Leo was curled up in a small metal cupboard, at the far end of the chemistry laboratory. He held his breath, knees pressed to his chest, back stiff against the icy metal, he held his breath. The air reeked of chemicals alcohol, chlorine, ammonia, stinging his nostrils, burning his throat.
In his right hand, he clutched a bottle of concentrated sulfuric acid.
Heavy. Cold. Dangerous. His only weapon. His only plan.
"Stay hidden. If it finds me... hit the eyes and run like hell."
If my legs even work by then...
Sudden. A noise.
A roar, low and guttural, followed by the metallic screech of a door being torn off.
"No...?"
The laboratory's door exploded inward, flung across the room like paper. A black, jagged maw now gaped where the wall had been.
And through it stepped the creature.
Each step hit like a sledgehammer, shaking the floor. Workbenchs shuddered. Glass splintered beneath its weight. Leo froze. Every movement brought the horror closer. The metal of the cupboard rattled against his back. A bottle above his head slipped; he caught it with trembling fingers.
Not now. Please, don't come...
Then, silence. Worse than the roar that came before.
It had stopped moving.
It had stopped. Right outside the cupboard. Leo felt its presence, its massive weight, its shallow, inhuman breath.
Through the crack, he dared a glance. A shadow. Enormous. Warped.
Two points of cold, inhuman light eyes.
His heart slammed against his chest. The acid was ready. One chance. Aim at the eyes. Create an opening. Flee.
Then, another sound.
The monster stopped.
Its breathing hitched, low and guttural, like a predator sensing a rival.
Slowly, its head turned toward the hall.
Footsteps.
Fast. Getting closer.
Approaching.
A figure burst through the torn entrance.
Hugo.
"Hey, ugly."
Too loud, too deliberately insolent, Leo knew the humor was barely hiding his nerves.
"Alright… really starting to think this wasn't such a good idea," Hugo muttered, forcing a crooked grin
The creature froze, interrupted mid-hunt. Its gaze swept the lab, landing on the metal cupboard. Hugo saw it too. He knew.
"Hey, walking nerves," Hugo shouted. Leo almost snorted through his fear. "Got a problem with orientation? It's me you want."
He kicked a fallen mattress. The metallic crash echoed through the room.
"Come on! Come and get me!"
He bolted into the corridor.
The monster roared and lunged after him, claws scraping the tiles but stop right after hearing a small noise. Leo pressed against the cupboard, heart pounding. It was still too close.
Adrenaline surged, fear turning to impulse.
Now it's all or nothing
He kicked the cupboard door open, stepped out, and with all his strength.
"TAKE THIS!"
The bottle spun and shattered against the monster's face. A wet, sizzling hiss. Its howl of agony was high-pitched and distorted. Its massive arms thrashed blindly, claws smashing benches and overturning carts. Glass shattered. A tornado of metal, claws, and rage.
"Leo!"
Hugo waved from the enter of the lab.
Leo vaulted over benches, dodging a crashing arm, and joined him. Panting, he watched the monster thrash, blinded but far from defeated.
"He's blind! But not for long!"
"Then let's move—NOW!" Hugo shouted.
They sprinted down the corridor. Tiles echoed under their pounding feet.
CRAAAAK.
The building shuddered. Leo froze.
"...No."
The lab wall burst outward. Bricks scattered. The beast crashed through, a black mass of muscle and hatred. Its cry was fury, no longer pain.
"GO!" Hugo dragged Leo forward.
They ran. Faster. Behind them, destruction roared. Leo glanced back toward Hugo, who had risked himself to save them.
"Hugo!!" he yelled.
Between gasps, one ragged sentence escaped his lips:
"...You're really crazy, man..."
A pause. Then Hugo's voice, faint but clear:
"I know."
A thin smile crept onto Leo's face.
And they kept running, hell at their heels.
*******
Their steps light but urgent echoed through the corridors. The once familiar architecture, with its cold concrete walls and metallic doors, now felt hostile: a maze of stone and steel perfect for an ambush.
Their shadows stretched and warped, dancing in the flickering glow of the emergency lights, turning the once-banal environment into a scene torn straight from a nightmare.
Behind them came a distant rumble.
Then a heavy, violent crack—like a wall giving way under something colossal.
A shadow lurched into view.
The monster didn't just turn the corner… it slid into it, claws scraping hard across the tiles as its massive body lost traction, skidding in a burst of speed it couldn't fully control. The impact sent dust and shards scattering, its momentum carrying it halfway into the corridor before it regained its footing with a guttural snarl
The monster was on their heels.
Its relentless pursuit grew louder, every sound hitting their chests like a hammer. Its guttural growls echoed down the corridors, anger growing with every corner that slowed it down. Marc had suggested it: take as many turns as possible to buy time. Each sharp angle bought seconds. Maybe enough.
Leo, breathless, barely audible, heart pounding out of control.
"He… he's coming! Damn it, he's fast!"
Hugo, not daring to look back, voice tight with effort and determination:
"I know! It's the plan! Hold on! Almost there!"
They ran, lungs burning, muscles screaming with every step.
Images of Marc's trap flashed through Hugo's mind the elevator, the slick floor, the flammable fumes.
Every stride brought them closer to safety or disaster.
The corridor suddenly widened, revealing the elevator bay bathed in the pale glow of emergency lights.
Marc stood there, motionless near the metallic doors, a tool in hand, face set with intense focus, ready to trigger the trap.
Before him, the floor was coated in a dark, glossy substance—dangerous, slippery, and shimmering with flammable fumes.
Even the air felt charged, like it was holding its breath.
Marc yelled with all his strength:
"Move! Faster! He's right behind you!"
The monster's thunderous steps grew heavier behind them, each impact rattling their bones.
Leo ran blindly, panic blurring his vision.
Hugo glanced back just long enough to shout:
"Leo! When we hit the intersection, slide to your left! Don't go into the elevator—whatever you do! That's for him!"
Leo, confused, shouted back:
"What? Wait, what is—"
Hugo cut him off, gasping:
"Just run and trust me!"
The elevator bay rushed toward them, red lights flickering like warnings from hell.
At the last possible second, Hugo bellowed:
"Leo! Slide right—NOW! Not into the elevator!"
Without understanding, Leo obeyed.
Both of them dove, Hugo to the right, Leo to the left, throwing themselves onto the slippery floor.
They glided across the tiles, carried by the slick liquid into opposite corridors.
A tense silence.
A single breath.
Then an explosive, ripping roar.
The creature barreled into the hallway like a living avalanche of muscle and shadow, running far too fast to stop.
Its front claws hit the slick floor, no grip.
No control.
Leo, half-risen from his slide, stared down the main corridor, eyes locked on the monster. His breathing was ragged, hands gripping the cold tiles as he watched it lose balance.
Everything happened in a heartbeat.
Its legs skidded.
Its torso pitched forward.
A thunderous roar surged from its throat and one massive claw, thrown upward by the momentum, sliced through the air straight toward Hugo, who hadn't yet realized the danger.
Leo's eyes widened.
His voice ripped out of him:
"HUGO! DOWN!"
Alerted at the last instant, Hugo dove into a desperate roll.
The monster's claw smashed into the spot where his back had been a second earlier, sparks bursting as talons scraped across the tiles.
Thrown by its own weight, the monster toppled completely.
Its massive flank slammed into the elevator opening with a bone-shaking impact. crashing inside with an earth-shattering roar.
Its scream echoed through the metal shaft like something trapped in hell.
Hugo, who had ended up right at the edge, jumped to his feet and slammed the elevator's close button repeatedly.
"Come on… come on… close!"
The heavy steel doors slid shut inch by inch.
Just before they met, one massive claw lunged toward them, but the doors snapped shut, trapping it inside with a brutal metallic CLANG.
Marc shouted sharply from the side:
"Back! Now!"
Hugo leapt away.
Marc lunged at the elevator's control panel, ripping it open with trembling urgency with the screwdriver from the ruins of the lab destroyed by the monster .
He jammed his screwdriver into the wiring, tore several cables loose, connected two, then struck the exposed circuits.
A burst of sparks erupted in a shower of light. Then leapt, igniting the liquid Marc had poured around the panel, carving a blazing line of fire that raced toward the elevator in a roaring inferno.
and make a way in a gap than Marc had prepared earlier, disguised with a simple metal wedge.
Invisible to anyone who didn't know it existed.
A single second passed.
Then fire erupted inside the elevator.
The fumes ignited with horrifying speed.
A torrent of flames exploded upward, filling the cabin.
Inside, the monster howled in agony, thrashing against the walls, hammering the metal with its entire body.
The whole structure shook under its fury.
The floor vibrated.
The walls trembled.
Leo let out a shaky, nervous laugh.
"He's shaking the whole thing apart!"
The steel cables groaned under the strain.
The monster's violent movements rattled the cabin harder and harder.
One cable snapped with a piercing TWANG.
Marc heard it instantly, his eyes went wide.
"The cables are giving out! RUN!"
Before the last word finished leaving his mouth, a second cable snapped.
Then a third.
Then the main cable.
With a deafening roar, the cabin broke free and plummeted.
A moment of total silence.
Then—
Impact.
A monstrous explosion roared up the shaft.
Heat blasted through the corridor, chasing the trio as they sprinted away, hearts pounding, limbs shaking.
BOOM!
Fire erupted from the shaft like a dragon's breath, painting the hallway in a blinding orange flare.
Silence fell again, thick, unreal.
Leo, shaking, breathless, rested a hand on his knee.
"…You're really insane, guys…"
Hugo looked at the smoking elevator doors, a tired grin tugging at his lips.
"I know."
Just beside them, Marc let out a slow exhale. A faint, tight smile crossed his face half relief, half disbelief, like he still wasn't sure how any of them were still alive.