Chapter 182

Clementine:

I had been staring out the window, anxiously looking around, shifting my weight from one leg to the other.

“What the heck is taking them so long?” I finally complained out loud, and I noticed Troy still staring at me. It had been thirty minutes, and he hadn’t looked away once.

He finally got up from the couch, breaking his deadly stare. He came to the window and hunched down to look outside. The way he did it, he almost sniffed my hair, then took a deep breath before lowering his face to look me directly in the eye.

“Do you want me to go and look out for them?” he asked in a slow, soft tone.

“I mean, I’m just worried. What if they’re not able to do it, and the monsters escape?” I said, trying to make it sound like I wasn’t only worried because Ian was there. But I knew that was the case. I was worried for Ian. I didn’t trust the white squad.

“No, I don’t want you to go. I think I should go,” I said softly, and I noticed his muscles tense. His hands were on the window frame, his biceps bulging. He stood so close, one hand behind me and the other in front, almost caging me in.

“I would rather go myself than watch you go there. Do you want me to feel the same anxiety you’re feeling?” he paused, “For the net,” he mumbled, probably not realizing I was worried about Ian.

“But then I’ll be worried if you go out,” I blurted.

I watched a small, satisfied smile tug at his lips. He stretched his neck but didn’t break eye contact.

“That will make me happy,” he said, sending a chill up my spine.

“No, no, no! That is not, that is not happening p>

A panicked, anxious voice from Nate broke our stare, and we both turned to him. He was sweating heavily in the bed, now even sleep-talking.

“Do you think Haiden is going through the same thing?” I asked Troy as we both stepped to the bed to check on Nate.

“I hope not, but he has Yorick. He’ll take care of him,” Troy said, watching Nate.

Suddenly Nate jolted upright in the bed, making us both gasp and pull away.

“I’m going to fucking kill you too,” he hissed in a loud, deep voice. His eyes were almost black now, his pupils so dilated he looked terrifying. He had a forced grin, the kind that looked like he was in pain.

“Dude, you better not,” Troy warned him, making me glance at him in disbelief. Was he really saying that to someone so far gone he didn’t even know what was happening? Did Troy really think telling him not to attack would stop him?

“Okay, we need to do something. We need to tie him up,” I told Troy, snapping my fingers.

“Oh, you want to tie me up?” Nate barked, jumping up from the bed. Before I could react, he was already coming at me.

When Nate lunged, Troy stretched his arm out and grabbed him by the neck. He slammed him back onto the bed, climbing on top of him and holding him down by the throat. With his other hand, he pinned him. Nate fought back, scratching at Troy’s arm with his free hand.

“Go get a rope or something!” he yelled at me.

I rushed out, realizing we’d wasted too much time already. We should’ve had rope ready by now. I started tearing through rooms in the apartment complex, searching for anything we could use.

At the very end, closer to the backyard, I came across one apartment. I opened the door, and the fresh smell of baked goods hit me hard. It was so strong, I thought someone was still cooking inside. But the place was empty.

I headed into one of the bedrooms and dug through the closet until I found some ropes. As I gathered them up, I noticed a few eerie things about the room. The first was the bed—it looked like someone had just been sitting there, an imprint pressed into the mattress. And the second was the wet shoe prints.

I looked around while folding the rope.

“Come on, where are you?” Troy’s yell from down the hall snapped my attention back to him.

I handed the ropes back to Troy. Then I moved to the other side where Nate’s free hand was, held it tightly, and pulled his other arm over his head, pinning him to the bed while he struggled against the restraints.

We were stronger than him, so he couldn’t fight us off. Troy tied him to the bed so securely there was no chance of escape. Once finished, we stepped off the bed.

“We need to go check on Haiden,” I said, breathing heavily.

“Okay, I’ll stay with him,” Troy replied, and I gave him a quick nod.

The moment I stepped outside his room, I heard a strange screeching noise coming from the hallways inside the apartments. I turned right and looked at the curve leading into the other hall. A large shadow appeared there.

I started walking toward it to investigate, but halfway through I caught its reflection in the big mirror. It was the biggest, scariest, ghostliest monster I had ever seen.

It was the same thing I had seen the other night, but I hadn’t realized how big she could be. She blocked most of the hallway, making my breath catch in my throat. I took slow, steady steps back, retreating so I could warn my squad mates that we were in danger.

But I was terrified, because I knew nothing about this thing. Before I could get away, Nate’s loud, agonizing scream drew her attention straight to the hallway where I stood.

I watched her react to us in the mirror, and then our eyes met through the reflection. Her huge white eyes froze me in place with fear. But I knew I had no time. I had to warn the others about these monsters, or I could distract her by making her chase me.

I chose the latter. Instead of reaching for any doors, I sprinted toward the curve on the opposite side of her, luring her away from the rooms where Haiden and Troy were.