#Chapter 138: Outbreak
Nina
“Just go home,” Enzo said. “I’ll see you at the final match.”
I felt my frown deepen. Why was he being so indifferent about this? It was clear to me that Ronan was up to something, but Enzo didn’t seem to believe me I watched as he stalked away to the showers, then turned on my heel and stormed off toward the exit.
Just as my hand touched the door handle, I heard something. Something loud and abrasive It wasn’t just one, but many screams. My eyes widened. I felt myself freeze momentarily, but then I gathered the courage to crack the locker room door open…..
I immediately shut it when I saw the scene unfolding in the arena and began to hyperventilate, leaning my body weight on the door as my mind raced. Outside, there were three rogues attacking people. There may have been more; I couldn’t be entirely sure just from the split second I looked out there
I opened my mouth to call for Enzo, but decided against it as that ran the risk of being heard, so I instead quickly bolted away from the door and ran to the showers.
“Enzo!” I said as I ran up to him, just as he was about to undress. He stopped and stared at me, looking confused, but his eyes widened as he saw the look of shock and fear on my face.
“What? What’s wrong?” he asked, grabbing me by the shoulders. I tried to stammer out a response, but nothing would come until finally, I managed a single word.
“Rogues.” Enzo’s eyes widened even further “In the arena?” he asked. I nodded. ” How many?” “I-I don’t know,” I said, my chest heaving as he stormed past me toward the door “Three, at least.” I jogged after him and grabbed his arm for support as he approached the door He cracked it open just as I did, then immediately shut it and took a deep breath.
“The Crescents,” he murmured. “They must be turning people But why now? Here” he shoved his hockey stick into my shaking hands, then pushed me away and pointed toward a door at the back of the locker rooms that led to a supply closet “Go and hide I’ll come back for you.
I shook my head vehemently as I gripped the hockey stick. “No way!” I insisted. “I’m going with you.” Enzo groaned, passing his hand over his face, then suddenly did something unexpected. He hugged me tightly, his scent filling my entire body.
“I promise I’ll be back,” he whispered into my hair “Just stay here and stay safe”
Before I could protest, he suddenly ripped away from me and flung the door open. I yelped as I saw him bolt through, into the fray. In the brief moment that the door was open, I could see students running around, being chased by rogues. There were far more than three now, and they were making more Just before the door closed, I saw a rogue go to bite a screaming student, but Enzo had already shifted and leaped onto the rogue.
As the door closed, the sounds of the screams became muffled. I stood there for the longest moment, still gripping the hockey stick, as I searched for Cora’s presence and urged her to help me shift. I squeezed my eyes shut, pleading to shift just this once so I could be of help, but she didn’t have the energy
I cursed, glancing over at the supply closet. I knew that Enzo wanted me to hide…. But I couldn’t. I had to help somehow Maybe, if I could touch some of the rogues like I had done with Justin and Lisa, I could make them shift back into their human forms….
Finally, I took in a deep breath, the hockey stick shaking in my hands, then flung the door open and ran out
My blood ran cold at the scene Several students were huddled in the corners or under the bleachers as several rogues ran around rampant. I watched in one horror as one student shifted after a bite; how were they shifting so quickly? As far as I knew, it usually took hours, even days, to turn after a bite. And now they were shifting within a matter of seconds. It was almost as though these rogues had some sort of enhanced ability to turn people. As I ran out, Enzo looked up, his red eyes flashing when he saw me “I told you to hide,” his voice echoed in my head.
But I ignored him Letting out a wild yell, I sprinted up to one of the rogues just as it was about to bite a student I reached my hand out and squeezed my eyes shut as I felt my hand come into contact with coarse, thick fur And then Skin.
I opened my eyes to see that the rogue had turned back into a confused- looking student. She collapsed onto the ground, swiveling her head around wildly.
“What… What’s happening? Where am I?” she said, her voice shaking. “Get into the locker room,” I said to both the rogue student and the one she was about to bite. “Now!”
The two girls nodded and scrambled to their feet. I watched as they ran into the locker room before I turned back and made my way over to another rogue. I ran up behind it and leaped forward, touching its leg for the briefest moment
But it wasn’t enough. Maybe I didn’t get enough contact, or maybe my energy was lowered from the first rogue I wasn’t sure, but I did know one thing: this rogue didn’t shift back. He felt my touch, then immediately whirled around and snarled loudly I felt my heart race with fear and a scream erupted from my throat as I put my arms up in defense
There was a flash of silver fur. The sound of snarling. A thud. I opened my eyes, stumbling backwards, as I saw Enzo pin the rogue to the ground. They scuffled for a moment before Enzo grabbed him by the back of its neck in his jaws, then bit down.
Blood squirted everywhere. A few students nearby screamed and ran toward the locker rooms. Through the pounding of my heart, I heard Enzo’s voice echo clearly in my head once more. “Bar the door I handle this last rogue’
I nodded, steeling my nerves and ripping my eyes away from the dead rogue who was likely once just a student at this school, and ran over to the door. Meanwhile, Enzo bolted over to the bleachers, where a rogue was terrorizing a group of students who were hiding underneath the bleachers.
“Come inside!” I called out to several students that were nearby outside. ” Hurry!” The students, without a second thought, raced for the door with rogues chasing closely behind. One girl didn’t make it, a rogue got her by the ankle and dragged her away, screaming. Another boy narrowly avoided a slash across the back from a rogue before diving into the arena at the last second, just before I slammed the doors shut and shoved the hockey stick through the handles.
The doors rattled as the rogues tried to get in, but thankfully, the doors held. For now . “Grab anything heavy you can find!” I ordered. The students that weren’t in complete shock nodded and ran around, grabbing chairs, folding tables, and crates, and began to stack them in front of the door.
Meanwhile, the scuffle between Enzo and the final rogue stopped. I looked up from my task to see that Enzo had the rogue pinned down beneath his massive paws. He glanced up, his red eyes pleading — he didn’t want to kill the rogue if it was a fellow student. I knew what I had to do.
