Beast Soul

"Urgh…" Gerald let out an uncomfortable groan as he slowly opened his eyes. As his vision became clear, Gerald looked around, only to be confused by where he was. 'What the-' He could only see rocks, dirt and dimly lit passageways as he looked around, which made him raise his eyebrows. But that wasn't it. There was something else that was bothering him..

'Why the hell am I upside down?' Gerald tilted his head up, and realized that he was hanging upside down with his hands tied up and his feet connected to the rocky part that was protruding from the top.

'Wait a minute. I remember now…' As he began to adjust to the complicated situation that he was in, he regained his memory and remembered how he got himself captured.

"F*ck!" He cursed at himself for having such bad luck. But he was simultaneously also thinking about how to escape from this place. 

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Gerald began to wiggle around in the air as he tried to turn his body around, attempting to get a full view of the place that he was in, to understand the interior and the different pathways that he could use to exit this place. 

His eyes scanned the surroundings, and Gerald realized that he was currently trapped in some sort of cave. He could also spot two pathways, both of which were covered completely in darkness, which gave him no clue as to where they would lead him to. 

'Where the f*ck is that monster that kidnapped me?' Gerald squinted his eyes, as he couldn't see the monster that caught him anywhere. This made him feel both relieved and afraid at the same time.

He was relieved that the creature wasn't present near him, as he could now move with more freedom and try to escape. But at the same time, this meant that Gerald didn't have any clue as to where the monster could emerge from, and he feared escaping the trap and running away only to end up right in front of the creature. 

"Looking for me?" All of a sudden, a rough and rusty voice entered Gerald's ears, and a chill ran down his spine as his body suddenly turned around in mid air. It seemed that the monster had twisted the rope that hung Gerald upside down, turning Gerald's body around to face the creature.

Gerald's eyes widened as he came face to face with the monster. It had the appearance of Mr. Carrick, their physics teacher. However, Gerald could see silver coloured scales that seemed to be growing on his neck and his lower jaw, and his hands had been transformed into claws, the skin gradually turning into silver-gray color from the tip of the fingers. It also seemed like his body had slightly increased in size a bit, as evident by his clothes practically sticking tightly onto his body. Gerald didn't seem to remember Mr. Carrick having a muscular body, which meant that this was also part of the transformation.

"I know you…" Mr. Carrick leaned towards him as he spoke, and Gerald could almost feel his breath on his face. "You're in one of the classes I teach, aren't you?" He spoke, his eyes sparkling with fascination and curiosity. He was staring at Gerald as though he was an artwork in a museum.

"Mr. Carrick. It's- It's me! Gerald!" Gerald said while stuttering, having trouble making out words. "I know you're a nice guy, Mr. Carrick. I honestly have no clue as to what you're doing here. I promise."

"You know, you really suck at lying, young man.." Mr. Carrick whispered softly into Gerald's ears, making him instinctively tilt his head the other way.

Mr. Carrick let out a short snicker in response to Gerald's actions and he leaned back. "Of course, you know exactly what I am. After all…" He pressed his claws on Gerald's chest. "You and I are not so different, are we?" 

"Urgh…" Gerald let out another groan filled with pain. Mr. Carrick seemed to have increased the pressure of his claws on Gerald's chest, making him feel pain. "I don't know what you're talking about…" He said with a soft voice, hiding his hurtful expression. 

"Oh, don't play dumb… Gerald, you said?" Mr. Carrick finally pulled his clawed hand back as he finished his sentence, and Gerald let out a sigh of relief. Mr. Carrick began to walk around the still hanging Gerald, continuing to speak. "Your scent, it's different from other humans." He pressed his nose close to Gerald's legs, inhaling repeatedly. "It's actually quite similar to mine."

"Well then, I think you might be sick, sir. Because I really don't think you and I share the same scent." Gerald said as he tried to wiggle, attempting to turn his body around to face Mr. Carrick, who was now standing behind him. 

"You're pretty funny, for someone like me…" Mr. Carrick said, and he tapped his chin and raised his eyebrows. It seemed that he was deep in thought. "Interesting…" A soft whisper escaped through his lips, and beads of sweat began to drop down from Gerald's forehead onto the ground.

"Are your friends the same as you?" Mr. Carrick crouched down as he spoke, standing right behind Gerald's hanging head. "Same as me? What do you mean?" Gerald didn't want to play the dummy anymore, but he felt that he had no choice but to continue to do so for his friends. "I have no idea what you're talking about, sir."

"Hah.." Mr. Carrick let out a long and heavy sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair. His voice turned chilly and cold as he continued, "You don't want to continue with this farce anymore, young man. Trust me." 

*Gulp*

Gerald gulped down his saliva, as he could feel the certainty in the monster's voice. And so, he decided to shut his mouth. 

"Well, it's not like I need you to tell me…" Mr. Carrick waved his hands in the air as he began to walk forward, and Gerald could finally see him in front of him once again.

Mr. Carrick stopped walking and then turned around, looking right into Gerald's eyes as he continued, "I'll just make one of your friends spill the whole thing for me instead."

"What are you talking about?" Gerald said, his eyes widened with surprise.

"Of course, I'm talking about your two pals. They're probably heading in this direction as we speak," Mr. Carrick said with a calm expression on his face. He was so calm that it made Gerald feel a bit too uneasy. 

"Don't worry, I won't kill them…" Mr. Carrick let out a chuckle after seeing Gerald's expression. "I'm just hoping to have a little chat with some interesting people. That's all."

-----------------------

'Do you know anything about this monster?' Noah asked. 'I don't have any clue about the guy you're about to fight…' Doppelganger Noah replied, and just when Noah was about to let out a disappointed sigh, he continued, 'But you probably would have better luck at winning this fight. The one you fought earlier today was an extremely rare one. A monster that is very low in number.'

'Really?' Noah asked, and Doppelganger Noah confirmed. 'Yup. Really. So you might not have such a bad time with this fight!'

Noah tilted his head and scratched his hair for a few seconds before letting out a sigh and said, "Ah, whatever!" He turned to Harold and continued, "You said your buddies went in there, right? Let's head over there!"

Noah stomped his foot on the road and leapt into the air as soon as he finished speaking, jumping over the entrance gate within a split second, leaving a surprised Harold staring at him with his mouth open.

"What are you waiting for, Harold?" Noah waved his hands at Harold as he turned around. "Come on! Quickly!"

"Ah, right! Yes, of course!" Harold snapped back to reality and nodded his head. He then looked around, making sure that there was no one observing them before climbing over the entrance gate and jumping to the other side. 

The two then raced towards the front door. "What do we do now?" Harold asked, after seeing that the front door was locked. "We should probably use one of the windows. Maybe the other three used one-"

Noah didn't wait for Harold to finish his words and grabbed onto the door handle, pressing it slightly and increasing his strength before pushing it forward, and the lock broke instantly with a small noise.

Clank!

Noah pushed the door open and glanced at Harold for a second before entering the house. 

"... Whatever," Harold, who had been left speechless by the actions of Noah, let out a long and heavy sigh before following him, and the two immediately hurried inside, searching every single room for any sign of monsters. 

"Did you find anything?" Noah asked from the living room.

"I think I did," Harold yelled back to Noah. "Come to the bathroom.. I thought you might need to see this."