CHAPTER 4

"Don't say that," Lili told him, trying to be as encouraging as possible. "We're probably just too tired to think well. We should rest."

"Oh? You really want to risk going to sleep with that thing prowling around outside?" Raz retorted.

"Yes. I know this camp like the back of my hand. Besides, what are we going to do, stay awake for the rest of the week?"

Raz opened his mouth to say something, found no words ready to come forth, and clamped it shut again. An awkward silence followed.

"Lead the way," he said finally.

They both stood up and entered the underground rapid transit system. Under direction of Lili, Raz directed it to take them to the CPC and Wilderness area. He ride was short, and soon both teens found themselves out in the bitter cold of fast-approaching winter in the middle of a dark, foreboding forest.

"I know one place where we can be safe from that thing," she said to him quietly. "Engage your invisibility, so we can make it there undetected."

Both of them stood there and concentrated. Slowly, the darkness began to bend and curl around them, cloaking them except for the vaguest outline. She lead them down into the shallow creek and slipped through a small hole at the bottom of a steel grate.

"I know this place," Raz whispered to her. "This is where I found the glass eye for the scavenger hunt! This place is filled with water; we'll freeze if we try to sleep here."

"You never went behind the grate," Lili pointed out. "There's an upward slope that leads to a small cavern right below the GPC. It's a tight fit for two people, but it stays warm."

Sure enough, just out of sight, a muddy hill banked upwards and led into a miniature, earth-packed cavern. Both teens were so exhausted that they laid down immediately. Raz drifted off to sleep rather quickly, but Lili remained awake, wracked with nervousness.

Although she would never admit it to him, she got scared at night quite easily, and the fact that a murderous thing was prowling around outside didn't help anything. She waited until she was sure Raz was asleep, then slowly edged closer to him, resting her head on his chest, taking comfort in his steady heartbeat. She was so content just to be with him that she didn't notice he had woken up while she shifted, and smiled fondly down at her as she nuzzled closer to him. He wrapped one arm around her, then slowly nodded off himself.

Snap.

Raz's eyes flew open at the sound, and he sat up slowly, so as not to disturb Lili. He hoped to death that it was only a squirrel or bird breaking a dry branch, and not their unknown assailant. All hopes were dashed when he heard something large outside breathe in and out heavily, as if scenting the air.

"Lili," he whispered as quietly as possible, shaking her slightly. "Wake up."

"Wha..?" she mumbled sleepily. "Five more minutes…" she said, pulling up Raz's shirt to cover herself as if it were a blanket and nuzzling deeper into his chest.

Red with embarrassment, he pulled his shirt back down as fast as possible and shook her harder. "Wake up," he repeated.

"What is it?" she said, sitting up slowly as well, sounding slightly frustrated.

"We're in trouble."

She froze instantly. Already, the sound of something moving around outside were growing increasingly closer. Lili crawled forward on her stomach and peered down the slight incline, looking at the grate. The water around the bottom had frozen over into ice, and she could tell by the bitter chill in the air that it had snowed, too.

Crack-splash.

She edged backward quickly at the sound of a heavy foot breaking the ice and plunging into the water beneath. The steps were growing closer at a steady pace. Both teens held their breath, waiting to see that demonic being, scales breaking off to reveal its horrible, bloody maw…

The sounds stopped abruptly.

Rigid with fright, Raz and Lili slowly began to edge towards the grate, hopeful that their assailant had turned away. The night was perfectly quiet now. Lili placed her face against the grate to see if she could detect the creature.

"HS-SHRIIIIIEK!"

With an ear-splitting scream, the creature bashed its head against the grating, and the metal pipes exploded inward, earning a terrified scream from Lili. Raz slid forward and grabbed Lili, dragging her out of the range of the creature's claws.

The creature drew back and lunged forward again with renewed intensity, but it was far too large to fit through the small opening both teens had crawled through. Stuck from the torso up, its arms pinned against its side, the creature's neck thrashed wildly, tongue flailing, spraying bloody saliva against the walls.

Then it stopped, and rested its head against the floor of the cavern.

"What is it doing?" Raz asked, edging further away from the thing, even though it seemed to have tired itself out.

In a flash, the creature's eyes snapped open and its head jerked forward, an aggression blast flying from its forehead and smacking Raz in the face. Caught unprepared, he took the full brunt of the attack and flew backwards, crashing against the all of the small cavern and sliding to the floor.

Lili rolled to the side, caught up in the heat of battle. "You want to fight rough?"

Even though her eyes were shut, she avoided the next aggression blast and retaliated with her own psychic attack: pyrokinesis. A huge burst of flame engulfed the creature's head, crackling with an angry intensity.

The creature stopped attacking and began to shriek again, not in rage but in terrible pain. Its entire body writhed as it desperately tried to free itself, as the scales began to melt off its burning face. The yellow gases slowly began to be released from the wounds, and the results were, to say the least, explosive.

Obviously flammable, when the dust came in contact with the fire it began to spark. A huge detonation resulted, so large that it blew chunks out of the entrance to the cavern and flung the creature back. It smashed through the ice and laid on its back in the shallow, freezing water, its charred face smoking. Its chest was heaving, and its eyes were burned from their sockets. Even though it was finally free, the creature showed no sign of wanting to attack, or moving at all for that matter.

Lili pulled the unconscious Raz into a sitting position. Walking forward, she scooped some water in her hand and splashed it against his face. He shuddered and groaned loudly, slowly coming to. His face was bruised, and back was sore, but was in one piece.

"I guess we can't hide here anymore," Lili said sarcastically.

"Why do we…" Raz stopped and closed his eyes until the headache subsided, "…need to hide anymore?"

"Because," Lili said simply, pointing to the injured creature, "It's healing."

Raz looked. Sure enough, the scales were beginning to regenerate, and tissues were mending in the sockets to form new eyes.

"Then we should finish it here," he said, standing up.

As if sensing their malicious intent, the creature rolled over and clumsily tried to stand. Still weak, it crawled to its feet and uncurled its wings, lifting off into the air with labored downbeats. Seconds later the creature was gone, hiding off in some unknown place, nursing its wounds.

"We should find a better place," Lili suggested again. "It was stupid of me not to realize that this thing could track us. And since we now know it has psychic powers, it'll be even harder to escape."

"That's what bothers me," Raz said, rubbing his sore back. "How did this thing come to have psychic powers? Even if you're born with them, it takes a lot of training to harness them and use them at that level. I doubt that thing signed up to Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp, if you catch my drift..."