Like a sea of humans, hundreds of people; students, parents, and teachers were sprinting through the school gates. Frustrated yelling and cries of terror filled the air.

There were countless people being shoved to the ground and stomped over in the chaos. Those who were injured in the stampede were stuck on the floor. Many of them were bleeding from the injuries and others were drowning in the pain of broken bones.

Far behind the commotion, Jean was limping his way towards the front gate.

But, not far behind him was the lumbering creature hulking towards him.

Jean’s aptitude for track and the high levels of adrenaline allowed him to move at a quick rate, despite his current disability. This, however, didn’t stop the creature from slowly gaining on him.

Jean constantly looked back to gauge the distance between him and the large bat-like beast.

As Jean got near the gates, the people immediately began to feel the ground shake below them. Looking back to see both Jean and the creature, their state of panic only grew. Their screams and cries grew louder and their actions more lawless. Each individual fending for their own life, purposeful violence grew within the crowd.

Both men and women were attacking one another in hopes to get past the gates that much sooner.

Jean immediately saw the commotion.

Despite the situation, Jean couldn’t help but blame himself for the situation getting worse.

Something in Jean’s brain signaled his legs to change directions and run into the school building.

As he was limping, he leaned over to pick up a rock that was about the size of a baseball.

He looked back once more and saw the creature was nearing arms-reach.

Why the fuck am I doing this?

His mind was filled with doubt and confusion as to his own actions, yet his body was moving on its own at this point.

Shifting the direction of his movement, Jean broke out into a sprint towards one of the open windows on the school building.

Upon nearing the window, he jumped off his left leg and leapt in through the window in a diving motion, with his intention being to roll to break his fall.

However, the moment his right knee met the hard surface of the floor, it gave out and slipped from underneath him. The impact caused Jean to fall onto his side as he slid across the vinyl floor and hit the lockers lining the wall.

Shoving the pain aside, he got up using the lockers as a support.

Jean looked out the window he had jumped through, only to see the beasts large body about to crash into the building.

Why the hell is it only following me!?

What followed was a loud crash, followed by the sound glass breaking and large pieces of debris hitting the floor.

Jean opened his eyes as he found himself on the floor once more. Jean seemed surprised that he had leapt out of the way in time.

The beast stood tall on its two hind legs, casting its massive shadow over Jean. It shook off the large pieces of debris and dust lingering on its back before dropping back down onto its fours. The sheer weight of the creature’s arms crashing onto the floor, shook the ground around Jean and kicked up some more dust.

With the dust gradually growing thicker from the impact, Jean took that moment to frantically crawl towards the staircase.

The creature’s pace had slowed down significantly for some reason as it stood still waiting for the dust to clear. Jean picked himself up, continuing to grab his right leg and made his way towards the staircase.

Jean’s clothin was torn up and his face was covered in sweat and blood. As he hectically made his way up the stairs, the situation that Jean found himself in was causing his brain to move at the speed of light. With a million thoughts running through his head, there was one that held him more than any other.

I’m going to die here…

Upon reaching the second floor, he leaned up against a pillar facing the window. With his staggered breath, he briefly closed his eyes.

Memories of his years in track flooded in. Even though, he didn't show it a lot of the time, it didn’t change the fact that he considered the people around him close friends. 

Jean’s moment of nostalgia was immediately interrupted as the sound of the creature thumping about echoed through the empty halls of the building. His short rest allowed for his body to catch up to the damage that had been inflicted.

The adrenaline was no longer coursing through him and the severity of the damage became clear to Jean as he was overloaded with pain the instant he attempted to move again.

Immediately, Jean’s hand went to cover his mouth to prevent the inevitable cry of agony. The pain resonating throughout his body shocking every nerve.

He slid down the pillar he was leaning against and laid down on the ground. He slightly turned his head towards the window he was facing.

The sun was still shining brightly, peeking through the branches and the leaves of the tree’s that he saw every day. In that moment, Jean felt a warmth he had never experienced before. His eyes grew heavier and his vision blurrier with each passing second. Soon, the sun was piercing through his own eyelashes blinding him with hazy colors.

With his consciousness fading away ever so slightly, he fell into a dreamlike state.

***

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***

“Don’t let us down Jean!”

Joel’s voice echoed in the dark and empty void of Jean’s dream.

“Don’t worry! I won’t let that happen. Not this time…”

Jean scoffed at the meaningless promise he felt he had made to Joel and the team.

I’m sorry for letting you down…

I’m sorry you had to go…

Feelings of guilt filled Jean’s mind.

Why did this have to happen today?

Was it my fault?

Jean began to cry.

“Do you think your friend would be happy to know that you ran away again?”

A deep and almost guttural voice filled Jean’s head.

“Who’s there!?”

The menacing voice, grew louder.

“You’ve run away your whole life, thinking you were doing everyone a favor. Hiding your potential, fearing it as though you’re not something more than ordinary.”

“Shut up!”

The voice let out a raspy cackle before speaking quietly.

“If you had only let it out sooner, your friend might still be breathing. You let them down again…”

There was no sympathy in the voice. It was simply mocking Jean.

Jean looked up in his vision to see a silhouette of Klaus standing before him.

“You shouldn’t feel like you need to hide yourself. Sometimes, people need some motivation to get things rolling again”

Jean couldn’t help but wonder if this was his own brain giving him motivation. But, no matter what he was hearing, he sensed a truth to it. Jean had always wondered, why he had always felt disconnected from everyone else. He himself, knew that he was attempting to suppress whatever it was inside of him.

Yet here it was, something…

The voice in the back of his head driving him to break free.

Jean paused for a moment. Then breathed in;

“I’m not going to die here…”

“I’m not letting anyone down this time…”

***

***

Jean’s eyes shot open as if being shocked back to life. A feeling of invigoration filled his body. The pain began to rapidly subside to the point where Jean could move his arms and legs freely.

He himself couldn’t make sense of such a sudden miraculous recovery and to a certain extent, Jean found himself terrified of what had just occurred. But none of that mattered now.

He looked down at his arms to see the cuts and bruises had disappeared. He reached down and felt his legs to find that they were completely fine. The recovery not only repaired him physically, but Jean found himself with an improved mental fortitude.

His fears were washed away and what took its place was rage. A rage that Jean had never felt before in his life.

Once again, the sound of the large bat-like beast thrashing about the first floor carried its way to Jean. He was no longer paralyzed by the sounds or thoughts of the beast. Jean simply took note of how far away the sound was before moving.

Upon looking down at his arms once more, he had noticed that he was still holding the rock from before. He brought his arm up and gave the rock a light toss into the air.

This feels lighter than it did before…

A lot lighter.

As the rock landed back into Jean’s hand, the noise from the creature stopped.

Jean stood in the middle of the hall in near silence. The muffled sounds of screaming people and the blaring chirping of cicadas were the only noises filling the silence.

The muscles in Jean’s body tensed up and his breathing slowed. He listened carefully for the beast.

Below!

Jean’s eyes darted to the ground below him as the sounds of cracking floorboards had just barely begun. Instantly, Jean leapt forward as the floor collapsed from below him.

Jean rolled into his fall and stood right back up to face the massive hole in the floor. He slowly took steps backwards, moving ever so cautiously. His eyes focused on the movement of dust that had drifted up.

The dust was blasted away as two massive black hands gripped the sides of the hole. The creature slightly beat its wings and raised itself into the hallway of the second floor. The creatures face contorted as its nostrils flared. Its mouth lined with sharp blood-stained teeth.

It took a step forward as the vertical flesh-like gap between its chest pulsated.

Jean stared into the creature’s eyes with immense ferocity. The grip on the rock tightened with each step he took.

Eventually, Jean stopped moving. The distance between him and the creature was a good eighteen meters. The creature continued to lumber towards Jean without hesitation.

Jean positioned his foot beside one another vertically, as he took a pitcher’s stance. The left side of his body faced the creature directly. With rock in hand, he wound back his arm as his left leg reached to take a massive step forward.

As his left foot hit the floor, his body followed through, dropping down low, in-line with his left leg. His right arm, filled with tension, flung forward viciously, as if his arm would come flying off. His right arm snapped straight out, releasing the rock.

After the rock left Jean’s hand, there was a split second of deafening silence as if the rock had cut through the all of the air surrounding them. Then instantly, the windows lining the halls shattered and a blast of wind trailed behind the rock as it was propelled towards the creature.

Less than a second had passed, before the area in which the creature was standing was drenched with blood. The impact had caused the blood to splatter onto the walls, ceilings and windows.

There was no sign of the creature’s head or neck. What was left, was a bulky headless body stained with its own blood.

Jean found himself in awe of what had just occurred. He looked down at his hands in amazement.

Rather than questions, the feeling of surprise filled Jean’s head. But, his sense of wonder and accomplishment was cut short as the headless body began to contort.

The hairy, jet-black skin on the bodies left shoulder began to bubble as a repulsive face grew out from beneath it. The face maintained the same bat-like structure, yet was devoid of any skin or hair. It was simply a face of meat.

Jean found himself not knowing what to do and before he could think of anything, the creature unfurled its wings and arched its shoulders back. As the chest became more exposed, the fleshy gape opened up to reveal a pulsating tube.

A blast of wind shot out from within the tube and hit Jean in the stomach. The impact felt as if he was getting hit by a truck going at full speed. His body flung backwards, and as if he had no control over it, rag dolled against the floor before hitting and nearly shattering a wall.

The creature stomped forward towards Jean’s lifeless body, drooling, and anticipating a feast. The closer it got, the more frantic the creature began to act. Almost as if it was dancing with joy.

However, the creature’s celebration was cut short as it noticed one of its arms fly off, followed by the whining noise of a sharp blade cutting through the air.

By nature, the creature looked in the direction of the blade. It was extremely long. Much longer than any blade should be. And the one wielding the weapon landed into the upper corner of the wall that Jean had hit.

The man used the impact of the landing to squat into the corner and leap off of it with rapid momentum. Dragging the lengthy sword behind him, the man, still airborne, flung himself towards the creature.

The creature reared back it’s remaining arm in an attempt to swing at the man. However, the attempt failed as the man kicked off the wall beside him, changing his course of flight. In the midst of the man’s alteration, he twisted his body diagonally and spun towards the floor. As he reached the floor, the blade curved along the walls and the ceiling, only to finally come down and cut the entirety of the beast in half. Before hitting the floor, the man used his free hand to catch himself and land back on his two feet.

The blade quietly sunk back to its normal size and the man turned around to face what he had assumed was an unconscious Jean.

On the contrary, Jean was now sitting up, to get a clear view of an old man wearing a button up shirt, suspenders, and black slacks.

“Klaus?”

Klaus, his caretaker, could only give Jean a wry smile.