Darkness hung over the abandoned ruins like a suffocating veil, pressing down on Cole, Jeremy, Asher, and the blond girl Mara as they scrambled through the crumbling remains of the sanctuary. Their breaths came in sharp gasps, and their footsteps echoed against the jagged stone walls, chased by the shrill, inhuman shrieks of the horrors pursuing them.
Cole, leading the charge, suddenly skidded to a stop. His eyes widened as he spotted something—a narrow crack in the wall, an escape route barely noticeable in the chaos. "This way!" he shouted, his voice desperate.
Without hesitation, they all bolted towards the opening, their hearts pounding wildly. But just as they reached it, a clawed hand shot out from the darkness. A sickening crunch rang out as the girl was yanked backward with impossible force, her scream slicing through the air like a razor.
"Asher, help her!" Jeremy yelled, but before anyone could react, the creature slammed the girl against the jagged stone, impaling her through the chest. Blood exploded from her mouth as she let out a choked, agonized gasp, her fingers twitching helplessly.
She tried to crawl, tried to reach them, but another monstrous limb shot down, sinking into her back with a wet squelch. Her body jerked violently, her spine snapping like a brittle twig. And then, with a guttural growl, the creature wrenched her in half. Her insides spilled onto the cold ground, steaming in the icy air.
Asher staggered back, horror-stricken. Jeremy gagged, his stomach twisting. But Cole? Cole didn't hesitate. He turned and ran.
"COLE, YOU BASTARD!" Jeremy shouted after him, but the coward was already gone, disappearing into the ruins without a second glance.
The creatures roared, their guttural howls filling the air as they advanced. Jeremy and Asher bolted, running with everything they had left.
But then—Jeremy screamed.
Something unseen snatched him, yanking him off his feet. His body was dragged backward across the jagged ground, his nails clawing at the dirt, leaving deep trenches in the earth. His cries of pain were drowned by the sound of tearing flesh as the creature's barbed tentacles wrapped around his legs, crushing them like fragile twigs.
"HELP!" he wailed, his voice raw with agony.
Asher spun around, eyes wide with terror. "COLE! HELP ME PULL HIM OUT!"
But Cole was gone.
Asher's heart pounded as he lunged forward, grabbing Jeremy's wrists. He dug his heels into the dirt, pulling with everything he had, but the creature was stronger. It yanked harder, nearly wrenching Jeremy from his grasp. Blood smeared Asher's hands as Jeremy's shredded legs twisted unnaturally.
"Don't let go!" Jeremy pleaded, his voice breaking.
Asher gritted his teeth, muscles burning, every fiber of his being screaming. The creature lunged forward, a massive, grotesque thing with dripping fangs and soulless, glowing eyes. Asher had no training, no experience in battle—just sheer desperation.
With a roar, he grabbed a jagged shard of metal from the ground and plunged it into the creature's chest.
The beast shrieked, recoiling, but it wasn't enough. Its clawed hand lashed out, slicing deep into Asher's shoulder. Hot pain tore through him, and he nearly collapsed.
Jeremy watched helplessly, his battered body useless. He wanted to fight, to help, but all he could do was lie there, broken.
Asher gasped, his vision blurring from blood loss, but he forced himself to keep fighting. His fingers fumbled over the creature's slimy, pulsating skin until he felt something—something softer. A weak spot. The heart.
Summoning every last ounce of strength, he drove the shard deeper. The beast shrieked, its body convulsing violently. Its glowing eyes flickered, dimming as a black, oily substance gushed from the wound.
And then, with one final wail, it collapsed.
Asher fell to his knees, panting heavily, his entire body trembling. The pain in his shoulder was unbearable, his limbs felt like lead, but he had done it. He had won.
But his victory was short-lived.
The ground began to tremble beneath them. A low, rumbling sound filled the air, growing louder with each second. Then—
A trumpet blast.
A deafening, otherworldly noise that echoed through the ruins.
Asher's blood turned to ice.
From every direction, the shadows moved. Eyes, glowing with malevolent hunger, emerged from the darkness. Clawed hands gripped the crumbling walls. Mouths filled with needle-like teeth twisted into hungry grins.
The malicious creatures had heard the call. And they were coming.
Jeremy couldn't walk. He was too weak, too broken.
Asher didn't think. He grabbed Jeremy, slung him over his back, and ran.
The pain was unbearable. His boots ripped apart, exposing his bare, bleeding feet. His lungs burned, his muscles screamed in protest. But he couldn't stop.
He ran.
Meanwhile, Cole had made it back to the survivors. He burst into the sanctuary, gasping for breath, his face pale with terror. "They're coming!" he choked out. "The creatures—they're coming!"
But the survivors were already dead.
Their bodies were strewn across the sanctuary in a grotesque display of carnage.
One man had been split open from the neck down, his ribcage pried apart like a broken birdcage. His organs spilled onto the floor, still twitching.
A woman hung from the ceiling, her body impaled through the mouth, her lifeless eyes staring down at Cole.
A child, no older than ten, was curled in the corner. His throat had been torn out, his tiny hands still clutching at the wound, as if trying to hold his life in.
Cole's breath came in short, panicked gasps.
Then—something moved.
He barely had time to react before claws tore through his stomach, lifting him into the air. He screamed as his insides unraveled, intestines slithering to the ground like wet ropes.
A second creature pounced, ripping into his chest, pulling out his beating heart. Cole gasped, his eyes wide in shock as the monster crushed it in its claws.
His body fell to the ground, twitching once before going still.
The creatures feasted.
And Asher?
He ran. He ran like hell, carrying Jeremy, pushing past the pain, the exhaustion, the terror.
Because if he stopped—even for a second—he knew they would die.