Cassius
The quartet walked through the bizarre and dark rooms, sometimes finding strange plants growing, other times encountering symbols written in blood on the walls.
"I should've studied more about these symbols"
Elliot muttered.
"There is no way you could've learned that fast, after all no one from our world has been able to decipher them yet"
Cass attempt to cheer up his friend didn't work.
'What a shitty situation'
"We don't need to worry about that, we're almost there"
The three's friend had said he knew a path that might lead to an exit, which was odd, since they hadn't been separated long enough for him to have gone that far. Still, Cass felt something off about their friend, but he couldn't quite tell what it was.
"I can't wait to get out of here"
Elliot only nodded grimly. Soon, his eyes met Cass's.
They both reached the same conclusion, something was weird, only Noah didn't seem to have noticed.
"Hey Noah, now that the danger's passed, give me back my pocketknife"
Elliot discreetly asked for his weapon, handing the flashlight-lit phone to the taller boy. Cass subtly moved closer to the friend beside them. Elliot seemed to be hesitating.
If it were up to Cassius, he would punch first and apologize later, if he was wrong and the friend was really a friend.
"Hey, my dear friend…"
The boy turned to Cass. It was strange. They seemed to be the same height, but the way he moved was ankward, like he wasn't used to being short.
Or wasn't short at all.
"Yes? You can speak Cassius"
Now that Cass started paying attention, it was weird, the voice didn't seem to come from the small figure. It came from somewhere far above the "friend's" head.
"I think I forgot, what's your name again? We've only been calling you friend"
Cass head began to hurt, letting out a muffled cry. He felt true terror, like a worm was burrowing into his skull. His memories felt distant… And when they returned, they were different.
"M-my name? Name? Name? Name?"
The creature slapped Noah's hand, making him drop the phone. The faint light couldn't reveal what was happening in front of Cass, but he knew the figure that had seemed small now looked taller than Noah. Two meters? Maybe more.
Cass didn't need any more confirmation. He jumped at the monster with all his strength. He had taken a few classes in karate, boxing, jiu-jitsu and even fewer in kung fu. But the situation called for a surprise attack. So Cassius did what he always did when he got into a real fight.
He fought to kill.
Of course, he had never killed anyone before. But this was different. Kill or be killed.
He punched the creature's torso with all his might. It had no eyes to stab and no neck to strike, so he aimed at any spot that looked like a vital point.
It was useless. With a single careless slap, the creature sent him flying across the room and crashing into the wall. Cassius panicked when he couldn't breathe from the impact.
A metallic taste filled his mouth as the creature calmly approached him.
Desperate and gasping for air, he tried to call to his friends.
His vision darkened. Cassius forced himself to stay conscious an tried to get up, only to see the creature right in front of him.
He was going to die. Not even tears or his friends could save him now. What the hell.
His last though before death would be a complaint, how fitting.
The creature released strange yellow particles into the air.
"N-name?"
While the bizarre attempt at communication was being made a not so tall boy leaned on the creature's flower-like neck and, in a swift motion, sliced the flower clean off.
A horrifying sound echoed trough the room as the creature collapsed.
The boy, wearing a cloth over his nose and mouth, began stabbing the creature's torso mercilessly. Dark red blood splattered across his grim face.
"Die! Die! Damn you!"
Unfortunately for Cassius, even though the creature was dead, he still felt his consciousness fading. Someone was shaking his body.
Slowly regaining his senses, he opened his eyes to see Noah crying in desperation.
"Cass! Thank God you're awake, for a moment I though we'd… Lost you"
Cass gave a weak laugh.
"Nah, I wouldn't die to a little monster like that. Stop crying Noah, you're the tallest and strongest of us, its kinda weird seeing you cry"
Noah wiped his eyes and looked behind Cass.
"He's okay"
A figure approached, his face covered in blood and with a piece of cloth tied around his mouth and nose.
"Elliot?"
The scary boy patted Cass on the shoulder.
"I'm glad you're okay. If weren't for your brave charge at that monster I wouldn't have been able to catch it off guard with my pocketknife. We're only alive because of you my friend"
Cassius coughed weakly.
"Of course! My martial arts classes weren't for nothing"
Noah smiled.
"They actually were! What saved us was you crazy att-"
"Deadly moves!"
Elliot and Noah gave up arguing, Cassius used Noah's help to stand up.
"Let's get the hell out of here. I've got a terrible feeling that monster wasn't the only one around"
They all agreed silently. Noah's flashlight helped to see ahead, while Elliot tore his shirt to make makeshift masks for his friends.
"Do you think there are other survivors in this place?"
Cass considered Noah's question for a moment. It of made sense for him.
"If anyone else was brought here, they probably died. We were lucky to only tun into one of those monsters"
Cass couldn't help but feel admiration for Elliot. Not only had he killed the monster, but he was handling a situation none of them had ever dealt with before, being in a place where every step could be fatal.
Noah silently agreed. He probably thought Elliot had everything under control. But Cassius knew better, he noticed Elliot's hands trembling.
"Noah, I can walk now thanks"
Leaving his friend to watch the rear for a bit, he approached Elliot, who seemed lost in thought and didn't notice Cass coming.
"Elliot?"
"Oh, hey Cass. What's up?"
His forced smile didn't fool the red-haired boy.
"You are okay?"
"Yeah, of course. Just a little shaken, we almost died"
Cass made an ugly face.
"Yeah, speak for yourself. I was beating that monster up until you stole my kill"
"Sure, sure if we can make it out of here, maybe you cand get a job as a punching bag. You've got a natural talent"
"When we get out of here. I'm going to marry a rich woman and live well until I die of old age!"
They both laughed. Cassius stopped mid laugh due a coughing fit.
"You are… alright?"
"I am fine. I just need to get out of this place. These damn tigh corridors are making me claustrophobic"
"Watch your mouth. Noah's gonna have a heart attack if we swear too much"
Cassius wondered whether "damn" counted as a swear word, but dropped the thought.
A noise echoed from further down the wooden hallway. The trio instantly regrouped and went on alert.
"Help! Please!"
Noah was already moving toward the sound when Elliot pulled him back by the arm.
"Noah, that person is in the dark and screaming. If it were really a human, they'd already be dead by now"
After Elliot whispered those words, Noah lost his composure for a moment, making a disturbed expression.
"I'm sorry"
"No worries. We're not going to fight. Theres a wooden table covered in vines up ahead. Let's hide under it and wait for the creature to pass"
Everyone agreed to the plan. The table looked like it had been moved from its original spot, after all, a table that big with no chairs nearby in the middle of a hallway made no sense. Vines covered the table all the way to the floor, hiding anything beneath it.
Cassius hesitated for a moment.
There was no way to know if a monster was already hiding under there, waiting for an idiot to crawl in.
Unbothered by those thoughts, Noah went in.
No screams. It was safe. Cassius felt a bit guilty for not going with Noah, but he bit his lip and forgot his regret.
"Help! Please!"
Again, the phrase was repeated with the exact same tone and timing between words. If there were a name for the "Uncanny valley" of voices, this would be it.
The creature was getting closer. Elliot looked at his two friends.
"Stay beside me. I'm going to turn off the light"
"Wait give me your pocketknife first"
Elliot seemed surprised by the request, but placed the weapon in Cassius's hand. I won't be defenseless this time. If that creature gets too close, I'll kill it.
Elliot turned off his phone's flashlight, and darkness embraced the trio. The sound of footsteps grew louder, and the bizarre voice followed.
"Help! Plea—"
This time the creature stopped. And Cassius realized something more terrifying than hearing the same sentence repeated was hearing the creature cut itself off.
"Did it notice us?"
The trio wasn't making any sound at all now.
Cassius was considering turning on his own flashlight when he heard a voice very close to his ear.
"Help"
On instinct, he stabbed where the voice had come from. A disgusting noise rang out as the blade pierced flesh. Whoever got stabbed didn't scream.
"Run!"
At Cassiu's command, Noah lifted the table with all his strength, or at least it seemed like it in the total darkness. Elliot quickly resolved that problem.
A blur of wounds, a vaguely human body, and a head replaced by a plant crouched beside Cassius.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!"
Cass's three strikes toward the plant failed. The monster was way faster than he expected. Soon a cloud of yellow spores covered the creature's strange body and began to spread through the hallway.
If not for the cloth covering Cassiu's face, he would've inhaled the gas.
"Don't fight it, Cass we're getting out of here!"
Cassiu's followed Elliot's lead.
His two friends were already further down the hallway. He tried to catch up. Then he heard a strange noise and looked back.
The creature had stood up. It was almost twice Cassiu's height.
"What the hell kind of place is this!?"
The three ran aimlessly down the seemingly endless hallway.
A terrifying noise something large running echoed behind them. Cassius didn't dare look back again.
"There!"
Elliot pointed to a large, sturdy wooden door that seemed to have a strange circle of salt or sand around it. The three of them sprinted toward the strange door.
They never stopped hearing the creature's noise. Cassius could almost smell the monster's foul scent.
"Almost there!"
Noah barreled through like a train and burst the door open. Elliot and Cassius threw themselves inside with all their strength.
The three looked outside. The creature suddenly stopped at the door, outside the strange circle. It seemed to whimper.
"Help?"
After whining for a few more minutes, it went away.
Cassius's heart felt like it was going to explode. Elliot was probably the same. Only Noah was still standing, staring at something in the room.
Elliot pointed the flashlight to where Noah was looking. Two girls and a boy around Cassius's age were staring at the trio in shock. One of the girls stepped forward.
"Who the hell are you?"