2 Chapter 1: The Wolf

Thump. Thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

The rapid heartbeats in her chest left her drowning in a mess of emotions. Cold sweat trickled down from her temples to her chin. Her eyes were squinted tightly, desperately holding back her tears in vain. Her fists were clenched so tight, she did not notice that she was very close to drawing her blood. She dragged her sleeves against her rebellious eyes and rubbed harshly in jerky swipes. But it seemed to make matters worse.

Why won't they stop dropping! She thought. Tears don't change anything. She was disgusted with herself from being so weak, so fragile, so utterly useless. She wanted to tear her eyes out and wring them dry of tears or throw them out for those monsters to feed. That's what all they were capable of. Weak pieces of monster feed. They seemed to survive another day just to end up in the rotten stomachs of those creatures the next day. And they couldn't do a damn thing against it.

How could they? When those were monsters made out of rotten flesh and blood. They roam around the campus with wide snarling jaws filled with glinting steel. An endless harsh grating noise, that seemed to come from the depths of hell itself, echoed in the dead of the night. It became the sound of their nightmares. The symphony of their hellish reality.

No one knew where those monsters came from. Those beasts didn't have eyes. They might have noses if it weren't for those massive sets of teeth. They were stacked like rows upon rows of bloody teeth as if they were an orchestra of butcher's knives, polished and sharpened to cut another day's meal. Blood was dripping from their maws with each heavy step they took. The stench of fresh meat permeated the air. They had to tightly clamp their mouth shut and breathlessly clench their abdominal muscles from vomiting or whimpering.

Fresh meat. Freshly slaughtered humans that could have been either their friend or classmate. It could have been their professor in some class or the ladies serving the canteen. But they are all lumps of ground meat and bones somewhere in those monster's stomach or some random pavement in the campus.

Who knew how they hunt for preys. Weak and stupid little prey that they were. They had to constantly run and hide. They couldn't just stay still. It could be have been their scents or just the tiniest of sound, that attracted those monsters. It could have been anything else, those monsters never seemed to fail in butchering survivors. They snap up a whole body in moments like birthday cakes. It was a blessing they didn't hunt in groups...just in pairs, for all it was worth.

Which led to the death-trap they made themselves. There were more of them roaming inside the building. But in a room, with only one exit barricaded by desks and shelves, and window panes that reflect an eerie dark reddish glow, they were all trapped.

She wasn't sure how she knew, but her gut feeling told her that there were at least four. For what it was worth, those beast weren't close enough to warrant all her senses blaring from danger signs. It was like a built-in radar. She didn't know when or how it began, but she will never doubt it. It was the reason how she could last a full two days in bare safety. And that was why her eyes frantically roved the people inside the room. There was something there inside the room. It wasn't like those terror-filled alarms that sent her heart beating faster than a hummingbird's wings. No, it was more like an uneasy feeling that unnerved her. Like a butterfly in the midst of struggling out of its cocoon. The only problem was, she wasn't sure if it was either a butterfly or another of those monsters. And it wasn't alone.

Out of the eight people in the room, at least three of them gave her that feeling. There was another person that she was very wary of. He gave her a feeling of utter disquiet. With him, she was entirely sure of a monster just waiting. Just waiting to finally break out of the cage in human skin. And it terrified her.

Great. She was trapped with three cocoons and a wolf in sheep's clothing. There were others but they didn't know. No one noticed. This internal radar or something in her being was both a blessing and a curse. It left her alone feeling wary against fellow humans, and safe against predators.

She watched as some of them shiver in fear, wanting to scream and cry out but couldn't. Just as they were physically trapped, they had to fiercely clamp their despair. They had other people comforting them. She didn't envy them. Truly she didn't. She was alone in her corner. She preferred it that way. It was better—safer for her. It would keep her alive that way. They had their own spaces, for what little good it did to their collective piece of mind.

She couldn't stop that one drop of tear falling. Goddamn it! Helpless and frustrated, she pressed her palms against her eyes forcefully. Enough! Enough! It doesn't change a damn thing!

It was useless, but they just won't stop. Tears after tears silently escaped from her palms. She slowly slid down, her back leaned on the wall as the strength slowly left her shoulders. So alone. She felt so small and so alone. Like a small boat floating in an endless span of the still ocean.

A ripple disturbed her, she flinched as sensed that monster-to-be came closer to her.

"Hey." It whispered as it came close to her with slow measured steps that were very loud in her ears. And yet, the voice seemed familiar.

"Stay back!" She spitted out almost breathlessly. Her heart thundered against her ribcage. She had to brace herself from screaming and bolting far, far away. She had to grit her teeth and bit out each word in warning, her voice sounded grating against her ears, "Just. Stay. Back."

Don't come near me! Stay away! She wanted to scream, to run, to escape, but she can't. She had to choke back the scream bubbling painfully in her throat.

There was a slight rustle of cloth. She could hear his measured breaths as he sat down to her left, a little too close for comfort.

"I can't say 'Nice to see you again' in this hell," he mumbled softly. She kept her herself tightly locked as if she couldn't hear him. "You should have been in your hometown. Why are you even here, Lizabeth Hart?"

Lizabeth flinched in realization. "It couldn't be," she mumbled in disbelief. Like a puppet, she raised her head stiffly. Brown eyes met green eyes, " D-dimtri Vasile!?"