I signalled at Matt to stop. The stench of blood was unbearable-something had happened, and I had a feeling it wasn't good.
"What is it?" Matt whispered to me.
"Stop, and don't make a move unless I tell you to. Something is wrong," I said. "I'll go inside. Jaz, come with me. The rest of you keep watch."
The scent grew stronger as we approached the laboratory. It was secluded, all right, but from what I saw and smelled, it was probably piling up with dead bodies inside.
I made my way slowly to the metal door-it was left ajar, and there was a bloody handprint at the lock, as if someone was trying to get out but couldn't. I pushed the door open, tried to take in the sight before me. The only light that illuminated was from a dim lightbulb that hung above the operating table so bloody that someone had probably been bled dry or tortured in the worst possible way.
My eyes scanned around the lab- I saw three dead bodies, all armed and wearing protective armour.
"Guards," Jaz read my thoughts. "Something happened here not long ago. The blood's still fresh," he made sure to keep his voice low.
We made our way further into the old building-from the research Jaz had made, I knew the lab only had a ground floor, and a basement.
"Get Matt and the rest inside to keep watch," I told Jaz. He nodded, pulled out his phone and sent Matt a quick text message.
The stairs were slippery with blood. I nearly tripped over another dead body- the guards had no match against whatever killed them. Their bodies were all mangled, torn apart viciously. No human could have done something like this.
"They were here," I said, catching a whiff of their scent. "Bane and Raphael. They were here."
"In this cell?" Jaz said, flashing his torchlight at the empty cell. "Oh hey, evidence your friends were here," he pointed the light to some carvings on the wall, stifling a laugh.
Bane is a S.O.A.B.
Raphael is a N.O.O.B.
"Yes they were," I rolled my eyes. "But we have to find out where they went."
"Did they do all this?" Jaz shone his light on the four dead bodies. "Damn, they're hilarious, yet vicious. I can't wait to meet them."
"You will, if they're alive," I said, heading for the stairs. There was nothing in here that could help us. And whoever that Lachlan guy was, I was sure he wasn't one of the dead bodies lying around.
As I reached the top step, I sensed something was terribly amiss. It was by instinct, and it was definitely right. Jaz bumped into me from behind, and I stopped him with one hand. Someone else was here, and it wasn't one of us.
"Missed me?" that voice, ever-so-familiar. The voice that belonged to someone I despised, someone I wished I had never met, someone...dead.
The man was dragging something along with him as he stepped towards me, and I realized it wasn't a something-it was a someone. In his other hand was a rifle, probably owned by one of the dead guards.
"I said, missed me?" the man stepped into the light, a wide, ominous grin on his hateful face.
No, this couldn't be true. This just wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening.
"Help me!" my heart sank when I saw the person he had his arm around. It was the girl, the youngest among us. The most innocent among us. "Let me go!" she cried.
"Now, Jared. Where were we?" he aimed the rifle towards the girl's head, and loaded it. "Oh yes," he licked his lips. "...revenge."
And before I could even blink, he pulled the trigger.
YOU ARE READING
HUNT, OR BE HUNTED
Mystery / ThrillerHe was always blacking out, always confused, losing control of his actions. And when he did, he would have no memory of it. What he didn't know was that there was a monster inside him, a monster that he couldn't control. Once it took over, not a sin...
