'It looks like a bomb went off... How could one Abomination have done all of this?'
The entrance was smashed to pieces like a bulldozer had driven through; Cullen couldn't even tell where the door was originally. The wreckage didn't stop there, though, as every object in the room was destroyed like it was made out of plastic. Wooden desks were smashed, stone pillars erased, and gaping holes in the wall from its claws. It was unclear where Arthur had gone since you could see an open pathway into every room, almost like the Abomination was looking for something.
He slowly took a couple of steps forward, only adding to his horror of what Arthur was capable of.
Then, he stopped in his tracks and felt like all the air in the room was gone.
Under a piece of rubble, he saw a body with a black leather jacket on. A piece of wood covered his head, but he knew it was Arbor right away.
A little while ago, he and Arbor had gone into a bar, as it was a great place to find rich scum whom they could easily pickpocket and make some money. Of course, they were able to find someone to match that description perfectly. The only problem was that they underestimated just how scummy he was. He had a girl with him, who was obviously annoyed by his behavior. They were arguing for a while, but he started screaming at her. Even after being told to go, he didn't stop until tears ran down her cheeks. Eventually, the bartender threatened to call the police if he didn't leave. But right before he put on his black leather jacket and left, the man slapped the girl across the face.
After he was gone, Arbor was enraged beyond any point Cullen had seen him before. Before Cullen could stop him, he stormed out after the man and came in about two minutes later with bloody fists and the same black leather jacket the man had on.
That's how Cullen knew the body under the rubble was his best friend's. Slowly walking over to it, he bent down beside him and tried to shake him awake.
"C'mon, Arbor, it's not safe here. We need to leave now."
As the words left his mouth and the air left his lungs, he remembered that he had to breathe.
"Arbor, wake up! ARBOR!"
He lifted the rubble covering his head, but nothing was there.
BOOM!
In another room, Cullen heard a loud crash followed by screams.
He threw up, unable to keep it in his throat.
BOOM!
The noises and screaming kept coming, and they wouldn't stop even after Cullen put both hands over his ears.
***
BOOM!
A loud crash startled Darron, who was hiding in a bathroom stall. It was the first noise he heard in a while, confirming that the Abomination was still alive.
"God damn it..."
Darron reluctantly got up and headed to the exit, worried about what might be happening to the others. Right outside the bathroom door, a siren blared in his ear. His headache, which he could never seem to get rid of, got even worse. He smashed it once with his fist and had a short second of silence.
Short, because of the human scream he heard back towards the main entrance.
Darron sprinted to the noise and approached a worker's lounge next to where they had come in from. Bursting through the door, he saw the familiar Abomination stretched over a motionless human body.
It was Charlotte, covered in blood and either unconscious or dead.
"NO!"
The Abomination unnaturally jerked its head around and faced Darron, staring at him with no eyes.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!"
Within a second, it had jumped across the room and landed in front of Darron as though it could understand his request. Surprised, he had no time to react as Arthur swiped his claw and hit him against the wall.
It hurt, but not enough to stop him.
He lifted his fist and punched the seemingly invincible Abomination, only to hear his hand crack. In a frenzied state, he threw punch after punch, desperate to injure the monster in front of him.
The weird thing is that Arthur was just standing there. It showed no reaction, as if it was trying to taunt Darron's strength.
The Abomination struck him again, this time aiming at his head. He was hurled against the wall and fell to the wooden floor in a daze. Just before Darron lost consciousness, he saw a boy enter from the other side of the room.
"Cullen... help Charlotte. Please."
Cullen watched as Arthur thrashed Darron's helpless body against the wall, leaving a crack in the concrete. His fists were a pulp, and blood poured down from his head.
He looked to the other side of the room and saw her unconscious body lying there against the wall.
"Please."
Unable to look back at Darron, Cullen snuck to Charlotte and bent down beside her.
Please be alive.
Putting his ear to her chest, he could hear a faint heartbeat.
'I need to get her out of here... but can I carry her without the Abomination notici-'
Cullen looked back to check on Arthur, who, to his horror, was standing one foot away from him. The Abomination's empty eyes gazed into his soul as it pushed its cold breath onto Cullen's face.
"FU-"
Before he could brace himself, Cullen was hit through a wall and into a different room by something his eyes couldn't even see. After being in the air for seconds, a bookcase finally broke his moment as he crashed into it, knocking dozens of hardcovers onto his broken body.
Somehow conscious, Cullen looked around and examined the room he was thrown into while his body adjusted to the pain.
This time, it felt like he was in an actual library. Numerous bookshelves containing old stories surrounded him, forming a maze-like pattern. Noticing this, Cullen struggled to get up as the Abomination entered the hole it blasted him through.
I might be able to hide from it by using these shelves as cover, but I don't know how much time it can buy me... Where is that damn Gifted? They should have been here minutes ago! If they were here in time, maybe Arbor... or Darron...
He forced himself to stop thinking about the past, as he now had an important job to do.
'I need to stall for as long as possible, then get Char to a hospital after the Gifted arrives.'
Cullen limped through the room, looping around rows of shelves to get far away from Arthur while remaining hidden. Arthur was in turmoil as he did this, smashing bookcases to pieces and sending chunks of wood flying. It destroyed anything in its path; Cullen had yet to see something the Abomination couldn't break.
Reaching a corner of the room, Cullen found a spot to peer through the books and watch Arthur erase the objects around it.
'I probably have a couple of broken ribs from that, but the rest of me is fine. I've only seen a couple of Gifted fight before, but nothing compares to the destructive power of that thing…'
All of a sudden, the Abomination stopped. Then, a slight smile appeared on its face, something so small you would miss if you weren't looking directly at it.
It slowly started moving backward to the hole it came in from.
'What the hell? Did it just smile? And why is it going back there?'
Arthur leisurely walked away, dragging its claws on the floor beneath it. It finally stopped after reaching the other room and stood still for a second. The Abomination then looked at Char, still unconscious, lying on the ground beside it.
'NO!'
It lifted its ragged arm, saliva dripping from its mouth.
"STOP!"
Hearing the scream, Arthur jerked its head and met Cullen's gaze. This time, the smile on its face grew larger.
It bolted to where Cullen was, easily clearing five meters per stride. He could only back up a few steps before the Abomination was within striking distance. Cullen raised his arms in time to block the attack, but his fragile bones shattered on impact. Once again, he flew through countless bookshelves, each adding more splinters to his body.
After he landed, he coughed up a pile of blood onto his hand.
'I need... to get up... and keep fighting…'
He tried to push his body off the ground but lacked the strength.
'I need…'
Everything in his vision turned white, his eardrums rang, and he was back in the air. After getting viciously kicked by the Abomination, he landed on the ground face-first, unable to feel anything except the cold blood trickling down his face.
'Am I... dying?'
He could only lift his head a little and look forward, where he saw a figure standing there. Cullen's eyes widened, and the Abomination froze. Although Arthur couldn't see what Cullen saw, it could sense the divine presence that had entered the room.
In front of Cullen was The God, reaching its hand out to him.