Chapter 33 Creatures of the Night
THE FIFTH ELEMENT 🌊🔥🌪️⛰️☯️
CASSIE'S POV~
I was deep in sleep, dreaming about chaos ripping through the school. I don’t know how it started, but everyone was running, scrambling for a safe place to hide from whatever disaster was tearing the place apart.
I heard Madeline calling my name. I slowly opened my eyes, not sure if this was still a dream or reality.
"Cassie! Cassie, you gotta wake up! Something’s going on out there. We have to go see what it is." Madeline’s voice was tight with worry.
"Huh?" I managed to say, still half asleep, trying to make sense of her words.
"Cassie, come on. We need to go." Madeline shook me, snapping me back to reality.
"What’s going on? What’s all that noise?" I said once I was fully awake.
"I think our school is under attack," she said.
"What? What do you mean? What are you talking about?" I asked, panic starting to claw up my throat.
"Look, this might sound weird, but this school, this whole realm, isn’t all magic and sunshine all the time. There’s a danger that lingers out here. Outside the gates. But sometimes, it squeezes itself in with us. Which is the main reason why we train in combat in the first place," she explained.
"Wait, I’m lost. Are you saying we’re in danger right now?" I asked her.
"Exactly what I’m saying. We need to move. Go somewhere safe," she replied.
"Somewhere safe? I don’t get it," I said, still confused.
"Just shut up and follow me. Please," she snapped.
"Fine. But you still have to explain this better."
"I know, I know. I promise when everything dies down, I’ll explain everything. Even more. Okay?" Madeline said.
"Okay," I said.
Madeline nodded and went straight for the door.
She cracked it open slowly and peeked through before throwing it wide and motioning for me to follow.
I saw that she was tiptoeing, so I mimicked her steps.
We were passing the doors along our dorm when Sage’s door flew open.
Both Madeline and I almost screamed, but we slapped our hands over our mouths after a small shriek escaped.
"Shush!" Sage hissed at us.
"Sorry. We thought you were something else," Madeline whispered.
Sage just rolled her eyes.
"Let’s just get to the safe place without drawing any attention to ourselves," Sage said and took the lead.
"Okay, boss," Madeline said sarcastically but still followed.
We walked down the hall quietly until we passed a certain room.
The door was wide open, and we could see exactly what was happening inside.
I froze. My stomach dropped.
A figure that looked like a man, but wasn’t. I’m not sure what it was. A gust of black smoke, or shadow, bled off his body in thick, writhing tendrils.
His eyes were black as a moonless night. His hands were twisted, fingers too long, joints bending the wrong way. Inhuman.
He looked like evil given flesh.
This creature had his hand clamped on the head of an innocent student. There seemed to be an exchange of energy, because the black smoke surrounding the creature was pouring into the boy’s nostrils and ears.
The poor boy thrashed, trying to break free, but couldn’t.
After a few seconds, the boy stopped struggling.
The next thing that happened was what terrified me the most.
The creature let go, and the boy staggered before finding his stance.
Black veins spiderwebbed across his face. When he opened his eyes, they were midnight black. Identical to the creature’s.
All of us were frozen. None of us moved.
Madeline mistakenly stepped back, and the wooden floor gave a loud crack.
The two pairs of black eyes snapped to us.
Oh no. They heard it.
"Shit! Run!" Sage screamed, and the three of us bolted.
We ran as fast as we could.
I wasn’t as fast as Sage or Madeline. I was behind them.
I kept glancing back to check if the creature was chasing us, and unfortunately, it was. It was faster than I thought.
I feared it would catch up to us soon.
Me in particular, since I was last.
"Come on, run faster! We’re almost there!" Sage yelled at me and Madeline.
I tried to run faster, but my legs wouldn’t move any quicker than they already were.
Sage stopped in front of a giant door and pounded on it aggressively.
Madeline caught up to her and joined in, hammering on the wood.
The giant door suddenly flew open. It looked like a lot of people were already inside.
I sprinted to meet them. Everyone inside was cheering me to run faster.
I was almost at the door when my foot hit uneven ground and I tripped. I slammed into the floor.
I knew I messed up when I looked up and saw everyone’s faces frozen in shock.
Oh no.
I slowly turned to look back, just to see the creature right behind me. Mere inches away.
I was frozen with fear. I couldn’t move.
The creature slowly raised its hand, reaching for my head.
I almost gave up. But I recovered when a blast of fire shot over my head from the opposite direction and slammed directly into the creature’s hand.
I looked toward the fire and saw Jake standing there. His eyes were blazing gold mixed with red.
He looked pissed. Not scared. Pissed.
"Get up," he said without even looking at me, and I scrambled to my feet.
He conjured a blazing fire sword with his mind and gripped it with lethal grace.
I ran behind him to shield myself from whatever happened next.
He threw a fireball at the creature, and the creature winced in pain, staggering back.
"You should go inside with the rest. I’ll handle this," Jake said to me.
"No. I’m staying," I argued.
He gave me a frustrated look before launching at the creature with his sword.
I stood there, not knowing how to help.
I thought hard on what to do and decided to try something.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.
Seconds passed, and my eyes stayed shut.
When I finally opened them, I saw that the creature had its hand on Jake’s forehead, and Cara was launching at the creature with a sword of her own.
I took a good look at the creature, trying to make a connection with its mind.
Then I got it.
The creature let go of Jake and its shoulders sagged in defeat.
Confusion flashed across Jake and Cara’s faces.
They didn’t understand what was happening.
I smirked as I made the creature kneel in front of us, its head bowed.
Jake looked back and forth from the creature to me.
So did Cara.
So did everyone else watching.
I looked over to Jake and signaled for him to finish it.
Jake nodded as if understanding the signal.
He raised his sword above the creature’s head and drove it through its skull.
The creature’s body hit the floor dead, and gasps echoed from the people inside the safe room.
"Whoa. What the hell just happened?" Cara asked, her eyes still on the creature now lying on the floor.
🔥🔥🔥
The students hiding in the safe room reluctantly came out one by one.
We all gathered around the creature’s body in silence.
Eventually, everyone sat on the floor, waiting for the morning sun to rise.
No one could sleep after what just happened.
☯️☯️☯️
Once morning light spilled through the dorm hall windows, everyone decided it was safe and started chattering about what went on last night.
I got looks from every direction. I heard people whispering my name.
The sound of the door open
ing got everyone on their feet.
"Goodness. What in heavens name happened here last night?" Principal Bellweather asked, her eyes fixed on the creature’s body lying in the center of the hallway.
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