Wishmaker Chapter 24: Chapter 24

Read chapter 24 of Wishmaker by Larch on NovelPedia.

Echoes of laboured breathing slowly spread throughout the empty streets of the Cradle, along with empty clapping of torn winter boots that struggled against the cobble pavement. A trail of warm blood was coloring the white streets with its presence, spreading like a web of cracks each time it dripped down Valentine's punctured arms. He ran, ran as fast as he could with his shaky feet that could barely support his draining weight. His sight had dulled as the image of the street in front of him stretched to the sides, seeming infinitely longer than it should. It was blood loss. The rush of adrenaline he had been experiencing so far was coming to an end; it was granted that it would not last forever, but it felt too inconvenient for it to run out at this moment when he needed it the most. He bit his lip, drawing more blood. Damn it, dAmn it, da-mn it, damn it! The sound of rubble collapsing behind his back made his legs pick up the pace, faster than he could have ever expected himself to run despite his pitiful condition. Having escaped the dark alley, the crescent moon immediately found his position, hovering over his head just a few meters away, still as useless as ever. As more time passed, Valentine kept discovering new things within his body that came after Sunday healed him. He was stronger, faster, sharper in all aspects, like a superhuman. But even that was not enough. Another building crumbled into rubble behind his back, sending a shiver rushing through his body. Uncontrollably, he looked back over his bleeding shoulder to see A house-sized beast made of shadows was following his trail, with dust just barely covering its two hollow pupils and the set of teeth that looked sharper than before. It looked like a giant anglerfish with fins replaced by two giant hands that pushed it through the narrow street and a sea of shadows boiling within its maw, spewing tiny tongues that cleared rubble from its path and shot it into neighbouring buildings. Valentine sped up. What the fuck even is that!? Thinking fast, he spotted a familiar brick factory, rushing to it and entering the maze of endless conveyor belts he remembered quite well. He darted through it without slowing down, climbing to the second floor of the factory and finding a ladder that led to the roof. Valentine noticed it once before, remembering it as a secondary exit because of his endless curiosity. The sound of buildings collapsing had gotten louder and closer to the factory as if a few steps away from reaching it. Can it trace me even without seeing me? He looked down at his clothes, then at the blatantly obvious trail of blood that was the color of bright red crimson against pure white and black. Damn, of course it can find me! This world had no color in the first place, so his vibrant blood was the only way for it to find him, unless it had a sense of smell that could detect his blood through hundreds of meters. As he prepared to climb the ladder, the wall of the factory suddenly burst open, shaking the entire building. Rubble and dust flew across the empty conveyors, tearing through the rubber and its frame. Behind it all, an anglerfish-looking beast looked around with its round, hollow eyes and noticed Valentine's tiny figure hidden away behind the countless conveyor belts, showing its spiky teeth that looked like a sea of needles. Two giant hands made of shadows appeared at its sides, opening their palms as the maze Valentine had to navigate was torn to shreds in a matter of seconds. "That's not normal..." He mumbled after climbing the ladder and getting on the vast roof that trembled each time another layer of rubber was thrown aside like garbage. The building looked as if it were about to collapse soon, which was already a miracle in itself because one of its walls was missing and the supporting beams inside were most likely destroyed by the monster's rampage. Valentine looked up at the moon that hung above him with a sour face. "Do you want to watch me die