Chapter 41: Resume The Game

Elio had betrayed them. A tempestuous feeling had now engulfed the entire group. The fear they had for the Apocrypha was now spiraling out of control. They had inevitably been forced to leave the house behind. The short period of happiness they had experienced, had now come to an end. The clouds roamed above their heads, ready to cry tears of sadness.

The moist morning air brushed against their faces and fallen leaves crackled underneath their feet with every step. The game was about to resume, which meant they had to hurry and exit the forest.

Depression had cast its spell upon their faces. The only one that had a neutral face was Ellie. Due to this, Nick felt extremely agitated. He folded his fists and came to a sudden halt. The rest of the group doing the same as they took notice of his expression.

"Nick..?" called Zane softly.

He didn't answer as he pondered in his sea of emotional thoughts.

"Nick..? We need to get a move on before the Apocrypha decide to come at us again..." prompted Layla. Tiny bags forming under her eyes from stress.

"How do we know..?" he inquired strangely.

Layla and Zane looked between one another confused. What was Nick trying to say?

"How do we know what?" queried Zane.

"How do we know Ellie is not one of them too?!"

They paused as they turned towards Ellie. An innocent expression cast over her face. Was it a possibility that she was an Apocrypha too?

"Anastasia said she wasn't..." declared Layla.

"Layla... You're stressed out right now and your thoughts are clouded. Even though Anastasia said she isn't, she could still be one! Have you forgotten how she was unable to tell that Elio was one of them??"

The entire group froze as they came to the realization that Nick was right. Elio was among them the entire time, yet Anastasia was still unable to tell he was a disguised Chimera. They all turned to Ellie with a look of fear in their eyes.

"Elio's blood was even red when cut! Apollo has gained the ultimate form of camouflage! He's a Rank 5 Chimera, is he not? If all Rank 5 are capable of disguising themselves to that extent, then how do we know who the hell we're supposed to even trust??" continued Nick in a slight panic.

"Shit... He's right!" panicked Tyrone, as he took a step back. He wiped his foggy glasses with his shirt getting a clear view of everyone around him. "Anyone of you could be one of them! Just messing with us until you're bored!"

"Wait! We need to calm down! We can't allow this to tear us apart! That's what the Apocrypha want!" pleaded Serenity.

Layla took a deep breath and stepped forward. Her hands held out trying to initiate a calm in the atmosphere.

"We shouldn't jump to conclusions yet... There has to be a way to tell them apart. Right Anastasia?"

With a painful look across her face, Anastasia averted her eyes to the ground. Slowly, she shook her head in disapproval.

"Shit!! We're all doomed then! There's no way we can trust one another now!!" started Hazel. She quivered, taking a few steps back away from them.

"Wait!" cried Anastasia. Worry assaulting her soul as she tried to calm herself. The group paused as they stared at her. "It's true that I probably won't be able to tell the Rank 5 differently from regular humans, but I can at least say everyone else here is human!"

"How..?" mumbled Ashley.

"Apollo injected his blood into all of you didn't he..? I'm not sure about humans, but if two Apocrypha exchange blood, then it will make us extremely sick! The same goes for Chimera. The fact that none of you are sick right now, proves you're all human!"

They all took a brief moment to let Anastasia's words seep in. Given the circumstances, they doubted she would tell a lie. That meant they all had to be human, right?

"She has a point then, doesn't she? We're all completely fine at the moment. So we all have to be human!" declared Zane. His face starting to brighten.

The rest of the group allowed those words to seep in as well. If blood transfusion was not possible among Apocrypha, then that really meant they were all human. They began to calm down, taking deep breaths allowing the moisture of the air to circulate in their lungs.

This continued for a few seconds until they averted their eyes over to Deandre. For some reason, his face still radiated with worry. His eyes staring blankly onto the dead leaves beneath their feet.

"Deandre..?" called Serenity, a tad creeped out.

"Guys... I don't want to be that one overthinker, but Anastasia herself said she didn't know much about the Rank 5. Did she not? If that's truly the case, then how do we know that Rank 5 Apocrypha aren't evolved enough to do the blood transfusion?? It doesn't affect the situation if we still don't know what they can do!"

Layla clapped her hands breaking the chain of panic. She knew that they couldn't afford to turn against each other at this point.

"Let's stop this. One way or another, we're all marked by Apollo. We need to focus on surviving as a team. Turning against one another will only work against us!"

Reluctantly, they all stopped their complaining. Layla was right. They couldn't be sure anyone of them was an Apocrypha. It would only formulate distrust between them, which would only have a negative impact upon the group.

They then decided to hurry and continue their search for an exit to the forest. No one felt like speaking anymore. The tension and worry within them, would be enough to give a full grown elephant a heart attack.

They paced themselves in a very stealthy manner. It was about time for the Apocrypha to reinitiate the game. As they walked, they began to hear quick movements as if something was running past the trees around them.

The group came to an immediate halt, peering their ears to listen. Could they already be under attack? The answer was null, but they had to be cautious.

"I'm not the only one hearing that, right..?" inquired Nick.

"No... Unfortunately not." replied Zane. His head swinging in all directions.

"Let's keep our guards up. No one move until I give the signal. Everyone prepare yourself just in case..." cautioned Layla.

No one argued. Instead, they continued to listen for even the slightest sound. However, the only thing they could hear was the slight rustling of the wind against the leaves. This continued for half a minute before Ashley broke the silence.

"Maybe it was an animal..?" she questioned in uncertainty.

Layla pondered. The Apocrypha would usually try to make themselves as quiet as possible, unless they were trying to strike fear into their victims. What was going on? Was it really an animal?

"Okay, lets move. If we hear the sound again, we don't stop. We pick up the pace and possibly even run. Got it?"

Everyone agreed in a silent conversation. Cautiously, they began walking once more. Almost as soon as they began walking, they began hearing the constant shuffling again. They didn't dare to stop. Instead, they steadily increased their pace. Their footsteps becoming louder as they clashed with dry leaves and dirt.

The faster they went, the more the mysterious shuffling increased. This continued for a full minute before the entire group began running. They swung their heads in all directions as they ran, trying to identify their pursuer. They dodged trees and jumped over broken logs. Their breathing becoming heavier with every passing second.

They had no idea what to do. Zane's intuition growing stronger, alerting him of danger the further they ran. He fixed his eyes forward, staring at two trees that were staring at them like silent sentries. A devilish aura emitting from them.

"Stop!" he halted them.

Frightened by his sudden outburst, Hazel slipped and fell flat on her stomach with a 'thud'.

"What is it??" asked Tyrone quickly as he helped her up.

"Those trees ahead of us! My intuition is giving me a really bad feeling..."

Before anyone could even ask what he meant, a cat-like figure emerged from the bushes behind them. Startled, Serenity and Ashley released a sharp scream. They jumped back trying to gain a safe distance between them and the creature.

Finally, their eyes fixed upon a mountain lion. Its back perched and its teeth snarling at them. Its body was thin as if it hadn't eaten in quite a while. It was obviously desperate for food. A sharp screech came rushing towards them forcing the group to move back with caution.

"It's ten of us against one mountain lion... We can at least scare it off." proclaimed Zane.

"We don't want to make too much noise. Nearby Apocrypha will find us in an instant like this..." complained Layla.

Deandre then stepped forward. A confident smile placed across his face. "Leave this to me!"

"Deandre! Be careful!" cried Serenity in worry.

Don't worry. I'm too cool to die. I'll have this thing running out of here at full speed."

As Deandre stepped forward, the mountain lion began to quiver. A look of fear forming in it's eyes. It snarled as the fur on it's back stood tall. Slowly it began to back away until it swung itself around, and scurried off into the opposite direction.

"What the hell? How'd you do that..?" asked Layla suspiciously.

"Wow! You're so cool Deandre!" squealed Serenity as she wrapped her arms around him.

Deandre stood stagnant, looking forward. A dumbfounded look placed across his face.

"Um- yeah... I guess it must have just been afraid of me because of how awesome I am!" he boasted. He however had no idea as to why the mountain lion ran away. He was just as lost as everyone else.

Breaking their moment of confusion, Zane let out a short yelp.

"Guys... We need to get out of here... and I mean like now..."

"Why?" queried Ellie as she moved closer to him.

Zane pointed his finger forward, right in between the trees. Everyone followed the path of his finger until their eyes met upon something eating under the shadowy groves of the trees. Two Chimera dogs were feasting violently on the body of a man. The crushing of bone came into play as one took a chunk out of the dead man's leg.

"Oh shit... We need to move... And I mean like now!" cried Anastasia.

No time was wasted as they threw themselves around ready to run. However, they felt their bones rattle as soon as they swung themselves around. To their unwanted astonishment, their eyes met upon a small teenage girl. She wore a black gown that brushed the leaves aside beneath her. Her hair was extremely straight and of long length, being clipped at the ends. It was of a very dark color. Thick, long eyelashes fluttering softly above her large eyes which were of a color as black as coal. They noticed she wore a very sad expression. Her eyes were wet as if she was crying, but upon closer inspection, they noticed that she was seemingly crying human blood.

"Don't look into her eyes!" quickly warned Anastasia.

Quickly, everyone averted their eyes to the ground. Fear crippling their bodies as if they had a broken spine.

"What do we do???" panicked Tyrone; adjusting his glasses so it didn't fall from his face.

Precisely, right before anyone could even think of a plan, the little girl spoke;

"Why am I forced to hunt humans..? I hate this... I don't want to hurt anyone..." she cried. Her voice brittle as if it were about to break.

"W-What's she talking about?" inquired Ashley, tripping over her words.

"Please... someone save me... I don't want to do this anymore..."

They were all about to look up feeling saddened by the little girl's voice. Luckily, Layla stomped her foot on the ground signaling them to keep their heads down.

"Keep your heads down... Don't let it fool you!" she demanded.

"Why are you ignoring me??? Am I not likable..? I just want to be friends... Please be my friends..."

Anastasia stepped forward staring down at the little girl. Slowly she approached it, taking small steps.

Layla and Tyrone both got their guns out in the meantime. They hadn't forgotten about the Chimera dogs who were now trying to sneak up on them.

"Yeah, these things are definitely smart... Using the little girl to distract us, while the Chimera ambush us from behind." cursed Layla bitterly.

Quickly, Layla and Tyrone swung themselves around, hurling bullets into the two Chimera. They roared and cried in pain as blood gushed from their heads and other various sections of their bodies.

"Anastasia! Are you okay??" cried Zane who was now running over to her.

Layla looked around to see that Anastasia had a huge cut on her right arm. The good news however, was that the other Apocrypha was dead. It laid in a pool of blood in front of her, completely lifeless. Half its face completely shaved off.

Everyone proceeded to run forward to check on her. Worry stealing away their hearts, as they knew the gunshots were bound to attract more.

"We need to hurry and get out of here!" cried Hazel.

"Let's go! No discussion!" agreed Nick.

They all began running off into the opposite direction, before hearing a huge 'thud' followed by a blood-curdling scream. Swinging their heads around, they saw a mole like hand holding on to Hazel pulling her underneath the ground.

"Hazel!" screamed Tyrone. He rushed over to help her, but tripped over himself in panic, losing his glasses in the process.

"Help me!!!" she screamed, as half her body became submerged underground.

Zane dived towards her, barely managing to latch onto her arm. She wailed and screamed, kicking her feet as she cried. Layla and Nick quickly running to Zane's side to help pull her up.

"Pull her up!!" cried Zane desperately. They couldn't manage to lose a life so soon. The game had only just resumed.

For a moment, things seemed to be working, as they began overpowering the Chimera that tugged at her feet. Hope filling their eyes before hearing a very aggressive bellow. What followed next was very hard to listen. The sound of bone being severed from flesh came into play. Blood rushed through Hazel's throat splattering across Zane's face.

"Hazel!" he continued to scream.

Hazel couldn't even respond, as blood blocked her throat. With one final desperate pull, they pulled Hazel out of the hole. Her body felt awfully light for some weird reason.

They looked at her with horror dancing in their eyes. Hazel laid stagnantly before them, her entire lower body was gone. Her intestines visible laying on the ground mixing in the dirt. A pool of blood quickly consumed her body, as the life drained from her.

"Hazel! NO!" bawled Tyrone as he rushed over to her. Deandre doing the same not wanting to lose her.

"Hazel! Come on! You're going to make it!"

Layla gritted her teeth in rage. She released Hazel's arm and grabbed onto Zane and Nick pulling them forward.

"Tyrone, Deandre, we've got to go. We can't save her..." she muttered.

Serenity and Anastasia rushed towards them to pick them up. Tears flowing down their faces like a waterfall.

Hazel opened her mouth to speak, trying to apologize to them. Due to the blood in her throat, her words came out as 'Go' instead of 'Sorry'.

Reluctantly, they released her arm as the Chimera grabbed onto her intestine violently, pulling her back underground.

The group ran as fast as they could. Pain and sorrow having a party within them. One of them was now dead, with only nine remaining.