The frantic boys soon holed themselves up in a multi-storied residential home within the town's inner quarter. Settling into the third floor under Caelum's direct order, those still able to move locked and barricaded the doors and windows. Not wanting to be caught by surprise again, Caelum instructed the others to remain only on the inner floors while keeping their senses alert.
From what they had seen, that thing was more than capable of entering their four-story building from top or bottom. Doing all they could, the boys had concealed all windows and blocked all doorways leading out while leaving every door within the house open so they could listen to the slightest movement within.
Understandably frightened, no one dared to remain on the second floor. Instead, all gathered on the third and watched with dumbfounded looks as Caelum went about assessing the two injured men on the ground.
Some bedding had been laid in the spare bedroom next to the attic-separated stairway, in order to comfort the two as they lay on hardwood. No one thought of even using the beds as Caelum immediately headed off any criticism by explaining they would need the quickest escape route possible.
Next to the boy's feet were what little medical supplies the house held when the others had searched it. Astoundingly little gauze, disinfectant, and other first aid were piled up, waiting to be used by the students in disbelief. Why was there so little? The question frustrated them but then again the obvious answer eluded them as a question under this duress. Why would a regular home ever need more?
Caelum's eyes glossed over Port whose breathing was steady as he held a hand over the unconscious teacher's nostrils and watched the slow rise of his chest. Gently rolling the round man's torso to the side he raced his hands along the man's body, no blood, at least nothing arterial or life-threatening.
Next came the man's head. Past white bushy hair he checked the man's eyes, one bloodshot the other normal, nothing unordinary. Bruising across the face along with cuts and a small trickle of blood from the man's nose and mouth may have shown internal damage. 'No liquid or blood from the ears, his head should be okay despite the impact.'
"Raiden! Scan him!" ordered Caelum after his initial assessment. As Raiden kneeled across the professor from him and began undoing the teacher's blouse, his glasses flickered a strange light, pulsating with a strange glow. The medical scanning program he had on his glasses was teased by Lukas who deemed it unnecessary when the boy first got it, now no one was questioning its use. As Raiden's glasses scanned the professor in depth caelum moved to the more pressing patient.
Caelum detached his bayonet from his weapon and used the lengthy blade to cut through Scarlett's blouse and shredded trousers. As he revealed the pale flesh beneath he found himself staring at Scarlett's collarbone, instinctively looking for dog tags. Shaking his head at the unnecessary action he proceeded to assess the boy's worsening state.
"What's his blood type?" asked Caelum aloud.
"W-what?" asked Sun doing a double take.
"His. Blood. Type. Answer!"
"I-I don't know! If anybody might it would be Sage! Are you going to give him a transfusion or something?" asked Sun in a fluster.
Caelum clicked his tongue, the possibility due to his semblance now irrelevant without the answer. "Different blood has different clotting factors. He's hemorrhaging, nearly in shock and we've only recently stifled the flow. He's no longer lucid and the adrenaline's thinned his blood."
"What does that mean?" asked Sun with a fearful expression.
"He's… dying…" muttered Neptune with tears in his eyes. Pulling his knees up to his chest, he nestled away in a corner as Sun turned to Caelum in disbelief.
"Can't, Can't you do something?" he asked, voice hoarse.
Niel came upstairs with two chairs and instantly snapped them apart, handing the pieces to Caelum. Glancing at Sun briefly, Caelum grunted as he applied pressure, making a splint for Scarlett's legs. "I'm doing everything I can but it means nothing if we can't escape. Focus on surviving this night first."
The dismissal of his request dashed whatever smolder of hope Sun had in the moment. Turning to Neptune he did what he could for his last remaining teammate. Seeing the two occupied, Caelum began digging in his pockets, using his semblance to draw more supplies from his caches near Vale.
Raiden finished his scan of Port with a relieved sigh then seeing Caelum draw a hefty amount of handheld medical supplies from the mirror in his pocket, raised his brows in realization. In a hushed tone, he frantically asked "Why dont you call for help?"
Caelum looked over his shoulder and at the despondent eyes of Scarlett beneath him before replying. "We don't have signal here, remember?"
"Then put your scroll through your mirror and send a message with our location! That should work right?"
Caelum shook his head. My supply caches are underground and without any signal reception to prevent them being found. When I dug them, I sealed them from the outside with mirrors inside. Nothing gets in or out of there except for me." seeing Raiden's wishful idea being erased, Caelum returned to the matter at hand. "How's Port."
"He seems fine but will need to see a professional for head trauma."
Caelum nodded, expecting as much. "And him?" he asked nodding down to Scarlett.
Raiden grimaced slightly. "Bad, very bad. Your assessment is only the obvious things. He has several fractured ribs, internal bleeding, punctured lung, his aura isn't even trying to repair any of it since it was depleted so harshly. I think the only reason he could even talk before was a mixture of adrenaline and psychosis."
"You noticed too?"
"How could I not?" asked Raiden rhetorically. "Did that thing cause it?"
"I don't know but I'll assume the worst. From what I saw, once you lose it, let it in your head, let doubt and despair wriggle in. You hear whispers. Then you hear voices and screams. It drives you mad quickly and then drives you to it."
"I could have gone without all that context" sighed Raiden standing up.
"You didn't have to see any of it" replied Caelum with a snort, recalling the engineer's madness near the end of his life. "For now, focus on maintaining watch with the others. Let them all have a drink of this" he said pulling out a canteen of water. May as well have some form of reprieve while these two stabilize. Check-in on everyone and let them know that once we get an opportunity, we're moving."
Raiden nodded, before taking the canteen and stealing a drink. Wiping his lips with his sleeve, he did as instructed. Soon the six conscious boys remained on a tense alertness. For the better part of an hour, they lay within the old structure waiting for the injured to stabilize for transport. Every creak and rustle of wind stole their attention before they would slightly relax only to tense again at the next sound.
Turns were taken at first regarding observations outside. The one who was picked, would go to a window at each cardinal direction of the home and briefly glance out for any changes. This fell apart as Neptune refused, then Sun found himself trying to coax his friend to at least lookup. Finally, Caelum noticed the hesitance in his teammates. Understanding everyone's reluctance, he feared more that they would shirk the task in secret. So he did the periodic rounds himself.
It felt like wasted time. Like the beast was enjoying itself a nice meal or rest while they stayed awake at this ungodly hour, wound up like toys and jumping at the slightest sound. Once the hour had passed, Caelum made the call. "Prepare to move out."
Port and Scarlett seemed capable enough for transport and there was no sign of the creature. Perhaps they had eluded it when they hid. Yet this only felt like wishful thinking to Caelum's more cynical mindset. Again, quiet sobs met his ear as he turned to see Sun trying to pull Neptune together.
"I'm getting tired of warning him. All he has to do is shut up and follow. If he can't do that then we will leave him" threatened Caelum.
Sun didn't even turn to face him despite the instinctive anger he felt. Believing Caelum's words, however, he urgently pleaded with his partner to move. Reluctantly Neptune did with tears straining his face. The ominous silence of the house was soon filled with the muffled rustling of the boys getting up and grabbing the wounded. Then the six men froze in place, a cold sweat gripping their spines as their eyes dilated. Their breathing turned shallow as they focused on the sound downstairs. A soft rattling. That of a door handle. With bated breath, Caelum motioned for the others to prepare in silence, as if he had to tell them. The six prepared themselves heading up to the attic, facing the stairwells to the lower floors.
As they stood on the top floor the faint rattling ceased and was soon followed by the soft tapping of glass. A slow and eerie
"Tink"
"Tink"
"Tink"
The pauses were long and uneven, their breathing subconsciously hitched with each tap. Silence soon reigned once more. Unsure glances were exchanged when another sound haunted their ears. Slow, spaced, thuds were heard on the lower floors. Steadily pacing through the building.
Caelum signed with his hands for Lukas to check if the skylight was clear and to find a path along the rooftops for them as they watched the stairs. The boys slowly backed themselves to a wall, giving as much room between themselves and the stairs as they could while Lukas checked.
The sounds were certainly not proof of its presence, perhaps paranoia as with the past hour. All the boys had cleared towns of Grimm before, some having seen the aftermath of civilians who had not made it. Yet the fear, the knowledge of such unfiltered terror prowling just a few meters away gnawed at their sanity.
To Neptune, his sanity had nearly been consumed. Doubt, fear, and rising panic pervaded his mind. He wasn't enough for this. He wasn't strong or as charismatic as he pretended. Even now he couldn't even breathe steadily. Yet his peers, led by a viable madman in his opinion, stood to fight, to survive. He could only recall the terror that struck him upon seeing it, the weight on his bones when his mind shut down and he was frozen in place. And now he could only imagine how he would die a gruesome death.
Thoughts of heroism, schoolday romance, his idealistic lifestyle withered, replaced by his ensuing breakdown. He slowly stepped back to the circular window next to him, unable to support himself well. Whispers began to enter his mind, consoling him, assuring him that perhaps death by his own hand was better than being consumed, surely it was? With a cold sweat, he glanced up at Caelum through the hands he placed on his face in distress. Perhaps, he could at least have him pull the trigger, so the guilt, the fear of doing it was not on himself in the end.
Yet as the temptation of painless death enticed him, Neptune groaned, twisting away from the sight of Caelum as if it and the whispers were drawing him in. As he stared out the large circular window into the red-veiled night, Neptune's irises came inches away from the large, burning coal of a monster's eye.
Raiden was unsure why or how, but the electricity that ran through his aura, that encompassed his body seemed to pulse for a moment like a wave. He had been focusing so intently the past few hours he had been driving his senses to their limits yet this new sensation left him briefly at a loss. It was only brief because as the small electric field resonated from him, he felt something past the wooden beams around them.
In an instant, Raiden spun on his knee as Neptune screamed in horror from behind. The moment a large serrated, clawed hand burst through the circular window, the room illuminated a brief, bright blue as his railgun pierced the offending limb.
The hand that had nearly gripped Neptune within went limp as the force of the projectile blew its bicep in half, rendering the arm flailing about and spurting black blood. The creature wailed a petrifying sound as it ripped its arm back and threw itself headfirst in through the shattered window.
As Raiden reloaded another tungsten round, Neptune scrambled to the skylight, clawing above for Lukas to help him up. As Lukas prepared to jump back down into the fray, Caelum's voice demanded he direct their escape.
"I'll hold the rear! Get everyone up and out!"
There was no time to argue. Lukas grasped Neptune's hand and pulled him up, throwing him to the side as he reached for Niel who still carried Port next. Sun carried Scarlett and awaited his turn as Raiden prepared his rail gun that vented its steam. As Caelum prepped his weapon, bayonet at the ready and a fresh drum, he watched with strained eyes as the beast floundered in pain and rage within the cramped confines of the attic.
The Wendigo righted itself onto all fours, one limb dragging weakly on bare bone as the flesh seemed to string itself together like threads of cloth resewing themselves. Seeing this Caelum opened fire to little effect. The enraged beast flinched at the large rounds impacting its skull and disrupting the regeneration of its arm. Wailing in pain it charged with furious intent.
Shifting his weight to his hip, Caelum gave enough room for Raiden to swing his rail gun and fire at their oncoming death. The beast's eyes seemed to pulsate rapidly as it swung its good arm wide, batting the scattered contents within the attic at the two. The cascade of junk disrupted Raidens aim as a small nightstand slammed into him and the accompanying dresser into Caelum.
As the bright beam of blue light shot into the roof and the night sky, The two scrambled to their feet as the Grimm clawed forward, Its weight cracking the floorboards, its horns scraping at the ceiling. "Run! Demanded Caelum, kicking the dresser into the oncoming Grimm who batted it into a wall. With haste, Raiden ran to the skylight, opening his receiver and inserting another round as the barrel cooled and Lukas hoisted him by his jacket hood.
Backing to the skylight himself, Caelum kept his lengthy bayonet pointed at the monster's torso. The blood in his body pounded like a drum, fueled by adrenaline. In battle, a single move, a mistake, could be death. He could only defend but he had to find the best way to do so. The Wendigo's claw shot up and grabbed a rafter, the tension in its arm dragged its body through the attic at him, its maw wide open.
In response, Caelum thrust his bayonet forward. The large blade clacked against the solid bone of the Wendigo's upper mouth, its lower jaw angrily gnawing against the steel. A glance up and he saw its hand release the rafters and reach for his skull. With a click and a twist, his blade bent ninety degrees into its scythe form and narrowly blocked the claws intending to impale him.
The menacingly serrated claw-like fingers slid along his MG until it clasped against the drum inserted and forced the steel to creak under its pressure. Hearing movement behind him, he knew he needed more time. Fighting to withhold the creature's strength and shift his hold, Caelum dropped to a knee, bracing the stock against his leg, and managed to flip a single latch on the drum, undoing it and unraveling the belt within. As one claw slipped free, Caelum pulled the trigger.
The rounds did nothing as they impacted the armored face of the Grimm yet with every casing and link that fell, a disorienting flash followed by the boom of gunfire, blinding and deafeningly the gun fried within the attic. Between the boy who clasped his eyes shut and Grimm who bellowed in confusion, both were thoroughly disoriented.
As both fought to regain sight and hearing in the darkness, Caelum began to feel as if he would buckle any moment, then he felt a slight relief as Lukas called after him. "All up! Get your ass here now!"
Sliding a foot back, He prepared to retreat when he noticed the Grimm shift its body clockwise through the fading blindness in his eyes. Its shoulder raised and Caelum grit his teeth. Sliding one hand up to the bipod mount, Caelum detached his blade. With his Mg holding the other arm, he jumped in place and swung the large bayonet left. The Wendigo's teeth latched down, only to clasp air while Caelum's feet landed atop its forehead, avoiding the sharpened horns above.
Now mid-air, he felt a heavy blow strike his bayonet and aid him as he kicked off and propelled backward. The beast's arm had already regenerated and had tried to secure his demise. Flying backward, Caelum rolled in the air when he felt two hands grasp his arms. Fighting against the inertia of his flight, Niel and Lukas had snagged him mid-propulsion and ripped him onto the roof through the skylight.
As soon as Caelum rolled to a halt on the roof he shouted "Go!" As the others began a life-or-death game of chase across the rooftops, Caelum scrambled to his feet as a sound akin to jagged steel scraping against glass arose from behind. He had barely jumped to the next roof when he glanced back to see the Grimm's hands grasp the small skylight and crush its wood frame, crumbling its shape till it crawled out into the moonlight.
Through the dust, the shattered moon above illuminated its grotesque features once more. And now clear as day, its face held rage.
-Chapter End-