Initiating Overwrite Sequence…

“What the…?” Russell looked away, but the words continued to follow, blocking his view. “Is this a bad joke?”

“Everyone, please!” Serena's voice resounded over the noise of the crowd. “Keep your voices down and remain calm!”

You have slain [Scaletooth Savage - 3rd Shard / Level 1].

Russell squeezed his eyes shut, but it was no use. The words filled his vision, visible even behind his eyelids as if etched right into his cornea.

“Don't bother, Serena.” Bradford’s voice was loud and confident. “You wanted people to know the truth. Well, they've got the truth."

You have absorbed a portion of its soul essence.

Russell bowed his head and covered his eyes. But the words remained, clear as day even without any light, irrefutable in the absolute darkness of his mind’s eye.

“Hey, douchebag!” Clayton’s voice rang loud beside him. “Are trying to incite a riot? 'Cuz that’s where we're headed right now!”

You have obtained your first soul shard.

Russell plugged his ears, desperate to shut out even the sound of the words. But their enunciation echoed in his mind, bouncing around inside his skull, leaving no room for rational thought.

“Riot?” Bradford's voice sounded muffled. “Your buddy there started all this, not me."

Unversed [Human] has been exposed to the origins of the soul.

Even with his ears blocked, he could hear the crowd devolving into an angry mob. The incoherent noise around him aggravated his growing headache, resonated with the turmoil inside him, and pushed him to the brink of despair.

You have awakened your [Spirit Sense].

“None of this is real, Flynn,” he mumbled to himself. “You’re just drunk. Hungover. You're having a bad dream. A bad trip…”

Out of options, he uttered his own words over and over again like a mantra, fighting fire with fire, word against word.

You have unlocked your [Soul Records].

"Russ!" a voice called out.

Russell snapped his eyes open. He looked past the visions, past the throng of chaos around him, instinctively searching for the nearest exit. He needed to escape from this madness, to see his truck for himself and run away.

He needed to get home.

But more and more people approached the center of the lobby, attracted by the growing commotion. Classmates, teammates, employees, patrons—everywhere he looked, there were only people. Their silhouettes grew around him like weeds; shadows lurked in the corners of his vision. And still, the words continued to haunt him.

"RUSS!”

He jerked his head to the side, and he blinked in surprise as a familiar face stood before him. “Clay?”

Clayton gave him a small nod, staring at him in worry.

Sweat drenched Russell’s back, and his heart threatened to burst inside his chest. He drew a deep breath, and a rush of cold air numbed his burning lungs. The dark shapes around him focused into recognizable figures. The darkness at the edge of his vision receded. Little by little, his head cleared.

What the hell just happened?

“You okay, man?” Clayton asked.

“I…I’m fine,” Russell said, bowing his head to gaze at his clenched fists. But the words were still there.

What the hell is happening to me?

Someone held his hand with familiar, delicate fingers, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Don't mind Brad,” Serena said as she crouched down beside him. “He’s simply trying to scare you, that’s all.”

Clayton snorted. “Looks like it worked.”

“Not anymore,” Serena said. “You’re fine now. You have nothing to worry about.”

Russell doubted it, and he raised a questioning eyebrow at her.

“Aside from possibly being charged with reckless driving?” Serena shook her head. “Since you didn't cause any bodily harm, you won't even face any criminal charges."

“Not unless Brad-hole decides to file a civil lawsuit against you,” Clayton grumbled.

Serena clicked her tongue. “Not helping, Knox.”

“But seriously, man. Are you alright?” Clayton asked, crouching low as well.

”I said I’m fine.” Russell straightened himself. With both of them hunching beside him, he started to feel claustrophobic.

“Dude, you definitely don’t look fine,” Clayton said as he rose back to his full height. “It looks like you've seen a ghost.”

“I—” Russell clamped his hands over his mouth, his mind racing. “I think I just did."

Clayton exchanged glances with Serena.

Russell rubbed the creases on his forehead. “I think I'm hallucinating. I’m…I’m seeing floating words right in front of me."

“You're seein' what now?” Clayton asked.

“I’m seeing text across my vision, Clay!” Russell snapped.

“The hell are you talking about?” Bradford interjected, his voice an annoying ringtone one could never seem to disable from their phone. “You're now using some dumb mental illness as an excuse?”

“Stay out of this, Brad,” Serena said.

“What a load of crap.” Bradford chuckled and turned around to address the rest of the crowd. “Guys! You’re not going to believe this. Flynn claims…”

Clayton snapped his fingers in Russell’s face. “Dude! Focus!”

“What?” Russell asked.

“These words you’re seeing, can you read them?"

“I can see them, Clay.”

"I mean, can you read the words?” Clayton asked. “Do you understand any of them?"

Russell grunted. “Sure, I guess?"

"Then why don't you try reading them out loud.”

“What? Why?” Russell asked, furrowing his brows.

“Exactly,” Bradford cut in once again. “Why even bother, Knox? What's the point?”

“We’re only trying to help our friend here,” Serena said, shooting Bradford a frown.

“Well, it’s not helping, is it?” Bradford said. “Better for the two of you to stop wasting time pandering to your friend's delusions.”

Clayton scoffed. “If there’s anyone here wasting time it’s you, Collins. So butt off!”

“Can’t you see? The guy needs psychiatric help,” Bradford said. “God willing, authorities will simply decide to lock him up in some mental hospital.”

“Dude.” Clayton squared up to him. “Can't you like, for once, cut the crap with your conspiracy nonsense and shut the hell up?”

“Or what?” Bradford taunted, refusing to back down. “You two going start a fight like you did earlier?”

“COLLINS!” A voice boomed from the crowd causing Bradford to jerk in surprise.

Russell switched his gaze to where the other half of the jocks stood. Rook was shaking his head, and the former defensive captain let out an exasperated sigh.

“We’re bored. We’re aggravated. But most of all, we’re tired of your constant interruptions!” Rook said out loud. “So why don't you try keeping your trap shut for once so we could finally put this issue to rest, yeah?”

A small chorus of agreement resounded from the audience. Not everyone appreciated Bradford constantly hogging the crowd’s attention.

Chastised, the douchebag could only glare back at Rook in silence, and Clayton turned his attention back to Russell.

“Read them.”

"Out loud?" Russell asked, not liking his friend’s request one bit.

Clayton nodded. “Word for word.”

Just read them, Russell told himself, wiping away the sweat trickling down his forehead. Easy peasy.

Like a madman who had escaped from some mental asylum, he recited the words he alone could see. Delivering another speech in public was agonizing, but trying not to sound like a crazy person was even more excruciating.

Serena tugged his sleeve. “Is the monster’s truly dead?”

“So you saying the threat is gone?” someone in the crowd asked aloud. “Does that mean it’s safe for us to go?”

“What was he even going on about?” another voice asked. “Sounded like some kind of video game or something.”

“A video game…” Clayton muttered as hushed murmurs replaced the silence.

“It does sound like one, doesn't it?” Bradford faced his lackeys. “What did I tell you? The man’s—Oof!”

Clayton shoved the douchebag aside. “Dude!” exclaimed to Russell’s face, his nose inches away from his. “Was all that real?”

“As real as your big face is right now,” Russell said as he leaned away.

“Are you sure?” Clayton asked as he grabbed him on the shoulders. “Like, a hundred percent sure?”

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Russell grunted in confirmation as he pried himself free from his friend. Clayton was muttering something to himself, looking lost in thought. His weird smile made Russell wonder what was going on in his friend’s head, and he waited for some explanation.

Shouting erupted in the distance.

His heart skipped a beat, and he flicked his gaze to the entrance of the lobby, fearing the worst.

Everyone turned their heads to look at the new commotion. Noise came from outside the clubhouse, and Russell held his breath as the glass doors burst open.

Against the faint red light coming from outside, outlines of half a dozen people rushed inside the clubhouse. Russell sighed in relief the next second, seeing no sign of the monster.

"Kimberly?" Serena mumbled beside him.

Kimberly? He squinted his eyes, taking a better look at the new arrivals. They wore matching outfits—either wearing an all-black attire or a white top with black slacks—and each had a nametag pinned on their chest. A figure of a woman ran in the lead, her hair short, her long coat flapping behind her.

It was Kimberly, the smoker from the parking lot.

Kimberly gravitated towards them. Her footsteps were loud, her shouts an erratic mess as she kept screaming for help. The dark atmosphere in the lobby only magnified the dread in her expression, and the faces of those running after her looked no different.

Many of the ones they passed yelled back, asking what had happened and where their group had been all this time. More people rose from their seats, crowding around the middle of the lobby, suffocating the already packed hall in rising panic.

“Had she been out there the whole time?” Russell asked.

Serena was too busy gaping at the woman in shock before she turned her focus somewhere else. Standing on the tip of her toes, she cast her troubled eyes about.

“Hallie!” she called out, her hands cupped around her mouth. She tried to catch someone’s attention among the rowdy group of onlookers. “Hallie, please look for Mr. Walter! Tell him it’s urgent!”

A woman wearing a staff uniform nodded her head and left. She disappeared to the back of the rabble just as another side of the crowd parted, making way for the new arrivals.

“Ms. Kimberly?” Serena asked the distraught woman rushing to her side. “What's wrong? What happened?"

Kimberly grabbed the side of her stomach, panting for breath. She tugged at her long grey jacket and wrapped it tight around herself as she shivered in place, her eyes damp with tears. “I…Jorge...my boyfriend…”

“Yes, what about Mr. Jorge?” Serena asked in a soothing voice. She held the woman's trembling hand and sought to calm her down. “Weren't you waiting for him outside?”

“Hold on!” Bradford said as he approached. “She was outside as well? Is this the employee you and Flynn were talking about? The one you caught smoking pot?”

Kimberly’s harried face pinched in confusion.

Serena shot Bradford a passing glare. “Don’t mind him,” she told Kimberly. “Where's your boyfriend, Ms. Kimberly? Where's Jorge now?"

“He’s—I can't find him, ma'am!” Kimberly’s voice broke, her eyes welling with tears. “I…We..."

Russell caught his breath, and he grabbed Serena by her shoulder. “The screamer,” he hissed. “Could it be him?”

Serena’s eyes widened as the possibility dawned on her.

Bradford stepped even closer. “You were outside since earlier, correct? Tell me, did you happen to see some kind of monster?"

“M-Monster?” Kimberly gasped, her eyes growing wide in further shock and confusion. The rest of the staff who came with her exchanged perplexed looks.

“Out there earlier. After the earthquake.” Bradford pointed a thumb back to Russell. “Like this guy said, there was a scream and—"

“Jorge!” Kimberly cried out, her body vibrating with energy as her head frantically bobbed up and down. “The scream! I recognized his voice! That was him!"

Bradford nodded. “Yes, you heard your boyfriend screaming. But are you sure it was him? Are you absolutely sure it couldn’t have been something else?”

“What…?” Kimberly muttered.

“Bradford! What do you think you’re doing?” Serena hissed as she tried to push him away, but the man wouldn’t budge.

“Let me finish!” Bradford argued before turning his attention back to Kimberly. “Did you see this Jorge with your own eyes? Tell me. Tell me everything that happened.”

Bradford remained indifferent to Serena’s or anyone else’s concerns as he held Kimberly’s hand as he squeezed all the information out of them while everyone else in the lobby listened in.

Kimberly had heard her boyfriend scream. She had attempted to look for him but failed to find his whereabouts. So she had gone back inside to ask for help, and she resumed her search together with her colleagues. As everyone there in the lobby had witnessed, the group had returned to the clubhouse empty-handed, finding no trace of Jorge.

There had been no mention of a monster.

“There you have it, folks,” Bradford announced as he let the woman go. “Here's your witness. And she's calling a big fat BS on Flynn's made-up monster!”

“Monster?” someone asked from the back of the crowd, an old man belonging to the new group of onlookers. “Weren’t you guys here for the punk who crashed his car outside?”

The new arrivals threw out their questions, confused at what was going on. Russell’s old schoolmates joined in, calling him all kinds of names. Voices clashed, and the noise in the lobby reached a new level.

“Wait! Please!” Kimberly cried out as she grabbed Bradford’s arm. “What monster are you talking about? What about Jorge?!”

“How can you be so insensitive, Brad?” Serena asked. “The woman was already in distress. How could you grill her that way?”

Bradford pried Kimberly’s hands away from him. “You should be thanking me. She's the only witness who could’ve corroborated your story, and I just did the interrogation for you.” He then pushed Kimberly back to her companions, having no use for her any longer. “What now? Are you going to claim she’s mentally unfit to give her testimony? After she refuted what you've claimed?”

Russell frowned. Just because Kimberly hadn’t seen anything doesn't mean what he and Serena had said didn't happen. But more and more people shouted their agreement with Bradford, and the disjointed voices rose like a rising tide. The mob was reaching a boiling point, and there was nothing Russell could do about it.

“But she didn’t even—“ Serena shook her head. “They were talking about the staff parking! It’s completely different from the one Russ and I were talking about.”

“A different parking lot? Seriously?” Bradford scoffed. “C’mon, Serena. Even you should know how weak of an argument that is.”

Russell clenched his fists and turned back to Kimberly. He needed to get her attention, but it was of no use.

Her expression had gone blank. She stared absently at nothing, in particular, her mind lost somewhere else. “Blood…” she muttered, her voice barely a whisper. “So much blood…”

People standing next to Kimberly fell silent.

“What?” Bradford gave the woman another look. “What did she mean by that?”

“We already told you,” Russell snapped. “The monster got to that old man first! That’s how this all started!”

Bradford let out an exaggerated groan. “Seriously, Flynn,” he said, cocking his head at Russell. “Are you fucking retarded?”

“Brad!” Harper hissed from behind Bradford and backhanded him on the shoulder.

“Do you even hear yourself right now?” Bradford continued, unconcerned. “You’re still going on with that? You think you can just keep putting the blame for all this on some monster? How the hell is using that excuse over and over again going to prove your innocence?”

"But we are innocent!" Russell said.

“Oh, I don't doubt Serena at all.” Bradford crossed his arms. “You, on the other hand…”

“I am innocent,” Russell said through gritted teeth.

“Innocent?” interrupted a female voice.

From behind Bradford and Harper, Courtney stepped out of the crowd, Tommy once again beside her. “Did that word really come out of your mouth?” she asked, her glare intense. “You said that without an ounce of shame when you’re the same culprit who assaulted my husband not even an hour ago.”

Chatter resumed as curious onlookers questioned what the woman was talking about.

"Quiet!" Tommy barked at the crowd behind them, and the lobby descended into another round of hushed whispers. Many eyewitnesses who had been present in the lounge bar shared their gossip in low voices. Those who weren’t part of their reunion started to give Russell unfriendly looks as well.

“I…” Russell couldn't respond to her accusations. He had no way to refute them.

“What? Ran out of excuses?” Courtney scoffed. “Come to think of it, weren't you the one who kept trying to remind us why you were expelled all those years ago?”

Serena sighed from beside Russell. “Court—”

“Well, c’mon, then,” Courtney pressed on. “Here’s your chance. Tell us. Why did they kick you out from our school?”

Russell needed to speak out, to explain himself, but his mind couldn't formulate the right words.

Around them, the din of the crowd faded away until only silence was left.

Courtney leveled an accusing finger at him and hissed, “It’s because you were a savage back then, and you were no different tonight!”

“Courtney!” Serena exclaimed.

“You better wake the fuck up, Flynn!” Courtney shouted, her eyes burning red with rage. “You're the only monster around here!”

Russell felt like he had just been slapped in the face, and he unconsciously stepped back. Courtney glowered at him. Tommy, Bradford, his former teammates, his fellow alumni, everyone around him, everywhere Russell turned, people stared at him and only saw a monster wearing a human form.

His vision blurred. His ears rang. His heart hammered in his chest, and his blood boiled in his veins. From all around him, shouts and curses resumed with greater fervor. It took all his willpower not to succumb to another panic attack as he swept his frantic gaze over the crowd.

His eyes landed on Kimberly.

“Ms. Kimberly!” he called out, trying to draw her attention, but the cacophony of voices drowned out his shouts.

She should have been their eyewitness. Her unbiased testimony should have corroborated their story, removing any doubt and ending any debate. So how did things turn out this way?

The angry mob grew bolder. People were yelling, pointing, pushing. He looked on with trepidation as the pocket of space around them collapsed.

“Get back!” he shouted, trying to keep the press of bodies away from Serena. Standing on his other side, Clayton got into a shoving match with Tommy and a couple of other guys from the team.

Their glares burned once again, their loud accusations threatening to break the sliver of rationality he had left. He had nowhere to go. Nowhere to run. Kimberly’s testimony was all he had left.

“Where did you see the blood, Ms. Kimberly?” he yelled as his eyes locked on the unresponsive woman among the throng of people. “You said you discovered no trace of your boyfriend. Yet you mentioned seeing blood!”

Maybe she did see something. Maybe she just didn't remember events clearly.

“Did you see a sports car? A convertible one?” he shouted above the chaos around him. “Did you see the one that was a complete wreck? Not in the staff parking, but in the lot out front!”

Bradford got in front of him and shoved him back, telling him to stay away from the woman, only to be pulled back himself by Harper.

“Did you see any corpse? Of the monster? Of an old man?” Russell yelled. “Hell, did you not see anything at all?!”

Jostled around in the chaos, Kimberly appeared to have finally woken up from her daze.

“Kimberly!” he shouted.

The woman turned to him, her eyes gaining focus. “You…”

He opened his mouth to repeat himself…and froze. Looking back at him weren’t the eyes of a sane person. This wasn’t the same Kimberly he had seen earlier.

The woman stared at him for a second before her dull gaze settled on Serena. Kimberly’s eyes, lacking any spark just a second ago, ignited with sudden intensity.

“This is all your fault…” she said, her voice a lifeless monotone.

Serena jerked backward in surprise. “W-What?”

Kimberly pointed a trembling finger at Serena, her shallow breaths coming in quick succession. “You...your family...this club..."

“There must be some mistake.” Serena shook her head. “I’m not sure you understand what you’re talking about.”

"You think we didn't know?" Kimberly whispered as she took a step forward.

“Stop! Stop!” Bradford said out loud in the middle of the scuffle. Harper tugged on his arm, reminding him to stay out of it, but the guy refused to listen and approached the hysterical woman anyway. “Look, I think you got something wrong here, Ms. Kimberly.”

Kimberly blinked and fixed her frenzied gaze on him.

Bradford plastered a fake smile on his face. “It's not Serena who's at fault here, ma’am, but the man beside her,” he said as he held her hands like earlier. “He’s the one who—“

“Don’t touch me!” Kimberly screamed as she yanked her hand from his grasp—and slapped him right across his cheek.

Bradford didn’t see the strike coming, and he faltered backward a few steps only to be caught by Harper. His mouth hung open, his eyes growing wide in disbelief as he raised a hand to his burning cheek.

"Oh, damn!" Clayton exclaimed as people around them froze in shock.

The slap not only returned some sense to his dense skull but to everyone else nearby. It had resounded like a thunderclap in the chaos, shocking the unruly mob into silence.

Kimberly turned her ire back to Serena. “You think your employees didn't know?” The crazed woman let out a bitter laugh, her voice high and hysterical. “Did you think we had no idea this club is facing bankruptcy? That you can just fire us without a warning? Discard us like we were nothing?!”

“Ms. Kimberly!” Serena exclaimed. “I don't know where you've heard of such a rumor, but I assure you—"

“Do you think we're stupid?!” Kimberly screeched, her voice echoing in the lobby as everyone watched with bated breath. “Jorge warned me! He warned all of us! About you. About your plans. Now he's gone missing, and you’re all just standing here wasting time talking about…monsters? Talking about nonsense?!”

Her eyes teared up once again, and her shoulders slumped as if all the fight went out of her.

“We finally had the time to go on that road trip he kept on promising…” Kimberly whispered, her eyes losing focus. “What did you do to him, Solace?”

Serena stood ramrod straight. "Kimberly! This is highly inappropriate for—“

“WHAT DID YOU DO?!” Kimberly howled as she lunged for Serena, her hand raised high for another swing.

Without thinking, Russell yanked Serena behind him. He placed himself before her, getting in Kimberly’s way—but the deranged woman never got close.

Harper—all five and a half feet of her—appeared next to Kimberly, plucking the woman’s wrist midswing and twisting it to the side. In an instant, she had stopped the taller woman in her tracks before anything else could happen.

A pregnant pause fell on the lobby, and the rest of the crowd reacted a beat later. Shouts erupted. People stepped far away from Kimberly’s reach. Some began shoving each other back in the confusion, yelling for others to make space. While those who knew Kimberly called out to her, asking her to calm down.

“Damn, dude,” Clayton whispered to Russell. “Never stick your dick in crazy.”

Courtney scoffed. “Why are you suddenly getting in the way, shrimp?” she asked Harper. “Can’t help from showing your true colors like your old boyfriend?”

Harper squinted her eyes, but she never took her gaze away from Kimberly.

Kimberly gnashed her teeth. “Let—Let go of me!”

Harper stared back, her eyes indifferent, her expression unfaltering. The unhinged woman struggled to pry her hand free, but Harper's grip was as solid as steel.

“I said let go, bitch!” Kimberly snarled.

Harper leaned close. ”Until you calm down?” she asked right in front of Kimberly’s face, daring the wild beast to move, to bite back. To make a mistake. “No.”

Kimberly gritted her teeth in pain and frustration—and fear.

Even a rabid animal can distinguish a predator from a prey.