The sound of feral growls and gunfire sprang up over and over again. The sirens continued to wail and lights bathed the corridors in intermittent flashing red. I ran as fast as I could without going into the coiled state; the wounds on my stomach and right shoulder delivering sharp stabbing pains after each one of my footfalls landed.

I bounded to the end of the corridor and turned sharply into A-block, coming to a hard stop.

Three bodies of were-cat girls lay dead on the ground riddled with bullet holes. Deeper into the corridor I saw there were also two dead Pied Piper officers; their bodies mangled and torn apart where they lay strewn several paces away from the dead were-cat girls.

The blood, which was all over the floor, the bullet-ridden walls, and the dead bodies, glistened like red-tinged oil. There was an acrid, smokey smell, which I feared for a moment might be the oncoming of the deadly gas contained within the walls; but after a moment I realised it was the aftermath of all the machine gun firing.

Up ahead four were-cat girls had a single Pied Piper officer at their mercy. From the way they were holding the female officer I thought I was about to witness them tearing the officer's arms from their sockets. Instead one of the were-cat girls took the officer's machine gun, and another girl took the handgun.

I had come to know many of the faces of the teenagers at the facility, though not many of their names. Even if I did know their names I doubted I would have been able to tell them apart in their were-cat states. Despite the intermittent flashing light which flashed bright everywhere in the corridor, I could hardly make out the faces of the transformed girls. What I could make out was their silhouettes; their long hair, their feline ears, their claws and, most notably, their bright yellow eyes, which fixed on me as soon as I came to a stop.

I wasn't sure if I could hear an unpleasant feline hissing coming from these girls, but it seemed they still had enough presence of mind not to see me as an enemy.

Something gripped my elbow and yanked hard. I gave a cry of fright and turned to see a familiar face.

It was the Scottish young man who had provoked Holly's wrath during her mindfulness session.

The young man was panting, wide-eyed, and sweating.

"Was' going on?" he shouted, over the sound of the siren.

"They're staging a breakout," I shouted back.

Hearing this, the young man put his hands to head and rear-kicked the wall.

"They're gonnae kill us!" he shouted, "They're gonnae kill us!"

I assumed he meant the Pied Piper officers only, but wasn't sure. I grabbed his shoulder.

"What's your name?" I shouted.

For a moment he just looked at me with wide, hopeless eyes.

"W-Walter," he said.

"Walter," I shouted, "Do you know a girl named Sophie?"

"Naw," he said, shaking his head.

"I've got to find her," I shouted, "She might know a way out of here."

"Okay!" Walter shouted.

I gestured behind me, spotting the four were-cat girls marching the Pied Piper officer at their mercy our way.

"I'll check for her here," I said, "If she's not here then we'll try outside the exercise area, alright?"

Walter nodded.

I turned about and stayed close to the left-side wall. Walter did the same. The were-cat girls looked even more menacing up close; one of them was bleeding from a bullet wound on her right shoulder.

It was almost comical the way Walter and I held our hands up to show we didn't mean them any harm.

After the girls passed us by we continued down A-block. What I saw made my stomach tie up in knots. There weren't just dead bodies of were-cat girls in A-block; the Pied Piper officers had started to murder the other girls in A-block too. There were at least two-to-three dead bodies per block on either side; girls who had lives, families, friends, futures; but no longer.

By the time we reached the end of the corridor I was sure none of the dead bodies belonged to Sophie.

Before I could hope to stop it, burning vomit shot up in my throat. I lurched over and spat it out, fighting desperately to breathe. My eyes bulged and I felt trapped in the overalls and plimsolls I was wearing, wanting nothing more than to strip out of the clothes and be free. The siren continued to blare and the flashing red lights added to the dizzying nightmarishness of everything happening around me. I found myself wishing for a glass of water.

I felt Walter's hand at my back.

"Come on, Burgess," he shouted, "We cannae stay here."

I spat the last of the vomit from my mouth and wiped my lips clean with my forearm. I moved along the corridor in the direction of the cafeteria, which we would need to cut through to get to the exercise area (we needed to go there in particular because that was where Sophie had said she thought the hidden exit out of the third floor was located.)

After passing down a short corridor we moved into the next and saw a large throng of teenagers at the far end where the cafeteria was. The four were-cat girls and the Pied Piper officer at their mercy moved through the throng which parted for them.

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"Maybe there's another way," shouted Walter, "We donnae wannae get involved with this."

"She might be here," I shouted, "We could go the long way but we don't have time to waste."

"Come with me?" I said, the fear I felt because of everything that was happening around us soaked into every one of my words.

"Aye," said Walter.

He patted my left shoulder and then together we hurried towards the cafeteria. When we reached the start of the cafeteria it seemed like nearly all the teenagers at the facility were gathered.

The tables had been pushed together and had become a stage of sorts for Christopher and all of the other would-be revolutionaries, all of whom were in their half were-cat state (and half their number in possession of a gun), and standing proudly together.

The four were-cat girls were standing on the makeshift stage and were forcing the Pied Piper officer they had brought to her knees, to join the dozen other Pied Piper officers already grouped together on their knees too.

The teenagers not standing atop the tables watched on from all around the cafeteria, most frightened but also in awe of the spectacle before them. My mouth hung agape at the sight of it all; the revolutionary cats with their were-bat leader Christopher stood triumphantly in the middle of them all.

All at once the sirens stopped and the red lights died out, bathing the entirety of the cafeteria and the adjoining corridors in pitch darkness; it was so dark not even the yellow eyes of the were-cats were visible.

I was about to use my power to bulb up but after a few seconds the normal fluorescent lights returned.

"The hard part is over!" yelled Christopher, his voice tinged into something beastly due to being half transformed into a were-bat.

The cats all around him threw up fists and gave cries of triumph.

"Now we have these hostages, we'll negotiate our terms!" Christopher yelled, gesturing to the captured Pied Piper officers; I noticed one of the officers was missing an ear, and another had an eye bloody and swollen shut; the rest were in similar bloody states.

Another wave of triumphant cries from the cats filled the cafeteria.

The speakerphones dotted throughout the third floor suddenly crackled, and then a familiar voice boomed from them.

"There won't be any negotiations," said a cold voice belonging to Officer Freeman.

Christopher brought his clawed hands to the Pied Piper officer knelt in front of him, the one he had disarmed in front of me; the one that had gunned down Reece.

He dug his sharp claws into the officer's face and then yanked hard, tearing the officer's head apart. The dead officer slumped forwards in a pulpy mess of blood. Screams from the terrified teenagers, the mice, filled the cafeteria.

This was one of those times where I felt as if I were having an outer body experience. The brutal ugliness of what I was witnessing seemed too nightmarish to be really happening. Yet I could smell the sweat and blood in the air, and the heat of so many bodies crammed tightly into one space. It was because I knew that no matter how much I wished I could be anywhere else, but was trapped, that served as a constant reminder that everything I was experiencing really was happening, and there was very little I could do about it.

"We're going to negotiate how you're going to let us out of here or we'll kill every one of your officers!" Christopher yelled.

A long pause followed. Christopher's shiny black eyes searched the ceiling in expectation of Officer Freeman's answer.

When Officer Freeman's voice returned it came with a tinge of mirth in it.

"The officers knew the risks when they signed up," he said.

The revolutionary cat's sense of triumph gave way to a growing unease; their yellow eyes searched among each other for an answer for what to do next; for hope that all they had done wasn't for nothing.

The solemn faces of the captured Pied Piper officers told me everything I needed to know. They knew there wouldn't be any help coming for them. They knew they were as good as dead. If not by the hands of the cats, but at the retribution Officer Freeman had in store for everyone trapped on the third floor.

Officer Freeman's voice returned with yet more glee.

"If I wanted to I could press a button right now which would fill every inch of the third floor with a toxic gas that'll burn the skin off your bones," he said.

Silence lingered in the wake of this confirming of what Sophie had already revealed to me, but was news to all of the cats and mice at the facility, and Christopher in particular.

"My finger is on the button as we speak," he said, "All I need to do is give a little push."

The cafeteria erupted with screams and cries and shrieks begging Officer Freeman not to push the button.

It was then I saw the cats standing atop the tables start to convulse, just like how Adam had convulsed, holding his head struggling to keep his mind from giving way to the beast within trying to get out. The whines and grumbles of around twenty were-cats were starting to build; the oppressive nightmare, the bleak hopelessness of their situation, was driving them all to lose control.

"Oh no," I muttered, feeling my legs turn to jelly.

"Burgess!" said a familiar voice to my left.

It was Sophie. She was sweating profusely and had just taken hold of my left elbow. My heart leapt with joy at the one person that promised a semblance of hope in this hell.

"We need to go," she said, "We need to get out now."

"You know where it is?" I said, as if not really believing her.

"I think so," she said, "But we won't know if it's there unless we go now."

The nightmarish ear-piercing shrieks of the transforming were-cat beasts began to fill the cafeteria like an orchestra of broken violins.

"To the brothers and sisters we are losing today," said Officer Freeman, "Chellam will honor your memory."

I was about to run off with Sophie and Walter but had the presence of mind to remember all the other teenagers around me. Those who were still alive, who still might be able to return home to their families.

"Follow us!" I shouted to any of the teenagers standing around that might be able to hear above the growing shrieks of the were-cats.

Some of the teenagers started to draw closer towards Sophie, Walter, and I.

It was then I spotted Christopher (the only one of the revolutionaries not to have lost control) pitifully shouting to get his would-be revolutionaries to hold onto their sanity; it was obvious however they were all too far gone to pay his desperate words any attention.

It was then, to finish off the sick enjoyment he must have had from our peril, Officer Freeman (I could only assume) gave the order to play classical music from the third floor speakers; the primary instruments at play within the music being violins. And flutes.