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⊹ Book 1 of the Aldergrove Duology ⊹
After being told he has only six months left to live, Clementine decides to track down his sister's murderers, leading him to Aldergrove Academy, a place...
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Clementine wanted to run. He had to run. But his trepidation kept him frozen. Whatever was on the other side of that door...it crept closer, a gruff, snarling-growl seeping through the gap between the door and the floor. He could hear the creature sniffing, and as sweat trickled down the side of his face, he swallowed a mouthful of pooling saliva.
It knew he was there.
He fought against his fear, forcing his stiff limbs to move. While his heart thumped in his chest, he hurried along the poolside as quietly as he could, and when the beast stopped sniffing under the door, he heard the handle begin to creak as it was pulled down.
A low grow echoed through the pool room as Clementine hastily darted into the changing rooms. The sound of paws hitting the wet floor sent shivers through his trembling body, and as a rumble of thunder drowned out the beast's roar, Clementine launched himself into the closest cubicle and shut the door. He crouched up on the bench and struggled to lock the door, his shaking hands becoming numb from the cold of the room. And to his utter horror, the moment the lock clicked shut, the changing room door creaked open.
He held his hands over his mouth, his breaths stifled, his body enthralled in a strange feeling of numbness and heavy fatigue as it grew tenser with each passing second. He needed to pant, he needed to collapse, but if he did anything but crouch on the bench and silence his breaths, it would be over.
The creature snarled quietly, the door squeaking as what sounded like a furred body rubbed against it. Clementine stared down at the floor, watching as a large shadow crept over the tiles. Every time the beast's paws hit the ground, a shiver of terror shot through his numbing, trembling body.
Whispers. They joined the beast's seething snarls, surrounding Clementine as he watched the shadow edge nearer. The putrid stench of sulphur and damp fur began to fill his nostrils, and as a paw twice the size of his own hand slammed down onto the tiles right outside his cubicle's door, Clementine felt he might just weep.
The creature's black-furred paws resembled those of a wolf, its long, jagged talons shimmering in the dull light shining in through the few windows. The creature growled quietly—Clementine could swear he felt the monster's breath against his skin, and as the hairs on his body pricked up, he shivered, gripping his face so tightly that his nails cut into his skin.
This was it, wasn't it? He had nowhere to go, and he was so overwhelmed with fear that he couldn't even try to come up with some sort of last-ditch plan to try and save himself. Whatever was on the other side of that door...it was going to kill him.
He scowled in mortification as he watched the beast lift its paw. The cubicle door shook, the monster snarled, and Clementine felt his heart drop into his stomach—
