Gasp_!
"Ha... Ha!" Ren woke up in fright. He hastily sat up. His hand clutched the bed sheats as his hands trembled uncontrollably.
Sweat drenched his back as he panted. His heart rate slowly calmed down as he realized it was just a dream – no, it was more like a nightmare.
'It… it wasn't real?' Ren was in doubt. It felt real. The intense feeling of dread crawled on his skin. He wiped away the sweat that had gathered on his brows.
'I'm glad it was just a dream.'
"Hu…" He breathed out to calm himself and eliminate the feeling of dread in his heart. He slowly lay down.
'Everything is fine,' Ren inwardly assured himself. But…
The feeling wasn't going away. No, it was getting more intense. His chest felt heavy. He opened his eyes; all he saw was the all-consuming darkness. He sat up.
Oasis orphanage was relatively good when compared with other orphanages. Since the war started the number of children who became orphans skyrocketed – in turn, more orphanages were built. The greater the number of orphans living there, the worse the living conditions.
So most orphanages built long rooms – more like halls – as bedrooms. And double or triple bunks were set up to accommodate more children.
Ren slept at the upper bunk – the top-most bunk. Directly below him was Liam. After falling off the bunk in his sleep a few times, the Oasis' staff had noted never to assign him a top bunk.
It was probably for the best.
Ren
Ren looked around. The long room felt especially long, and the darkness felt like it constantly changed position. The feeling came back. His chest felt tight as he felt a sense of impending crisis. It was suffocating. It felt like he was underwater, unable to breath. He felt the uncomfortable feeling of being watched, and he looked up.
The darkness parted, and he saw it – a grotrsque being that it's appearance alone could evoke nightmares to those who behold it. Bulging red eyes, bald head and black slimy skin, it used its long limbs to hold unto the ceiling as it gazed down.
Ren met its gaze. He felt something. It was like something was at the back of his mind trying to crawl out.
It was then…
"Aahh!!"
He heard it – a scream.
It wasn't close as it sounded quiet far away.
Another sounded out, and then another.
"WAKE UP!! RUN!!"
Light sleepers were startled awake by his call. He jumped down fron the bunker, ending up hitting his head on something – he wasn't sure what it was as everywhere was dark.
_Growl
_Aah! H-help m-
_What…?
_M-monsters! Aah
Two similar creatures were there and they jumped down, there long limbs and claws shredded the anything that stood in their way.
The creatures stood on a hunched back and their faces was filled with deep wrinkles. Their long hands ended in sharp claws. From their mouth their canine teeth extruded. Their appearance were horrifieying enough to strike fear on the hearts of men much less children.
It was pandemonium
"Hey! Wake up!" Liam felt a stinging slap and was startled awake. He didn't have enough time to think as Ren dragged him up. His eyes darted around as he searched for something. Luckily, they were beside the window. It was a wooden window and can be unlocked from the inside.
The window was just two bunks away. Ren saw it. it was already open and the nearest children were already escaping. They rushed to it.
There was a hurriedly made platform there. That was made so the window could be reached easily. Jumping from that height would undoubtedly leave a bruise at best.
Meanwhile, Ren looked around cautiously. He felt like he was being watched already branded as a prey. In the chaos, Ren hurried Liam to move faster, He didn't feel safe at all. Even when the escape path was just a few meters ahead.
They reached. Liam jumped and Ren jumped too. They landed, but in two different places. Ren was flung back with so much force that he crashed on the other side of the room on a fallen bunker. His vision doubled and blood trickled. He saw a figure that quite resembled a man with scaly skin, who walked towards him.
'Someone from the Beast race?' Ren thought as an unceasing ringing sound was heard in his ear. Then, Ren lost consciousness.
Before he lost consciousness, he heard one last word – "For the Draculais!"
-----
The Beast Empire – previously one of the main empires empires
There were originally five main empires. The Draculais Empire, led by the direct descendants of Dracula; The Beast Empire, led by the Beast King; the Witches empire, led by The Queen; The Night Wolf Empire, led by The Night Wolf; finally the human empire, led by The Enigmatic Emperor.
The Draculais Empire was the weakest and smallest among the five. But rapidly grew in strength. When their strength became threatening, their mortal enemies, the wolves, wanted to cull them just like before. but met intense resistance from the Vampires.
It was the start of the Great War. Their strength were greater than expected.
The Human Empire took the chance to strike at the wolves who made the fatal mistake of turning their backs on them. None of the empires particularly had a good relation with the other. Continuously looking for a way to weaken the other.
The surprise attack was deadly for the wolves. In retaliation, they divided their forces in two and bared their fangs towards their aggressors.
Gradually other Empires joined the war. Unexpectedly, it was the Beast Empire that was destroyed in the war. The Witches partially annexed with the Vampires. The Beasts joined hands with the Wolves. The war escalated.
Funny enough, the first aggressors – the Humans and the Wolves were severely weakened. In contrast, the vampires grew even stronger.
It was no doubt, now, that the Draculais Empire could take on the two other empires – even without the help of the Witches. They would only take a significant loss, but their chances of victory were very high. They might have done that if not for a troublesome figure in the human empire. The Enigmatic Emperor was the only thing standing between the Human Empire and extinction.
The Beasts were now enslaved and brainwashed by the Vampires, doing the dirty work for them. One of those dirty works was this.
-----
Liam landed on the other side. He tried to stand up, but pain assaulted his mind, and he bit his lips. His ankle was twisted, and his leg throbbed with every movement. He remembered something or rather someone and turned around.
"This…!"
He turned there was no one around him.
'Where is Ren?'
"Ren!!!"
Liam's horrified gaze locked to the window.
'He - he is still inside.'
Liam tried to climb back but couldn't. The window was too high and his leg was injured. 'What the hell was happening? Those things…' They were – to put into simpler words – terrifying.
_Grrr
A low groal snapped him out of his mind.
"Ahh." Looking ahead, away from the building. Liam was lost for words.
Those creatures – They were everywhere.