What I saw inside the pipe made me freeze.
Five bodies lay scattered across the damp concrete.
At first glance, they looked dead.
Rotting.
Abandoned.
The smell alone was enough to make most people throw up.
The hunters who had followed me stopped behind me.
None of them spoke.
The sight was horrifying.
"A monster did this..." one of them whispered.
Then—
something moved.
My eyes narrowed.
One of the bodies had twitched.
"Wait."
The hunters looked at me.
"That one moved."
I rushed forward and dropped to my knees beside a young woman.
Her skin was pale.
Her breathing was weak.
But she was alive.
"Hey!" I shouted.
"Can you hear me?"
No response.
I lightly slapped her cheek.
"Stay with me!"
Slowly...
her eyes opened.
For a moment, relief washed over me.
She survived.
Then she smiled.
"You look... tasty..."
My blood ran cold.
"What?"
Suddenly, she began to shake.
Violently.
The other bodies started moving too.
CRACK.
Two horns burst from the woman's head.
Sharp fangs pushed through her gums.
Green veins spread across her skin like vines.
The others changed as well.
One after another.
Their bodies twisted.
Their eyes lost all humanity.
The people lying before me were gone.
Monsters had taken their place.
"Kyoren!" one of the hunters shouted.
"Kill them!"
I didn't move.
"They're still humans."
"No!" another hunter yelled.
"They're monsters now!"
The creatures struggled to stand.
Their transformations were still incomplete.
"Kill them while they're weak!"
Weak.
That word gave me an idea.
Before anyone could react, I grabbed a nearby coil of rope.
I moved.
Fast.
In seconds, all five of them were tied up.
Arms.
Legs.
Bodies.
Everything.
The hunters stared at me in disbelief.
I stepped back and wiped my hands.
"And stay there."
The five monsters growled and struggled against the ropes.
But none of them could break free.
Not yet.
Now I just had to figure out one thing.
How do you save a monster...
before it stops being human?