“What the - “
Blood. I could sense it, like it was everywhere.
I automatically stepped in front of Seph.
“What is it?” She demanded.
“If I told you to run inside, would you?” I said tightly.
“No.”
Yeah. I knew she’d say that.
“Didn’t think so. Stay behind me.”
It was like a nightmare. The first body lay a few metres from us — blood everywhere. Fresh, sharp, wrong. It pooled around the fallen figure — boy? girl? I couldn’t even tell.
Ahead was another. I heard her whimpering, gurgling, choking on her own blood.
And leaning over her was… something.
I didn’t recognise them. They were so covered in blood, I couldn’t see the uniform.
It almost looked like they were naked.
And it was eating her.
It looked up, eyes fixed on us both. Eyes so deep red, they were black. Razor sharp teeth protruded from its jaws. It was a person – but not.
Flesh hung from its mouth in rivulets.
I’d seen a lot in this place. Nothing like this. A cold, animal dread crawled up my spine.
“Run Seph. Right now.”
“No!
“RUN!” I yelled, throwing my hands up.
Blood was everywhere. Easy to control. I blasted the creature back mid-lunge.
It struggled against my bonds like a mindless beast. I thickened the blood into ropy chains to hold it down. The thing roared, loud, feral. I threw it into a wall. It hit hard, splatting up the concrete. But still it tried to lunge again. It tried to fight.
It was strong. Stronger than it should’ve been. It broke free and hit me head on. I hit the ground. Wind was ripped from my chest.
“Dev!”
There was fear in her voice — real, sharp — and it cut through me worse than the hit.
“Get the fuck out of here, Seph!”
I was holding it above my head now, its maw opening and chomping, like it wanted to devour me. I forced my hands against its skin, burning its blood from the inside. It howled.
Then –
Seph shoved it off me. Hard. Way harder than she should’ve been able to. Something hit the floor by my head.
A glove.
