Chapter 6 THE VOICE OF THE BEAST
The Beast That Spoke
Nobody moved, nobody breathed as the underground shelter felt frozen in time as the Alpha stood in the center of the ruined chamber. Dust still drifted through the air from the collapsed ceiling. Pieces of concrete lay scattered across the floor. Survivors huddled together against the walls, their faces pale with terror.
Ethan stared at the creature, the Alpha stared back neither looked away.
The monster's golden eyes burned with an intelligence that should not have existed. Those were not the eyes of an animal. They were the eyes of something that understood exactly what it was doing.
The Alpha took another step forward, its massive claws scraped against broken concrete several survivors flinched a woman covered her child's eyes.
Victor slowly raised his rifle but the Alpha's gaze shifted toward him for a brief moment the temperature in the room seemed to drop. Victor immediately lowered the weapon, every instinct in his body warned him against provoking the creature.
The Alpha looked back at Ethan.
"Ethan."
The monster spoke his name again, the voice sounded strange. Deep. Rough. Unnatural. Yet every word was clear. Rachel tightened her grip on her weapon.
"What the hell is that thing?" but nobody answered.
The Alpha ignored everyone except Ethan before hen speaking once more.
"You are different."
The words echoed through the chamber as fear swept through the shelter; the fact that the creature could speak was horrifying enough; the fact that it seemed interested in Ethan made it even worse. Ethan swallowed hard.
"What are you?"
A low growl escaped the Alpha then it lowered its enormous head slightly.
"I am the beginning."
Silence followed because nobody understood. The Alpha slowly looked upward toward the broken ceiling, then it looked back at Ethan.
"And the end."
Chaos Returns
A terrified survivor suddenly screamed, the sound shattered the tension just as a gunshot followed, one of the survivors had fired directly at the Alpha; the bullet struck its shoulder but nothing happened; the creature didn't even blink. For one terrifying second the entire shelter became silent.
Then the Alpha turned and its golden eyes settled on the man holding the pistol. The survivor immediately dropped the weapon, fear flooded his face.
The Alpha moved so fast that nobody saw the attack; one moment the beast stood several meters away. The next moment it was standing directly in front of the man. The survivor never even had time to scream before the Alpha struck him once.
The body crashed into a concrete wall with enough force to crack the surface. The man slid to the floor, motionless, Dead.
Panic erupted instantly as people screamed, children cried; several survivors rushed toward the exits. Rachel shouted orders but nobody could hear, the shelter descended into chaos yet throughout all of it the Alpha remained calm. It ignored everyone everyone except Ethan.
The realization sent a chill through his body, the creature had come for him alone
The Impossible Choice
The Alpha slowly approached again, Ethan forced himself to stand his ground. Every part of him wanted to run but his legs felt weak; his heart hammered against his ribs but still he remained where he was.
The Alpha stopped only a few feet away its glowing eyes narrowed.
"You carry it."
Ethan frowned.
"Carry what?"
The creature's nostrils flared.
"The blood."
The burning sensation suddenly returned as Ethan gasped, heat surged beneath his skin; golden light flickered beneath his veins the same thing that had happened during the wolf attack, everyone stared at him with shock spread across their faces.
The glow intensified, Ethan felt power moving through his body, the Alpha watched silently; almost proudly, then the monster spoke words that changed everything.
"You belong to us."
The shelter fell silent once again, Ethan's eyes widened.
“No”
The answer came instantly, the Alpha tilted its head.
“You do”
“I'm human”
The creature's expression became unreadable; then it laughed a deep rumbling sound that shook the room; the laughter carried no humor only certainty.
“You were”
Victor suddenly stepped forward; his face had turned pale.
“I know what it means”
Everyone looked at him, the hunter swallowed hard; years of confidence seemed to vanish from his expression. "I've seen the files."
Rachel frowned. "What files?"
Victor looked toward the Alpha and then toward Ethan. "The virus wasn't created to kill people." confusion spread across the room.
"What are you talking about?" Ethan demanded.
Victor's voice shook. "It was designed to change them." the words settled heavily over the shelter, nobody wanted to believe them yet nobody could ignore them either, Victor continued.
"Blackthorn Research Facility wasn't studying diseases." he looked directly at Ethan, "They were studying evolution."
A cold feeling spread through Ethan's chest but the Alpha remained silent.
Watching and listening to the Victor as if it wanted him to hear the truth. Victor took a shaky breath.
"They found something beneath the city." he hunter pointed upward.
“No”
Then he pointed downward, "Beneath everything." every survivor listened. "The scientists discovered an organism buried underground. Something ancient. Something that shouldn't exist."
The Alpha's eyes glowed brighter and Victor noticed; his face grew even paler. "The virus came from the evoluton .
Nobody moved, even the children had stopped crying; the shelter felt trapped between disbelief and terror. Victor looked toward Ethan.
"The immunity in your blood means your body adapted successfully."
The realization hit Ethan like a hammer, his immunity wasn't random, It wasn't luck. Something inside him had changed
The Alpha stepped forward again, its enormous shadow swallowed Ethan completely, the creature lowered its head until its glowing eyes stood level with his then called out to Ethan.
“Come”
The single word echoed through the chamber, fear gripped everybody as Ethan clenched his fists.
"No."
The Alpha remained silent.
"I said no."
The golden veins beneath the creature's skin pulsed and for the first time anger appeared in its eyes. The monster's voice deepened.
"You cannot stop what is coming." Ethan refused to look away.
"What is coming?"
The Alpha stared at him, then slowly lifted its head toward the shattered ceiling.
"The awakening."
Every light inside the shelter suddenly exploded as darkness swallowed the chamber; people screamed, children cried; the only illumination came from the Alpha's glowing veins, the monster looked almost godlike in the darkness.
Then the ground began to shake at first the vibrations were weak and barely noticeable but then they intensified concrete cracked, dust rained from the ceiling. The entire underground station trembled violently.
"What is happening?" Rachel shouted.
The Alpha looked upward, a strange anticipation filled its expression; excitement, hope. The creature had been waiting for this, the shaking grew stronger, pieces of the ceiling collapsed.
The people rushed toward safety, the walls groaned, metal supports bent. Somewhere deep beneath the city a deafening roar erupted; the sound didn't come from the surface, it came from underground.
Far below Ashvale, the roar continued louder and closer. Ethan felt it inside his bones.
The Alpha smiled though not the terrifying smile of a predator, the smile of a king welcoming the arrival of something greater; then the creature looked at Ethan one final time and for the first time since entering the shelter, fear appeared in its eyes.
Genuine fear, the sight froze Ethan in place.
If something existed that could frighten the Alpha, then whatever was rising beneath Ashvale was far more dangerous than the pandemic itself.
A massive crack split the floor down the center of the shelter, blinding golden light erupted from the darkness below; and something enormous began climbing toward the surface.
