gaps in his bandages.

"Only a second, and your stars will fall."

Scarecrow turned slightly, and made a gesture at the front entrance. The doors begain to discolor as a green taint mottled the glass.

"No!" Sam screamed, pressing her fingers into the golem’s chest. The air shook as concussive wave blew her and scarecrow apart from one another. The doors slid shut and the elevator car rose.

She made it only to the tenth floor when the car jerked and lurched. The lights flickered. She wasted no time, and pulled open the elevator doors. She was caught between floors, but she quickly scrambled to the upper floor, ran out of the foyer. A green taint was overtaking the car behind her and she could see the car plunge downwards. She found the stairwell access and through herself through the doors, adrenaline driving her feet up the stairs. Children could be heard crying from the walls and she knew the dread creatures would be on top of her at any moment.

Six flights later, she could hear a door slam open far below, with a whispering cadence and occasional giggles accompanying the creatures.

The door here was locked. Wasting no time, Sam pulled a 9mm and unloaded into the door. Throwing her body against the door once, and then twice, it gave and she fell to floor releasing the clip from her gun and reloading. Producing a second handgun, she rolled onto her back just in time to see a white seeker leap above her. Unloading with all the speed she could muster, she riddled the creature with gunfire. It lost its balance and continued its uncontrolled dive over her crashing hard into the floor. With a kick, she pushed the stairway door shut, slamming it hard on a hand grasping the frame. She sent a flurry of bullets at the hand, which quickly retracted, allowing the door to close. She rolled back on her feet and began to run down the hall just as a hand from the crumpled wraith reached out, grabbing her leg.

Sam hissed an incantation against the creature and it howled as its hand burst into flame.

She yanked her leg free and continued running. One creature had reopened the door, letting out a fierce howl, while his counterpart began shaking and contorting. Finally, the prone beast tore the skin from his face, letting its true form show through. Unencumbered by its mortal flesh, It lept to its feet with an animal’s ferocity and galloped down the corridor after Sam. It was fast and driven, its wings spreading across the hall as it clawed its way along the roof of the hallway, bent on reaching Sam and tearing out her throat.

Sam took a sharp corner, and the beast, unable to adjust, overshot her. "No passage," Sam yelled as she produced a ceremonial dagger and shoved it sharply into the stucco of the hallway. She reached the central area of the floor and caught two elevators open and waiting. Behind her she could here a low voice, “We will burn this swollen Earth, starting with you." Scarecrow man was close. Thinking quickly, she cut her hand spilling blood which she flung into the elevator car, and pressed the button sending it to the lobby while taking the second elevator herself to the 32th floor.

On the way up, she removed her jacket. "Benjamin, I need you. Help me." Tearing out some of the lining, she fashioned a bandage which she wrapped tightly around her bleeding hand. None of it could touch the ground, or the seekers would see her immediately. It would be only moments before her ruse was discovered. The kreening and screaming far in the distance corroborated this.

When the door again opened, she was in her office suite. No sooner had she stepped out of the compartment than the lights went off. Emergency lighting was on instantly, and provided the meager illumination. But the power had been cut, so her passkey would not work, she would not be able to get into her office.

Suddenly a wind, unexpected, blew across her face and children could be heard hushing in unison.

One of the seekers had foreseen her move, and was in the dark, waiting for her. She could see the shadow play across the wall as the thing moved in, but she had no hope of seeing the creature itself. It's breathing seemed familiar.

"Benjamin?"

The creature stood upright in front of her. "No." It sighed happily and pressed its claws against her forehead, preparing to rake.

With a shriek, she fell backwards, slipping a dagger in between its ribs. It howled and reached towards its side. She muttered a quick incantation and the dagger burst into a jet of blue fire, and consumed the flesh of the creature. Without its mortal cage, it would be fierce, but also susceptible to the spells. As it giggled, screamed, and lumbered at her, she ejected an awkward syllable while striking the beast with her fist, sending the creature reeling. She wasted no time counterattacking the beast with a raking motion of her own, and with another incantation and a thrust of her palm, fired the creature through the suite and through the outer window, into the night air.

Retreating into the stairwell for a second time, she made her way up to the roof. She ran across the gravelly surface towards the edge, stopping short and flailing her arms. She stared thirty-three stories straight down to the streets below. Where was he? Sam’s hope sank. “Benjamin, where are you?” Her throat was ragged from the workout, and she seemed unable to throw off her scent. Scarecrow man was with them, and she was unable to get the devices from her office. She turned towards the door she emerged from and caught herself in a half sob. She looked around for possible rigging. Anything.

But there was nothing. She could hear the voices of children. Countless children whispering “hush.” She had read about this moment, about the children. Her hope was depleted.

Sam produced from her satchel a small vial. “Fuck these demons.” If she broke the glass against her skin, she would be doused, and would be a living bomb. Any seeker that touched her would trigger the reaction, and the entire roof would be obliterated.

As she eyed the vial, the door swung open. There stood three seekers, one still disguised as a man, but two now contemptuous monsters, wings spread agressively. Scarecrow passed between their ranks and tipped his hat towards Sam. "End of the line."

Sam raised the vial and as she began her death sentence, a form rose behind her, grabbed her forcefully and fell backwards, pulling her with it off the edge of the building. She lost her grip on the vial which spun upwards in an arc. One of the creatures desperately flew forward to catch the vial, but underestimated its fragility and it burst. A wall of flame exploded from the creature, cutting off her pursuers As she fell, she felt vertigo, and the creature which held her unfurled large wings which he beat, tearing her away horizontally at immense speeds.

"Benjamin?"

"Yes"