17 Ch 16: Awakening (I)

It was the middle of the night. The mansion was dark and quiet. All of the servants were either within their chambers in a deep slumber or guarding the mansion. The fangs were alway surveying the area, but they do appreciate the help of the knights protecting the Devinsworth family and other servants that are incapable of fighting.

Lucius was sleeping quietly when a sudden flash of light shined on his face. He woke up and found that the light was flashing outside his windows.

'I hate nightmares.' He thought.

*Slap*

It was a universal knowledge to slap yourself to wake up from either a dream or a nightmare. Yet after slapping himself, Lucius found that he had not woken up. 'Huh... I thought that would've work.' He walked off his bed and checked the window.

Beyond the tree line was smoke and flashing lights. At first he thought that it was a smoke signal but the forest started to burn after a few seconds. It was clear to him now that something was happening, and that something was definitely not something he wanted to be apart of. 'Perhaps i should just keep sleeping and ignore it.' He thought. However, a rising tornado of flames had appeared right on top of where the flashes had been.

After taking a deep breath, Lucius wore the clothes that he could grab. Thankfully he had only one style of clothing that did not mismatch like an mmorpg character wearing armour. He opened the door and found that the halls were completely dark and empty. Lucius would've grabbed anything that produced light, however, he had nothing but enchanted relics that were used for protective measures.

His bracelet could emit light through a shield made of magic but it would drain the mana gem on said bracelet. Lucius ran and knocked on several servant chambers yet no response were given. He guessed that it was either they were dead or heavily asleep.

Lucius met a cross in the hallway. Thankfully he remember a portion of the mansion where his room was located. But a sudden metallic smell had entered his nose.

'Th... The f*ck happened here..?' When he turned around the corner, Lucius spotted the bodies of servants everywhere.

All their bodies were either ripped to shred and was only recognizable by the size of the lump of flesh, or severed limbs scattered around the floor, walls, and ceiling. Lucius guessed that their killer had used a sharp weapon to kill them just by the shape of the splattered blood on the walls.

Lucius recovered from his shock and started to run to the opposite side of the hallways. A detour was much better than facing whatever made such a scene.

While running through the silent halls, Lucius felt an eerie feeling. The fangs should've prevented the killer from entering the mansion. 'Maybe they're busy... The thing outside maybe them fighting the killer.... But if there is a chance that their are multiple killers, then i may have to run.' It was unknown whether how the killer got inside, however, Lucius' current objective was to survive.

Of course, the first step he needed in order to survive was to find a secure area. What else is better than the most secure room(according to his opinion) in the entire mansion to hide in. On the first floor was a room he found when he was little. A small storage room filled with edible fruits and several other products that may help him survive and hide. He had already mapped out the area of his route in order to secure the most efficient path to safety.

But suddenly a shriek echoed through the hallways. It paused Lucius from his sprint. 'That wasn't normal.' Lucius thought. The shriek sounded nothing like any human vocal cords could imitate. He contemplated whether or not to jump out the window and arrive at the first floor. But he merely shook his head and ran once again.

After a few minutes of running he finally found the stairs. He was about to run down the stair when he saw the other end of the hallway. There was one single light that lit up the darkness. A candle that was being held by a maid running towards the stairs. Yet she seemed to have been running while her body was shaking.

"Y-" Before Lucius could say a single word, a monster with sharp claws had pinned her down from above.

The maid screamed in fear. She was terrified beyond belief that her face had gone extremely pale. Her quivering body struggle to release itself from the monster's grip while her eyes were focused on the monster's head.

She grabbed the fallen candle and flailed it onto the monster, hoping to scare or frighten it away. Yet, she only felt despair after seeing the creature's teeth.

It had a hairless body that had stitching around it's limbs. The colour of the skin was deep violet with an unbearable odor. Sharp and curved claws protruded from it's arms. But upon close inspection, they were sharp bones that had broke through the skin. It's head had a half a meter long neck with large holes on the side. They seemed to have functioned as nostrils. A long piece of cloth covered it's head, it had dried blood staining every inch of it. And finally, long and thin teeth decorated it's jaw. Pieces of flesh and an eyeball was stuck in between.

The creature swiftly slashed her throat with its bone covered arm. Her final scream came out as a gargle while her hand fell limb.

*Crunch*

The creature began eating the corpse. It had all happened in a matter of seconds yet Lucius felt that it had been an hour. Her blood began too pool around her and the candle held was drowned in her own blood.

With calm and steady footsteps, Lucius was steadily walking down the stairs. It was regrettable that she had died but the he needed to move his own ass to safety.

He had thought that he was finally safe after entering the first floor. However, the creature upstairs had finished devouring the maid and started to hunt once more. It started sniffing the air and found Lucius' scent.

Of course, Lucius wasn't staying anywhere near the creature. He had made a beeline towards dining room and managed to arrive in under 2 minutes.

A shriek was once again heard. When Lucius turned around, he saw the creature running straight at him. 'Oh F*CK!' Without a second thought, Lucius closed and locked the doors. Thankfully the room had two ways in.

'Kitchen, now!' His couldn't think straight anymore due to the fear. But he still kept his rationality.

*Thud* *Thud* *Sccrrrrhh*

The creature was forcing its way in through the locked door. It's sharp claw scraping at the walls and door echoed through the room. Luckily enough for Lucius, the kitchen door was open. However, it could only be locked from the dining room. He made a choice and closed the door. The lower cupboards was his makeshift hiding place for now.

As he entered the small space, he heard the doors bust open. The creature was now at the dining hall. It was searching the room while sniffing the air. Antennae like spines stood on it's back, waiting to sense any vibration in the air.

Large thuds filled the air as the creature had wandered around. Lucius was calming himself down in order to plan his escape. 'It uses it's sense of smell to hunt. What if i cover my smell? It doesn't have eyes so maybe i can just walk pass it.' But the question was, how will he cover his smell? Unless he could somehow cover himself with any substance that disguises stench then he needed a better plan.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

The creature ran straight towards the kitchen with its large limbs. Lucius' heart started to beat faster and faster after knowing that the creature was sprinting towards his direction. The doors slammed open and the creature was slowly sniffing the air.

*Grrrrr*

Its quiet growls gave Lucius a shiver down his spine. He was fully prepared to run out in full sprint when he heard the sound of bones crushing. Lucius took a peek out and found that the creature was enjoying itself on a hanged piece of meat. It was unknown why ut was there but it saved him from making any unnecessary risk for a distraction.

Quietly and slowly going outside, Lucius had a brilliant idea. The doors could only be locked from the outside of the kitchen. He would have enough time to escape from the creature after locking the doors.

*Click*

When he finally locked the doors, he sighed in relief. There were no knowledge of the creature's existence, or so what he had read so far, in the history of Behellin Kingdom. 'This wasn't a 'dont worry problem' this was a 'VERY worry problem' dad!' Lucius criticized his father for not informing him of such a threat. Perhaps he could've prepare more if he knew what the emergency had been.

Lucius decided to pat himself in the back by exiting the dinning hall in a relaxed manner. A slight sense of fulfilment had spread to his ego after traping the creature. Everything was going his way. 'What could possibly go wrong?' He thought. Little did he know that those very words were going to bite him back.