My name is M.
Well—I prefer to introduce myself that way. People usually give me strange looks—how could they not? My name's a single letter.
Still, it was better than my birth name.
My father was a biology professor who was always away from home, probably doing research in some far-off place abroad. He'd given me a rather… peculiar legal name. (No, you don't get to know what it is. It's mine to bury :D )
I'm eighteen years old, a young woman, a first-year biochem student, and a future doctor in theory. My hobbies were books, scribbling down words that never mattered, and the occasional late-night grind in an MMORPG. I also practiced HEMA with my instructor whenever I could.
Not that any of that mattered now.
The stairwell plopped me straight into chaos. Other students were pouring down the steps from every direction, shoving past one another in a frantic attempt to reach the ground floor.
What an average "stay calm and leave the building in an orderly fashion" moment.
I let them drag me along, boots scuffling against the carpet, until we hit the lobby. The doors were locked. Of course they were.
When they opened, it wasn't the way doors should open as an explosion ripped them from their hinges.
There was silence. Then the screaming began.
"AHHHHH FUCK, WHAT IS THAT—MOVE MOVE MOVE GET AWAY!"
"Are they filming for a movie?"
"Is this augmented reality? Maybe a test?"
"What is—AHHHHH!"
"RUN!"
The wave of people turned around instantly, shoving back toward the stairwell. Some bolted up the steps, others hammered the elevator buttons in desperation.
The ones nearest the doors weren't so lucky.
I caught only glimpses—bodies mowed down in an instant, torn in half, blood splattering across the tile in bold, jagged streaks.
I thought the blood was kind of pretty. Don't get me wrong, it's horrible to see people dying, but…
My feet stayed planted. I couldn't quite process it. There was no gunfire, no pellets, no arrows—nothing in the air. No projectiles lodged in the corpses.
This wasn't a ranged attack.
Call it morbid curiosity, but I inched forwards.
No ranged weapon meant I might be able to take a quick look before running for it—and I still had my sword.
When the last stragglers vanished upstairs, I drew my longsword, gripping the dark grey carbon steel in both hands. I eased into a stance that would let me either fight or bolt.
The sound stopped me cold—wet clicks, groans, whistles. I'd never heard anything like it.
Then it crawled into view.
Oh. Cute.
The thing was an arachnid, but wrong. Its jet-black body was a misshapen lump, and where a spider's head should've been was a pulsating bulb of flesh and muscle. From the other end extended a mouth. A massive, snapping maw with teeth that looked jagged enough to chew through bone like paper. Inside was a disturbingly human-like throat, marred by a barbed, whip-like tongue that lashed and coiled in the air.
Every instinct screamed at me to run, but I eased backward instead, step by step, until my heel tapped the stairwell.
Careful, careful.
It hadn't noticed me. Yet. I wasn't going to risk that by suddenly bolting.
Why hadn't it noticed me, though?
I squinted at the creature and realized it had no eyes. Its tongue wasn't just a weapon—it flicked through the air like a snake's, tasting for prey.
I could appreciate the biology of this thing, whatever it was. It was pretty darn specialized for killing I almost admired it. Almost.
It stuck one of the bodies and hauled it into its mouth. The crunch of bones was sharp like popping candy. I kept climbing quietly, eyes averted.
Mid-chew, it froze. The headless lump of flesh twisted toward me.
Shit.
Alright, time to runnnnnnnnnnnnn—
Chitin slammed against tile. All six limbs moved at once, a deafening clatter hammering the walls as it lunged. I dove sideways as it smashed into the railing with the screech of tearing metal.
It can bend steel? Oh dear god help—
I sprinted for the next landing, yanking at the second-floor door. It was locked. My fists hammered the metal. "L-Let me in! Please!"
A face peeked from a dorm room window down the hall, eyes locking with mine before slipping away. The clicking behind me grew louder and faster.
I could almost feel the nightmare breathing down my back as faces peeked from doors and shut me out.
Cowards—shit.
Desperate tears formed in my eyes as my breath came short.
"Haff, haff…"
Hyperventilating, I vaulted up the stairs, trying every door. They were all locked, locked, locked. Third floor. Fourth. Fifth. Luckily, on the sixth floor there was an open lobby that I slid into.
Then, the sound came from above too.
Oh. There's two of them now.
Not so lucky.
I froze, the little pretty little bubbles of tears in my eyes bursting and trickling down my face. Huff, huff, huff… My breath came shorter as I hiccuped. My heart felt like it would explode.
The second one dropped down, gnawing a corpse like it was a snack bar. Both monsters' tongues writhed, tasting the air.
My face was wet and I trembled as the realization set in. I was cornered, and I was shaking so badly that I could barely hold my longsword. No, this was fine.
I smiled shakily.
Two versus one. Fine. I could handle that. Easy. Totally fine. (No. Not fine. Absolutely not fine. But saying it helped. God, please let me live, I'll be a good girl, I promise…)
I raised my longsword into vom tag. High guard. Blade above my head, tip angled back, knees bent. The ceiling was mercifully high enough to give me clearance. My form was decent. My odds were not.
Then, lucky me, the beasts slammed into each other, claws raking, tongues whipping, ichor spraying dark red arcs. They forgot me, clawing, biting, tongues lashing at each other like kitty cats as they fought and dark red ichor sprayed the flooring tiles.
While backing away, I bumped into a doorknob. It was a unisex bathroom door—and it was open. I slipped inside and locked the door behind me.
It wouldn't hold them, but, I don't know, maybe the bathroom's scent would mask mine—unless they could track me here.
I glanced out the window. Outside was a fire escape. That would probably work.
Can't say I'd ever put 'jump out of a window on the sixth story of a building to run from monsters' on my life bucket list, but here I was.
I pulled on my hood and zipped up my blouson. Pulling my cap's brim lower, I shattered the glass with my sword's hilt and hacked through the mesh. The, I sheathed the blade, wedged my body into the frame, and forced myself through.