Chương 34: Beast Cage

A short walk from her house, Willow scans the street from one end to the other, still holding out for Crimson. Her phone starts ringing, and she lifts it to her ear.

"Scara says we're on our way to pick you up."

"No, please don't. I'm sure he's coming. He's just... 26 minutes late."

"We're coming to get you." Larch arrives in his Porsché alongside Scara. He lowers the window. Oddly, the pallor has drained from his face, and a healthier flush has come back to his cheeks.

"Scara gets whatever Scara wants." Willow looks down the road once more. There's still no trace of Crimson.

"Come on, just get in. We can swing by his place and check if he's there." At last, Willow lets out a hesitant sigh. But just as she opens the door to climb into the back, her phone buzzes.

"Is that him, with the greatest excuse ever for being a whole half hour late?" Willow studies her phone with a curious look.

"Not exactly."

With their feet pounding across the school corridor's floor, Crimson and Churro sprint toward the exit at the far end of the hall. They arrive at the fire door handles simultaneously, pressing down and thrusting forward. The doors give way, but just a crack, clattering against something on the far side. Shoving once more, they catch that same metallic clang. Something waits on the other side, holding the doors shut.

"What the hell?" He squints through the narrow gap of the open door.

"It's a dumpster. A garbage dumpster." The pair gradually back away a few paces.

"He shoved it against the doors to trap us inside." Churro spins around, pressing his back to the door, digging in with his feet to shift the dumpster behind it.

"Help me." The door bangs against the dumpster over and over as he keeps straining to force it open." Churro, stop."

"I'm not dying here. Especially not dying inside a school."

"We're not going to die." They pull back from the doors once more, gazing down the opposite end of the corridor. But their wary advance grinds to a halt when Crimson pauses. He pivots toward the stretch of windows lining the corridor, gazing out at the courtyard and the far side of the school. Up on the roof, a shadowy figure crouches low in the dark, crimson eyes fixed straight on them.

He and Churro break into motion, sprinting, practically tripping over one another as the alpha springs from one rooftop level to the next, touching down and launching again in a single beat while he and Crimson tear forward. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Glass shatters behind them, spraying into the hallway as the Alpha comes crashing back into the school. He seizes Churro and hauls him toward the nearby stairwell.

"Down, down!" They bolt down into the lower floor of the school, fleeing for safety as Larch's Porsche swings into the lot. He steps out from the driver's side, tilting the seat forward so Willow can get out. Both of them cast a glance at the Jeep parked a few spaces over.

"What are they doing here anyway?

"All I got was this..." She raises her cell phone to show him a text: Meet me at the school.. Willow gestures toward the door left standing open. The bolt cutters rest upright against it, deliberately positioned to keep it propped open. Almost as though inviting Willow inside the school.

"You don't need me to spell out the obvious, do you?" From the Porsche, Scara catches the exchange between the two of them. And plainly doesn't care for it.

"Don't worry. I'll be right back." The moment she enters the shadowy passage, the bolt cutters lose their grip, tumbling onto the pavement... letting the door swing open with a noisy clatter.

Crimson and Churro slip back down into the school's basement, weaving around the corners. Above them, fluorescent lights sputter and blink with a buzz of electric crackling.

"We've got to do something. End it. Wound it. Torment its mind. Anything." Churro shoots a look at the doors with mesh-caged windows, old filthy lockers hanging open behind them. His eyes jump around as he scrambles for a plan, and then a door bangs open at their backs. The pair retreat into the shadows. Frozen in place, they catch an odd clicking along the floor, claws drumming on the tile. His's gaze travels from the narrow corridor to a pile of ancient administrative desks stacked along the wall.

Crimson follows his glance, watching an idea take shape. Slowly, ever so slowly, Churro slides his hand into his coat pocket and draws out his car keys. He lifts them into the air. They jingle faintly, making both boys wince. He glares at him, his eyes practically bulging out of his head. Especially once his friend cocks back and hurls the keys. They sail straight into one of the cage rooms, rattling against the wall. Something streaks past, a huge form in the dark, diving in after the keys.

With no hesitation at all, Churro bursts from the shadows and drives the door shut behind it.

"Crimson, grab the desk, grab the desk!" Barely a heartbeat to grasp the plan, and he dashes to a steel desk, ramming it hard against the closed door. he darts clear as the door lurches forward, striking the side of the desk. From within the cage room, the Alpha lets out a roar, crashing against the door. Yet the desk jams itself between the door and the wall across from it. Crimson and him look at each other, caught in a moment of sheer victory. The Alpha is stuck inside. They had trapped it.

Sitting behind the wheel, Larch fixes his gaze on Churro 's Jeep, scrutinizing it through the dark.

"Do you see that? That hood on that junk heap of a Jeep looks even worse than it usually does." He pushes open the door of the Porsché.

"Where are you off to?"

"Just going to check something out. Wait here."

"I'm not waiting in the car." The ferocity in her voice makes him turn right around.

"Alright. No need to freak out." He gets out, and Scara pops her own door open too. With her beside him, Larch trails his fingers across the dented hood.

"Just look at that. It really is a piece of junk. Can we grab Willow and get out of here now?" Paying her no mind, he bends in closer, spotting odd grooves carved into the hood. Almost like claw marks. Then he turns his eyes toward the school's doors. And begins walking toward them.

"What exactly are you up to? Are we going to pick up Willow? Larch?"

He and Crimson are now positioned on opposite sides of the desk, which is jammed between the cage door and the wall. With a slow gesture of his hand, Churro signals him to climb across. Yet he appears far too frightened to make a move. A breath drifts out from within the cage room. Both boys turn around. In the darkness they can't make it out, yet the Alpha is there, caged inside. Shooting Crimson a much more insistent look, Churro jerks his head toward himself, urging him to climb over the desk.

At last he stirs, clumsily sliding across the desk just as the alpha's hand smashes against the mesh wire window of the door, making both Churro and him recoil. They gaze at the enormous hand, its clawed fingers like talons poking through the gaps. Slowly it withdraws, vanishing once more into the shadows. Astonishingly, Churro begins walking toward the cage room. The cage shakes, as though answering him.

"That's right. We've got you. No. This thing doesn't frighten me. You don't frighten me. Because you're not going any..." All at once the Alpha springs upward, launching straight into the ceiling. The panels explode outward, tumbling and clanging onto the floor. Crimson and Churro look upward, frozen with dread, as the ceiling tiles overhead tremble, warping and bulging beneath the creature's massive weight. Utterly free now. They turn their heads to watch the panels above quake and shudder as the Alpha withdraws.