CHAPTER 20: The Night Everything Changed

The sound was deafening.

A crash, sharp, sudden and violent ripped through the hallway like thunder.

Alicia spun toward the door, her pulse jumping.

“What was that?” she whispered, her voice barely a breath.

Kevin’s expression shifted instantly from relaxed to razor-sharp alertness. His head tilted, listening. The change in him was so quick it frightened her. His eyes darkened, his body tense, like someone preparing for war.

Without a word, he moved past her in long, sure strides. His energy was different now, he looked focused, guarded, dangerous. The noise came again, louder this time, followed by shouting and something else… something wrong.

A low growl.

Alicia froze, the sound slicing through her. “Kevin…”

But before she could finish, Kevin turned sharply, grabbed her arm, and pushed her backward. His touch wasn’t gentle, it was urgent.

“Stay inside, Alicia,” he said, his tone steady but firm. “Don’t open this door. No matter what you hear.”

Her eyes widened. “Wait!! what’s going on?”

He didn’t answer. His jaw clenched, his focus fixed on the noise outside. Then he looked at her again, his gaze holding hers like an anchor.

“Promise me.”

The seriousness in his voice made her throat tighten. She didn’t know why, but she nodded. “I promise.”

Before she could say another word, he stepped out and slammed the door shut. A sharp click followed. He had locked it from the outside.

“Kevin!” she called, banging on the wood. “Kevin, what’s happening?”

No answer. Only silence. Then…

The noise began again.

***

Muffled shouting.

A crash so hard it rattled the picture frame on the wall.

Alicia stumbled closer to the door, heart racing. She pressed her ear to the cool wood. Through it, she could hear chaos, voices, movement, heavy impacts that made the floor vibrate.

Something or someone hit the wall hard enough to make the mirror in the room tremble.

Alicia pressed a hand to her chest, trying to steady her breathing. Every sound outside seemed magnified, the quick, sharp intakes of breath, the dull thud of a body meeting the ground, the hiss of something wild.

Then she heard it.

Claws.

Scraping. Long, dragging scrapes across the floor like metal raking against stone.

Her chest tightened.

“Did a wild animal break in to cause chaos?” she whispered under her breath.

Even as she said it, a shiver ran through her. It didn’t sound like any animal she’d ever heard. It sounded angrier.

The air grew heavier, thick and suffocating.

Then came the smell.

Iron.

Blood.

Alicia’s hand flew to her mouth. Her mind spun with panic and confusion.

Outside, something snarled. The sound was so close she felt it in her bones. Kevin’s voice followed, low and sharp, his tone controlled but strained. She couldn’t make out the words, but they didn’t sound like English.

It was deeper. Older. Powerful.

Then came another growl, deeper this time, vibrating through the door.

Alicia backed away instinctively. “Kevin…” she whispered again, even though she knew he couldn’t hear her.

A heavy thud! shook the doorframe. The lights flickered. Then, briefly a flash of red light seared through the narrow gap under the door, bright enough to burn behind her eyelids.

And just like that, silence.

Alicia stood frozen, her breath loud in the stillness.

Then something heavy fell against the floor with a dull, final sound.

Thud.

Her heartbeat pounded in her ears. She swallowed hard. “Kevin?”

No response.

Another sound, a slow shuffle, the faint rhythm of footsteps moving toward the door.

Her body alert.

A dark shadow slid across the light under the door. Then something wet hit the floor.

Drip… drip… drip…

Her breath caught. ‘Blood. It had to be blood.’ she said in her head

She reached for the handle out of instinct but Kevin’s voice echoed in her mind:

‘Don’t open this door. No matter what you hear.’

Her fingers trembled as she pulled back.

The handle twitched once.

Alicia jumped, staring at it.

Then again, a slow rattle, like something testing the lock.

Her pulse thundered. “Who’s there?”

For a moment, silence. Then…

A voice.

Low. Distorted. Half-human.

“Alicia…”

Her heart stopped.

That voice, she didn't know it. But it sounded wrong. It was thick, rough, like it had been dragged through smoke.

“Kevin?” she whispered.

The breathing outside was harsh now, uneven, almost animal.

She stepped back slowly, her body trembling.

A heavy thud followed, and then came the scraping again, something dragging across the floor.

Then… silence.

The footsteps moved away, fading down the hall.

She stood there for what felt like forever before she heard it, metal turning.

The key.

***

The lock clicked.

Alicia jumped back as the door creaked open.

Kevin stood there, breathless.

He looked like he had run through hell. His shirt was torn at the shoulder, smeared with dirt and something darker maybe blood. His knuckles were raw, his jaw tight.

“Are you okay?” she breathed.

He nodded once. His voice was low, rough. “It’s safe now.”

‘Safe?’

She wasn’t sure she believed him.

“What happened?” she asked, her voice trembling.

Kevin didn’t look at her. His eyes swept the room, scanning it like he was making sure nothing had followed him inside. “You don’t want to know.”

Her heart dropped. “Kevin, please…”

He finally looked at her then, and for a moment, she saw something flicker in his eyes. Something not entirely… human.

It was gone before she could name it.

Alicia stepped around him, drawn by the eerie quiet outside. When she peeked through the open door, her breath hitched.

The hallway was wrecked.

Chairs and tables overturned. Shards of glass scattered like ice on the floor. And along the walls, long, ragged claw marks, deep enough to expose the wood beneath.

‘Where did the tables and chairs come from?’ she asked herself with a look of confusion

She turned slowly to Kevin. “Was it… an animal?”

Kevin exhaled, raking a hand through his hair. His shirt lifted slightly, revealing a thin cut across his ribs. “You were never supposed to see this side of the college.”

His words sent a chill through her.

“This side?” she repeated. “What do you mean by that?”

Before he could answer, a new sound filled the air.

Footsteps. Slow, deliberate. Heavy.

Alicia turned and froze.

At the far end of the hall stood Raymond.

Half in shadow, half bathed in the flickering hallway light. His shirt was gone, his chest streaked with dirt and blood. The sight should’ve scared her but it was his eyes that rooted her to the spot.

They glowed.

Faint but unmistakable red, like dying embers flickering beneath the surface.

Alicia’s breath hitched. For a moment, neither of them moved. The hallway around them seemed to fade, the silence stretching thin.

‘Blood again,’ she thought weakly.

Kevin took a small step in front of her, instinctively protective. But Raymond’s gaze wasn’t on Kevin. It was on her.

And for a brief, impossible second, she thought she saw loneliness in his eyes, real, human loneliness buried beneath that dangerous glow.

Then the light dimmed.

His eyes went back to normal.

And without a word, he turned and walked away, his footsteps echoing in the broken silence.

Alicia stood there, unable to move. The world around her felt unreal, the blood, the destruction, the metallic scent in the air.

Kevin’s voice was quiet when he spoke.

“Stay close to me from now on.”

Her throat tightened. “Kevin…”

He didn’t meet her eyes. His jaw flexed like he was holding something back.

“Some things in this academy,” he said finally, “are better left unseen.”

She looked down the hallway again, where Raymond had disappeared. The silence buzzed in her ears.

Her lips parted. The question came out before she could stop it.

“What are you, Raymond?”

The words hung in the air, heavy and dangerous.

And then the lights flickered once, then twice before going out completely, plunging everything into darkness.

It wasn't dark outside yet but it felt dark.