It wasn't an illusion, the entire science hall was collapsing, the floor was angling downward at a very fast pace. Aurora felt sick, because the gravity was simply too much.
"The building is falling apart at a much faster rate," the guy grunted. "And the monster upstairs is messing with the main support. Stick to the left, and don't touch the walls."
"Why?" Aurora yelled, while trying to keep up with him.
"Just don't."
They turned to a corner, and Aurora soon understood why. The walls were melting, the bricks were falling down like candle wax, forming sizzling grey puddles on the floor.
A rat, or rather, a dream rat as big as a small dog got too close to the wall. As soon as its fur touched the melting brick, the wall shot out a Gray, sticky arm that grabbed the rat, and pulled it into the wall. The brick surface then briefly changed its texture to look like fur. Aurora held back a scream, and ran towards the hallway.
"Chesh show the way to the stairs." the guy shouted.
The cat made a screeching sound and jumped over a hole in the vast floor that showed a vast, star filled emptiness. Aurora leaped after it, with her heart pounding hard. They got to the stairs, but the middle part was gone already, and it was floating in the air about ten feet away and slowly spinning.
"We have to jump." the survivor said, getting ready for a running start.
"Are you crazy?" Aurora held the railing. "It's a ten foot leap onto something moving.
"Look behind you, Architect..."
Aurora turned. The hallway they had just left was gone, replaced by a wall of grey buzzing static, like a blank screen. It was rushing towards them, erasing the corridor bit by bit.
"The Siphon doesn't like company." the guy muttered. He took a deep breath and ran, landing hard on the floating stairs, his feet sliding. He grabbed onto the railing to keep his balance.
He looked back, holding out his hands. "Jump, I'll catch you."
Aurora saw that the static wall was now only five feet away. She felt the static electricity on her skin, and the golden mark on her wrist got hot, like it was issuing a strong warning.
'Jumped or be wiped out.'
She quickly shut her eyes, pushed off the railing, and jumped. For a moment, she was floating in the air over the cracks. Then her chest hit the concrete edge of the floating stairs, knocking the air out of her. She desperately clawed at the stone, her fingers slipping. A hand grabbed the back of her hoodie, then another hand grabbed her wrist, right over the glowing mark. A powerful shock wave of energy bursted out.
"Ouch!" The survivor yelled, but he didn't let go. He pulled her up with a groan, and dragged her onto the platform just as the static wall destroyed the place she had been standing on.
They lay there, breathing heavily. The floating stairs kept spinning and slowly moved down towards the ground floor.
"You..." The guy sat up, shaking his hands. "You delivered that electric shock, you know that?"
"Sorry," Aurora gasped. "I... I didn't know how to stop it."
"Figure it out fast," he said, standing up. "Because we aren't safe yet."
The stairs lowered enough for them to jump to the main lobby floor. The exit was ahead of them. It was a double glass door that looked perfectly fine. They ran out of the hall, and into the open air. Aurora stopped instantly, almost falling. She had seen the campus from high up, but on the ground, the horror was overwhelming.
The sky was a twisting mix of purple clouds, moving so fast that it made her dizzy. The campus lawn was covered in floating rocks and strange trees with human hands, instead of leaves. But her eyes were drawn to a building in the distance. It was the university library. In the real world, it was just a plain concrete building. But here, it was a fortress.
The windows were covered with glowing blue panels, while the roof was lined with sharp points made of bright light. A ditch surrounded the building. It was not filled with water, but with thousands of broken mirrors, which made a sharp, shimmering noise.
"That's where we're safe," the survivor said, fixing his helmet. He pointed his bat at it. "The Sanctuary. If we can get across the central law without being attacked, we might make it to dinner."
"Who are you? And how do you know what I am?"
He lifted the face shield of his helmet. He looked young, he was looking twenty. He had a spot of dirt on his cheek, his tired eyes, and strong jaw. He looked like a casual student, but now, he seemed worn out.
"My name is Jace," he said, giving a weak smile that didn't reach his eyes. "And I know what you are because I've seen the gold lines before. But the last Architect we had... let's just say he didn't last long.
Aurora felt a sudden chill. "What happened to him?"
Jace's smile disappeared. He pulled the helmet back down, hiding his face again, and said flatly.
"He tried to wake up. Let's go, we're an easy target out here."
"Wait," Aurora said, refusing to move. "I have a friend, his name is Ben. And he was with me in the car, we crashed on the glass plain. I really have to find him.
Jace stopped and turned slowly. "A guy with brown hair? Plaid shirt?"
Aurora's hope surged. "Yes! Did you see him?"
"I saw someone like that near the fountain," Jace replied cautiously. "But.... Aurora listen to me, If he's been out here alone for more than an hour..."
"He's alive." Aurora insisted, gripping her burning wrist. "I know it."
Jace hesitated, looking from the library back to her. He then sighed, sounding totally frustrated.
"Rule number three for the end of the world," he mumbled and continued. "Don't ever split up. Fine! We'll check out the fountain. Then we'll head to the library immediately. But if we see a Hollow, we run. No acting like this, got it?"
Aurora nodded, hugging her arms to stop it from shaking. "Got it."
"...And follow the cat, also stay off the grass. It's dangerous." Jace ordered.
Aurora just nodded as they left the surroundings and started moving. Aurora stayed very close to Jace while watching every shadow. She felt unprotected and exposed. But as they walked towards the centre of the campus, a strange feeling grew in her chest.
The mark on her wrist wasn't painful anymore, it started vibrating. It felt like a compass, guiding her. It was neither towards the building nor to the fountain. It was pulling her towards a dark, twisted side street between the dorm buildings.
'Ben?' she thought.
But as she looked at the alley, a figure stepped out. It wasn't a monster, it wasn't Ben either. It was a woman in a soaking wet, white dress. Her hair covered her face, and it was dripping water onto the dry, cracked ground. She stood completely still, blocking their way.
Jace froze, and stopped Aurora with a raised hand.
"Don't move," he whispered, his voice was really low this time. "It's the wee weeping Woman, don't make any noise."
The woman in the dress twitched. Then, from under the curtain of her wet hair, a sound came out. It wasn't a cry, it was the sound of a baby laughing.
"Mama?" the thing imitated, its voice was really unnatural. "Mama, where are you?"
Jace slowly reached for a flare on his belt. But before he could throw it, Aurora's phone, still in her pocket, started to buzz.
Bzzt. Bzzt.
The weeping woman's head snapped up, and there was no face under the hair. Just a vertical, slit mouth, filled with rows of sharp, needle-like teeth. It screamed at them.
The shriek didn't just hurt Aurora's ears, it vibrated in her teeth. It was a sound that shouldn't be existing in nature, like the screech of metal tearing combined with the high pitched cry of a dying animal.
Jace didn't hesitate, neither did he scream or flinch. He also did not wait to proceed with the terror happening in front of them. He just moved with terrifying speed like someone who had done this a hundred times before.
"Flare!" he roared, ripping the red flame off his belt.
He struck his cap against his thought. A hiss of sparks quickly erupted, followed instantly by a binding red light that seared the gloom of the alleyway.
The weeping woman recoiled. The creature threw its hands up. Its hands were pale, bloated and ended in fingers that looked like stripped bones. The red light seemed to boil the moisture on its skin. Steam hissed off the weeping woman's wet dress, and it smelled like rotten lilies, and stagnant pond water.