Chapter 399
Clementine:
After a while, I transitioned back into my human form and sat on the edge of the road. I did not even know what I had gone through in the last few hours.
I only knew that I had lost my mind, that I had been so angry and blinded by Miss Rue that all I wanted to do was attack someone. I wanted to commit more crimes.
Initially, after I transitioned, Mint and I ran around.
None of the monsters dared to come at us because they knew Mint was far more powerful than any of them, at least in a one-on-one fight, not with them coming at us in groups.
“What are you feeling?” Mint asked.
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath.
“I remember when I was a child and I took care of my little brother. Do you remember that?” I wondered.
When she answered with silence, I chuckled to myself.
“Of course you don’t. You weren’t there at that time,” I remarked, then stared at the sky.
“I remember I used to have these dreams that someone was trying to snatch my brother from me, and that someone always looked like a monster. You know what? It was my father. The monsters were always clear in hindsight,” I stated, closing my eyes.
I did not know why, but suddenly I missed my mother and my brother so much tonight.
“We will be fine. That one wench cannot kick us down to the curb,” Mint told me once she noticed how badly I was affected by the betrayal.
“I know. It is just that I am not sure how Ian will be,” I stated, closing my eyes and gently pressing my hand to my chest where Miss Rue had shot me earlier.
“He will be fine. He is way stronger than we imagined him to be,” Mint reassured me.
“Mint, I am feeling very afraid. It is not only Ian. My other mates, even when I do not want to pursue them as mates, I just have a very bad feeling. Something is going on. They are either in pain, or I do not know,” I said, rubbing my face with my hands.
My chest still burned where the bullet had hit me. Even though I had healed, Miss Rue had aimed to kill me. I knew that much.
Either she missed by mistake, or something stopped the bullet from going deeper. Whatever the reason was, I was still breathing, which meant I had to move.
I pushed myself up slowly and noticed how badly my legs were still shaking.
I was tired, exhausted, betrayed, and I had lost so much blood. Even though I had healed, that did not mean I had energy left in my body.
I needed food, rest, and comfort.
I looked at the road and sighed because it was so long and empty. The train station was my only option now. If I could reach it, I could get out.
But then there was another issue.
I remembered that in order to reach the train station, to even leave this place, I would have to go through all the places where I had encountered monsters.
As I walked farther, I heard the same vibrating sound as before. A low hum rolled through the ground. I froze and lifted my head.
Far down the road, the tall figure was there again. It was moving slowly, but I knew it would reach me, and then it would start chasing me just like before.
So I backed away, then turned and ran.
I could hear it coming after me. I had to slow down when my legs threatened to give out. I leaned forward, hands on my thighs, breathing heavily.
“This means we have to go through the theatre, the misty corners, and Sector 13,” I told her tiredly. “There is no other way,” I added, pushing myself upright again.
The hum returned, and this time it was closer. I spun and ran toward the nearest structure without thinking. It was the theatre.
As I reached it, I noticed the clowns were still in the windows, just like the last time I had left them.
They wore the same expressions, and they had not moved. Of course they had not. They were waiting for me.
I swallowed hard and held my hand against the doorknob. As the hum grew louder, I had no other option but to enter the theatre.
The moment I did, I had no time to stare at them or stop. There was no way I could keep looking at them.
I rushed through, and they began to pour out, lunging at me from the aisles, from behind the seats, attacking from everywhere.
Fingers grabbed my arms and waist. I shoved one back, punched another, and kicked the next. Then my body reacted before I could think.
My claws pushed through my fingers, bones cracking as my wolf surged forward.
There was no other option. I began to tear through them, one by one, limb by limb, throwing their bodies aside, growling and howling while still mid-transition.
However, the moment my eyes landed on the ones I had already torn apart, I saw them pulling themselves back together.
Faces reset into the same frozen grins. I snarled and backed away. I could not kill them. I only had to get out.
I turned and bolted for the exit, bursting through the door without looking back.
My back was scratched from them trying to grab and bite me. Some of them had even bitten me. But the moment I was out, I did not stop.
I just kept trying to get away.
The next thing I knew, I was in the misty corners, swallowed by the fog. The shapes had already appeared, and this time they attacked me without mercy.
I started to cough hard. I could no longer stay on my feet. I knew that if I did not get out, they would knock the wind out of me.
They were already there. But no matter how hard I tried, I could not get up.
I had swallowed enough fog that I dropped to my knees, and then my body slumped down onto the road, while many other fog creatures jumped on top of me, trying to swallow me.