The Guardians of Mankind: Darkness Rising

Chapter III: Key Information

Later that night, in the campus library, Onji and K.C. were sitting across from each other exchanging notes over the English assignment that was due on Friday when Onji saw an odd, shadowy figure moving out of the corner of her eye. She instantly looked up from the table in the direction of the shadow, slamming the book down on the hardwood surface and startling her friend. "Jesus, Onji!" K.C. exclaimed. "Why did you do that?"

Onji shook her head and scrunched up her face. "Sorry, I thought I- never mind," she sighed. "Anyway, let's get back to the assignment."

K.C. studied her partner with a peculiar look. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked. Onji glanced over to the dark corner where she previously saw the shadow figure, before looking back at the other girl and nodding. "Yeah, I just need to take a break is all," she lied. "Maybe get some air."

K.C. arched her brow suspiciously but nodded anyway. "Alright. You go get some air, and I'll get us some coffee, okay?"

"Okay."

Then K.C. got up and walked away from the table, leaving Onji to stew in her thoughts. Once she was alone, Onji heard a deep unearthly growl coming from the dark corner of the room, and looked over one last time and nearly jumped out of her seat when she saw a hulking shadow of a behemoth monster with horns sprouting from its head and a pair of glowing blue eyes glaring at her through the darkness.

"Oh, hell, no!" Onji squeaked, standing to her feet.

Then she pivoted on her foot and bolted towards the exit, which was on the opposite side of the library, as the Minotaur from her dreams leaped out of the shadows, and started barreling after her. With every step she took, it seemed as though the distance between her and the exit grew, while the distance between her and the Minotaur lessened as it closed in on her. But that did not deter her, as she pushed over bookshelves and tables, and chairs to slow the monster down, buying her some time to get away. By the time she made it to the door, her lungs were on fire, and her arms and legs had turned to jelly as sweat poured down her face.

Despite this, Onji reached out to open the door just as the Minotaur bulldozed through the last obstacle in his pathway. However, despite her best efforts the door refused to open. Onji looked back and screamed when she saw how close the monster was getting. "Come on! Come on!" she yelled, as she yanked on the door handle with all her might. But it still would not open.

All at once, she felt an oversized clawed hand grip her up tightly and throw her against the wall, knocking the breath out of her. Then right before she lost consciousness due to the impact of the hit, she heard a deep, raspy voice in her head, say, "You are the key."

"W-what?" she trembled.

"You. Are. The key," the voice said again.

"The key to what?" Onji choked out, realizing the voice was coming from the Minotaur.

Instead of answering, the beast curled up his fist and slammed it down on her body, and that was the last thing she saw before everything went black.

Just then, Onji sat straight up in her seat shouting with a... paper stuck to her face? She peeled the sheet of paper off her cheek and immediately noticed the drool stain on it. She looked around and noticed that everyone's eyes were on her, including her professor. That's when she realized that she was in the middle of class, her Occult Literature and History class, to be exact. She must have fallen asleep during Professor Sommers's lecture.

"Well, Ms. Newton, do you have anything to add?" the professor asked pointedly in a British accent.

"What?" Onji grumbled.