Chapter 154: The School Monsters

Clark POV:

That sentence did more than shake me.

It broke the spell that had frozen me in place.

I turned.

And ran.

But I didn’t get far.

From the shadows of the room — those corners I hadn’t dared look at before — something moved. No, leaped. A blur of snarling, growling muscle, all fur and fangs and pure nightmare.

A shadow dog. No, not a dog — not really. Something worse. Bigger. Thicker. Made of fur and long fierce jaws filled with sharp teeth and something even deeper, like it didn’t exist entirely in this world. The thing slammed into the wall just inches from my head, claws gouging through the concrete like cardboard.

I screamed. My legs almost gave out.

Another one followed it. Then a third. They were crawling out of the darkness like it was a door.

Three in total. Each had the outline of a hound but the wrong anatomy. Their joints bent the wrong way. Their eyes didn’t reflect light — they drank it. Their fur shifted unnaturally, like smoke clinging to a shape that didn’t want to be seen clearly.

One opened its jaws and let out a low, unnatural growl. The sound made my teeth hurt.

Nope. Nope nope nope.

I turned back and bolted into the hallway. My shoes slapped hard against the tile. My breath came in harsh gasps. I didn’t look back. I couldn’t.


They were behind me.

I could hear them — the scraping of claws, the deep, almost wet-sounding snorts as they sniffed the air behind me. One howled. It didn’t sound like a wolf. It sounded like a dying child wrapped in a bear’s growl.

I shot through the narrow hallway, barely dodging fallen scaffolding and busted tiles. My shoulder clipped a doorway, and pain flared, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.

I didn’t know where I was going.

I just knew I had to get out.

Had to survive.

Had to tell someone—anyone—what the hell I’d just seen.

Except... who would believe me?

"I walked in on werewolves doing God-knows-what to a girl in a sealed building" wasn’t exactly going to get me anything other than a padded room.

And what if that girl had wanted it? No... no, Clark, stop thinking like that. You saw her eyes. You saw her face.

It wasn’t lust.

It was terror.

I rounded a corner and nearly crashed into an overturned desk. My shin hit the edge and I went sprawling.


"FUCK!" I shouted, barely catching myself.

There was a locker door ahead. I didn’t think. I dove toward it, yanked it open, crawled inside — knees tight to chest — and pulled it shut.

Darkness. My heartbeat slammed in my ears so loud it drowned out everything else.

Then... footsteps.

Not the padded ones of the creatures. These were... barefoot.

Deliberate. Slow. Echoing.

A shadow passed the narrow slits of the locker vent. It was tall. Too tall. The hallway light flickered, and for one brief second, I saw a silhouette — hunched over, arms too long, neck too thin. Not human.

fingers along the lockers.

I was

creatures from the lecture room? Had they

a God I wasn’t sure even worked on this

The scratching stopped.

right at


"You smell like fear."

I squeezed my eyes shut

again, fading. A beat passed. Then another.

Was it gone?

Was it—

SLAM!

locker door burst open and I screamed, falling out.

"kid?"

My eyes snapped open.

Reed.

an annoyed look, arms folded, his yellowish-ringed eyes glowing faintly in the

fuck’s sake, you are a magnet for trouble," he muttered, grabbing me by the arm and

My mouth opened


you seriously go into the old wing?" he asked. "You really are trying to

them," I choked out. "There were these—these things—wolf-faced guys. And then dogs—huge dogs. And—there was a girl. A girl

gave me a sharp look.

I was looking for Sara and—and she disappeared and that redhead

said. "You’re panicking. Stop breathing like that. They can still

blinked at him.

university? kid, there are corridors

turned his head, listening. The hall was

Too quiet.

helping you," he said. "But lucky

were in there?

I’ll give you one hint, Clark—this university isn’t a place for people like you. You were supposed to blend in. Stay

grabbed my shoulder tightly, his nails digging in ever so slightly — not enough to break skin, but


seen your

"I don’t believe in vampires or

leaned down close again, his lips barely an inch

hope they don’t believe in you

yanked me by the hand and started

a panic attack. Like someone annoyed they were once again stuck babysitting

keep up, heart pounding so loud it echoed in my ears. The distant thrum of music told me

It didn’t.

Not even close.

now. More abandoned than before. All the excited chatter had faded, replaced with cold silence and the click-click-click of Reed’s boots against the

But then—

I heard it.

A sound.

Whimpering.

just around the corner

sound human. Or maybe it did, and that made it

enough to

Too

stop. But he did

he stared down the

that darkness would’ve exploded into ash. He stared at it like he dared whatever was behind the corner to come

yanked me again, harder this time, pulling me in the opposite

was that?" I whispered, not sure I wanted an

He didn’t respond.

Didn’t have to.

whole posture said:

wasn’t for

eyes scanning every shadow like he was expecting an

even more dangerous. The

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