Trapped in a narrow metal cupboard tucked against the back wall of the chemistry lab, Leo held his breath as a monstrous creature tore through the room. Glass shattered, metal creaked, and its heavy footsteps shook the ground. Just beyond the thin cabinet door—barely a meter away—two glowing eyes locked onto him through a narrow crack, cold, inhuman, and far too aware.
The acid was ready. The bottle felt heavy in his hand, its weight like a promise.There would only be one chance. One opening.He had to aim for the eyes. Create a window.And run.
"If it comes any closer... I strike. And then I run."
It was then, just when the tension was at its peak, that something unexpected happened.
A sound of footsteps, rapid. A figure emerged from the gaping opening at the front of the lab, where the main door had been torn off.
Hugo.
His voice resonated immediately, clear, a little too loud, deliberately insolent but with that recognizable timbre, a nervousness awkwardly hidden under a layer of humor that was badly dosed.
"Well, the ugly one," he said, addressing the creature."Recess is over! We have a game night waiting for us."
He paused. The creature froze. Hugo had just interrupted it in its hunt.
His eyes scanned the room slowly, then lingered on the metal closet, hidden behind a pile of overturned furniture. He frowned. He knew. Leo was still in it.And the thing stood directly in front of it, only a few steps away.
Hugo gritted his teeth, then took a step forward, slowly, deliberately, voluntarily attracting the monster's attention.
He raised his voice again.
"Hey, walking nerves, do you have a problem with orientation or what? It's me you want."
The beast spun around. Its hoarse breathing filled the room, thick and animalistic, as its massive form slowly shifted toward the new intruder. It hesitated—a split second of confusion—its instincts screaming that the original prey was still nearby. Its head turned, scanning. Searching. Pausing.
Then Hugo kicked a straw mattress with his foot. The crash that followed was violent, metallic, echoing like a gunshot through the lab.
"Come on, come and get me!"
He immediately rushed into the corridor.
The monster roared and leapt in his direction. Its claws scraped the ground in a monstrous race.
But… it had not yet left the room.
It was still there, positioned right beside the cabinet, close enough to touch it.
Leo felt it. The weight of its presence. The heat of its rage.
Now or never.
He kicked the cupboard door open and stepped out into the open aisle, barely two meters from the monster. The monster's body jerked.
Its head snapped toward him, slow and heavy, like a machine sensing movement. It saw him.
"TAKE THIS!"
The bottle spun in the air… then crashed into the monster's face in a sickening splatch.
A howl of pain immediately erupted, high-pitched, distorted. The monster staggered, its monstrous arms whipping the air blindly. Its eyes were melting. Literally.
"Leo!"
Marc, positioned near the far exit of the lab about fifteen meters away, was waving at him.
Leo leapt over one bench, then another, narrowly avoiding an arm that crashed where he had been half a second earlier. The monster, blinded, struck on all sides in blind rage.
Its blows smashed workbenches, overturned carts, pulverized glass jars and instruments. A straw mattress collapsed under the brute force. Another flew through the air. A cloud of chemical smoke rose. A kind of mini-apocalypse of glass, metal, and rage.
Leo ducked low, slid across the floor, and dove toward Marc.
"It's blind! But not for long!"
"So let's move! QUICKLY!"
They rushed down the long main hallway that connected the lab wing to the elevator area, their footsteps echoing on the tiled floor as the monster roared behind them and destroyed everything.
They had barely covered a few dozen meters—
CRAAAAK.
A rumble. Like a storm inside the building itself.
They paused for a fraction of a second. Leo turned around.
"... No."
The lab's left wall—facing the corridor—had just collapsed, thrown outward by a black and misshapen mass.
The beast had literally gone through the wall. Its cry, this time, was no longer pain.
It was anger.
Marc pulled Leo by the arm.
"Come on! No break! We run. Or we die."
The two boys set off again at full speed. The chase had just begun and the elevator trap was now to work.
As they ran, Leo gasped for breath as his heart pounded against his ribs.
But even in that storm of panic, one thought took over.
"Hugo!" he yelled in the corridor.
He shouted down the corridor, lungs burning.And then, between two ragged breaths, a single line escaped—half whisper, half laugh.
"... You're really crazy, man..."
A brief silence. Then Hugo's voice answered in two words.
"I know."
A thin smile appeared on Leo's face, despite the urgency.
And they both ran, hell at their heels.
A little earlier, before Hugo leaves in the direction of the laboratory…
The small storage room where they had taken refuge—just across from the service hallway—was shrouded in oppressive darkness. The walls themselves seemed to absorb the silence, and only the quick breath of Hugo and Marc disturbed it. The echo of their previous races, the screams, the fear, everything was still there, suspended in the air like an invisible threat. And somewhere out there, Leo was still in danger.
Marc, leaning against the wall, his face tense with reflection, finally broke the silence:
"Listen... We can't stay here forever. The exits are blocked, and this thing... it's still out there. If we don't do anything, it will end up getting us all. Leo. Us. And anybody else still stuck here."
Hugo looked at him, his eyes red with anguish.
"And what do you suggest? You saw it, didn't you? I feel like this monster can take it all. It is… unstoppable."
Marc shook his head, determined.
"Not by brute force. By cunning. I thought of something..."
He glanced toward the narrow service hallway just outside the room.
"The main elevator."
Hugo raised an eyebrow, taken aback.
"The elevator? Hold on… You want to make it take the elevator? And then we wish it a safe journey to hell?"
Marc replied, more serious than ever:
"No. Not crush it. Burn it. We trap it inside, and set it on fire. This may be our only shot. Fire… fire destroys everything. Even that kind of thing."
Hugo laughed dryly, almost nervously.
"Burn it? With what? Did we forget our flamethrower in our lockers or what?"
Marc crossed his arms, his eyes shining with a dangerous glow.
"We don't need that. There's pure alcohol, powerful solvents... We gather what we can, we flood the rear section of the elevator cabin—the part farthest from the doors—and when the thing enters, we light up."
A shiver ran down Hugo's spine. The idea was insane. Completely insane.
But also... terribly tempting.
He looked down, hesitated for a second, then raised his head.
"Do you really think it can work?"
Marc did not answer at once. He simply gave him a look. Hard. Resolute.
And in that look, Hugo understood.
It was no longer a question of whether it could work.
It was all they had left.
A heavy silence reigned in the dark room. The emergency red light flashing faintly on the ceiling gave the scene an unreal, almost unearthly atmosphere. Marc stared into the void, his thoughts racing. Then, at last, he spoke.
"We have to make sure it can't stop in front of the elevator... even if it's wary."
Hugo looked at him sideways.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Marc slowly turned his head, a strange gleam in his eyes. A cold glow.
"We make the ground slippery right in front of the elevator entrance. Soap, oil... something treacherous. An improvised ice rink."
Hugo raised an eyebrow, intrigued in spite of himself.
"So it slides directly into the cabin? You have a sadistic side I didn't see coming..."
Marc gave a brief smile.
"It limits the risk for the bait. If it slips, it can't think. It enters. And we lock it up."
Hugo began to think in turn. The idea was crazy... but a useful kind of crazy. A madness that could work.
"OK... OK, yes. Slippery. Flammable. You want to make the elevator a horror movie trap. Where do we find all that? Maintenance reserves? Technical rooms?"
"Probably," Marc replied. "We need a lot. Enough to flood the cabin. And a trigger. A spark."
A shiver ran through Hugo. The plan was taking shape… and he knew exactly where it was leading.
"And then… we're attracting it, right?" He began to laugh, a dry, joyless laugh.Of course. The bait. Always the bait.
He stared straight into Marc's eyes, a smirk on his lips.
"You mean someone who runs in front of that thing, who pisses it off, and who pulls it exactly where we want it? And who are you thinking of? Huh?"
Marc remained silent.
This silence... was enough.
"Tch. Of course. It's me, isn't it?" Hugo hissed."I'm fast. I've already done stupid things like this. Of course it's me."
He jumped to his feet, a flash of anger mixed with resolution in his eyes.
"OK. Very well. I do it. Not because you told me to. But because Leo is still in there. And I'm not going to let him die like a rat."
Marc seemed to hesitate for a moment.
"It's extremely dangerous, Hugo. You'll only get one chance. If you fail—"
"I know," Hugo cut him off. "I know all that. But I'm going anyway." He ran a hand through his hair and took a breath.
"Now, just tell me... How do we set the fire? Are you planning to throw a match and pray very hard?"
Marc shook his head.
"Too risky. We trigger a short circuit. Once the doors are closed, the power to the elevator is abruptly cut from the main panel. With that much flammable liquid inside... a spark will suffice. And it will be hell."
Hugo crossed his arms, his jaw clenched.
"Electricity... yes, that's twisted. Dangerous. But I like it. This monster had better behave. Does it like corridors? Perfect. We're giving it the last one of its life."
Marc nodded.
"So, here's the plan. We find what we need. The liquid. Soap. And we prepare for that."
"No time wasted. Once it's ready..."(he clenched his fists)"I run. I attract it. And I finish this game."
A silence fell between them again. But this time, it was no longer fear that reigned.It was a form of icy calm.The calm of those who know they no longer have the right to make mistakes.