Of course, my map of the buildings is with my books, so here’s to hoping I can find my class soon. When Zeke explained the inner workings of the buildings changing, I thought he meant just the colors changing, not the entire buildings up and changing its own layout. You would think that would have been passed along. Thanks, peeps, for the heads up. I really didn’t have high hopes for my first day, amongst me being the new magicless student, I knew I might have some issues. This, though, was the damn icing on the cake and the icing was poison.
Finding out about the Sulks was at least somewhat eventful until I realized it was a dead end. I hate to admit it, but I can see where the Rebels are coming from. If I was told I couldn’t leave, I would try everything in my power to get to Earth. Hell, that’s what I’m doing now, except I’m powerless and stuck in this ever-changing, creature ridden, snarky bitches, hell hole of a school!
Stomping my feet, I throw my head back and scream out my frustration.
“Ahhhhh!”
My scream doesn’t bring anyone to my rescue, so I continue on looking for my classroom. Hell, I would settle for even an exit right now. Making another turn, I come to an intersection of halls, and my steps falter. I’m completely lost. How many turns was it to Survival Class from Hell? Why isn’t there another soul around? I know it’s lunchtime, but where are the stragglers?
What am I thinking? I AM the straggler. Thanks, Dean Caldron. You could have at least sent a paper plane to direct me to my class, a butterfly, something magical to guide me since he seemed to have a good trick with flames earlier.
A sudden chill runs down my spine, pulling goosebumps along my arms. Rubbing the tiny bumps, I hiss when my fingers run over the area that Katie May dug into. Damn, I haven’t even looked to see the damage, but I see the dark red stain through the teal fabric, and my arm starts to throb. I’m going to be lost in this building forever and die of sepsis. Pushing my anxiety down, I close my eyes for a brief moment, and I hear water rushing behind me.
Anxiety returned, I find myself turning around to see where the sound is coming from. My heart shudders as I watch rivulets of blood trail down the cream-colored hallway I had just walked down. Dark red, almost black blood pools along the edges of the wall bringing along the pungent stench of copper. I know they mentioned the school changing appearances at times, but damn, this can’t be normal. That gut feeling gnawing at my stomach is slamming the big red panic button in my brain.
Deciding I’m just overreacting to the hallway changing, I clutch my stomach, turn to my left and increase my pace down the hall. I’ve only made it a few feet when the lights start to dim. Okay, I’m not a horror fan all-star, but even I know when this happens, someones about to die. My heart starts pounding in my chest, and I decide to play the ditzy female and look over my shoulder. Yep, I’m that psychotic idiot. The bloody slabs of wallpaper are following me once again and left the other halls untouched.
Okay. Simple, don’t freak out, Rez.I pick up my pace and decide to turn down a different hallway to see if it will follow. Maybe it’s a spell gone wonky? I can’t be that lucky. If that’s the case, I wouldn’t be here in the first place. I make a few more turns, and it’s still stalking me, keeping up at the same distance.Fuck this.I take off running, shoes slamming against the wood flooring. All I hear is my own labored breathing, and the sounds of my pounding feet echoing off the empty walls.
Turning down another corridor, I run into a dead end with a door on the right and no other exit, not even a window.
“FUCK!” I yell. The only sound is my voice echoing along the walls now and the swooshing of the bloodied river snaking past the entrance of the dead end passage.Well, that’s great, but how do I get out?
A sudden thought hits me since I’m no longer running.Why was I running from it anyways?I take a moment to assess the things running through my mind, but it was my gut telling me to run. My gut feeling has never led me astray. I just know I shouldn’t touch it. But what is it? I lean my head back, close my eyes, and let out an exhale, trying to catch my breath.Okay, Rez, just retrace your steps once the menstrual cycle from hell passes.
Releasing a frustrated huff, I open my eyes and let out a gasp. A shadow above me moves and lengthens, making a clicking noise, like bones cracking.Shit!Backing away slowly, I hold my breath as it skitters along the ceiling until it reaches the wall across from me and starts gradually crawling down. Not daring to take my eyes off the new creature, I move to the door and try the knob. Locked!Eww, what the hell is on the knob?Without looking, I wipe the goo off onto my skirt. The shadow reaches the floor, and the hall gets darker as it takes up a corner of the hall. I watch with a slack jaw as the shadow elongates and reaches the height of the ceiling, towering over me.
I’m fucking trapped with blood at the hall entrance, a locked door behind me, and whatever the hell this is in front of me. Panic fills me along with suppressed anger, and I snap, “Of course, this is how I’m going to perish,” I say, flinging my arms up in the air like a lunatic and throwing a look back at the blood-filled hall. “Blood from Satan's vag falls into the school and ushers me into a damn death trap with—,” I pause, looking back at the creature that is now taking a solid shape of what can only be described as a horse with long, disjointed legs and the longest head I have ever seen. “Mangle … from Five Nights at Freddy’s.”
As if someone just hit a switch on my emotions, my anger deflates as my mind just goes blank and my thoughts and feelings numb. Depersonalization is what Dr. Fisk called it once.
This is it! I’m going to die, and I can’t do a single thing about it. I lean against the wall as the creature moves closer, joints popping and swaying with each step. Its jaw repeatedly opens, emitting a sound like a squeaky joint, and a red and black forked tongue rolls around its jagged teeth. The popping noise that’s spewing from its body gets louder the closer it gets. Whimpering, I take one last look around, and not only is the river of blood still flowing across the entrance, but it’s also boiling. Black smoke is pawing at the floor like fingers grasping onto life. The only area it’s not touching is the two-foot space around my feet. Yep, still trapped.
Oily black liquid drips from the monster's hooves as they come up and cage me against the wall. Inky clouds envelop me as its maw opens up even further than what should be possible. Turning my face away, I tightly shut my eyes, praying this will be quick.
Chapter Eighteen
Alpha Asshole
Knox
It takes everything in me to keep my head up while walking to my father’s office in the back of the Special Ops Station. I’m not looking forward to this debriefing. Who wants to hear that their trusted scout lost sight of our version of a monster? I had tracked the Withering Sulks to the west side of the Ever Woods until I lost it when it ducked under a fallen tree and disappeared. I had already spent an hour searching for it when I was relieved by another scout and asked to report in.Fuck!
Rapping my knuckles swiftly against the door, I try to slow down my breathing while I wait for the rough “enter” before stepping into his office. My father’s office doubles as a meeting space so I’m not shocked to see a few officers sitting at his table off to the side. The space is decorated in greens and light browns with framed candid photos of the blood matches he loves to run.
Chief Cloak, my father, looks up as I approach and motions for me to have a seat. He’s sitting at the head of the room in his all black tactical gear. He’s either going to train or scout for himself later on. He’s an imposing man with a bald head, eyes that match my own, and a massive build he can thank his grizzly bear for.
The entire left side of the table gets up and shifts over one seat to allow me the honor of sitting on my father’s left-hand side. It’s the privilege of an Alpha’s son, and a part of me wished it wasn’t so. I don’t want the ‘honor’ of following in his footsteps and carrying on the family tradition. I come from a long line of blood thirsty shifters and I don’t have the heart to follow through. Yet, I find myself being just as aggressive as everyone else during the blood matches every month, or whenever he needs an outlet. Because of those moments, my father constantly thinks I’ll be a great Alpha one day.
“Report,” father demands. He’s not the type to waste time or his words. I swear the man needed to get laid. I spend the next ten minutes explaining how I tracked the Sulks and lost it in the Ever Woods. Though, it seemed it was making its way towards the mountains. Murmurs went around the room as a few officers speculated where it was going and as to the reason why. I held back the urge to roll my eyes at their ridiculous outbursts. One idiot said it was looking for fresh water. How these people ended up in this office working closely with my father is a mystery to me.
I shift in my seat and my father’s green eyes narrow in on me. “What else?” He begrudging asks.
“Remember during your Survival class… with Katie May?” I hesitantly ask.
My father’s eyes soften a tiny bit and his tone is less rough as he sends me condolences. “I’m sorry that you had to watch that. I know she was a classmate of yours.”
Surprisingly her death didn’t affect me as much as I would have thought.So does that make me a bad person?I mean, she wasn’t the nicest person in the world and was often a bully, but she was still a person and no one deserved to have their life cut short. I nod in acceptance and wet my suddenly dry lips, wishing I would have stopped for more water after my shift. I discreetly wipe my sweaty palms on my jeans underneath the table before I continue with what I needed to tell them.
