Back to the cursed Cafeteria again - The Glutton Strikes

The air inside the classroom clung with the faint scent of antiseptic and frost. Ava knelt beside the girl, carefully unwinding the bloodstained bandage from her hand. The girl winced as the fabric peeled away from the torn skin beneath, her breath hitching softly through clenched teeth.

"Easy," Ava murmured, her voice soft but steady. She dipped the handkerchief into the bottle of disinfectant, squeezing out the excess before gently pressing it against the wound. The girl flinched, biting back a small cry as Ava held the cloth firm.

Liam crouched nearby, holding the lantern steady so its warm light illuminated the girl's hand. His gaze flicked between Ava and the girl, his brow furrowed with quiet concern.

"Hold her wrist," Ava said without looking up.

Liam shifted closer, his fingers brushing lightly against Ava's as he steadied the girl's trembling arm. The warmth of his touch lingered longer than it should have, and Ava's pulse stuttered before she pulled her hand back with a quick, deliberate motion.

"I've got it," she said, too quickly.

Liam's gaze flicked toward her, questioning but silent. He said nothing, only adjusting his grip slightly as Ava resumed cleaning the wound. But the air between them felt heavier somehow—charged with something unspoken that neither dared acknowledge.

Ava focused on her task with renewed determination, ignoring the way her heart beat too fast against her ribs. She couldn't afford to get distracted. Not again.

Not with Liam.

The girl's breaths slowed as the initial sting of the antiseptic faded, though her eyes remained glossy with unshed tears. Ava offered her a faint smile, though it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"You're doing well. Just hang in there," she said.

The girl managed a shaky nod.

Liam straightened, setting the lantern aside before glancing toward the frosted window. Outside, the faint rasp of Frostborn breaths had long since faded into distant echoes, but tension clung thick in the air, as if the shadows themselves were holding their breath.

"We need to move soon," he said quietly. "Those supply bags won't wait for us forever."

Ava tied off the fresh bandage with quick, practiced hands before glancing toward the girl. "You'll stay here while we go," she said, her tone leaving no room for argument.

The girl's eyes widened. "But—I can help! I'm not—"

"You need to keep disinfecting that wound," Ava interrupted gently. "Every couple of hours, at least. If you don't, the infection could spread. If that happens…" She trailed off, but the unspoken warning lingered heavy in the air.

The girl's lips pressed into a thin line, her shoulders tense with frustration.

"I promise we'll come back," Ava added. "But you have to stay safe until then."

For a moment, the girl looked as if she might argue again—but then her shoulders sagged with reluctant acceptance.

"…Okay," she whispered.

Ava offered a faint smile, brushing a strand of hair from the girl's face. "We won't be long," she promised, though she wasn't sure if she was trying to reassure the girl or herself.

Liam glanced toward the door, already shifting his weight as if impatient to move. Ava rose to her feet, brushing dust from her jeans before slinging her backpack over her shoulder.

"Let's go," she said.

They stepped out into the corridor, the door clicking shut behind them with a faint echo that seemed to linger in the cold air. Frost clung thick to the walls and floor, turning every step into a cautious test of balance as they picked their way through the frozen debris.

They moved in silence at first, their breath misting faintly in the dim light filtering through the frost-covered windows. The faint crunch of frost beneath their boots was the only sound, broken only by the occasional creak of settling wood and distant whispers of wind through broken glass.

As they approached the cafeteria, Liam slowed his pace slightly, glancing toward Ava from the corner of his eye.

"She'll be okay," he said quietly.

Ava didn't look at him. "I know."

Liam hesitated, as if weighing whether to say more, but the tension in Ava's posture kept him silent. Instead, he simply nodded and pushed open the cafeteria door with a faint creak of frost-crusted hinges.

Inside, the air was thick with the faint scent of stale food and frost. Tables stood scattered and overturned, their surfaces dusted with a thin layer of frost that glistened faintly in the dim light filtering through frost-rimed windows. The supply bags lay where they'd left them near the serving counter, half-buried beneath scattered trays and fallen chairs.

Liam moved forward first, weaving between overturned tables with a practiced ease that belied the ice slick beneath his boots. Ava followed a step behind, her gaze flicking toward every shadow as if expecting Frostborn to lunge from the dark at any moment.

Liam crouched beside the nearest bag, brushing frost from its surface before slinging it over one shoulder. As he moved to grab the second, his boot slipped against a patch of ice hidden beneath scattered debris—

"Liam—!"

Ava lunged forward without thinking, her hands snatching at his jacket as she yanked him back just as his foot caught against the jagged edge of a broken nail jutting from the floor.

Momentum carried them both backward—

Ava's back hit the wall hard enough to knock the air from her lungs—

Liam fell against her, his hands bracing against the wall beside her shoulders as their bodies collided—

Their breath hitched in unison—

And their lips touched.

The world seemed to freeze in place.

Liam's eyes went wide, his breath catching in his throat as heat flooded beneath his skin despite the freezing air around them. Ava's pulse pounded in her ears, too loud, too fast, drowning out everything else as warmth bloomed against her lips, unexpected and undeniable.

For half a heartbeat, neither moved—

Then they broke apart as if burned.

Liam staggered back a step, his eyes wide and breathless as if struggling to process what had just happened. Ava pressed her back harder against the wall as if she could disappear into the frost-covered plaster, her pulse hammering too fast to think clearly.

"I—" Liam started, but the words caught in his throat.

Ava swallowed hard, her breath misting faintly in the cold air as she clenched her hands against her sides, trying to still their trembling. Her mind scrambled to find something—anything—to say that would make the moment less heavy, less charged with something she couldn't afford to feel.

"It— It was nothing," she blurted, too quickly.

Liam's gaze flicked toward her, his expression caught somewhere between confusion and something far more difficult to name.

"…Yeah," he said after a moment, though the word felt hollow even to his own ears.

Silence stretched heavy between them, the air too thick with things unsaid.

Ava turned away first, her fingers clenching tightly around the strap of her backpack as if holding on to something solid could keep her grounded.

"Let's—let's just get the bags and go," she said, her voice too tight, too clipped.

Liam hesitated, but then nodded and bent to retrieve the remaining bag without another word.

The air between them felt heavier now, charged with something neither dared acknowledge. Every glance that lingered too long, every accidental brush of hands or shoulders seemed to echo louder in the silence that followed.

They turned toward the exit without speaking, their footsteps crunching softly against the frost-covered floor as the air between them seemed to buzz with something neither could quite name.

And then—

A faint sound echoed through the air, sharp and distant against the silence.

A voice.

< Cracked >

< Ragged. >

The voice cracked through the air like brittle ice breaking beneath heavy boots.

Liam and Ava's heads snapped toward the sound—

And they froze.

A Frostborn stood at the far end of the cafeteria, half-shrouded in shadows. Its skin was a deep, icy blue, darker than the others they'd seen. White veins webbed beneath its translucent flesh, pulsing faintly like frost creeping across glass. Its breath fogged the air with each ragged exhale, lips peeling back from jagged teeth.

But the worst part—

Its right arm had fused into a jagged blade of solid ice. The knife glistened sharp and deadly in the faint light, reflecting shards of pale blue across the frostbitten walls.

Liam's breath hitched. "What the hell—"

The Frostborn's empty eyes locked onto them—

And it charged.

The ground trembled beneath its bulk, each step pounding against the tiles like thunder. Plates and chairs scattered in its wake, clattering to the floor as frost spread across the walls and furniture.

Ava staggered as the tremors knocked her off balance. Liam lunged toward her, his fingers grazing her sleeve—

The Frostborn swung its ice-blade—

"Look out!" Liam shoved Ava aside as the blade smashed into the floor where she'd been standing. Ice shards exploded in all directions, slicing through the air like glass. Liam's shoulder hit the edge of a table, sending him sprawling onto its frost-slick surface with a grunt of pain.

"Run!" he shouted.

Ava hesitated—

"GO!"

She turned and bolted, breath ragged in her throat as her boots slipped against the frozen tiles. Liam pushed himself upright and sprinted after her, the Frostborn's footsteps shaking the ground as it gave chase.

They burst through the cafeteria doors into the hallway, frost-covered tiles slick beneath their feet. The Glutton Frostborn roared and plowed after them, smashing through the doorframe as wood and plaster exploded outward.

It swung its blade at the walls as it ran, carving deep gouges into the concrete and sending debris crashing to the floor. Desks and chairs shattered beneath its bulk as it barreled forward like a living avalanche.

Ava and Liam ducked and wove through the scattered furniture, kicking overturned chairs and tables into the Frostborn's path in a desperate attempt to slow it down. But it smashed through the obstacles without hesitation, its breath fogging the air as it roared again—

The air itself seemed to freeze in its wake, frost crackling across the walls and floor as the temperature plummeted with every step it took.

Liam grabbed a stack of chairs and shoved them into its path—

The Frostborn crushed them beneath its bulk without slowing down.

Ava vaulted over an overturned desk and stumbled as her boot slipped against a patch of ice. She caught herself against the wall, chest heaving as she glanced back—

The Frostborn's blade cleaved through the desk she'd just jumped over, splitting it clean in half as frost exploded outward from the impact.

"Faster!" Liam shouted.

Ava pushed herself off the wall and sprinted harder, her lungs burning with the cold as they twisted down the corridor.

But then—

From up ahead, another sound—

The echoing rasp of multiple Frostborn breaths.

They skidded to a halt as a dozen Frostborn rounded the corner ahead of them, their hollow eyes locking onto the fleeing pair as their jaws parted in hungry anticipation.

Ava's breath caught in her throat.

"Right—go right!" Liam shouted.

They veered down the side corridor just as the Glutton Frostborn smashed through the intersection behind them, its bulk splintering the wall as if it were paper. Frostborn from both sides lunged after them, the air thick with their ragged breathing and the clatter of frost-sharpened claws against tile.

Ava's legs burned with exhaustion, her boots sliding against the icy floor as she pushed herself to run faster—

They rounded another corner—

And nearly collided with a group of students sprinting from the opposite direction.

Ava's heart leapt into her throat as she recognized them—

"Riley! Mia!" she gasped.

The two girls' eyes widened in shock—

And then their gazes snapped past Ava and Liam to the Frostborn charging behind them.

"Oh, shit!" Riley shouted, her voice cracking with panic.

The Glutton Frostborn roared as it lunged forward—