The secret door then closed leaving the only access to the screams of the outside world. Even if the door was closed, sweat and fear was roaming, eating a feast within the room. No one dared to mutter a single sound for what seemed like hours of endless screaming but in reality, it was only some mere seconds.
"How is the forest within the city? It was at least more than 100 kilometres away from here. Are you telling me that the forest grew here in less than a month?" It was clear on Alexis's face that he never expected this.
"If not then what is this?"
The owner tried to calm everyone in the only way he could.
"Don't worry. These things will never find us unless they already knew this room was here."
Panic creeping into his voice, Jacob spoke up.
"No offense, but this 'secret' entrance of yours is just wood, nails, and a handful of screws!"Clearly, he was far from reassured.
Chaos then erupted throughout the room as Arnaud's thoughts burst wildly through his mind.
Hadn't a phantom seen him as the door was closing? Amid the screaming, it was difficult to make out any sound, yet something could definitely be heard beyond the old piece of wood currently in front of him. It resembled footsteps in a hallway having an old wooden floor. There was no mistaking it! The floor was creaking and groaning, gasping for air as something walked slowly across them. But if it was right there, where could they go if he opened the entrance? He knew all too well that the creature could force its way through with little effort. Desperate for answers, he no longer cared what the response might be.
"Sir? May I ask only one question?"
Everyone stopped screaming at each other when they saw Arnaud's face, pale, it was almost completely white. It was as if he had looked upon the essence of death itself. The poor boy was holding everything inside, struggling to keep himself from crying.
"Is there a way to run if a phantom discover this place?"
The owner hesitated at Arnaud's question before answering as best he could.
"I suppose we would have to go into the room where all my weapons are stored."
"And where would that be, good sir?"
"On the other side of the trapdoor, at the end of the room."
When the group's gazes followed where the store owner was pointing, they saw it indeed, a trapdoor. It looked sturdy and well made, but even if it had been forged from pure steel, the phantom could easily break through it.
Arnaud knew that if even one of those creatures were to be trapped underground with them, it would mean certain death. Clinging to the last thread of hope he had left, he asked the only question that mattered.
"Is there any way the chamber leads to the surface?"
"..."
"No, why?"
In Arnaud's mind, those two words alone were enough to convince him that he would die within the next minute. No matter how much he refused to accept it, reality remained the same, there was no way out of this, none.
"I'm sorry guy's but we are fucked."
Tension rose the moment Arnaud finished his sentence. Done? What did he mean by done? There had been no phantom screams echoing through the building, which meant there wasn't one nearby… right?
The shop owner had had enough. These boys kept insulting his secret room, and he could no longer ignore it.
"Why won't you believe me when I say they will never find this place? There's even a peephole, and I'll show you that you have nothing to fear!"
Everything happened so fast that Alexis could barely comprehend what was unfolding before him. It didn't even take two seconds after the owner leaned toward the peephole.
Three long nails suddenly burst through the wood, piercing the owner's left eye, tearing through his brain, and exiting through the back of his head.
Arnaud then resumed his sentence as blood poured out of the owner's body.
"When I say that we are fucked then obviously there would be one nearby... no?"
Without thinking, Mathieu rushed to the trapdoor and screamed at the group.
"Run over here, quick!"
The group didn't hesitate. They rushed into the newly opened room as fast as they could. Only Arnaud remained frozen, convinced this was the end. Philippe didn't care about his certainty of death. Without a word, he raised Arnaud onto his shoulder and sprinted toward the trapdoor, pulling it shut behind him.
The group quickly descended the newly revealed stairs and found themselves facing a door at the end of the passage.
"Open the door quickly! Gabriel's blood is dripping all over me!" Didier shouted, desperate to hurry things along. But the rest of the group were too shaken to move.
"QUICK!"
"But… it needs a key…"
Without another word, Didier dropped Gabriel onto the floor and kicked the door with all his strength again and again. On the fifth strike, the handle finally gave way with a loud crack.
He immediately grabbed Gabriel back onto his shoulders and sprinted into the new room.
The others barely understood how he had managed to break the door so quickly, but there was no time to question it.
They rushed into the last accessible room and found themselves in the weapon storage. The room was roughly six meters long and three meters wide, its walls packed with hundreds of weapons. Most of them were guns, but Alexis didn't care.
"Quick! Grab any weapons you can carry but remember, we can't take any guns!"
Alexis quickly scanned the room and spotted a double-crescent halberd. When he picked it up, he was surprised by how light it felt.
Jacob chose a mace and two butcher knives. The knives were easy to carry, but the mace was heavier than he expected. Still, he decided to keep it.
At that moment, Philippe dropped Arnaud onto the ground so he could grab a weapon of his own. Arnaud was already certain that all hope was lost, but in the corner of his eye he spotted his favorite weapon : a compound crossbow. The sight of it sparked a faint return of hope as he picked it up with shaking hands.
The others chose more familiar weapons: Philippe took a soldier's sword and shield, Victor grabbed a katana, Didier picked up two one-handed Viking axes, Gabriel armed himself with five hidden Connor blades and a machete, and finally Mathieu took another katana.
Now, the group needed a plan of some sort to kill the incoming phantom but everyone was too much shaken to think of anything except one person : Arnaud.
"You need to distract it somehow so that I can shoot it with my crossbow."
"But how are we going to do th-"
At this exact moment, a huge squeaking sound came from the metallic trapdoor, it was being opened by force like Arnaud believed.
The sound grew louder and louder. Even though the group couldn't see the trapdoor, they knew it was being forced open violently. That realization did nothing to reassure them, if anything, it made the tension even worse.
Yet despite the chaos, Arnaud didn't lose his composure. He quickly spoke up.
"Guys! I have a plan so just listen to me!"
"And how are we supposed to know it's going to work?" asked a terrified Mathieu.
"Do you have a better plan?"
"…No."
"Then listen. Didier and Victor, take one side of the room each. Phantoms have a narrower field of vision than humans. If you stay close to the walls, there's a good chance it won't see you. Just distract it long enough for me to aim at its head."
"If you say so."
The next few seconds felt like hell. The metallic noise grew more and more desperate until it suddenly stopped.
For a moment, there was only a small silence.
Then came the sound of footsteps.
Something was slowly walking down the stairs, accompanied by a low and small growl.
The door that Didier had destroyed earlier had been pushed back into place, though it obviously could no longer be locked. Slowly, the phantom pushed it open. The wood creaked loudly as the door swung inward, the sound echoing throughout the room.
When the door opened, Arnaud noticed something strange. The phantom wasn't smiling. It was eating. Its mouth was smeared with blood.
The creature slowly looked around the room. For a brief moment, it paused, it was almost as if it was thinking. Then its expression twisted into a wide, uncontrollable smile as it realized it had found six new pieces of prey to play with.
Only then did the group notice something else.
The phantom had been dragging something behind it.
Without warning, it suddenly threw a big object forward, sending it sliding across the floor until it stopped in front of Arnaud.
It was the shop owner's fat body, a headless body.
Blood poured from the torn neck, slowly spreading across the floor.
Even though the group was now more frightened than ever, Arnaud didn't hesitate.
"NOW!"
Didier and Victor reacted instantly. As the phantom slowly walked toward the group, they rushed behind it. Hoping to deal as much damage as possible, they leapt into the air and aimed their weapons at its head.
In the very next second, both boys were hanging helplessly in the air.
The phantom had caught them.
It hadn't even flinched. With terrifying strength, it grabbed them both by the throat, forcing them to drop their weapons. The creature stared at Didier before slowly opening its mouth wider and wider, preparing to bite his head off.
"I GOT YOU NOW!"
The phantom barely had time to turn his head towards Arnaud, the source of the shout.
In that brief instant, an arrow shot through the air striking the phantom's forehead at a speed of more than 300 feet per second. Even with all that force, the arrow remained lodged deep in the creature's skull, the tip sticking out from the back of its head.
In the same instant, the phantom dropped the two boys. Its body remained standing, however, still staring at Arnaud with its blank, lifeless eyes.
Didier and Victor quickly grabbed their weapons and stepped back, keeping their distance from the creature, which barely seemed to react.
Everyone stood on edge, waiting for the phantom to collapse. But it didn't move. Instead, a wet, choking sound began to escape from its blood-filled mouth, doing nothing to calm the already unbearable tension.
Seconds passed.
Then, at last, the phantom fell backward onto the ground, motionless. Relief washed over the group, though their bodies were still shaking from shock, especially Arnaud, who was trembling as his breathing slowly returned to normal.
"Did… did I actually kill it?"
"Good job, Arnaud. Now we can go back to the bunker... even if it's not finished yet."
"Thanks, Alexis."
Before they could fully reassure themselves that they were safe, another choking sound escaped from the phantom's mouth. The noise made the entire group freeze.
Wasn't it dead? How?
Before anyone could even begin to understand what was happening, the phantom's fingers twitched. Then its arms moved which followed by its legs, as if the creature were slowly regaining control of its body.
Gabriel forced himself to stand and grabbed Philippe for support. When he saw the others standing there in shock, he quickly snapped them back to reality.
"What the hell are you all doing? RUN!"
At that, everyone turned and ran.
Everyone except Arnaud.
He quickly looked around the room, grabbed a few dozen arrows and two side quivers, and then hurried after the others.
When the group ran up the stairs, they saw that the metallic trapdoor had been torn in half. The sight did nothing to reassure them yet they kept running as fast as they could.
When they finally stepped outside, the screaming had stopped. The only things left were the devastated surroundings, the smell of blood, and the bodies scattered across the area.
The car they had used to reach the shop was now almost completely swallowed by vegetation and tall trees. Their only option was to climb a five-meter embankment nearby, one of the few places not yet completely blocked by the ever-expanding forest.
As they approached the embankment, Jacob glanced behind him.
The phantom was emerging from the building.
It quickly looked around, searching for its prey and then, its eyes met Jacob's. A cold wave of danger rushed through him.
"QUICK! It's already back!"
The group rushed toward the embankment and scrambled up the steep earth, grabbing roots and branches to pull themselves higher.
But Gabriel was badly injured. It was clear he would need more time and help to make the climb.
Behind them, the phantom was closing in fast.
Gabriel needed more time to climb. Seeing this, Philippe made a decision that none of the others would have dared to make.
He would buy Gabriel that time, even if it cost him his life.
Mathieu realized it a moment too late. He watched as Philippe turned around, unsheathed his sword, and pulled the shield from his back.
The phantom was already rushing toward him in a frenzy. Yet, Philippe did not run. He simply raised his shield and prepared himself for battle, his stance, clearly imperfect.
To the phantom, Philippe had suddenly become a worthy prey. Someone willing to risk his life for another, that made the hunt far more interesting.
Before attacking, the creature suddenly stopped. It studied Philippe's stance carefully, analyzing him, adapting to the way he held his sword and shield.
Without thinking further, Philippe charged. No cry of courage escaped his lips. Inside his mind, however, his thoughts were screaming, not from rage or anger, but from pure fear.
His first strike was easily brushed aside by the phantom. Still, he immediately followed with a second attack that barely managed to scratch the creature's side.
The phantom countered instantly. Five of its fingers suddenly stiffened, forming a spear-like shape. The strike pierced straight through Philippe's shield as if it were paper.
The creature slowly lifted its arm. Philippe rose with it, helpless, his hand still trapped in the shield.
With his other hand, the phantom prepared the same attack again. It was about to strike. But before it could move, Didier burst from outside the creature's field of vision and swung his axe without making a sound.
The blade severed the phantom's hand that which was holding the shield.
The creature let out a horrific scream of pain as the severed hand dropped from the shield and fell to the ground.
Didier and Philippe immediately stepped back and prepared a second attack. But before they did, something strange happened. The phantom suddenly stopped making any sound at all, like it was dead.
Yet the creature was still standing on its two legs.
The sudden silence made both boys step back cautiously.
Slowly, almost calmly, the creature bent down and picked up its severed hand. It stared at it for a moment. It then tried to press the hand back onto the stump of its arm, which was now dripping with black blood.
Didier and Philippe stared at the phantom, unsure whether the creature was simply stupid or just completely insane.
After a few seconds, a faint shadow-like mist began to form around the severed hand the phantom was trying to reattach.
Moments later, the veins along its arm began to pulse violently, bulging and throbbing beneath the skin. From the look on its face, it was clear the phantom was enduring waves of intense pain.
Yet, it made no sound. Not a single one.
After several more seconds, the fingers of the severed hand began twitching erratically, like a glitch in a broken video game.
Then, the phantom slowly lifted its arm and showed it to Didier and Philippe.
A bright, horrifying smile stretched across its face, exactly like a toddler proudly showing a drawing to his mother.
The arm was whole again.
As if nothing had ever happened.