The board creaked under foot as the three males slowly walked towards the unknown. The flames flickered continously as if someone was blowing on them like birthday candles. The very air around them radiated danger. Nick and Noah held the lead while Zane guarded from the back.
They closed in on the three way intersection and got themselves in a crouching position.
"Do we just start shooting wildly or what?" inquired Nick waiting for Noah to give orders.
"This place isn't sound proof. I hate to say it but constant gun fire would only attract more to us... Shoot only if you must" replied Noah quietly.
Zane's leg stung him, but he couldn't allow Noah and Nick to worry about him now. He wanted to be the one to give protection this time. He was tired of being protected. His father, Layla and the soldiers back at the Military all had to help protect him. He was tired of feeling so useless as if he couldn't do anything by himself.
He removed the safety from his gun and slowly turned his head around the corner. To his surprise the passageway was empty and the staircase was closed as if it hadn't been opened in the first place.
"I don't see anything" declared Zane in confusion.
"Don't let your guard down, let's check the doors near the staircase first." ordered Noah.
The three slowly crouched out into the passageway. It was still empty. On either side were two red doors. They crept up to the first door on their left as quietly as possible.
"What's behind these doors anyway?" asked Nick curiously.
"Just storage"
They then came to an abrupt stop and stood themselves up.
"Zane you watch the door out here. Me and Nick will go inside and make sure everything's okay"
"Alright"
Noah then slowly turned the knob on the door. It was cold to the touch. The door creaked open annoyingly echoing through the passageway. They cursed under their breaths afraid that it might have given their positions away. They looked inside to see a few ropes and pitch forks.
"This one's clear"
Silently they moved towards the second door and slowly opened it. It was surprisingly empty as well. They began to wonder if they were just hearing things before because nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The staircase didn't seem tampered with nor did it seem as if anything had come down there. Noah got himself up and took a deep breath of relief. There were still two more doors to check but he predicted they would be the same.
"Noah what are you doing man?" asked Nick deciding it was still a little too early to say they were safe.
"Its fine, the doors creaking made a lot of noise. If something was down here then it would have already attacked us."
Zane didn't like the situation one bit. His intuition was still beating him to a pulp telling him something was off. Noah was letting down his guard too easily. At first he seemed like the cautious type but this was just a ridiculous method of acting in a situation like this. Was it because he didn't understand how smart these things were?
"Noah I still think we should be cautious. These things aren't like some dumb zombies from a movie. They're damned smart and know what to do and when to do it!"
Zane clenched his teeth as he looked at Noah hoping he would listen. Zane had enough experience to know that these things knew not to rush when it came to hunting humans. They would blend in with their environment and be as cautious as possible because they valued their own lives as well. The last one Layla had killed back at the Military Base proved this point as clear as day.
Noah looked at Zane intently before answering, "Fine but I can assure you nothing's in here"
Noah nonchalantly walked over to the third door and flung it open. Nick wanted to tell him to slow down and take it easy but he moved too fast.
"Noah?" called Nick in worry.
Noah didn't answer. He stood at the door just looking inside blankly. Nick and Zane stood confused for a moment.
"Noah?" they called again but there was still no response.
Nick and Zane exchanged a look of confusion. Nick slowly began to walk over to Noah to see what was up. That was when he noticed Noah seemed like he was caught in some sort of trance.
"Noah what-"
Nick froze as he glimpsed a white dress inside the storage room. He quickly got his gun in front of him and began to shout.
"Noah move!"
Zane jumped up in fright hurting his leg in the process. He too got his gun in front of him ready to shoot.
"Damn it Noah move!" yelled Nick trying to get a clear view of the figure in front of him.
There was still no response. Instead Noah turned towards them slowly and behind him came the same little girl they had seen outside the gate. Her darkened black eyes looked at them menacingly. She grinned with dozens of razor sharp teeth within her mouth and her dress was covered in human blood.
"Shit! Nick don't look into her eyes!" screamed Zane.
Nick quickly averted his eyes to her chest area trying not to get trapped in her hypnosis. Noah must have looked directly into her eyes upon opening the door. They couldn't get a clear aim on the little demonic figure because it was holding Noah in front of her as hostage. If they tried shooting her then they would shoot Noah as well.
"Tricky little bitch!" screamed Nick.
The little girl just chuckled upon hearing Nick's words. What could they do? Should they just shoot and take out Noah with her? Or should they just run? It was a hard call to make but Zane had no intention of shooting Noah. He had to try and beat the transformed Apocrypha in a mind game. Unfortunately, things like mind games were more of Layla's specialty than his. He hated the feeling that he was just holding them back at this point.
"What are you?" asked Zane trying desperately not to look into it's eyes.
The little girl answered in an innocent and angelic voice, "I'm a rank 4 Apocrypha silly! Lord Apollo gave us a hint about your whereabouts and we figured it out and found you! But you made me very upset! You killed my mother!"
"Shut up and let Noah go or I'll pop you!" screamed Nick.
"I'll forgive your sin against my mother if you play a game with me!"
Zane swallowed as if he was about to choke. "Why do these Apocrypha view everything as a game? This isn't fun in anyway possible!"
"Hehehehe, so will you? If you play then I'll let your friend Noah here live!"
Zane looked over to Nick who was sweating like a pig. He obviously wanted to shoot as his finger trembled on the trigger. If they were going to play a game, Zane at least needed to know what exactly they were up against. He needed information about the rank 4 Apocrypha's capabilities.
"Okay fine we'll play, but this game is a little unfair."
The little girl placed her finger under chin as if thinking, "How so? You don't even know what the game is yet."
"We know too little about you rank 4 Apocrypha. If you give us information on yourself then we will play with you without any issues."
Nick gave Zane a look as if asking him if he was crazy.
"Okay fine then, that's easy since you're all going to die anyway! Have you heard of the Greek mythological figure named Hypno?"
"I think that had to do with some dude who could hypnotize people or some weird crap" replied Nick still shaking.
"Bing bong! Hypno represents us the rank 4 Apocrypha! What your Greek mythology didn't cover was that we have to take on a certain form that seems abnormal to regular humans for our hypnosis to work efficiently! Hence, the reason I'm in the form of a creepy little human girl! A sense of fear and anxiety that is formed creates a hole in your emotions that allows us to take control of you whenever you look directly into our eyes! It's control through a deep sense of fear!"
Zane decided the information was good enough. He realized that she purposely left out the part about transforming into humans using their blood. Was she trying to catch them off guard with it? If so it wouldn't work as he was already well aware of such trickery.
"Fine that's good enough. What game are we playing?"
The little girl clapped it's hands in excitement, "We shall play a game of hide and go seek! The rules are simple; I'll give you five minutes to hide! After the five minutes are up I'll come looking for you! The timer to stay hidden is 30 minutes! If I find you within the 30 minutes I shall kill you then go find the rest of your friends. The map will be here in the basement. No leaving to go upstairs because you shall not try to escape from this house! If you do try to escape then I will kill you!"
Nick and Zane took a shaky breath. The basement didn't have many areas to hide. The only place they hadn't been to was to the right side of the basement and who knew if it was a better spot to keep hidden than the rest of the place? They couldn't go left or they would lead the Apocrypha right to the others. They needed some serious luck if they wanted to win.
"Okay deal then, we'll do it" agreed Nick.
"Yayyy! Now then throw your weapons over to me now or I'll kill your friend Noah here!"
Nick and Zane reluctantly kicked their guns over to the Apocrypha. It's hands then turned snowy white as it took the guns up and crushed them like tin cans. Bullets fell from the cartridges bouncing on the wooden floor in a metallic tune.
"Okay good humans! Now then we're ready to start!"
"If we hide from you for 30 mins you'll leave us alone right?" inquired Zane.
The Apocrypha sneered, "Yes I'll defintely leave if you win"
Zane and Nick nodded to one another and quickly moved away to find a hiding spot.
The Apocrypha smiled menacingly as it watched them run away. It then slowly whispered underneath it's breath;
"Now... Now... I said I'd leave but I didn't say I'd leave you alive... hehehehe"
Nick and Zane ran down the right side of the basement. It was just as dimly lit as the other parts of the basement. Thankfully, it lead to a more spacious area that made it seem more like an underground house. It was still however very dimly lit with small torches placed in scones against the wall. They looked around frantically looking for somewhere they could hide. They stood in an area that represented that of a living room. Doors leading to a bathroom, two bed rooms and a kitchen were present.
"I'm gonna go hide in the bedroom to the right!" declared Nick in a whispered shout.
Zane didn't want both of them to occupy the same room as that would make it harder to keep themselves concealed. Zane didn't know where to go as his overactive imagination played every possible scenario of how he could get caught. He bit his tongue to snap himself out of his panic and just decided to go hide in the opposite bedroom. He dived into the room looking around for somewhere he could hide.
He saw a bed, closet, wardrobe and a few mannequins that seriously creeped him out. Zane began to quickly critique each of the hiding spots,
"Bed, too obvious... Closet, damn too cliche! Mannequins can't help me... Ugh- Wardrobe it is!"
Zane dived through the wardrobe door and began to inspect what was inside. He found a couple boxes, a stopwatch, a rack filled with neatly designed clothes and a huge basket filled with old ones. Zane took the stopwatch into his hand and set a timer for 30 minutes. He assumed that it was about time for the Apocrypha to come look for them. Finally he submerged himself into the basket filled with old clothes. Zane sneezed due to how dusty the clothes were. He just hoped it didn't happen when the Apocrypha started looking for them.
The basket thankfully had holes which allowed him to force his nose out for some better air while being able to keep track of what was going on. A loud call then echoed through the basement making Zane's skin tingle with goose bumps.
"Ready for death? Cause here I come!"
The floor creaked as the Apocrypha slowly approached them. The flames flickerd and the air turned a freezing cold. Anxiety made itself known within Zane's body.
The footsteps came closer and closer as they slapped against the wooden floor. Was the Apocrypha doing this on purpose to make them more anxious? Zane had to keep himself as calm as possible.
"Helloooo? I'm coming to kill you!"
Zane feared to breathe. Cold sweat washed his face but it was quickly absorbed by the clothes around him. Doors could be heard slamming open and shut as the Apocrypha searched. Zane prayed that it wouldn't come to his room anytime soon.
"Hmm... I wonder where they are!"
The Apocrypha then ventured into the kitchen slamming cupboard doors open and bashing kitchen utensils to a metallic tune. The sounds echoed through the quiet basement like thunder.
"Bing Bong! I guess maybe I should take a look in the bedrooms then."
Zane's heart began to beat harder than any rock and roll band. His heart pumped more fear than blood at this point. The room suddenly became a bit brighter as the door creaked open.
"Knock! Knock! I'm coming in! I don't need permission do I?"
The footsteps echoed louder than before confirming that the Apocrypha was now inside the room.
"Bing bong! I'm inside your room now! I can smell your fear Zaneyyy! Could you be inside the closet?"
The closet began to shake and rumble as the Apocrypha searched it. Zane was sure he would die from an heart attack before the Apocrypha got to him. He couldn't take the pressure. He took a look on the stopwatch desperately hoping time was almost up. Zane wanted to come out crying when he saw only 5 minutes had passed.
"You're not in here I wonder? Maybe you're under the bed Zaneyyy!"
Zane squeezed his eyes shut wishing that it was all just a nightmare he would soon awake from but it was reality.
"Sike! I already checked the bed! You're hiding in here aren't you?"
Zane almost jumped out of his hiding spot in surprise as he saw the wardrobe door fly open.
"I can hear your shallow breath Zaneyyy! You're not very good at this!"
The Apocrypha outstretched its hand as it got ready to search the clothes Zane was hiding in. Zane was ready to jump out and beg for his life when he heard a loud rattling echo from the bathroom. The Apocrypha instantly withdrew it's hand and ran towards the sound.
Zane realized that Nick must have done something to distract the Apocrypha from finding him. He couldn't allow this chance to go through the window. The Apocrypha would be back when it finished looking. Zane had to move now.
He swiftly jumped from the basket and moved towards the door to see the Apocrypha searching the bathroom with its back turned. Zane found this as the perfect opportunity to go check on Noah. He silently dashed through the hallway back around to where Noah was. He came to see Noah slumped on a wall still seemingly hypnotized.
"Noah? Noah? Wake up man!" called Zane as he slapped his face gently.
Sadly, there was no response. Did they have to do something to the Apocrypha to set him free? It seemed that way which was pretty troublesome. Zane then noticed something on the right arm of Noah. It was like a small purple hole. Zane's eyes widened as he went in to inspect it. Zane was suddenly scared as he heard the Apocrypha call out to him.
"Zaneyyy! Where did you go?"
Zane slammed his back against the wall and covered his mouth afraid that of letting any spund escape.
"Bing Bong! Where have you gone? Do you think you've won Zaneyyy? Our game of Death n' Seek has just begun!"
Zane began to worry about Nick. He hadn't seen him nor did he know whether or not he would be okay for much longer. Zane had to man up. Even though he wouldn't be able to fight a rank 4 Apocrypha one on one he suspected that this one was just a child. He opened one of the storage rooms and grabbed a pitchfork. He ran back down the passageway towards the Apocrypha and braced himself against the wall.
Zane then heard a blood-curdling scream shoot through his ear drums. It was the scream of Nick.
"Nick!" shouted Zane in horror as he ran towards the sound.
Zane ran into a bedroom breathing like he had just finished a marathon. He laid eyes upon the Apocrypha laying on top of Nick with its long black nails centimeters away from his throat. Nick had his eyes closed trying to stop himself from looking into its eyes with a desperate struggle. Zane screamed on the top of his lungs and arced the pitchfork infront of him. He ran and slammed it into the side of the Apocrypha piercing its stomach trapping it against the wall.
It wailed and screamed like a badly tuned microphone. Zane felt himself cringe as to him it seemed like he had just impaled a 12 year old girl. Unfortunately, he had forgotten that these things only died unless their heads became damaged.
The Apocrypha quickly freed itself tossing off the fork. Panicking, Zane accidentally looked directly into it's eyes and became instantly paralyzed falling to the ground. Nick had to do something quickly or they would soon become food for a kid Apocrypha.
"Sorry Zane!" shouted Nick as he slammed his foot into his head trying to free him from his hypnosis.
Zane's head bobbled back and forth but he remained in his trance.
"We'll that didn't work..." cried Nick.
The Apocrypha angrily kicked Nick into his back as he fell and hit his head on the pitch fork. Blood gushed from his head like liquid candy as the Apocrypha stood over him ready to deal a final blow.
"Zane!? Where are you!?" screamed a voice rushing towards them.
The Apocrypha hissed in annoyance, "Damned humans!"
Layla ran down the passageway and into the bedroom looking at a very frightening scene. Her gun was arced infront of her but she was confused on who to shoot. Before her she saw Zane laying on the ground motionless with two different Nick's standing above him.
"What the hell?" she cursed
Nick got himself up in a panic as he looked at a fake version of himself. He double taked between the fake version of himself and Layla.
"Layla it took my blood and transformed! I'm the real one I swear!"
"Yo fam that's a lie! Layla I'm the real one!"
Layla stood there confused on who to shoot. They both looked exactly the same but one of them was naked which made her cringe.
"Where's your clothes Nick?"
"It had knocked me out and stolen my clothes I swear! It planned to do the same with Zane as well but thankfully you got here in time!
"That's a lie! Layla look! I have red blood! I'm the real one!"
Layla pointed her gun at the other Nick ready to pull the trigger.
"Wait! Layla please I beg you! Listen to me! They are rank 4 Apocrypha! They can not only mimic identity but also the color of human blood! I swear to you!"
Layla paused and took a good look at both of them. She was unsure what to do but she had to do something. Even if that meant taking down the real Nick as well in order to protect Zane. She pointed her gun forward and pulled the trigger. The sound echoed through the dark basement. The question was, did she shoot the right Nick?