“DAMNIT! I SHOULD HAVE STAYED!!!”

Aaron punched the brick wall in the alleyway, hard. The skin covering his knuckles was torn from repeatedly striking the hard surface. After they had escaped the tavern, he, Alexandra, Claire, and Erika had waited for Dan, but he never showed up. At this point, they were positive he was dead.

“Calm down, Aaron! There wasn’t anything you could’ve done!”

Alexandra raised her voice. It was painful for her to see Aaron so distraught. Not to mention, it only made the guilt she was feeling grow. Out of all of them, she was the one who felt the most responsible for Dan’s death. She had told Aaron to leave him and promised Dan would be safe. If she hadn’t, then Dan might be alive.

‘Why was I in such a rush? Did a few seconds matter?’

In retrospect, her decision weighed on her. She was so concerned with escaping that waiting never crossed her mind. Was it the right decision? She would never know.

“DAMNIT!”

Aaron hit the wall again before losing strength in his arm and letting it fall by his side. He was frustrated over Dan’s death. Knowing that if he had just run in and carried Dan out, he would still be alive. Why hadn’t he? He knew the answer – fear. The creature was as terrifying to him as it was the others. Reckless courage was the only thing that spurred him to grab a chair to fight, but once Liam gave an alternative escape option, all his courage vanished.

‘I failed again. I let my team down…’

He didn’t consider himself intelligent, at least not academically. His biggest strengths – the build of his body and athleticism. When he had played football for the very first time, he fell in love with it. He had finally found something that “fit” him. At first, he wasn’t good, but he practiced harder than anyone else. He felt his hard work was paying off when he got accepted to the University of Georgia on a scholarship.

During senior year his team nominated him for team captain. It was a first for him. He was content with becoming a better player, someone that his team relied on. A leadership role wasn’t natural for him, and his ego didn’t need it.

However, when his team chose him, he became surprisingly overjoyed. To have his teammates recognize his hard work was an extraordinary feeling, and yet he felt the heavy burden of his teammate's trust fall on his shoulders; he didn’t want to let them down.

To succeed, he worked even hard than before, devoting every second of free time to football and his team. As a result, during the football season, his team made it to the top of the division and into the College Football Playoff National Championship. It was the best season they had in a long time. Of course, it wasn’t all due to Aaron, but it was undeniable that his efforts had made a significant impact.

Unfortunately, their great season didn’t have a great ending. In the finals against the University of Alabama, due to stress and overwork, Aaron’s mind wasn’t in the proper state to play, let alone be a leader. Before halftime, the coach benched him for the rest of the game. From the sidelines, he was forced to watch as his team made a comeback only to lose by three points.

Aaron was ashamed of himself; it was his fault. He never wanted to betray the trust and expectations others had placed in him, which was why he was feeling particularly frustrated right now. Dan’s death was a repeat of that time; only instead of a trophy, a life was lost.

‘I haven’t changed at all!’

Leading up to the finals, he had lost confidence in himself. He felt inferior to the other team because of their consistent appearance in the playoffs. As a result, he tried to compensate by working harder and harder, ignoring his teammate's advice to rest. It was the same when the creature appeared. Confronted with its overwhelming presence, he lost all confidence in his physical abilities. The idea of saving Dan seemed impossible to him, so he ran away.

“Aaron, I know you’re upset, but we can’t stay here!”

At the sound of Alexandra’s voice, Aaron finally looked up. His eyes searched the narrow alleyway; he had been so distraught over Dan’s death that he’d forgotten where he was. Since they were still close to the tavern, there was a chance the creature might show up again. Looking at the people in front of him, Claire, Alexandra, and Erika – four people were missing. Dan was dead, and Michael probably was too, but the other two...

“Where are Liam and Isabelle?”

Aaron asked Alexandra, who had a look of relief after finally getting his attention.

“Sorry, I don’t know. I didn’t see them when we escaped. They’re probably further ahead of us or took a different route… Should we go look for them?”

Before Aaron could respond, Claire cut in.

“Look for them, why would we ever do that?! We’re better off without them!”

“Claire, don’t be like that.”

“Come on, Alex! You can’t be serious! Liam was a total asshole, and Isabelle was a useless bitch! What good will it do us working with selfish people like them?”

Hearing Claire’s insults, Alexandra’s eyes locked onto Claire; there was a resolute look on her face.

“That’s harsh, Claire. I’m not going to defend Isabelle, but Liam did more than his part. Without him, the fight with the dogs and escaping the monster would’ve turned out a lot worse.”

Claire snorted and crossed her arms over her chest as if letting everyone know that her opinion wasn’t going to change.

“So, what? That doesn’t change the fact that he has a bad personality. He’s not the kind of guy I want to be around. I don’t trust him.”

Alexandra sighed. She didn’t want to start an argument with Claire over a small difference of opinion.

“I think you're a little biased. Anyway, this decision isn’t up to us. Aaron, what do you think we should do?”

Aaron pointed at himself; he couldn’t understand why Alexandra was looking to him for an answer.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Me?”

“Yeah, you’re kinda like the leader. You’ve done the most out of anyone. Without you, we wouldn’t have gotten this far.”

Aaron fell into thought for a moment. Seeing all three girls silently awaiting his response, Aaron shook off his lingering feelings of regret and resolved himself. Even though he had failed to save Dan, he still had to protect them. With a look of determination on his face, he announced his decision.

“We’re going to find them.”

With Aaron’s declaration, they began searching the city. At first, they searched the nearby alleys, but there was no trace of either of them. With no other choice, they began heading toward the castle. While finding Liam and Isabelle was their goal, they couldn’t neglect their survival. They held onto hope that they would meet up there.

“Achoo!”

Erika sneezed, causing Aaron to turn around. Behind him, Alexandra’s arms were wrapped around Erika, trying to warm her up. The temperature hadn’t warmed up; if anything, it had gotten colder.

Looking at his arm, a feeling of guilt again arose in Aaron. If he hadn’t taken her sweater, then she'd be warmer. He felt stupid for giving his jersey away so carelessly and not demanding it back. However, there was nothing he could do now; the sweater was shredded and covered in his blood.

– Aaaaaaaaaack!

Aaron and the girls all stopped walking at the same time, all hearing the scream. Aaron whipped his head around.

“What was that?! Are you guys, okay?!”

He let out a sigh of relief after seeing that the girls behind him were safe. He had been scared for a second, thinking that they might have been separated or hurt.

“That sounded like a girl… You don’t think its Isabelle, do you?”

The moment Alexandra said that Aaron’s eyes widened and suddenly, Aaron turned and sprinted in the direction of the scream. The scream could only be from Isabelle; the idea that there could be others never crossed his mind.

“Wait! Hold on, Aaron! Don’t rush off!”

Aaron stopped hearing Alexandra’s frantic voice. He looked behind him and yelled in frustration.

“What do you suggest I do?! Ignore it?!”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying! We need a plan first! Rushing in headfirst isn’t going to work!”

Alexandra waved her hands in the air, trying to calm Aaron.

“We’ve already wasted enough time already! Every second counts!”

“I know that, but-!”

‘-we don’t even know if it’s them!’ Alexandra stopped herself from finishing her sentence. It was no use; Aaron was already running. Nothing she said would stop him now.

“Alex, is it okay for him to go off alone?”

Hearing Claire’s voice, Alexandra bit her lower lip in frustration.

“No, but…”

Alexandra had trouble finishing her sentence. While she wanted to help Aaron, especially after all he did for them, she couldn’t bring herself to ask Claire and Erika to put themselves in harm’s way. They were her best friends. How could she ask them to risk their lives for a stranger? It felt too selfish.

Claire knew Alexandra well enough to know what was bothering her.

“Don’t worry about us. If you think it’s the right choice to help Aaron, then we’ll support you, right Erika?

“Huh, what?”

Erika looked around, confused as if she had just been startled awake from a nap.

Claire sighed. The entire day Erika had been acting weird, but Claire didn’t blame her. For someone as timid as Erika, this whole experience was a nightmare. After all, she had been scared of the dark up until middle school. With all the horrors they encountered today, it was no surprise she was out of it. Claire patiently repeated herself.

“I asked if you were okay with helping Aaron?”

“Oh, um... yeah, sure.”

Erika gave a meek nod. Claire figured she still didn’t understand the situation, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that they supported Alexandra. Usually, she was the one supporting them, so it was rare they got the chance to help her.

Alexandra’s gaze switched between her two friends before she resolved herself on her choice. Knowing that they were behind her gave her confidence.

“Okay, we help him… But if things get dangerous, then we run, okay?”

----------------------------------------

Aaron sprinted through the streets towards the source of the scream. After the image of Isabelle and Liam being brutally murdered popped into his head, his mind blanked. His only thought became saving them before it was too late. He wasn’t going to let himself hesitate this time, not after Dan.

– Huaaaaack!!

There was another scream; this time, it was a man’s voice. Aaron picked up his pace, convinced that it was Isabelle and Liam.

‘Please let me make it in time!’

He rounded the corner, entering the alley; if he was right, then the scream came from the street connected to this alley.

“Shit!”

Aaron skidded to a stop before almost running headfirst into a building. The alley didn’t connect to the opposite street; a building was in the way. Instead of turning around, Aaron ran straight up to the back door and entered.

Inside was dark, causing Aaron difficulty. Moving as swiftly as possible through the room without tripping over anything, Aaron reached the opposite side. He felt along the wall until his hands hit the edges of a doorframe. Grabbing the handle, he pulled.

Creeeaaaak…

The rusty hinges made a dull sound as the door opened, revealing a clear view of the street that was exposed due to the missing front half of the building.

Aaron’s eyes widened at the gruesome scene before him.

“Help meeeee!”

On a toppled carriage, a girl in her late teens was wildly waving a broken broom at a pair of two-headed dogs. Their nails scratched against the wood as they tried to climb up to her.

BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK!

Slavia spewed from their mouths as they aggressively snapped at her.

“Nooo! Back! Stay back!”

Clenching her eyes shut, she frantically thrust the broom, barely keeping them at bay. Realizing the girl was in dire need of help, a middle-aged man shouted.

“Someone, help Emily!”

He swung down a wooden board at the dog attacking him, but it had swiftly jumped to the side.

Another man shouted back from across the street.

“Mark, I’ve got my hands full!”

The man who responded to Mark was tall and had a lumberjack-like beard. He was holding off two more dogs and wasn’t fairing much better.

“David, you idiot, I wasn’t talking to you! What about the others?! Aren’t they back yet?! And where’s Jeff?! That bastard's supposed to be helping us!”

Mark screamed hysterically back at David while dodging another attack.

When the dogs had begun their attack, they had immediately split their group of eight in half. They sent two men and two girls ahead while he, David, Jeff, and Emily stayed behind. The plan was to get the girls to safety and then have the men come back and help. That was a while ago; they should have been back by now.

David shouted back to Mark.

“He said he was going with the other’s and ran off!”

‘Fuck, I knew that guy was a coward!’

Mark cursed Jeff for ditching them. He didn’t trust that guy the moment he met him today, but given the circumstance, he had to work with him. Mark swore to give Jeff a good punch in the face if he saw him again.

“Fucking bastard just you wa – Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh!”

The dog Mark had taken his eyes off, lunged forward, knocking him to the ground. Reacting quickly, Mark held out the board with one hand on either side of it, preventing the dog’s sharp fangs from biting his neck. Its jaws clamped down on the board. Giving a low growl, it’s two heads stared into Mark’s eyes.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Mark put all his strength into his arms and pushed up as if trying to bench press the dog. Struggling to push the dog off, he strained and gave a loud shout.

“FUCKKKK!!!”

As Mark pushed back, the dog thrust its claws into Mark’s chest.

“Aaaaack!”

Mark’s strength lapsed, allowing the dog to force itself closer to his throat. Mark could smell the beast’s foul breath that reeked of rotting flesh. Resisting the urge to vomit, he continued his desperate struggle until…

Crack!

The board finally began to break from the immense force coming from the beast’s two jaws.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!”

Desperately, Mark began twisting his body back and forth on the ground, trying to free himself before the board ultimately gave in. As he struggled, its claws dug in, tearing his flesh.

“Mark, hang on!”

David shouted and, with renewed effort, continued his attack of the dogs in front of him. He needed to finish them off; otherwise, he wouldn’t have a chance to save Mark, let alone Emily.

Aaron was relieved that it wasn’t Isabelle and Liam in danger, but that relief only lasted but a moment. There were still three people struggling to survive, and he’d be damned if he was going to let them die. As his expression hardened with determination, he charged forward.