Shadow of Death (SOD)

Chapter 17

Falling backward and scattering chairs in the process was Asher.

And standing before him was Nuel, with a chunk of flesh hanging between her now razor sharp teeth.

Asher’s flesh.

Her beautiful tied hair suddenly loosened on its own and fell over her back and face.

The fluorescent lights above began flickering repeatedly while the girl’s eyes transformed into a pair of eerily obsidian ones.

Asher lay on his back, one hand pressed against his profusely bleeding neck as he tried desperately to stop the flow.

But it was useless.

His breathing was ragged as he stared at the girl.

No.

The entity before him.

She no longer looked human.

Slowly, she reached for her black gloves and began pulling them off one by one.

Until her real hands were fully exposed.

From her shoulders down to her fingertips, they looked horribly decayed.

Veins twisted around her arms like tangled cables in an electronic device.

Her skin was pale, almost as though she had been dead for months.

And at the end of each arm were a pair of sharp claws that looked capable of ripping pounds of flesh from a human being.

Asher was beyond horrified by what he was seeing.

"You wanted the truth?" Nuel asked.

Her voice echoed from every corner of the classroom.

It didn’t even seem to be coming from her lips anymore.

Each word, each syllable, cracked through the room like a broken recording.

"Well, here you are. You are trapped in this city with not a single escape route. I was once human, with great dreams and a family of my own."

Asher continued breathing raggedly, his hands pressed firmly against his bleeding neck.

"Not until a month after we settled into this accursed city did we begin having strange nightmares. Everyone experienced them, from the oldest in the family to the youngest."

Her obsidian eyes remained fixed on him.

"Distorted visions that could send shivers down one’s spine. With each passing day, those visions grew more and more profound until one day, my dad went to sleep and never woke up again."

Silence.

A heavy silence settled over the classroom.

"My mum was next. Then my eldest sister."

Nuel’s expression became colder.

"It was clear to me that this wasn’t ordinary. Not until I was next and I was pulled in."

She paused.

"Now..."

The girl’s face slowly twisted into a crazed smile as her lips widened immensely.

The corners of her mouth stretched dangerously close to her eyes.

"I’m here."

Asher panted heavily.

His eyes caught a slight twitch in the entity’s legs.

He immediately began shuffling backward, using one hand to push himself away while keeping the other pressed against his neck.

"What are you? What do you want with me?"

Nuel grinned.

It was a sinister grin that could make anyone wet their pants.

"Humans are really foolish, not gonna lie. I requested that you wait here until seven in the evening, and you actually did?"

Her smile widened.

"Don’t you know the saying?"

Asher lifted his hand and tried to move backward again.

The girl suddenly moved.

In the blink of an eye, she was right before him.

She crouched down, revealing a face covered in dozens of dark spots.

Then she beamed at him.

"The weight of knowledge is crushing."

She thought for a few seconds, tilting her head as she scanned the boy from head to toe.

"And what I want with you?"

Her gaze slowly drifted from his face to his torso, then lower.

She slowly licked her lips.

Her tongue extended unnaturally, almost like a frog’s.

"I want you."

She lunged forward.

Asher’s hand moved instinctively. He grabbed a desk and swung it forward with all the strength he could muster.

Nuel hadn’t expected it.

WHAM!

The desk smashed directly into her face, sending her body crashing backward.

The desk flew from Asher’s hand and clattered across the floor.

Asher turned around.

With every ounce of strength left in his body, he pulled himself onto his knees.

He slowly staggered to his feet, panting heavily.

Looking back, his eyes widened.

Nuel was completely unmoving.

Her head had been shattered by the impact of the desk.

Asher didn’t know where the strength to lift such a heavy desk with one hand had come from.

He didn’t know how he had managed to deliver such a devastating blow.

All he knew was that he had done it.

A part of his mind told him to move forward and check if the girl was alright.

His rationality screamed at him to run.

He listened to the latter.

Asher quickly tore the sleeves of his shirt and hurriedly wrapped the fabric around his neck.

He tightened it as much as he could, managing to slow the gushing blood.

His body was weakening.

His vision was beginning to blur.

But he couldn’t stop.

He grabbed a bottle of water from his bag and splashed the entire thing over his face and head.

The chilling coldness jolted him awake.

The fluorescent lights continued flickering above him.

The wind still swept violently through the classroom despite every window being locked shut.

Asher quickly glanced toward the entrance a few meters away.

Then his gaze returned to Nuel’s corpse.

Hurriedly grabbing his backpack, he began staggering toward the door.

With how badly he was swaying, he almost looked like a drunkard.

Unfortunately, the path toward the exit was blocked by Nuel’s body and the scattered chairs.

He couldn’t take the other route.

It was too far.

So he started walking toward her.

Every step felt like a gamble.

Half expecting her to suddenly grab his ankle like in the horror movies Rick had forced him to watch, Asher slowly approached the body.

For some reason, although the sight disgusted him, he wasn’t as terrified as he should have been.

He closed his eyes and sauntered past her, waiting for something to grab his legs.

Nothing happened.

He staggered past Nuel.

Her eyes remained tightly shut.

Asher released a heavy breath.

He had made it.

Grabbing his injured neck, he suddenly broke into a sprint toward the door.

He fought against the exhaustion threatening to consume him as he pushed forward.

It took several agonizing minutes before he finally reached the entrance.

He pushed the door.

To his surprise, it swung wide open.

Asher staggered outside, leaving Nuel’s body behind.

"...."

Silence returned to the classroom.

Nuel’s body remained motionless on the floor.

One minute passed.

Then another.

Suddenly, her lips twitched into a crude smile.

SNAP!

Her eyes snapped open.

Slowly, Nuel pushed herself upright.

The flesh around her injured head began knitting itself back together.

The sound was grotesque and unmistakable.

Her neck cracked as she twisted it from side to side several times.

A sinister smirk slowly spread across her face.

"Let the hunt begin."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!