(A/N: WARNING! This chapter contains a little gore.)
The children ate their last lunch at the dinner table. The nun with owl's eyes prepared simple dishes of soup and mashed potatoes as usual. In spite of that, the children are energetically drinking the chicken soup as if it's the best tasting meal they've ever had.
Lucien can't refute that. Home-cooked meals have always tasted the best to him in his twenty years of living. He barely gets used to living alone when he goes to college. Home sickness really is hard to fight off.
It was still noon, but the clouds had turned dark. The heavy thunderstorm loomed outside, covering the sun and rumbling as it floated across the vast atmosphere. Lucien noted the time.
At exactly 12:30, they were still in the middle of their meal when suddenly, a screech was heard in the bathroom. Lucien hurried to go to the bathroom, Aiden following closely.
The other children were frightened.
"Stay here!" Lucien warned. Big teary eyes looked back at him, nodding reluctantly. Lucien slammed the bathroom door open and looked down to see the nun swimming in her own blood. Her eyes were plucked out. Her neck is slashed right to the bone.
There was a figure crouching beside the pool of blood. Aiden tried to lean closer, but Lucien prevented him.
"Step back."
Lucien placed a protecting hand on Aiden's shoulder. They look at each other. A low growl was heard in the direction of the crouching figure. Shit, the demon's already inside?! I thought the nun was his confidant. Why did he kill her?!
Lucien took a step backward, trying his best to get out silently. They were three steps away from the figure when the little toddler girl came out of the corridor. She was wearing a white sleeping gown. Her big, round eyes blink innocently at them. In her hand is the brown teddy bear she always takes with her when she's about to take her nap.
"Lucien, where is Sister?"
No!!! Lucien sharply looked at her in alarm. The figure that was silently sitting beside the nun raised its head. His face is hollow and pale white. His face has these circular wrinkles around his eyes that make his face appear elongated.
The figure pushed past the bathroom door and shot straight at the innocent little girl. Lucien was taken aback for a second. He did not see its movement. He had already moved to block its path, but he was shoved aside.
He was flung to the wall, some parts of his bones cracking at the impact. He groans and coughs. A piercing scream erupted in his ears. His eyes were still ringing. The pain in his back prevents him from seeing clearly, making him more groggy.
The scream belongs to the little girl. Her voice was instantly drowned out by the vicious growl of the demon.
"Run!" Lucien shouted. But his voice seems so far away. His ears are ringing. He can't even stand erect. He felt someone grab his arm and drag him away. They were running.
Lucien coughed a few more times before his eyes gradually cleared. They stopped behind the corridor on the second floor. The demon's growl was heard on the first floor.
Lucine gritted his teeth at the sound of toddlers screaming for help, Screaming for Sister's name. He flinched when he heard his own name being called out.
"Sister! Please…. Lucien! Help me!"
That was the voice of Tina. The little six year old who loved to ask him to carry her. He gritted his teeth and jumped the second floor railings.
"Lucien!" Aiden was with him. Lucien just realized when Aiden pulled on his shirt before he got to leap.
"Just stay here!" He reassured. The wooden stairs creaked when he landed. Lucien immediately took the metal pipe he hid behind the broom closet and ran towards Tina.
The sound came from the dining table. As he got nearer, he saw splotches of blood and detached limbs. He involuntarily got the urge to vomit. He saw these scenes in the second episode of "Slaying the Demons."
But he didn't expect it to be this repulsive in person. The stench of blood nauseated him. When he turned around in another corridor, he saw Tina. She was bleeding from her leg. A large cut almost slices her skin.
What's more disgusting about the sight is how the demon lifts Tina above his height. Tina's blood dripped from her feet and landed in his wide open mouth. Lucien wanted to cover his ears at the sound of the demon licking and sucking the dripping blood.
When Tina saw him, she immediately stopped crying. She raised her arms and flailed against the demon's grip.
"Lucien, save me!"
The demon dangerously growled. Yet Tina was so desperate to escape, she did not mind the danger. She scratched and kicked the demon's face. Her feet hit his right temple.
Lucien reacted and run towards them.
"Tina!"
It was like time slowed down. Tina and the demon were on the other side of the kitchen area, right behind the kitchen counter. While Lucien is still at the doorsteps of the kitchen.
Lucien saw how the demon was annoyed at Tina's struggles. It opened its mouth, raised its claws, and without any warning, ripped Tina's head from her body.
"TINAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!"
Splash of blood pooled on the demon's face and soaked his skin. The demon gleefully drank it all.
"YOU MONSTER!!!" Lucien charged with his metal pipe. Because of rage, he's no longer in control of his actions.
'How does it feel to lose your mind?' He sometimes ask this question to the protagonist he watch in the screen.
'How terrible was it to witness the children you got so close to being killed one by one? While you stand there unable to do anything? '
He finally had the answer to that question. He, who used to have difficulty expressing his emotions in his face, is now openly expressing his hostility, rage, and shock at the demon.
Lucien managed to land a hit. The demon staggered a bit before turning to look at him. Something invisible hit Lucien squarely. He was flung into the wall again. The back that was aching surrendered in pain, making him lose consciousness.