Lucas turned his head toward the staircase.
The sound from the lower floor was still echoing in his ears.
His face went pale.
"Did you hear that?"
Kaelion didn't answer.
He simply listened.
The building was silent… but there was something inside that silence.
A movement.
A presence.
Predator Instinct trembled slightly.
Danger.
But it wasn't strong.
Not yet.
Kaelion tightened his grip on the knife.
"There's something downstairs."
Lucas swallowed.
"A monster?"
Kaelion shrugged.
"I don't know."
Lucas leaned against the wall.
He was holding his injured arm.
The cloth he had wrapped around it as a bandage had darkened with blood.
"When I was running from the street… I saw something."
Kaelion looked at him.
Lucas continued.
"At first I thought it was a dog."
"Then its eyes started glowing."
The man took a deep breath.
"And… uh…"
"…its face was melting."
Kaelion frowned.
"Could be a ghoul."
Lucas raised his eyebrows.
"They have names?"
Kaelion thought for a moment.
"I don't know yet."
"But one of the things I saw looked like that."
For a while, neither of them spoke.
The darkness of the building felt heavy.
The wind could be heard faintly outside.
Finally Lucas spoke again.
"So what do we do now?"
Kaelion looked down the corridor.
Doors.
Stairs.
Darkness.
The building looked large.
There were many apartments.
And probably…
A lot of supplies.
"We check upstairs first."
Lucas blinked in surprise.
"Upstairs?"
Kaelion nodded.
"Higher floors are safer."
"Then we go down."
Lucas thought for a few seconds.
Then nodded.
"Alright."
The two of them stepped into the corridor.
The hallway light was still flickering.
The light blinked on and off.
Old paint peeled from the walls.
Shoes and bags lay scattered across the floor.
As if people had fled in a hurry.
Lucas whispered.
"This place is creepy."
Kaelion didn't respond.
He simply kept walking.
They reached the first door at the end of the hallway.
It was closed.
Kaelion placed his hand on the handle.
Slowly turned it.
The door opened.
The apartment inside was small and messy.
A chair had been knocked over.
The television was broken.
Glass shards covered the floor.
Lucas peeked inside.
"This place is abandoned too."
Kaelion began opening drawers.
A cabinet.
Empty.
A drawer.
Old papers.
Then in the kitchen he found something.
A box of bandages.
Lucas's eyes widened.
"You're kidding."
Kaelion tossed the bandages to him.
"Wrap your arm."
Lucas quickly applied the bandage.
He let out a deep breath.
"That's much better."
Then Kaelion found something else in the kitchen corner.
A metal pipe.
He picked it up.
Then handed it to Lucas.
"Take it."
Lucas grabbed the pipe.
Tested its weight.
"Yeah… this works."
The two of them stepped back into the corridor.
The building was still silent.
But that silence didn't last long.
Another sound came from downstairs.
scrrrr…
As if something was dragging itself across the floor.
Lucas froze.
"That is definitely not human."
This time Predator Instinct trembled more strongly.
Danger.
It was getting closer.
Kaelion looked toward the staircase.
Into the dark stairwell.
Then he raised his knife.
And looked at Lucas.
"Get ready."
Something was coming up the stairs.