Eclipse part 2

Once again, Uriel was struggling to keep up the pace with the rest of the group. The only difference was now instead of simply lagging behind for a while, he might actually end up in the belly of a beast.

As the young students ran across the streets, daylight grew dimmer by the second. It was barely noticeable, but as time passed they were starting to have trouble dodging the debris and trash that was lying on the ground. Thanks to Sam's trait, though, they were able to remain on track and didn't get lost in the vast, intricate, city.

Their formation consisted on Sam in the front position leading the way, Luna and atomic followed closely watching the sides while in the rear Medusa was dragging Uriel like a kite.

"Don't run so fast, you'll tear my hand off!" Uriel complained.

"Don't be a crybaby and run faster!" Medusa replied without even turning her head.

His wrist hurt under the tight grip of Medusa's hand, but it was indeed better than the alternative.

When they finally arrived the block the building was on, it was as dark as during the night. Without a clear line of sight, they were forced to slow down their race to avoid accidentally stumbling into a cryptid like it happened with the black dog. Uriel took this chance to let go of Medusa, softly rubbing his wrist to ease the pain.

Little by little, small red dots were starting to appear in their surroundings through windows on the tall buildings nearby or lurking in the distance behind the cover of the shadows, threatening them with all the possible horrors their imagination allowed. Thankfully, cryptids were still far and scarce, filling them with the hope of being able to reach the safety of the building before getting swarmed by enemies.

Still, the pairs of eyes were increasing at an alarming rate and the obstacles on their way could be considered the same as landmines. All it took for them to draw the attention of the hungry inhabitants of the lost city was to kick a tin can or trip over a piece of rubble.

Right before taking the turn that would lead them to their destination, Sam leaned on the corner to take a small peek before advancing, but when he came back to his original position his face was pale and ghostly. Unlike the rest of his companions, he was able to perfectly see all the beastly abominations lurking in the shadows.

"We need to scatter. You go first Lightbringer, we'll follow one by one separated by a few seconds." Said Medusa, who could somewhat see better than the rest of his team thanks to the glimmer in her eyes, after noticing Sam's horrified expression.

Although that didn't bode well for any of them but Sam, especially for Uriel who was last in line, they all had to agree that it was, indeed, safer to walk at a distance from each other.

Sam walked steadily and silently towards the building, after a few seconds Atomic followed suit. It wasn't that he wanted to go second, it just turned out that he was right behind Sam. Then it was Luna's turn, then Medusa, and lastly, Uriel who by that time was completely by himself.

Step by step he blindly, stiffly, walked leaning on the wall knowing that if anything happened, he would be completely exposed and defenseless. He could feel the rough texture of the bricks, the concrete, the small bumps caused by the door frames as his hand slid across the surface of the buildings. He did his best to keep focusing on such details to prevent himself from thinking on what surrounded him.

Strange, rustling sounds could be heard in the distance, louder and closer by the second.

Without realizing it, Uriel had been holding on his breath for too long and was starting to feel dizzy.

Then, just a fraction of a second after he noticed the emptiness on his side that announced the presence of an opened door, a hand pulled him swiftly into building. Afraid to make a noise, Uriel let out a mute gasp and let himself be dragged inside without a struggle.

There was something wrong, the number of buildings he passed didn't add up. He had taken mental note of the place and knew more or less amount of doors he had to walk by to reach the building, and according to his calculations he was pulled inside the building right before the one he was supposed to get in. As if that wasn't bad enough, instead of the reassuring presence of his companions, all he could see inside was a couple of red glinting eyes staring right at him.

'This is it, I'm done for' He shut his eyes and braced for the worst. The only reason why Uriel didn't scream bloody murder on the spot was because he didn't want to attract any more attention to him or his group.

After a few seconds, when it became clear that nothing was going to attack him, he took a glance at the brittle light that accompanied him. The pale glow of the eyes allowed him to see the familiar outline of Medusa's cheekbones.

"For crying out loud, you almost scared me to death!" Uriel said amidst whispers.

"There was something blocking our way, I think it was a cryptid but I couldn't see it clearly." Medusa said as she retreated to a corner of the dark room to have a point of reference. She then walked further inside the building, only this time she was using her cellphone to light her way.

Uriel followed closely behind, there were a few low tables, potted plants, some leather couches and, although Uriel couldn't make anything of it, Medusa realized they were in the lobby of some sort of office building.

"We need to find a restroom." She whispered.

"Can't you hold on until we find a safe place?" Uriel replied a bit annoyed by her lack of common sense.

"That's not it, I think it's the best possible hideout, there's only one entrance in bathrooms and they're supposedly the safest place anywhere." Her idea wasn't necessarily bad, especially considering that if they take shelter in a place with a single entrance, they would at least know where to look for possible enemies.

"The problem with a place with a single entrance is that it also means there's only one exit. I don't want to become trapped, we should probably look for a place with two entrances and... Hang on a minute." Uriel said as he picked up his phone that just vibrated. "I think I just got a message from Luna."

Luna: "Hey Uriel, are you safe?"

Uriel: "Yeah, I'm fine, just couldn't make it to the same building you guys did. We are both safe and sound in the previous building."

Luna: "What do you mean, we."

Uriel: "Medusa couldn't make it either, she's with me."

Luna: "Medusa is with us."

Uriel: "What? that's not possible, she's right in front of me!"

Uriel: "Luna, that's not funny, stop messing around."

Cold sweat ran across his face as he realized the situation he was in. Essentially, Luna just told him that Medusa had been impersonated again, probably by the same shapeshifter cryptid.

Uriel managed to remain calm despite the harrowing situation and cranked up his brain. Then, he spoke to the person or cryptid in front of him:

"Medusa, I want you to take off a piece of your armor please." He said, mentally preparing himself for battle.

"What? You think I'm a shapeshifter?" Medusa replied squinting her eyes, the sheen on her face dimming softly.

"Not really, we can use our cellphones which means there aren't any cryptids nearby. Still, we're alone and we can't rule out the possibility that one of us may have been impersonated." Uriel replied.

"How do I know it's not you?" Medusa asked taking her distance and clenching her fists ready for battle.

"Because." Uriel took off the vambrace of his armor set.

"I see... Then I'll do the same." Medusa followed suit and removed her vambrace.

Both of them sighed in relief after confirming they were in the company of another person instead of a cryptid, completely forgetting for a brief moment that they were still trapped inside a building in the middle of a cryptid infested city in ruins.

"We need to find a way to reunite with the others." Uriel said after a while.

"But Miss Dragonfang told us to not huddle together and our current situation is not that bad." Medusa replied.

"That's not it, I think there's a shapeshifter in the other team. Luna told me you were with them and my last message couldn't reach Luna's cellphone, meaning there's probably a cryptid near her and since there's another Medusa..." He explained.

"No way! Again!? Why does that thing have to look like me again?" Medusa pouted.

"I think there must be a condition for it to be able to imitate someone's appearance. I can't be sure of what it is, though. Do you remember something weird from when you were running alone in the dark that time?"

"I don't know, it was all dark and I was scared and... No, wait, now I remember something grazed my skin, I thought I ran close to a thorny bush or something, but now that I think about it, there weren't any nearby."

"That must be it! That's the reason why it didn't look like any of us and, instead, limited itself to mimic you. We need to find a way to contact the others and let them know there's an impostor with them, or else..." Uriel's grim words resounded in the dark room.