Chapter 131: The Shadow House

As the trio were being chased, the shadowy silhouette would continue to speak, screeching and screaming to gain more attention, attracting more shadow people into the fray, causing them to crawl across the location as if they were spiders, even ripping planks off to use as a leverage to climb. Realizing that the swarm won't stop, Pria would toss them into the attic, whilst she herself tried to escape by breaking out of a nearby window. Unfortunately, such a window was near solid, almost like a wall, forcing her to bail into a random room as a substitution, locking herself in and closing the door to ensure they wouldn't enter, no matter much they clawed and scratched upon the door, no matter the sounds of banging and shaking to the knob to break it down by force so they could feast. The children, through a crack in the attic's flooring, were able to see firsthand of their depravity, clambering and hollering like they were animals, even striking at their allies to make more space to break the door down harder. They would see such animosity and try to contain themselves, hiding amidst the nearby crates, closing their ears so they could not hear such deafening sounds the People were making. After what felt like an hour, the noises finally stopped. The house started to go back to being a quite, calm area. 

Despite such silence, they could still hear footsteps. They could hear something skittering in the attic, and off from the corner of their eyes, they could see what looked like a thorax. They remained silent, however, not daring to alert a Shadow Person into the room. They would go through their spells, with Harvard needing his face to be close-up to look at the cards, and Zazel having to interpret the sigils based on the line itself to see what was useful. As they did this, however, they would hear the sound somewhat get a bit louder, the clacking of little legs scampering around the scene with no sign of stopping. Inevitably, they would feel it: A spider crawling up on the children's legs, making them try to get up and shake it off, stomping if need be, before realizing they would end up making more sound in that manner. Zazel would try to have Asmodeus burn away at the arachnid, unable to see the fire, yet still feeling its heat through such energy. Harvard, meanwhile, would try to cast a similar spell, only with frost to freeze over the creature. While such results proved to be successful, another began to crawl, this time in their opposite leg. Then another, upon their back. Then another, upon their chest. Then a few more, smaller than a penny, looking as if they were having a meal upon their hands. The boys instinctively casted their spell again and again, yet more seem to arrive despite the struggle. It would make them take drastic measures, feeling the itchiness from their bites and fuzzy legs walking all over their skin, having them land into a wall to try and scratch it off, before feeling more bites on their neck and face. Such irritation was enough to make someone lose themselves, so as a last resort, Harvard would pull out two separate spells to try and exterminate the threat.

The first would be of a Crystal Skull, the second being that of red hot fire. By casting the second spell within the Skull, it would begin to use it in a large radius, incinerating the bugs between the two children, while also heating up the attic itself. While usually it would cast a large light to illuminate and showcase its powered source, the darkness ensured such was not possible. Harvard would have an annoyed expression upon his face when he saw not even the Skull was able to provide a light source, making him manage between cooling himself and not allowing the Spiders to invade and gnaw at his flesh. Every second felt like an hour for the children, with Zazel constantly keeping watch to see if the Shadow People were still trying to break in, seeing nothing more than an empty space, breathing a sigh of relief. He'd try to direct Harvard to follow him to see if Pria is ok, but before he would even get up, the Demon would start hearing something.

"Hello....?"

A Voice. A Faint one, yet a voice nonetheless. The Demon looked around to try and find the source, yet couldn't. No one around him was speaking, yet it continued.

"Hello...?? Hellooo....?? Anyone...?" 

The voice remained quiet, yet audible enough to be heard. Zazel would try to explore the attic for the source, moving the boxes carefully. No Source. He'd try to look through the hole again, yet there was still nothing. He even went to Harvard and carried the skull, being resistant to heat somewhat, allowing him to see if it was his friend speaking. Harvard remained quiet, yet the voice continued.

"Hello...?? Anyone...Hello...??"

Before Zazel knew it, he would hear another. Then another, then another. It sounded as if it came from all sides, yet there was nothing visible to make it out as the reason they were talking. "Harvard, are you hearing it??" He would ask.

"Hear...what?" Such a response left Zazel in a panic, realizing these thoughts must've been made in his own head. He'd try to concentrate, attempting to close his eyes as a reaction, trying to maintain his control over this reality. More Spiders seemed to have started crawling, somehow being resistant to the heat emanating from the skull. The voices quickly got louder, with more and more steps being taken to quell them. It was at such a point he'd try to bang his head on the wall as a last ditch effort, with Harvard trying to hold him down and not allow such noise to be made, yet it was too late. He'd open the Attic door to try and escape, hoping to find Pria and get a solution for such psychological stress. Just as when he thought he was able to open it, however..

KRACC!!

A collection of hands rose from the planks, all with crooked nails and aged skin, all of which tried to grapple and stab into the Demon. Harvard, seeing such a flurry, lunged himself forward to cast a spell, grabbing ahold of the demon and cutting the distance to try and cheat around the mass. Such a mass, however, stretched out, grabbing them by their legs and dragging them down into the ground floor, witnessing a hole made at the center of the room, being sent into depths unknown. Even if Harvard would cast a spell again, due to the sheer number, they would simply grow and grapple him again, forcing him to either spend more energy or succumb to his fate. In such a decision, he'd go down along with his friend, going further into the abyss of the Shadow House.