Shapeshifters

2. Tainted in Blood.

Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. Run.

I can't scream, I want to scream, this building is full of people, people in danger, they have to escape, Morgan is dead, Morgan is dead, Morgan is dead, Morgan is dead, Morgan is dead, Morgan is dead, Morgan is dead, Morgan is dead, Morgan is dead.

I feel like I'm in a nightmare where I run through the halls but they never end, It feels like time has stopped and at the same time everything is happening too quickly to comprehend, the walls are a blob of color and shadows, and my legs are burning as I make out the steps of the main stairs in the darkness, it's a miracle I don't lose control and roll down them.

My chest hurts, I've been holding my breath for too long, my knees protest every step, I'm going to pass out, I can't fucking pass out, I bite the inside of my cheek until I taste blood until the pain brings me back to reality, I don't know where I'm going, its claws are tearing through the wood floors above me, God help me!

A thought invades my mind like the rescuing beam of a lighthouse: The north wing, I have to run to the back of the convent, the oldest part of the building where the walls are still made of carved stone, the hallways are too narrow for it to make it through.

I can't afford the luxury of hesitation, I can't stop, not for a second, I hear its giant body drop to the first floor with shattering force, destroying the furniture as it looks for me.

I have 5 seconds before it finds me, I can see the door to the north wing. It's oxygen I'm competing against, the wet clothes are constricting my joints, weighing a million pounds at this moment, my hands reach the door.

In the motion it takes me to stop, turn the knob and pull the old door to what could be my only chance of survival, the beast notices me, and it only takes a split second to cover the distance between us with one lunge.

I throw myself forward into the darkness, one of its claws strikes me, a thin line of fire licks my back and I'm thrown even further, rolling out of control of my limbs until my body hits the opposite end of the hallway, my head hits the stone with a damning thud, flashes steal my vision, I'm lightheaded, I'm gonna die.

Move, move, move!

The voices in my head are like catastrophe alarms, everything in my system is failing. I blink frantically trying to get rid of the spots on my vision, force it to become clearer, I see the creature...

I was right, the hallways are too narrow for it, It is stuck where the wood becomes stone, one monstrous arm forward trying to reach for me, its claws scratching the floor directly in front of me. Like a cat trying to kill a rat in a hole.

Stupid, human, visceral relief washes over me for one second. One second.

That is all I have until I hear the sounds of cracking bones and crumbling stones over my roaring heart. The beast is breaking its own shoulders to fit through, it's clawing its way in, shattering the thick walls with pure strength only.

A violent sob tores my chest, power drains from my fingertips, I slam my hands against the wall behind me, forcing my body up, look everywhere and nowhere at the same time, the hallways to my left and right look the same, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know...