"Mmmmmm"
"Shit"
I groaned.
Everything hurt.
Not sharp—
not clean—
Heavy.
Like my entire body had been punched a thousand times. My legs felt impossibly numb, and I felt a million stabbing pains in my arms.
I didn't want to move.
Just wanted to lie here.
Forever
I wanted…
I blinked.
The ceiling was gone.
And the ceiling above that
And above that.
Did I crash through that?
Is that why I lie here, embraced on all sides by snapped wood panels and chunks of broken drywall?
Air passed out of my nose. I took my time with it. The smooth air tickling my nostrils was the only thing I could feel right now. It was… a satisfying sensation.
The air smelled dry—stale. Of rotting wood and drywall.
Dust trickled on my face from above. Some rolled into my eye—it burned.
"Tch–"
Cough.
Across the room.
My bloodshot eye shot open.
"Come on… stay with me."
It came from a woman.
"We have to get her help… she's gonna die."
Another.
"But how? Where?"
I pushed myself up, and as I winced, my arm trembled under the weight. Dust fluttered in the air, assaulting my nose as I inhaled.
It burned.
As I coughed, the dust exploded in the air. Annoyed, I swiped my hand through the sea of dust in my face.
I could finally see the room in full. Chunks of ceiling were scattered across the floor. Desks overturned. Walls cracked. The room was wrong. It didn't look like your typical classroom.
It had collapsed.
Students were scattered—groaning, coughing, dragging themselves upright. Faces painted in confusion and agony. In the middle were the two students I had heard earlier had already composed themselves. They were wide awake, kneeling beside…
Miko.
She lay in the centre—eyes shut. Her body was limp. She was covered in torn fabric—makeshift bandages—and her face…
Painted crimson.
Blood…
Too much.
"Mi—ko—" I struggled to speak the words.
The students' heads shot in an instant—Locking onto me like a hawk.
"You."
Their eyes were stretched wide, and their lips trembled. One of them pointed.
"Get away…
It was you who did this"
"I… killed that thing."
I pushed myself up. Searing pain shot up my arm as I pushed.
"We'd be dead… if—"
"Now's not the reason to argue."
Krista's voice cut through the tension in the air. The students looked at her as if she were the guiding light in the dust.
"Krista."
She flashed me a soothing smile. I tried to smile back. But failed miserably.
She took a step towards me—
Then another—
"Of course you'd say that," the woman said, "You two are in cahoots."
She crouched down and wrapped an arm around my torso—lifted me up along with her.
"Whatever you think about him, or me, it doesn't matter. We need to get out of here"
"You ok?" she whispered to me.
"Yeah,"
I winced.
She rolled her eyes.
Sensation faded back into my legs slowly. Krista loosened her grip on my waist. I shifted my weight onto my legs—
Sharp pain.
My left leg failed.
I dropped.
Krista grabbed me.
"I'm fine—I'm fine"
"Don't push yourself."
The two students' gazes shifted between us and each other. Their brows were lowered in sympathy and slight pity.
We tried once more, this time I put weight on the leg before she let go.
"You ready?" she asked.
I felt the ground at my feet. testing the weight—my leg. It felt natural.
"Yeah. Go for it."
She slowly loosened her grip around my waist.
My legs held firm.
Is my power still fading?
I've been through worse than that.
And yet—
"So."
Krista looked me directly in the eye.
"What the hell was all that?"
I opened my mouth—
click.
We froze.
clickclickclick—
No.
No, no—
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
The floor moved.
They crept in through cracks—
Though slits—
Through gaps.
Spiders.
Everywhere.
Gathering once more.
Pulling together.
Climbing over each other.
Merging.
Forming.
I didn't move.
Couldn't.
It rose.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Humanoid.
Two legs.
Two arms.
Almost human…
But not.
Its face had no eyes. Just hollow indents. Like something had been carved out.
A mouth—
just a dent—
It watched me.
The spiders shifted.
First dark black.
Then—
faint.
Purple.
My chest tightened.
It looked down at itself and turned its arms. Flexed its fingers. Its eyes scanned every inch of its surface area.
Learning.
It was like some creepy hivemind.
A hive of spiders.
Then—
It looked at me.
The dent that formed a mouth shifted. Stretched. Moulding into—
A smile.
Something inside me snapped.
I didn't think.
I changed.
Purple flooded my body.
Heat.
Pressure across every inch.
Everything tightening—
then releasing.
I stood.
It stood.
Silence.
Then—
The building shook.
Hard.
Violent.
Something outside—
Muffled explosions—
distant—
but close enough to feel.
We stood completely still. Waiting. The students around us slowly crept away—the two women carefully dragged Miko away.
The frame of the room rattled.
Then—
Eventually—
Stopped.
Silence.
The creature moved first.
Fast.
Too fast—
It hit me.
The wall shattered behind me—
then another—
We crashed through both.
A sudden stop—
Another wall.
Air ripped from my lungs.
I grabbed it.
Threw it off.
We were in the corridors.
Tight.
Broken lights flickered.
It came flying in again.
I swung.
Connected.
Or so I thought.
It shifted through—the spiders parted.
My fist was stuck.
I tugged and tugged.
Nothing.
The surface gave way. Soft, then gripping.
Spiders poured over my arm.
Crawling.
Fast.
Numerous.
They pulsed—purple.
I felt a buzzing inside my skin, like something inside of me was reacting to it. Then they began pulling—as if it was trying to take me apart.
"Get—off—"
I punched and punched, but they phased straight through.
Fuck.
This isn't working.
I need to try something else.
Wait…
I remember—
Back during the first Grossaint invasion.
I slammed my palm into its chest.
Purple surged down my arm—converged in the centre of my palm.
It burned.
Tightened.
Released.
Its body exploded.
Spiders unfurled like a spider-web.
Silence.
They moved again.
Split.
Two.
Both charged.
Punches flurried from both sides.
I grabbed them—
forced them together—
Impact.
They merged—
into one again.
I clenched tightly on both fists.
They began to crack.
It tugged—tugged.
Suddenly—
A fist burst out of its chest.
Bang!
Straight in my face.
I stumbled backwards.
Something moved—
behind me—
Too late.
The floor—
formed—
A fist.
Bang!
I flew forward—
into a room—
A Reverb chamber—ice cold white
Everything echoed.
Every step.
Every breath.
Reverberated.
It followed.
Hit me again—
Sound exploded around us—
layered—
stacked—
loud—
I ground my teeth—the sound reverberated.
Punching wasn't working.
I changed.
Slash
It split.
Slash.
Split again.
Blast.
Chunks of it tore away.
Spiders filled the gaps.
Again.
Again—
again—
again—
It kept reforming.
Didn't matter.
I kept going.
Until—
Both hands pressed into its chest.
Everything I had in the centre of my palms.
Swirling—tightening.
I let it go.
The blast tore through it.
Spiders—
Evaporated.
Nothing left.
Silence.
I stood there.
Breathing.
Empty.
My hand buzzed—
I slapped it—echo.
Nothing.
No spiders.
Just purple matter swirling.b
Was the buzzing in my head?
Silence.
Then I turned.
I walked back through the empty halls. There was a deafening silence. My stomach felt hollow. The creak of the floorboards pierced me to my core. The corridors stretched for what felt like miles—never-ending.
Empty.
I took a step. Something felt odd on my feet, like there was something under my foot. I lifted it—
A piece of blue fabric…
Soaked in blood.
My stomach rose—I fought the urge to vomit.
That…
Used to be—
Someone.
Until those spiders…
Why…
Why couldn't I do anything?
Why couldn't I transform?
"Useless…
I'm so—"
"You made me try… You know that?"
"You're here."
"That's enough."
I clenched my teeth—
flicked the piece of fabric from my foot.
I couldn't do anything to help them…
But I'll make sure no one else suffers.
I approached the classroom door, half broken—wood chips clung with every last thing they had. It was laughable—what was the point in the door still being there at all?
I clenched my fist.
I pushed it open.
Krista's head shot up.
"George."
She ran toward me—
then stopped.
She raised a hand—
Lowered it.
Her eyes searched me. She wasn't sure what she was looking at—whether she could touch me. Her eyes were conflicted. She looked me up and down.
"What's wrong?" I asked, "Don't like what you see?"
She smiled.
"I'm just… shocked."
I felt it.
Her eyes met mine.
I let go of the pressure.
The purple faded.
Back to me.
I smiled—small—my attempt to meet hers.
She crashed into me.
Arms tight.
"I knew it," she said into my shoulder. "Something dodgy going on."
I let out a breath.
Didn't realise I was holding it.
I felt her heart pounding against my chest. It was fast. I lifted my arms, wrapping them around her. Whether it was me or not, I'm not sure, but her heart began to slow.
"You scared?"
"Not all of us have powers."
She mumbled into my chest.
"I'll explain later," I said.
"Once we're out."
Her head pulled away from my chest. She looked at my eye—switched to the other, then back to the other.
"That's a promise… no more lies."
I snorted.
"Depends… white lies can be good."
She nudged me with her shoulder.
"I'm joking—yeah, I promise."
She nodded. But still didn't let go straight away.
Cough, cough.
From the centre of the room.
"Miko?"
I stepped away from Krista—she followed.
Miko groaned and moaned—still unconscious. She was cleansed of blood and wrapped up in ripped fabric from the two students beside her. She rustled on the jackets she lay on.
"Is she ok?"
"She's unconscious," one of the students said. "We need to get help."
Yeah.
She's right.
But is it safe out there…
Those explosions…
They sounded close.
But I'm sick of this place—sick of everything. I just want to go back to how things were.
Back to my mundane normal life…
A beat.
Where are you?
I opened my eyes.
I wrapped Miko up in a jacket and picked her up. She was light—too light. She's lost too much blood.
Fuck.
She came in here to help us…
And then ended up getting hurt.
"Let's go."
We moved.
Through long Hallways and down tall Stairs. All way too quiet for comfort—too empty. The smell of blood lingered in the air, bringing back the image of the blue piece of fabric now burned into my mind. It causes a swirling sensation in my stomach every time I think about it.
Then—
tick.
My heart dropped—I stopped.
"…George—?"
"Shhh."
We listened…
For a few seconds…
Hearts thumping.
Nothing.
I sighed—long, shaky.
We kept going.
The main foyer lay just ahead—the Entrance.
Light—finally.
Except—
Gunfire—
outside.
We stopped.
Waited.
Shots blared.
Soldiers wailed.
Until eventually—
silence.
I didn't trust it.
I changed again—purple light wrapped around me.
"Stay behind me."
I stepped outside. The twilight sun enveloped me in its light. Damn, it's been that long. I looked down the steps, about twenty or so—
And froze.
A battlefield.
Two sides.
Facing each other.
Humans.
Aliens.
Stood dead still—waiting—weapons raised. Among them, I noticed a person looking straight at me. His brows slowly lowered as his eyes widened. He nudged the woman beside her and pointed. As soon as she saw me, it was like she'd seen a ghost. Without a second thought—as if her body urged her to do so—she lowered her weapon.
I stepped forward.
In confusion, the aliens followed her gaze.
Stairs—not many, but enough that the walk felt long. Every step felt like a boulder dropping.
The aliens turned. As if instinct took over, their weapons lowered.
I placed one foot on the tiled floor—then the other.
They had completely forgotten about the human soldiers, and, to be fair, so had they. The alien formation had broken unevenly. One raised its rifle at me. But the hands that held it trembled—the gun couldn't hold still. If it fired, I doubt it would land a hit. But I didn't want to wait and test that.
I took a step forward.
It mirrored me—
Then took another step away.
They moved out of my way without so much as a peep.
I walked through them.
No resistance.
Their eyes just stared—all at me—befuddled and unsure of how they should react. Their bodies trembled—trauma flowing back from our last meeting. As though I were their species' greatest enemy.
A threat to their very existence.
But I didn't even know who they were, let alone have a reason to threaten them.
I reached the woman.
Still staring.
"…Miko!"
A voice snapped her out of it.
I handed her over, carefully.
She took her.
I heard a click.
But I didn't pay it any mind.
There were more important things to worry about.
I turned.
"It's not safe—get out of here," I said.
"Take them with you." I pointed at the other students.
Silence.
"We can't," she said.
"There are alien camps surrounding us."
Of course there were.
I sighed.
"I'll clear them, just get ready and—"
CRASH
Behind us.
The building—
split.
Something tore through it.
Fast.
Violent.
It landed in front of me.
The Hive.
Again.
But—
different.
Bigger.
Sharper.
And—
Purple.
Glowing.
Pulsating.
Just like me.
Spiders crawling across its body gave the same aura as the matter flowing on me.
It tilted its head.
Watching me.
Learning.
Mirroring.
I stepped forward.
So did the Hive.