Chapter 30: No Way Out

"Watch out!" Someone screamed but it was too late. Before anyone could move an inch, the creature had carried the Lizzy already and ran away with her because she is could not stand up.

"What the hell is that ugly thing?" A student asked with disgust and fear written all over his face. He had been waiting to talk for long but could not because of the fear in him.

Earlier, the girl who came out from the other side with a bloodstain on her mouth after chuckling at them began to transform until a half-human, half-reptile came into the view.

This shocked the hell out of the students that they began to move backwards until they were far from the ugly creature. The upper part of the creature looked like that of an old lady, with claws for arms and hands and three eyes; two normal ones and an extra one in the middle of the two normal ones. Her head was only a skull while the other part of her body was that of a reptile with scales around it.

"We need to save the girl or she'll die soon!" Max said to Zheren who had a frown on his face. Just thinking about what he did to the girl made him look like a stupid person, he could not believe that he was stupid enough to be deceived and then cause the girl's life to be on the line. "Hey, this is no time to blame yourself, if you wanna forgive yourself then you have to save her, so let's go," Max added as he saw the look on his friend's face. Zheren nodded after a while and made to leave but as they were about to run off, Harry ran up to them followed by an angry-looking Nat and a long-faced Matt.

"Can we join you both? We wanna help," Harry said with a concerned expression.

"No! Get lost! We need no help!" Max said sternly while glaring at the three boys.

"Don't look at me, it's not my choice to join you, it's more like a drag," Nat mumbled as he rolled his eyes. He saw the way Max glared at him and had no choice but to speak for himself. Matt shrugged his shoulders and looked away, he had no problem with Max and he was happy about it.

"Max, we have no time to waste. Let's just go, they can join us if they want," Zheren butted in as he saw the tension between the three boys. Max didn't say a word and began to walk away, Zheren sighed and made a hand gesture for them to follow him, his silence meant that they could do as they like.

Max activated his shadow skill because with it he could see what the ordinary eyes couldn't, he followed the path that the creature went and at the end, it led him to an enclosed building with a door that was left open. He stopped at the entrance and waited until Zheren got to him with the other boys. "I never asked you to join me and so, whatever happens, is at your own risk." The boys knew who Max was talking to and so none of them said a word and watched as he entered the building after which they followed immediately.

"This place is darker than I thought," Nat said more like a whisper while his eyes darted around the place.

"To think the school has a place like is what I never thought of," Matt added, sticking close to Harry who was quietly following behind Zheren.

As the five boys kept strolling, they passed by multiple rooms but none dared to open the doors. It has already been ten minutes since they entered the place but none of them noticed any unusual movements, it was more like nothing was there.

Max had almost turned to leave but just then he felt something walk past him swiftly. "Did you guys notice anything?" He asked and the boys shook their heads with a look of confusion on their faces. He looked in distance and there at the end was a large door, taller than them all. He could sense a strong burst of energy emitting out from the place, he tried to see beyond the closed door but it didn't work. This meant that whatever is in there is stronger than he thought.

"We are going in there, the girl should be inside," Max said to the boys behind him while pointing towards the door. "Now, I don't know if we can come out alive but whatever you do, remember you have a reason to live...." he paused in his speech as he stared at each of the four boys. Does he need to say more? No! It's not like he cared about any of them except Zheren but he felt like he needed to protect them all. Why? The reason he knew not. He sighed inwardly and gestured for them to move towards the door. He was the leader and so his spot was at the front with Zheren behind him followed by Nat, Matt and then Harry who decided to be the last person. Like this, they sauntered to the large door while their eyes kept darting around for fear of any unaware attacks.

The door they thought was locked surprisingly opened the moment they reached it. The boys backed away in fear but after a second or two, they were pushed inside by an unseeable force after which the door was banged shut behind them. They were not yet able to wake up from the first shock as their eyes fell on something so horrible — Something they believed they would not be able to explain with their mouths.

Before them, were three large piles of the same creature they were looking for, the only difference is how small they are compared to the one that took the girl. They all had their eyes closed but then they shot them open the moment the boys were pushed inside the place. With their three eyes, the creatures stared at the five boys, soon they began to drop down to the floor, it is at this point that the boys were able to see what they were concealing. Inside each of the three nests is the same creature they had seen earlier but they all looked different from each other.

"Why do they look like humans? Look!" Nat was the one who spoke while pointing at one of the creatures. "That one looks like... Kelvin! But how is that possible?"

The rest turned their eyes to the one Nat was pointing at and just like he said, it had a faint appearance of Kelvin. The same could be said for the other two, they also had the look of the other students that must have died the same way Kelvin did.

"How could it be?" Max mumbled to himself with knitted brows, how were they able to make these creatures look like the fainter version of the dead students? And what is their purpose?!