Chapter 70: Something outside now

Damien’s heart raced. The voice was calm calm, and it sent chills down his spine.

“Show yourself,” Damien said, gripping the edge of a broken table.

A figure stepped out of the shadows. Dr. Vale was tall and thin, wearing a long dark coat. His eyes were sharp and cold, almost glowing in the flickering light. “I’ve been expecting you,” he said.

Lyra tightened her fists. “You’ve been experimenting on people, turning them into monsters, haven’t you?”

Vale smiled, sharp and cruel. “Monster? No. I call them improvements.”

Cole stepped forward. “Damien, we need to be careful. He’s dangerous.”

Vale laughed softly, the sound echoing across the empty building. “Careful? That’s funny. You all came straight to me. I didn’t even have to find you.”

Bryce stepped closer to Damien. “We didn’t come here for a joke, Vale. We’re stopping you.”

Vale’s smile widened. “Stopping me? You really have no idea what you’re walking into.”

The lights flickered again, and suddenly, more figures appeared behind him. Half-human, half-monster, glowing eyes and sharp claws. Some had scales, others had fur like wolves.

Neo took a deep breath. “That’s… not good.”

Damien swallowed hard, feeling the weight of fear. “We have to fight,” he said, his voice firm.

Maya raised her hands. “Wait. Watch his movements. Don’t rush.”

Vale raised his arms slowly. “I’ll make this easy for you. Fight, or watch your friends become my next experiments.”

Lyra stepped beside Damien. “We don’t have a choice.”

Vale’s creatures lunged at them. Damien moved fast, dodging a claw that came for his head. Lyra kicked one of the scaled monsters in the stomach. Neo swung his silver blade, cutting one across the shoulder.

Cole grabbed a pipe and hit another creature, forcing it back. Bryce threw a bottle of holy water at a smaller figure. It screamed, smoke rising from its skin.

Maya shouted, “Stay together! Watch the corners!”

Damien charged at one of Vale’s creations, hitting it hard with a wooden plank. The monster shrieked but didn’t fall. Another jumped at him from the side. He rolled, grabbed a shard of metal, and stabbed it in the leg.

Vale watched calmly, almost enjoying the chaos. “Good. Fight. I want to see how far you can go.”

Lyra grabbed Damien’s arm. “There are too many. We need to regroup.”

They moved back toward the center of the room. Maya grabbed a small pouch from her pocket and opened it. “Everyone, listen. This is wolfsbane powder, not the normal kind. It burns hybrids and weakens the enhanced ones.”

Jack looked at her. “You want us to throw it at them?”

“Yes. But Damien, you have to get close. Only you can distract them enough.”

Damien’s jaw tightened. “I can do that.”

Vale’s creatures began circling them again. One lunged at Damien. He dodged and kicked it back. The others closed in fast.

“Now!” Maya shouted.

Damien turned sharply, drawing the creatures toward him. Lyra, Maya, Neo, and Cole threw the wolfsbane powder at the monsters. The blue powder spread across their bodies. They screamed, smoke rising from their skin, and some fell to the ground.

Vale’s face twisted into anger. “You dare use that against my creations?”

Damien didn’t answer. He ducked another attack and kicked a clawed creature hard. Lyra moved fast, grabbing another monster and hitting it with a metal pipe. Neo and Cole kept swinging their weapons, pushing the others back.

Vale took a step forward. “Impressive. But you’ll need more than that.”

Damien turned to Lyra. “Keep throwing. Don’t stop.”

She nodded and threw another handful of powder. It hit a tall creature with fur and red eyes. The monster screamed and fell back into a pile of smoke and dust.

Vale’s creatures were weakened now, but Vale himself didn’t move. He just stood there, watching.

Maya ran toward Damien. “You can’t let him leave! His experiments don’t stop here.”

Damien nodded. He pushed forward, charging at the remaining creatures. Jack and Bryce helped, attacking the weakened hybrids. Together, they cleared a path toward Vale.

Vale’s eyes narrowed. “So, you’ve beaten my monsters. But do you really think you can beat me?”

Lyra shouted, “Yes! If we have to, we’ll end you here!”

Vale raised his hands, and suddenly the floor beneath them shook. The walls trembled. “I am not so easy to kill,” he said.

Damien felt the ground move under him. One of the weakened creatures jumped at him from behind, but he dodged and spun, hitting it with a metal rod.

Maya shouted again, “Damien, left!”

He moved just as she had shouted. Lyra threw the last of the wolfsbane powder, hitting Vale directly in the chest. Smoke erupted from his coat. He screamed, stumbling back.

For a moment, he froze. The blue smoke spread across his body, burning like fire.

Then, with a final roar, Vale disappeared in a burst of light, leaving only the empty room behind.

Everyone stood, breathing hard, staring at the space where he had been.

“It’s over,” Jack said, his voice shaking.

Maya shook her head. “No. That was just one lab. He has others.”

Damien wiped sweat from his forehead. “We actually did it… we beat him here.”

Lyra looked around. “We should check for survivors. Maybe some of the experiments are still alive.”

Cole nodded. “Yeah. We can’t leave anyone behind.”

Neo walked over to the piles of dust. “They’re gone. Mostly. But some creatures might have escaped outside.”

Damien clenched his fists. “Then we keep moving. We have to finish this.”

Maya stepped forward. “There’s one more thing. Two alphas contacted me before we came here. They said we need their help next.”

Jack frowned. “Alphas? Again? After all this?”

Maya nodded. “Yes. They said the doctor’s experiments are spreading, and even their strength might not be enough. They need our help.”

Damien looked at everyone. “Then we don’t have a choice. We go with them.”

Lyra’s eyes narrowed. “Do we even know if we can trust them?”

Maya shook her head. “We don’t. But we don’t have time to question it. He’s creating more hybrids, and people are at risk.”

Damien sighed. “Then we prepare. We leave at sunset. Whatever comes next, we face it together.”

Outside, the wind howled through the broken windows of the abandoned lab. The storm was still coming. The night felt alive, as if it was waiting for them.

And deep in the forest, something moved, watching, waiting, planning its next attack.

No one noticed, but the shadow was fast.

And it wasn’t alone.