Chapter 8

The Living Tower

"Grab him!", Rebecca shouted at Anthony and Ismark. She wondered if she should shoot the accountant, but thought better of it.

Ismark complied and took a hold of Leif who cried out, "How dare you! Savages!"

Anthony looked surprised at Rebecca's command. "No. I'm getting outta here.", he shot back. Then he turned and ran out the door.

"Dammit Tony!", Rebecca cursed. She pointed her rifle at the chain and wasted no time shooting it in two. "Get the rope.", she shouted at Richard.

Richard paused and considered running like hell behind Anthony. Then he asked himself what one of his D&D characters would do. Boldly he grabbed the rope and chopped it loose.

Travis looked at Anthony who had come bolting out of the accountant's room. "What the hell is going on in there?", he asked.

"Role reversal, Becky's decided to play a bad guy.", Anthony said, running past the large man.

"C'mon guys, hurry!", Rebecca called out. "We need to get out of here fast."

Anthony found Kevin and Ryan holding Ireena's hands in the passage. "We've got company coming, and here probably isn't a good place to be.", Anthony said as he dashed through the secret door and hurried towards the stairs.

"Everyone into the passage!", Rebecca called out as she headed out of the accountant's room. "Quickly!"

Rebecca's shout was cut off by the sound of a loud metallic clang from behind the door that Leif had indicated was the way to the chapel. Richard heard the sound too and reconsidered running like hell. With the machete in one hand and the rope in the other he bolted out of the room and into the passageway. Ismark followed with the struggling accountant in his arms. Once Ismark was out, Travis slammed the door shut and he and Rebecca dashed quickly into the secret passage.

"Close the door. Tie him up.", Rebecca shouted, ordering people around.

Richard stood there clueless. "Anyone know some good knots?", he whined. "They don't let atheists into the Boy Scouts."

Ismark grabbed the rope and bound Leif's hands tightly. Travis closed the secret door before whatever it was that was trying to get into Leif's room could see where they had gone.

"Ismark what are you doing to that man?", Ireena asked.

"Not now Ireena.", Ismark said as he double knotted the rope.

Anthony hadn't stopped running. He slowed to a jog, being cautious, but he wanted to get out of the castle as fast at he possibly could. Looking back once to see that the others were not following he descended the spiral staircase.

"You know I was only kidding about the 'at gunpoint' thing.", Travis said to Rebecca, but she was concerned with other things.

"Tony!.", Rebecca hissed as she saw him disappear down the stairs. Then she turned back to Leif and glared into his eyes. "You're one of us now. Got it. If we die, you die too. Okay?"

Leif just glared back.

The metal clanking and clanging had grown louder. It sounded like someone wearing a lot of metal was walking around the throne room.

Rebecca reloaded her rifle. "Come on. Let's go after him.", she said, nodding to the stairs.

Ryan, still holding Ireena's hand muttered, "This trip just keeps getting better and better."

"It beats the hell out of accounting.", Richard replied.

"Accounting doesn't get you dead!", Leif shouted angrily.

"Tell that to my grandfather.", Richard sneered back. "He was going to see his accountant and was hit by a bus."

It was a lie. Richard's grandfather actually died of a stroke before he was born, but Richard figured that Leif didn't have to know that.

At Leif's shout the metal clanging came closer, then stopped outside the secret door. Then they heard something pounding on the door, the metallic echo following them down the stairs.

"Gag him too.", Rebecca hissed.

"Wait a sec.", Richard said to Rebecca, then he turned to Leif. "What's five hundred thirty-three thousand five hundred and sixty-seven plus six hundred forty-nine thousand seven hundred and thirty-two?"

Leif started to say, "One mil...", but was cut off as Ismark stuffed a rag in his mouth.

Richard laughed. "Dad can do that. I can't.", he chuckled.

Ireena looked back and frowned at the rough treatment her brother was giving the accountant. She looked at Rebecca, wondering if accepting the group's help was wise.


The vast dining hall was dark save for the light of Anthony's torch. A wind whistled through its confines. Crystal tinkled in the darkness as the great chandeliers rustled in the wind. The fragrance of food wafted its way through the darkened hall. Anthony thought better of his plan of escaping and instead closed the secret door, leaving no trace that they had used it to escape. He turned and headed back up the stairs, running into Richard halfway up. Everyone came to a halt.

"Up?", Rebecca asked Anthony.

"Dunno.", Anthony replied. "Just trying to not get killed is my main aim right at the moment."

"Okay, up.", Rebecca said on a whim. Everyone turned around and headed up the stairs to the third floor.

After a long climb they arrived at a wide walkway surrounding most of the keep and exposed to the elements. The pouring rain continued amid flashes of lightning and the sharp cracks of thunder. Far below the parapets were the shining wet cobblestones of the courtyard. Rebecca could see a tower on the far end of the walkway, and windows alongside into the upper rooms of the castle. Rebecca slung her rifle and pulled out the umbrella again, opening it up to keep her dry. Then she crept over to the nearest window and peeked in, but the glass was too dirty to see anything on the other side. Rebecca ducked under it and went on to the next window, but none of the windows let her see inside.

Richard followed along behind, stalling when he saw how high up they were.  The ground was over fifty feet below. Richard walked very carefully and stayed far from the edge. The walkway passed through a tower and turned a corner. Rebecca led the group across the walkway and into the tower. Looking around the corner she could see the walkway continued towards a second tower. There were two windows along that stretch of the walkway and both were covered from the inside by heavy curtains. Rebecca ventured out once more, peeking into the large window and seeing bright candle light shining through the glass. The glass was still very dirty but she could see what appeared to be a bedroom. Rebecca didn't want to be seen by whomever was inside and so she ducked down low and made her way to the second tower. She stopped inside and the others quickly followed, taking shelter from the rain.

"Now we have another way out.", Rebecca said grinning.

Ireena, still linked with Kevin and Ryan, asked, "Where?"

"We can go around to the outer wall and then use the ladders to get down.", Rebecca replied, pointing out how the walkway that they were on connected to the wall around the courtyard.

Ismark frowned, "We're not done yet."

"Right.", Rebecca answered. "We need the holy thing."

Leif began to mutter through his gag.

"Ladders?", Richard asked.

Rebecca pointed to the ladder behind Richard. "There's another one in the other tower.", she said.

"Ladders?", Richard repeated himself. It wasn't that he hadn't seen them, it was that he didn't feel at all comfortable on a ladder at a normal height. He took a deep breath, then he took a few more.

Kevin looked at the ladder. "I don't know if those are long enough to reach the courtyard from up here.", he said. Indeed the ladders were no higher than twelve feet a piece.

Rebecca thought for a moment. "We can tie them together.", she said.

Ryan laughed. "You get to try it out first Becky.", he sneered. Rebecca scowled at him.

"We need to get back inside.", Anthony said. "And it's not safe to go back. We could just break a window and get back inside that way."

"I like that better.", Richard quickly added.

"I want to see what's on the other side first.", Rebecca said, looking around the corner to the other side of the castle.

"I think that's Kevin's department.", Anthony joked.

Rebecca gave Anthony a blank stare, then shook her head. She crept out along the wall, ducking under one more window as she went. Kevin scowled, thinking Tony was making a rather tasteless joke about sexual orientation and then realized that he was talking about heaven.

Rebecca scampered across the third side of the walkway, leaving the others behind. A vast, empty tower rose above her and the walkway went past an archway that led inside. Rebecca poked her head through the archway. She couldn't see more than a few yards up, yet she felt the tower's cold expanse pressing down on her. A spiral staircase rose slowly into the darkness circling the open shaft. It also spiraled in the opposite direction down back into the depths of the castle.

Rebecca scampered back to the others. "Stairs!", she said excitedly. "Going up and down."

"Lets un-gag Leif.", Rebecca added. "So that he can tell us how to get to the chapel."

Ismark removed the rag from Leif's mouth. The accountant stared at Rebecca coldly. "I don't know how to get there from here. I've never been in this part of the castle.", he confessed.

"What?!", Rebecca shouted, a little upset. Then she realized that the accountant probably wasn't lying. She calmed herself. "Well, what floor is it on?"

"The first floor, opposite the entry hall near the back of the castle.", Leif replied.

"Okay.", Rebecca said. "Down we go."

The others looked at each other, wondering if it was a good idea to let Rebecca lead them. But no one had a better idea.

"So.", Rebecca said, turning to Leif. "Can you be quiet now?"

Leif said nothing. Rebecca took that as a yes. She led the group back to the stairwell, then looked up into the dark heights above as the others headed down. She wondered what secrets the tower held and about her fortune, but it was too dark in the tower to see much of anything. In fact, as the others followed the stairs down into the tower their lights seemed to dim, their illumination extending only about ten feet. Beyond that only shadow could be seen. Richard was relieved that he was on a staircase instead of a ladder, but he stayed away from the edge of the stairwell anyway.

The air seemed to grow subtly colder. Ireena tightly squeezed the hands of her protectors. After a few turns around the staircase there was a faint rumbling sound. Suddenly the entire tower lurched to one side. Then the tower began to shake and pitch, throwing everyone off balance. The unfortunate accountant tripped and was sent tumbling into the empty space in the middle of the tower. Ismark fell to his stomach on the stairs but managed to hold on to the rope that bound Leif's hands. But, the man's own body weight was too much for his aging shoulders to take and his joints separated. Leif shrieked loudly and his cries resounded up and down the tower.

The building only seemed urged on by the screams and it continued to jump and shake. Anthony braced himself between the wall and the stairs, wondering if it was an earthquake. He kept an eye out for falling masonry, but fortunately there was none. Rebecca dropped to her hands and feet and scrambled back up the stairs. Kevin was not so fortunate. His grip on Ireena slipped just as he did. He began to tumble end over end down the stairs but skidded to a stop before he followed Leif over the edge. Ryan managed to keep his feet about him. He knelt low and backed up against the wall, pulling Ireena with him. But when Ireena saw Kevin fall she screamed his name and pushed herself away from Ryan. She scrambled and crawled down to him as the tower continued to quake. Travis also stayed on his feet. He crouched low and went to help Ismark haul Leif up.

Once outside the tower, Rebecca found that everything else was calm. "Magic.", she whispered. She wondered how she could help the others and remembered the ladders. Acting quickly she dashed back to the nearest tower to get one and hurried back with it. Anthony, Travis and Ismark managed to pull Leif up onto the stairs. The old man wept openly in pain. His shoulders weren't in their normal positions. Travis cringed, remembering a similar injury he'd sustained during a football game.

As Rebecca ran back to the tower with the ladder she swore that she could hear the sound of a heart beating. At first she thought that it was her own, but then she realized that the sound was coming from high above. For the moment she ignored it and walked carefully back down the stairs, extending the ladder towards the others.

Richard remembered a page from a first aid book he read once. He untied the rope and used it to immobilize Leif's arms.

"Unless you guys want to try re-setting them here it's going to hurt like fuck.", Richard said. Travis nodded silently. "There's no easy way, unless we have something to sedate him with."

Rebecca managed to maneuver the ladder into the tower. The unwieldy load combined with the shaking of the tower upset her balance and she almost fell into the center shaft of the tower. After some more careful movement she slid the ladder down to her friends. As she did the sound of the heart beat grew slightly louder.

"Hurry!", Rebecca called out. "There's something weird going on up the stairs."

"Get him on the ladder and tie him down.", Richard shouted. "We'll use it as a stretcher!"

Ismark and Travis got the job done and soon they were slowly climbing up the stairs with the accountant. Farther down Ryan scrambled down to Ireena. She was cradling an unconscious Kevin in her arms. There was a gash across his forehead where he had struck the stone steps.

Richard, Travis, Ismark, Anthony and Leif joined Rebecca at the landing where they had entered the tower and dragged the ladder out onto stable ground. The sound of the heart pulsed and throbbed and the shadows seemed to ripple from the pounding. The tower continued to tremble.

"Where's…?", Rebecca began as she stared into the darkness for Ireena. "Shit!"

Richard looked around for the others and didn't see them. He freaked for a moment, but his adrenaline was pumping and it was giving him courage. He hurried back down the stairs as fast as he dared. His footing was unsteady as he rushed back down the tower and luckily he landed on his rear when he fell. He could see the trio a bit below where he was. Ireena was holding Kevin, trying to wake him up. Ryan was trying convince her to help him get him up the stairs.

"Move your asses!", Richard hollered.

"Help me!", Ryan shouted back.

Richard edged his way down the stairs on his backside.

Rebecca looked up towards where the beating sound was coming from. Darkness still held sway beyond the light of the torches. However, she could make out a faint red glow high up in the center of the tower. Rebecca readied her rifle and looked at the glow through the scope. The glow pulsed and she could make out the quivering outline of a very large object hanging in the middle of the tower. Rebecca knelt down and took aim at the object, taking a moment to vent her anger at her unseen opponent.

"Her name is Irene McKendrick, fucker!", Rebecca shouted. Then she took a deep breath, aimed carefully, and fired.

Rebecca's shot flew into the darkness above. It was a direct hit, causing a shower viscous blood to pour down the open center of the tower. The torrent was astonishing. Then the red glow began to fade and the pounding pulse ceased. The mighty tower gave a final shudder before coming to rest.

"Tatyana my butt.", Rebecca muttered, reloading her rifle.

From a floor down Ireena's pleading reached the ears of those above. "Please wake up Kevin. Please wake up.", she cried.

"Travis?", Rebecca asked. "Can you give them a hand."

Travis hurried down and helped bring Kevin back up to the others. Ireena watched them carry him and she bit her lip. Rebecca breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Ireena.

Travis was kneeling over Kevin on the landing. "Kev? Wake up, man. Wake up.", he pleaded.

Richard looked around at the red liquid on the walls around him and tried to identify the smell of it.  He got a little on his hand and held it up where he could see.

"Ulp...bluh...bloo...", he mumbled. Then he feinted.

Ryan knelt down opposite Travis and took out the first aid kit. Carefully he wrapped a bandage around Kevin's head wound. The young priest in training remained unconscious. Richard woke up wondering where the hell he was.

Ireena was startled at the sound of Richard falling over. She rushed to his side. "Richard?", she asked.

"Did the power go out again? I was in the middle of a download, dammit!", Richard mused in a daze. "Now I'll probably have to start all over."

Then Richard focused, "Girl. Dark. Girl? Dark?", he thought to himself. The two had never been connected in his mind before.

Ireena tried to help Richard up. "Come on. Can you stand?", she asked.

Finally Richard remembered. "Blood. I pass out when I see it.", he explained. He staggered to his feet and avoided looking at the blood. "You know, blood on TV doesn't bother me at all."

"Stupid Strahd and his stupid funhouse castle.", Rebecca muttered. "Stupid accountant let us walk right into a trap.", Rebecca added, looking down at Leif. "Serves him right."

Ismark shrugged and looked at Rebecca. "That is powerful weapon.", he said pointing to the rifle.

"Yeah.", Rebecca said to Ismark. "I don't know what I shot, but whatever it is it's dead now."

Ismark nodded.

"It looked like a big beating heart.", Rebecca continued. "That's where all the blood came from. Kinda gross."

Anthony knelt at Leif's side and decided to have a go at relocating the poor man's shoulders.

Leif was coming around. He saw Anthony and cursed. "Stay away from me!", he moaned. "You, you, you people couldn't just leave me alone, could you?"

"If it had been my decision, you'd still be downstairs with your books.", Anthony frowned. "Let me see if I can fix your shoulders."

"You know, I saw this show on TLC where this old woman had a dislocated shoulder for more than a year but she didn't go to the hospital until she fell and cut her lip.", Richard said, coming up the stairs with Ryan, Ireena, and Kevin. "She was so drunk most of the time she never felt her arm. They had to put in a new shoulder joint."

Ireena blinked, confused.

"We're going to need everyone on this.", Richard said, taking charge. "Two people on his arm, more to hold him down. I saw it on TLC, too. It was funny, a biker screaming like a little kid."

Leif glared at Richard. "The Count is going to butcher you all like pigs."

"Why?", Richard asked.

Richard's simple question seemed to cause enough confusion in the man that he momentarily forgot his pain. "Are you daft?", Leif asked.

"No.", Richard replied after a thinking for a little while. Then Leif remembered his pain and went back to grimacing.

"It's 'cause he's a pervert.", Rebecca said sternly. "Only a psycho pervert would build a stupid funhouse castle the kills anyone who tries to come in."

"We shouldn't stay in one place like this for too long.", Ryan said. "If there was any doubt, I'm sure everything in the castle knows where we are now."

Travis nodded and went to help Anthony.

"So anyway, we need the two stronger people pulling his arm straight out, like this.", Richard said, holding his arm up at an angle. "While the rest of us hold him down."

They followed Richard's instructions and after much pulling and struggling Leif's arms were put right again. His agonized cries during the process brought Kevin back into consciousness.

"Am I dead?", the young priest said holding his head.

"Three days ago, yes.", Richard said smiling. There were a few smiles but no giggles. The group was Christian enough to get the joke.

Ireena hugged Kevin tightly as he sat up. "Don't worry me like that.", she said to him softly.

As she pulled back Kevin smiled a little. "You always used to tell me that when I did something stupid.", he said, slightly dazed.

Ireena blushed and looked away.

"Take me back to my office.", Leif ordered.

"You tell us where all the traps are and we will.", Rebecca said stubbornly.

Leif glared at Rebecca. "I…don't…know about any traps.", he said for the umpteenth time. "He keeps me for a specific function. I stay in a small area and I perform that function. Nothing more."

"He doesn't let you out of that room?", Rebecca asked incredulously.

"I only know of that office and the rooms adjacent to the connecting staircase.", Leif explained. "The one I told you to take to get your little trinket from the chapel. It ends in a flooded cellar in the lower levels of the castle and ascends to a lounge and guest room, which is where I sleep. I do not wander. I do not ask questions. Wandering and asking questions tends to get you killed, or worse, around here for as long as I can remember and I've been here for a very long time."

"What was that thing you summoned with the rope?", Rebecca asked.

"One of the castle's guardians.", Leif replied. "I don't know what it is, exactly. I don't ask questions, remember?"

"You can't use your arms for a few days at least.", Richard said. "They need to be in slings to keep him from moving them. They could pop back out of their sockets if they're not healed up first."

"Okay. So how do we get to the chapel from here?", Rebecca asked again. Ryan moaned.

"If he doesn't know how to get here from his room, then he can't tell us how to get to the chapel from here either.", Anthony said.

"So we go back?", Rebecca asked.

Kevin looked at her. "I want to see what that thing in the throne room was.", he replied.

"Okay.", Rebecca agreed. She took a long look up the stairs of the tower with the feeling that she would be coming back once more. Then she pulled out the umbrella and got ready to go.

Pushing back through the storm the group reached the previous set of spiral stairs. Heading downward they arrived at the secret door to the throne room without encountering anything or anyone. Rebecca pointed her rifle at the door. She nodded at Travis to get on the other side who promptly did so. He listened at the door. The room beyond was silent.

"Shoot anything that moves inside, okay?", Rebecca said to Travis. Then she nodded towards Ismark. "Open the door."

Ismark moved the keystone and the stone wall opened. The lonely throne was the only thing in the room. Rebecca nodded for Travis to go in first, then she followed behind, DEA style, like in those television shows she'd watch too many hours of.

"I guess it gave up.", Travis whispered.

"Ha! We outsmarted it.", Rebecca said grinning.
 
Travis led the group back to Leif's office. The accountant sat on his stool with a grimace.

"There's a vial in the third drawer.", Leif said. "Give it to me."

"What's two and two?", Richard asked.

"What?", Leif replied.

"What's two and two?", Richard repeated himself.

Leif frowned. "Four.", he answered.

"Nope. Twenty-two.", Richard said smiling. "You spend too much time cooped up in here, sir. You need to get out and live a little."

Fed up, Leif fought through the pain and got the vial himself. His gulped down the clear fluid inside it and nodded towards the door opposite the entrance. "Down the stairs, two rights.", he said. "Now, get out!"

The group did so, filing out through the door that Leif had indicated and making sure that they had their guns ready before opening it. Beyond the door was a spiral staircase leading both up and down.

"When we get back home, I'm going to quit working for my father. I don't want to end up like that.", Richard mused out loud. "This, this is the most fun I've had since we moved away."

Anthony followed along behind quietly, looking uncomfortable at what the old guy had been put through and more uncomfortable with his role in it. He tried to put it out of his mind. The stairwell was lit by torches in iron sconces. They provided light to see by but a chilly wind rushed down the circling stairs, seeming to kill any heat they produced. At the bottom of the stairs they found themselves almost back where they had started, in the hall outside the dining room. However, the well kept suit of armor that had been there before was gone.

"Bedknobs and Broomsticks.", Rebecca whispered, referring to an old movie she'd seen once. She crept along the right hand wall behind Travis.

Using the same careful tactics as before, Travis and Rebecca opened the bronze double doors on the eastern wall of the main hall. Beyond was a long, dusty hallway. Statues lined it on both sides, their eyes seeming to watch the youths as they passed. Rebecca kept her rifle pointed at the statues as she walked by quickly, but none of them moved.

The group pushed onward, soon reaching their goal. Flashes of lightning blazed through broken and boarded-up stained glass windows, illuminating the ancient chapel of Castle Ravenloft. Pews and benches lay on the floor in jumbled disarray, coated with centuries of dust. Beyond the debris, lit by a single piercing shaft of light, an altar stood upon a platform. A figure was draped over the altar. It, and the rest of the room, seemed as though nothing had disturbed it for centuries, and that nothing ever could. Even the storm outside was held at bay.

"The chapel!", Rebecca said excitedly. "Now, what are we looking for?"

"A golden disk about the size of a man's palm.", Ismark replied.

Rebecca carefully approached the altar, keeping her rifle aimed at the figure draped over it. She found the disk in the center of the altar. It lay just beyond the reach of the figure's outstretched arm. The man looked to have been dead for quite some time, his remains being almost entirely skeletal. By his clothing he looked like he might have been a priest of some sort. Rebecca had seen too many horror movies and didn't believe for a minute that the dead guy wasn't going to come back to life. She was surprised when he didn't.

"Found it.", Rebecca said, loud enough for the others to hear.

Kevin walked up next to Rebecca. The golden emblem shimmered and glinted in the torchlight.

"Do you think anyone will ever believe any of this?", Kevin asked.

"I'm not sure that I believe it.", Rebecca said with a slight grin.

Keeping an eye on the dead body, Kevin reached out and took the amulet. He carried it to Ireena. "Is this it?", Kevin asked.

Ireena ran her fingers across the face of the disk, brushing Kevin's hand in as she did so. "Yes.", she replied.

Kevin gave Ireena the holy symbol who took its fine chain and slipped it over the young man's head. The amulet rested in the middle of Kevin's chest.

Rebecca backed away from the altar slowly. "Okay, let's get the funk out.", she called out.

"To where?", Ryan asked.

"Back to town.", Rebecca replied, then she glanced over her shoulder at Kevin and Ireena. "Hey look, now they're engaged!"

Ireena blushed at Rebecca's comment but her mood was quickly brought low by what Ismark had to say.

"The symbol was stolen once.", Ireena's brother said. "It can be stolen again. I mean to end this tonight, one way or another."

"Okay, suggestion.", Rebecca said in a way that didn't seem quite serious enough. "We end it the one way and not the 'other', if you know what I mean."

"Like with Strahd in jail.", Rebecca added unnecessarily.

"If he can turn into a bat he could fly out of jail.", Richard replied. Rebecca stuck her tongue out at him.

"So, with that in mind I ask again. Where to?", Ryan asked again.

"The tower, right?", Rebecca said. "That's where I, where we face evil and get rewarded."

"You might get experience points, too.", Richard said. Ryan was the only other person who understood.

"Maybe we already did, umm, face evil.", Travis pointed out. "Like that thing you shot at."

"Maybe that was Strahd's heart.", Rebecca replied. "Maybe he's dead now."

"Your optimism never fails to confound me, Becky.", Ryan sneered.

"Well, who's heart was that?", Rebecca asked.

"The castle? That tower? Who knows?", Ryan said, shrugging his shoulders.

"It's one less heart to worry about.", Rebecca answered smartly. "And now we have the magic frisbee too."

"Well come on then, heartbreaker, let's see what's at the top of that tower.", Travis said, hoping that one day Rebecca would respond warmly to all the attention he was giving her.

"Shouldn't we stake him?", Richard said, nodding at the corpse. "Or something?"

"Go for it.", Rebecca chirped, hoping to see Richard look uncomfortable doing so.

Richard glanced around at the others leaving. Seeing that the "we" had become "he" he decided to do something simple. He pulled his machete out and walked across the room to the body.

"It's just dead meat. It's just dead meat. It's just dead meat.", the young accountant said to himself over and over again.

Richard closed his eyes and swung his blade down on the corpse's neck. "Don't let there be blood. Don't let there be blood. Don't let there be blood.", he pleaded silently.

The old bones snapped and the corpse's head rocked a little after losing the support of the spine. There was no blood. Richard poked at the head to move it away from the body.

"Oh my god.", Rebecca gasped with a hint of a smile. "He did it."

"Well, that was, interesting.", Richard said, staring at the remains, trying to imagine it as a living being. Then, with a final look back at the departed, he followed the others towards the tower.