Behind These Refuge Walls

The warehouse looked more frightening than it should have. Though nothing seemed to have changed, I felt as if something lurked behind the corners, waiting. Maybe I should have gone back then, or maybe it was just my paranoid self, all too aware of the strong chest a few steps behind me, rumbling with destruction. I chose to believe the latter, finding it easier to focus all of my misfortune on Stone.

He hadn't said a word and it troubled me. What didn't trouble me when it came to this man? I realized with horror that I had never been more afraid of something or someone in my whole life. Had I been alone with him, I would have started running from side to side, struggling and heaving like a trapped canary desperate for freedom.

I dared not look at him, though I knew for certain that he was taking in our surroundings with tact.

A sudden sniff made me freeze. Beside me, a preoccupied Liam was looking at the same door that I had gone through the other day.

"That's the door," I muttered rather unnecessarily.

"After you, milady," Liam grinned, baring a set of canines.

The door squeaked lightly as I pushed it open. Something was off. The tiny hallway was darker. I couldn't tell if there was anyone else there, because there was no more muffled conversation anywhere near.

The locker room was empty. No sign of any creatures - alive or dead. Liam continued to sniff the air suspiciously.

"Something seems fishy," he told Stone quietly. "Can you feel it?"

The other man said nothing, but the air seemed to shift around him. He took a decisive step forward and fixed the room with a concentrated look, as if ready to strike. That seemed to be all the answer Liam needed.

Having avoided any potential surprise attack, I led them into the hall.

Last time, I had been too busy chasing the stranger around to notice the many tables lined up around the room, like in an office. On them could be found various papers, stacks of files and strange bottles, along with scattered items that left me staring: feathers, teeth, dust in small bags.

No, it looked more like an improvised, do-it-yourself chemistry lab. Then I soon recognized the shape of the canines and I realized the origins of the items. My stomach churned as I instantly noticed blood in some tubes on tables.

There weren't many of these things and not many tables to begin with, but it was enough to show what was happening there.

Stone stepped slowly around one of the tables and looked at a strange looking rock. I pegged it to be volcanic rock, but couldn't be certain. Something flashed in his eyes and I felt him tremble with fury as he grabbed the rock and proceeded towards the exit.

I stared after him and followed Liam outside.

Just as we neared the door we'd entered through, however, I heard rustling. Again. From the locker room. Again. I stopped in my tracks and looked at the half-opened door. It sounded like someone or something was raking the wall. The sound didn't stop when I pushed the door open and it didn't stop as I entered.

There was no one in there and nothing was moving, so I stood still and looked around. The noise was coming from somewhere behind a locker. I went around it and was surprised to find that it wasn't placed against the wall. Instead, there was enough space for a person to fit through there and right behind it was a big wooden door.

I found myself pushing the cabinet out of the way, which proved to be rather easy, seeing as it contained nothing and time had chewed it up enough to make it lighter than initially.

The scratching grew louder. Along with it could now be heard some pained moans. I neared it and found it to be a human voice. Then two. Then three. I said nothing, then a man's shout brought me to my senses, made my heart jolt and I jumped back, tripping on God knows what.

I went down with a great deal of noise, bringing a chair with me. An unwanted racket ensued and before I knew it, I had unleashed the lurking presence we had all felt.

The door fell into pieces. Splinters flew everywhere; a thundering curse echoed all the way across the locker room.

"Get out! Charlie, get out!"

But Liam's shout was lost in the roar of the breaking benches and metal. The enemy, I soon realized, were three six feet men who seemed pulled out of a Jack Nicholson movie.

They looked panicked and desperate and moved to destroy everything in their path. I only caught a glimpse of two as they ran towards the hallway as the first one stood too close to me.

His greasy brown hair fell sickeningly around his face - of oval complexion that showed bruises, an ill palour and dark circles under his almost entirely white eyes. He attacked mercilessly, desperately, as if not actually seeing what he was doing. Wearing nothing but a pair of cargo shorts that had been worn for far too long, he revealed a slim body tainted with scars that I thought to be made by knives.

He didn't attack me, particularly, which was why I didn't let my instinct run wild and hit him from the start. I jumped to the left and ducked under a table, crawling towards the door. The table soon broke under his fist and I panicked.

My hand found the dismember leg of one of the chairs. In a moment of fury, I smacked the man right behind his head, yet he only staggered a few steps and turned around even angrier. I ducked again from the incoming blow and braced myself. Pushing against the floor, I hurled myself at him, punched him--

"Son of a..."

--and broke my fist against a mass of concrete. I mentally cursed as I rolled to the ground and all that time I wondered where Liam and Stone had disappeared.

That string of thoughts vanished quickly as a menacing growl and a giant wolf-like creature ran into the man. He stumbled and fell to the side, but I couldn't take the opportunity to run.

It wasn't a sickening sight, the wolf, but nor was it normal. He was much bigger than a normal canine. Standing on all fours, his back took an impossible shape - a sickeningly hunched back - and when he stood up, he almost looked like a human. Almost. His hind legs, though smaller than the front, were strong and steady and his front ones slashed the air with indiference.

He looked at me with a wolfish grin. My knees went weak. Liam's fur was a deep black and his eyes a predatory amber. I'd never seen sharper teeth and claws on any other living creature.

Then again, I'd never encountered a wolf twice my size that walked on its hind legs and breathed intimidation.

Fight sounds echoed from the other side of the door and I guessed there was more happening out there.

I could almost swear the werewolf rolled its eyes at me, but my instincts instantly kicked in. I took off, tripping and running with my shoulder into the door. An engine's roar brought me to it and I stumbled outside and into the Camaro without fully being aware of what happened.

Stone was unusually tense and when he turned around, I decided I would have rather been inside, with the other raging man. He had cuts of his own - on his bicep and forehead - and his shirt was ripped at his left shoulder, showing fights of his own with the other creatures.

"Show me your hand," he uttered lowly.

I instantly stretched my arm and showed him my fist. He didn't touch it, didn't even inched close to see it. He just gave it a frown.

"It might swell up. Sylvia will see you."

And that was that.

The door to the passenger's seat opened and in jumped an enthusiastic, half-naked Liam. He'd apparently ripped his shirt in a quick transformation and chose to revel in the comfortness of his tanned abs.

"That was unexpected," I breathed airily, holding my injured fist to stop from cursing.

The whole car fell silent and Liam knew to keep the jokes to himself when Stone grabbed the gear stick with an angry twist. The car turned all too small for us three, or maybe that's just the way I saw things, but what I certainly felt was the immense tension pressing on my shoulders, coming from the man holding the steering wheel with knuckles white from force.

I suddenly didn't understand - had the three men been killed? What happened to them? What had Liam done? Did Stone fight the remaining two? I wanted home.

Massey Academy was all too fancy for our rugged appearance. I quickly learned that my t-shirt was dusty, ripped in places and my jeans had cuts. My hair was a mess and I'd scratched my cheek.

Michael waited for us in the parking lot and inspected me with concern in his eyes. I smiled warmly at him, in spite of myself. Ignoring the students' curious stares, he led us towards an entrance that I didn't know. We went to the side of the main building and walked through a set of discretely placed doors. From there, we climbed several sets of stairs and entered a familiar hallway and then Vallin's office.

Gillian didn't say hello, only gave Liam a curious glance. Ivan stood up and waited for Stone to approach him. He muttered several things to the black haired man and the latter only nodded shortly once and moved to Vallin's side. Few words were exchanged between them, yet enough to make Vallin's face turn solemn.

He nodded.

"I take it, then, that you've found the smallest of these labs."

Liam plopped on the couch next to Gillian and patted the seat next to him. I chose to stand.

"But why would they leave it unharmed knowing that the human was there? Why not destroy it?" asked Nikoli from his armchair.

He wore a light blue shirt and trousers for the day, fully matched with a set of white dress shoes that I didn't understand. His hair, slicked back, added to his stainless look. I received a double glance from him.

"Well you don't look too good," he decided. "Your fist is bleeding." He stood up abruptly and took my good arm in his. "Come on, let's take you to nurse Sylvia, shall we?"

I started to let him drag me when a deep voice shot from behind us. Stone's voice came pouring down in waves - a mixture of a smooth baritone and a biting growl that I could otherwise get lost in.

"Not yet."

I snapped my head in his direction. For the second time that day, he stepped closer to me and looked down at me. He didn't show hate anymore, but a calculate, decisive figure and uttered a phrase that I felt like a sentence to death.

"You will learn how to properly fight enemies."