12:09:57
The air felt wrong. Heavy and suffocating.
Aarav pressed his fingers against his wrist, instinctively checking his pulse. It was racing far faster than it should, each beat hammering against his skin.
12:09:58
The light dimmed, not gradually like evening, but unnaturally, as though something was bleeding into the sky itself.
12:09:59
A low vibration spread through the ground beneath their feet, subtle at first but impossible to ignore. Aarav inhaled slowly, forcing control into his breathing as a single thought settled in his mind.
Something is coming.
12:10 PM
The world shook.
Dark reddish-black clouds twisted violently across the sky, churning like infected blood. Then, without warning, something tore through them. A massive shape crashing into the ground with devastating force.
The impact sent a shockwave through the campus. Glass shattered. People were thrown off their feet as dust and debris filled the air.
From the crater, it rose.
At first glance, it resembled a lion. That illusion shattered almost instantly. Its limbs were too long, its joints bending in unnatural directions as if its body had been assembled incorrectly. Black tentacles writhed from its back, dragging across the ground like living shadows. Its head hung sideways, neck twisted at a broken angle, yet it moved.
With a sharp, sickening crack, its head snapped into place.
Then it attacked.
A man charged forward in panic, swinging his sword wildly. The creature didn't even react. Its claw moved once, passing through the man's torso as if there was no resistance at all.
For a brief moment, nothing happened.
Then his body split apart, blood erupting as he collapsed in two uneven halves.
A woman turned to run, but a tentacle lashed out, wrapping around her leg and yanking her violently backward. Her body slammed into the pavement with a dull crack before being dragged across the ground, leaving a thick trail of blood behind her.
Screams filled the air. Desperate, panicked, and short-lived.
Aarav's eyes locked onto a fallen student nearby. His mind reacted instantly, categorizing the injuries with clinical precision.
Severe trauma. Spinal fracture. Fatal.
His hands trembled.
No. Not now.
"Aarav!" Rohan grabbed his shoulder. "We need to move. Now!"
Aarav forced himself to respond. "Terrace," Aarav said immediately. "Higher ground. Fewer entry points."
Pranav nodded without hesitation. "Let's go!"
They ran.
The stairwell had turned into chaos. People pushed and shoved in blind panic, trampling over anyone who fell. Someone screamed behind them, but no one stopped to help.
"Don't slow down," Aarav said, his voice steady despite the situation. "If we stop, we die."
A heavy impact echoed through the building.
The floor trembled beneath them.
"That's not footsteps…" Rohan muttered, his voice shaking.
Another impact followed, closer this time. A scream rang out from below.
"It's inside! Run!" A voice followed.
Metal clashed as someone tried to fight back. A weapon struck the creature barely leaving a mark.
Aarav's eyes sharpened.
Damage. Minimal. But real.
Then the creature moved again, faster than before.
"Not enough," Aarav muttered.
"Almost there!" Rohan shouted.
They burst onto the terrace, wind rushing against them. The sky above looked wrong. Too dark and too alive.
Aarav turned back. No one else followed.
"Close the door," Aarav said.
Rohan shouted, "Wait for the survivors to come"
Aarav closed the door anyways. Rohan got furious and grabbed Aarav's collar and asked frustatingly, "Why? Why, you bastard? There might be people down there"
Aarav with his eyes facing down, "I will only prioritize our survival"
They slammed it shut and dragged whatever they could find. Metal tables, broken furniture stacking it against the entrance.
Pranav leaned against the barricade, breathing heavily. "Do you think this will hold?"
Aarav didn't answer. His fingers pressed against his pulse again.
Still racing. Still rising.
Think.
If it followed them, it wouldn't stop.
"Get ready," Aarav said quietly.
Rohan swallowed. "Ready for what?"
Aarav reached into his bag and wrapped his hand around the pistol.
"For that monster."
A faint sound came from the other side of the door.
A tap.
Then another.
The metal bent inward slightly.
Pranav's voice dropped to a whisper. "No…No. No.."
The impact came without warning.
The door shook violently, cracks spreading across its surface as the barricade shifted under the force.
"It's breaking through!" Rohan shouted.
"Hold it!" Aarav snapped.
Another attack slammed into the door. Dust fell from above as the metal warped further inward.
Pranav stumbled back, panic breaking through. "We're dead…"
Aarav exhaled slowly, forcing his breathing to steady.
"No."
He raised the gun.
The next impact shattered the door completely. Wood splintered, metal twisted, and debris exploded inward, filling the terrace with dust and smoke.
For a moment, nothing could be seen.
Only heard.
A low, wet breathing sound echoed through the haze.
Then movement.
A tentacle slid across the ground, followed by another, as a massive silhouette stepped forward through the dust.
The creature emerged fully, its twisted head tilting as it locked onto them.
Aarav didn't move.
Didn't look away.
Three humans.
One monster.
And nowhere left to run.