I turned to Zane, who had backed himself against the wall, the same shock and realization settling in. We were way out of our depth.
The moles began to move, their bloated, deformed bodies shifting with unnerving speed. The air seemed to thicken around us as they slithered forward. And for the second time today - true, unrelenting terror gripped me.
Zane and I scrambled to our feet, weapons in hand, and did what any sane person would do. We Ran.
We needed distance. We thought we'd gained some until something twisted and spectacular happened. As we hit the second floor, a faint blue glow flickered in the corner of my eye, and in a blink, two of the grotesque creatures appeared as if summoned from thin air.
They just popped into existence right in front of us, cutting off our escape. Panic surged through me, but before I could react, I saw the other two had somehow circled behind us. Two in front, two behind. Trapped.
"How the hell do we get out of this?" I couldn't help but complain about the situation we had gotten ourselves into. While observing the two beasts in front, I saw them start sniffing the air, almost like they couldn't see us.
A split second later, I pulled Zane into an apartment, the door hanging uselessly on its frame. My heart pounded as we stumbled inside, praying to any god that the moles hadn't noticed us yet.
The ones in front hadn't caught on, but the two behind us? They knew. They moved closer, relentless, their bodies shifting like ripples in water, drawn by some instinct that made no sense. They followed us in, the space between us and them closing with every breath we took.
We dashed into the first room we could find, only to realize it was nothing but a dark, cramped storage space. The window? No chance. It was too high.
A sickening squelch broke the silence as the worm-like feelers of the moles swayed in the air, their glowing red eyes locking onto us with a hunger that seemed all too familiar.
I felt it, the inevitable. The thing I had been trying to avoid, trying to ignore… it was staring us in the face. There was no escape.
My heart slammed in my chest, blood rushing in my ears, my palms slick with sweat. Every instinct screamed at me to run, to do something—anything—to break free. But I was frozen, paralyzed by fear.
I wasn't ready to die. Hell, my life had barely just started. I wasn't even sure how to face something like this.
But then, as if the weight of it all was too much, something broke in Zane. I saw it in his eyes.A flicker of something raw, primal. His hands tightened around the metal rod, his face twisting with fury as he let out a low growl that barely sounded human.
Without warning, he launched himself at the closest mole, as if in a race to meet death itself. The rod swung through the air in a wide arc, powerful and desperate. But like a twisted déjà vu, it sailed just inches from the mole's head, the creature reacting in time to swipe its claws at Zane.
But that was when it happened. Something inside Zane clicked.
Like a switch had been flipped.
In one swift, unexpected motion, he clenched his fist and drove it straight into the mole's nose. The resulting screech was deafening, and the creature stumbled backward, disoriented, but Zane wasn't done.
With a grunt, he pivoted, his leg snapping out in a roundhouse kick that landed square on another mole's chest, sending it flying. But instead of letting up, Zane closed the distance in an instant, grabbing the mole by its thick, matted fur and yanking himself toward it. His fists hammered down in a relentless barrage.
Each punch landed harder than the last. The blows weren't just painful; they were devastating, each hit seemingly heavier than the one before. It was as if Zane was not just fighting with his body, but with some force deep inside him, primal and untamed.
The first mole, the one that had staggered away earlier, realized it had underestimated Zane. It returned to the fight, but Zane had already shifted into something else entirely. With an inhuman grunt, he grabbed the mole he'd been battering and with one hand he lifted it off the ground. The beast, the size of a tiger, was held aloft with one bloody hand, as if it weighed nothing.
And then, as if mocking all logic and reason, Zane swung the beast like it was some kind of ragdoll, using its body as a weapon. He swung it again and again, over and over, smashing it into the charging mole with an almost sickening glee. Each swing was primal, each strike an expression of something raw and barbaric.
In that moment, something shifted. The light around Zane began to change. A faint, blood-red glow radiated from him, growing stronger with each swing, like some unseen force urging him on. The air around him crackled with power, as if the very room fed on his rage. Kade, still processing the chaos, could see it: the transformation happening right before his eyes.
In mere seconds, both moles had been reduced to a bloody pulp—fur, blood, and flesh splattered across the floor. It was no longer a fight; it was a slaughter. But Zane, in his fury, didn't seem to care. He marched straight out of the room, leaving the remains of the carnage behind him. His eyes locked onto the two moles that had teleported in earlier, as they caught up to him.
This time, though? I wasn't worried. Not after what I'd just seen. Zane was no longer the same guy I knew—he was something else, something... different. The moles seemed to sense it too. One of them paused, moving with an air of hesitation.
Zane didn't notice. He didn't care.
He grabbed a broken coat rack from the floor, snapping the end off to create a makeshift spear. Without missing a beat, he hurled the sharp end straight at the more confident of the two moles. The creature dodged, but Zane was already standing over it, no hesitation in his movements.
Before the mole could react, Zane delivered three quick, brutal punches—each one landing with surgical precision. The fight ended with those three hits, the mole crumpling to the floor, blood pooling and bones poking out in grotesque angles.
The fourth mole, seeing what had just transpired, had no interest in sticking around. It turned and bolted, not waiting to see what came next. And honestly? I didn't blame it.
But Zane? Zane wasn't done. His mind was somewhere else now, the rage still coursing through him. His head snapped back and forth, his eyes darting to every corner of the room, as if he were hearing something I couldn't.
Then, without warning, the red glow around him began to fade, his body going rigid. He collapsed to the floor, his body twitching and shaking violently as if he were being electrocuted.
"Zane!!"