The water temperature plummeted, and water crystalised over the surface. Clara had the distinct impression that this spirit sought to entomb her in ice. Instead of a focused bolt of energy, Clara tapped into her darkest thoughts, the ones that most kept buried deep within their subconscious. 

She loathed channelling such emotions through Ethereal. The act of doing so made her feel as though a part of her had died, or that someone had walked across her grave. When her eyes opened again, she was faced by the spectral view of this vengeful spirit. A nun, with empty sockets where her eyes should have been, and blueish flesh stretched taut over the skull and bone.

Clara sensed the shock as the tables were turned. She exploited that lapse in concentration, using her legs to launch the nun through the wall. I bet she wasn’t expecting me to fight back.

“Hello?” Clara called out.

A response came from the depths of this chamber. It sounded like waves washing up on the beach. Confined by the walls, the water pushed through the doorway and pinned her against the wall.

Clara was immediately submerged, and the weight of the backpack complicated matters. She released the quick snaps on her shoulders and left it behind. As she was about to push herself up, a pair of spectral hands reached down through the surface to hold her down. Whoever this was, they are seriously pissed off!

It was cool, more than an air-conditioned space. The cool temperature intermixed in with high humidity made the walls and ceiling cry. That certainly explains the stalactites…and the mould.

Humidity clung to her skin, and was sure she would end up desperate for a long shower. It’s going to be hard to get back to that bus if I look like a puddle of sweat, and carrying the pungent odour of swamp.

She moved onward, the bare portions of the wall glistened in blue light, whereas the rest was absorbed by tufts of furry black mould. The place was literally teeming with life, just not the kind she wanted to spend quality time with. 

“Are those cousins of yours?” Ethereal mocked. “Naw. Those are far ahead of you on the evolutionary ladder.”

The outline of stone steps were visible, along with a shiny film of mildew, and the stalactites above her head. While less than pleasant, she knew there was nothing down there that could kill her. However, that did not mean she had to rely on ambient light to get a view of her surroundings. Clara channelled her pent-up irritation through Sparky, the goddess of magic, which made her eyes glow blue.

“What a pitiful use of my talents,” Sparky said, the sister who sounded like an over-caffeinated squirrel.

That was the thing about anger, it was pervasive. Rage easily charged her batteries, enabling her to unleash deadly bolts of energy on an unwitting foe. However, daily annoyances such as being cut off in traffic, or falling for clickbait on the Internet would trickle charge the system. Modern life was filled with a plethora of irritations that poisoned the soul. For the moment, that bruised ego from earlier was more than enough to power this handy dandy flashlight.

“No red carpet for this gal,” Clara said. “To be fair, that never stopped me from crashing a party.”

The overpowering scent of decay overwhelmed her senses. Clara took a few steps back until she regained control. Her training regime had been on the back burner ever since going into hiding, and these lapses in decorum were concerning. I’m going to need to address those soon.

Physical reactions to stimuli were very much like pain, the mind could be trained to block them out entirely. However, this gave her an idea on what to expect when she ventured inside. Here I thought the chemical toilet on the bus was bad…