The Noble Shall​ Never Have To Die Again

3

Chapter 3

Monsters

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Brian and Bane stood at the centre of the atrium, looking around at the doors. Bane was shaking with fear, most likely due to the monsters possible return. Brian on the other hand remained calm and with a clear mind.

"Where should we start?" Brian asked. Bane looked around, before pointing to the double doors. Brian nodded, and walked over, grabbing the doorknob and pulling at it. Like before, it was locked.

"No, use the key." Bane said.

"Oh, right." Brian said, opening his bag and taking it out. He put it into the keyhole, before attempting to turn it. Unfortunately, it didn't move.

"Huh, well that's not the library then." Bane spoke up.

"Yep. Looks like would be though, but whatever. Let's go right." Brian said, setting off in that direction. He didn't know what was fueling him at this point, curiosity to solving the secrets of the mansion, determination to find Nath before something happened to him, or the will to keep a level head for Bane's sake. If he started freaking out, they'd get nowhere. He sighed. For the sake of his friends, he had to remain calm.

Brian turned the corner and froze. The the door right at the end, when he last saw it it was locked, was now slightly ajar.

"That door was locked before." Brian stated. Bane looked over, back at him and smiled.

"That's a good thing. Nath might have been hiding there, he locked the door when you were looking, and left after you did."

"Makes sense." Brian admitted with a shrug, and walked over to the door. The chance of Nath being there was slim to none, obviously, but he still wanted to see what was in the room.

Right in front of them was a sink, a medicine cupboard (which was locked) and a set of shelves, filled with things like towels and bath supplies. On the other side of the room, separated by a divider, was a bathtub and a large mirror covering most of the wall. Brian stared at his reflection on the mirror. His reflection stared back at him. He looked messy and tired, he had only been in the mansion for about 20 minutes, half an hour at the max, but the mirror made him look like he had been trapped for weeks. His pale skin looked paler, his normally flat hair was messed up and in need of a brush. He wasn't sure if it was the mirror making him seem like this, or thisis what he looked like now. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know.

"Brian, I need your bag." A voice startled him back into reality. He looked round to see Bane's head glancing over into the room. He frowned.

"A-are you alright? You look tired."

"I'm trapped in a mansion with no way out and according to you, I'm also being hunted down by a monster. So please, excuse me if I'm tired." Brian said, maybe slightly harsher than he intended.

"Oh yeah, I'm sorry." Bane said, biting his lip. "But anyway, I found these, they might help if the monster attacks." He said, holding out some bandages and a small first aid kit. Brian nodded and took, putting them in his bag for later.

"Ok, that leaves one more place, on this floor at least, where the library should be. That door on the left, near the kitchen."

"Okay then, let's go. We have the key though, so Nath can't have unlocked it though. Maybe he did go upstairs, and I just didn't hear him?" Bane asked.

"Thats the only logical reason. Come on, there might be a clue in the library, or maybe some supplies." Brian said, letting Bane leave first before following.

They stood in front of the door, key in hand. They glanced at each other, before putting it in. It fitted.

"Ah, great. So this is the library, it seems." Bane said. Brian nodded. Before they could turn it, there was a strange hiss-like roar, a loud crash, like something heavy falling over, and a yell of pain. A familiar yell of pain.

"Nath!"

Brian turned the key and threw open the door, bursting into the room. He froze in shock. He would never forget the scene in front of him for the rest of his life.

The room was filled with bookshelves, with a large, cluttered table on the left. A set of bookshelves in front of him had fallen over, resting on the wall behind it. The books covered the floor in front, and in the center, lying in what looked horribly like blood, was Nath. His eyes were closed and the back of his head, barely visible against his deep red hair but matting it together, was covered in the liquid.

But still, that wasn't the most horrifying thing. About two metres away from him was a monster. Its legs was covered with a purple fog, which covered a radius around it. Dark purple skin. Jet black claws. Glowing lilac eyes. The monster Bane had told him about. So it was real.

He was startled back to reality by a loud scream. He looked around and saw Bane, pupils contracted with pure fear and backed up, screaming. He looked back into the eyes of the monster. He was off guard.

It swung at him, catching him in the chest. Luckily for him it was the back of the claws, he would have been shredded if hit by their sharp front edge. It still hurt though, and left him winded. Bane ran behind the monster and over to where Nath laid. Brian silently cursed him for not helping fight it, but also couldn't blame him. He was no fighter, and trying to battle it would just end in tragedy. He knew he would have much better luck trying to help his friend. He realised the monster was about to attack again, and he scrambled away to the other side, aiming to get the monster away from his friends.

He remembered about the plate shard still in his bag, and pulled it out in a hurry. He brandished it at the monster like a weapon. The monster stared at it, then seemed to smile. Or its lips curled upwards, he wasn't sure if it could truly smile. It gave a series of small, growling sounds that sounded like laughter. The monster was mocking him. Fury overcame Brian, and with a war cry he ran at the monster. He jumped to avoid a low swing that would have knocked him to the ground if it connected, and dug the shard into its arm, making a long tear down the side of it. Purple liquid spilled from the wound; it's blood. He attacked him again and again, landing hits on it when he could. He was hit several times, but the adrenaline in his veins caused him little to no pain. Red and purple covered both beings as they stood opposite each other, panting and with a desire to kill. Then the mist around it gradually grew upwards, soon covering the entire monster. Brian watched as the fog dispersed, leaving no trace of the monster except the purple stains that covered him and his surroundings. So the monster could teleport, or turn invisible to escape, he couldn't tell. He just stared at the spot where the monster had disappeared.

"Brian, get over here! I need those bandages an that first aid kit!" Bane's voice unfroze him, and he ran over. He took off his bag, gave it to him and cleaned his makeshift weapon on his shirt, staining the white with purple. He put it in his pocket when he was done, and he got up, leaving Bane to patch Nath up by himself.

"Okay, all done. It's not neat, but it'll stop it getting worse. Hey Bri- what are you doing?" He said, looking around for him and realising that he was over by the table, searching through the various items scattered upon it.

"Just looking through these. Might be a clue to escape somewhere, or maybe a -oh, speak of the devil." He said, picking up a large book and watching a silver key fall out of the spine. He picked it up and read the label.

"Room 203. Know where that is, Bane?"

"I think so. The room I hid in was 201, so it should be on that floor."

"Okay, let's go."

"S-stop! We need to let Nath rest, and you need patching up too. Let's go to the bathroom, we can pick up some more stuff there. Stop rushing things, think about it." Bane said, standing up slowly. Brian thought about it, before nodding.

"You're right. Sorry. I'll help you with Nath." He said, heading over and taking his bag from Bane, putting it back over his shoulder. He helped Bane with picking up his friend, and held the doors open so he could get through. And after some struggle, they made it to the bathroom.