Chapter 40: Daphne

I continued to run farther than was supernaturally possible—far away from Calle, leaving dust behind until finally, darkness enveloped whatever remained ahead of me. But then I halted as I heard the screams. At first, I thought it was only in my head, like a product of my own distress from what I had just gone through. But something wasn't right. Something dark had seemed to descend upon our town.

Then the screams started to get louder and more desperate. I couldn’t just ignore the shrieking voices, so I turned in their direction. And then, as I ran with more speed, chasing the sound, I realized that the screams were coming from the direction of my school.

What greeted me there made my blood run cold. Dark shadows filled every corner, surrounding students and teachers alike with their writhing tentacles of pure darkness. As I got closer, I could see them starting to attack the students. They were tearing them apart with their bare hands! It seemed like a living nightmare—one where no