Chapter 19- Level 3 Disaster Alert

The train had gone dark. Our way back had been stopped dead on the tracks. The cars we stood in were swaying slightly.

“Warning. A level three disaster has occurred near your area.” A metallic voice came out of the large car’s audio box. “Please remain calm and wait for assistance.”

Explosions were thumping near the railway. Charlotte was already looking more anxious than ever. I couldn’t shake the feeling that each swinging beat that the platform took, was starting to sync up in time with the explosions.

Explosions that were definitely getting closer.

“Fen?” Caprice was still drunk, and her body was definitely getting heavier. “What, isth hap..” she hiccuped instead of saying the whole word.

“We’re in a bit of trouble here. Something seems to be attacking.”

Caprice put a fist up, her middle finger stood on end.

“I’ll ge ‘em!”

Several people opposite us scowled and took a few steps back from us.

“Sorry.” I pulled Caprice up higher on me, forcing her to put her hand down.

“Fenrir, this is no time to be carrying around a drunk fool. He is here.” Charlotte was very quiet as she spoke, but her seriousness could not be mistaken.

“We are not leaving her here.” I left no room for argument in that statement. If Charlotte truly saw me as her alpha, then she needed to show me.

She didn’t say anything more, just turned and began running towards the exit. I followed as best I could. Caprice slowing me down by dragging her left foot.

“Fen.” She gulped deeply. “I need to throw up.”

I twisted myself out from under her just in time, as Caprice heaved out about a liter of alcohol. She knelt there for a moment, coughing and choking. Then she turned her face up to me, the tears in her eyes were clear.

“Come on.” I said exasperated. “We gotta get out of here.” I picked her back up, this time I put my arm behind her back.

Now instead of just hanging on me, Caprice was actually standing with my arm to hold her upright. We moved a lot faster this way. So long as she didn’t drag her feet.

Mathis had already pulled the exit door open, the steep tracks the car ran on were blazing with light. The whole tunnel was lit up like the inside of a stadium.

The walls were all steel and concrete, bleak and corroded. Rust lines showed where water leaks ran through the tunnel. A stairway ran alongside the wall, following the slight curve as it disappeared in both directions.

An explosion sounded from below us, the tunnel quaking with the force of it. Charlotte was looking up, following the path of the staircase upwards.

“Can we outrun him?”

“Not if you insist on carrying her.”

Mathis stepped between us before I could start shouting. He simply hoisted Caprice away from me, setting her gently on his shoulder. His massive bulk allowed Caprice to ride him easily, it almost looked like a dad giving his young daughter a shoulder ride.

He looked at both of us, and then started jogging up the steps. Caprice bounced along with each step. Mathis was already moving out of sight when Charlotte started to follow.

I looked back down the stairs. The tunnel was shaking even more now. Each time an explosion rang out, it seemed to get closer. What was going on?

Charlotte had said he was here. J? Or my father?

And why set off explosions so much? Did they want to destroy the tower?

I saw a bust of flame from the explosion that happened this time. I turned and started sprinting up the stairs. Charlotte was already long gone. She must be upset with me, and I didn’t know why.

We had been just fine at the party, but as soon as a crisis happens, she flips on me. Was I really that bad at making decisions?

How was I supposed to make decisions when I still didn’t even know what they wanted from me? I’ve never been in situations like this before. I’m just trying to survive, like what I thought everyone else was doing.

I ran faster, clearing three stairs at once with each leap. I started having to use my hands to keep my balance, my emotions were starting to interfere with my focus.

My heart thumped, my breath was short and heavy. I could feel the heat building in every muscle of my body. Terrified as I was of what would happen if the person causing those explosions caught us, I felt a sense of joy.

It wasn’t large, more like a gently lapping wave coming in from the ocean. Slowly it wetted the sand, washing away the dread. Small bits at a time, but what caused it?

My vision was blurry, tears had been streaming down my face, and my focus on the stairway had kept me from noticing anything else. But my sense of smell was suddenly telling me so much more.

The mildew smell from wet concrete. Oxidizing iron, the sharp tang of rust. Sulfur, from the explosions that were still rushing up behind me. The scent of lavender ahead of me, leading me onward. Giving me a reason to push harder.

Faster, I needed to go faster!

Only now did I notice that I was using sharp claws on my hands to grip each stair before leaping again. I had shifted.

I glanced down at myself, I didn’t see any fur popping out where it shouldn’t be. I was still in my human body. But my arms, from my elbows to my fingers, were shifted.

I had done a partial shift. I barely had time to marvel at myself for that, when I heard a scream.

Explosions followed. These were much, much closer. Almost like whomever it was had folded the space between us in half. They had slowly been getting closer but now they were rapidly gaining.

The stair way was opening up ahead of me. I had caught up enough to see Charlotte turn and run off to the right. I rushed to follow, taking in the open platform around me the instant I cleared the stairwell.

Mathis was propping Caprice up near a support pillar, well away from the stairwell. Charlotte was already condensing energy around her, the soft green light of her aura beginning to brighten. Her amber eyes glowing to match.

She saw me, gave a slight nod, then started to chant in a strange language. The words were quiet, but as she voiced them, her ball of energy grew. Blues and grays, reds and yellows, browns and purples, all the different energy sources bled color into the ball she held.

I stood away from the stairs, watching Charlotte form the ball with ease. Explosions from below rocked the platform, my legs felt like they swayed on a boat out at sea. Charlotte stood like a rock in the storm throughout it, gathering and building energy.

I had never seen such a complex and obviously powerful technique before. Even when I had seen J blast his aura around, it was nothing like this. His was a laughable toy gun compared to Charlotte’s heavy artillery.

Why hadn’t she just done this to blast him before? It looked like it could blow away anything she aimed it at. The crackling light was pulsing, radiating it’s power. While Charlotte kept it mostly contained, there was enough raw energy built up in her hands that I swear I felt it shaking the building in opposition of the explosions.

“I found you!” Came a roar from the stairwell. “I can smell you, come here snack!”

It was J, his roaring was unmistakable. The darkness that leaked from the stairs was yet another clue. It seemed to eat away the light that had once been so prevalent. Like a cloud, the darkness rose up, obscuring the area around the stairs.

Then the eyes appeared, bloodshot, hungry eyes. They swirled the darkness around themselves, the eyes looking like swirls of pitch inside an ocean of black.

A large, wild, wolf like maw opened. The inside of the mouth was dripping wet, and lined with razor sharp teeth. His tongue fell, hanging out the side.

“Found you.” His deep voice echoed from within the darkness. Filling the chamber and saturating everyone in fear.