The ceiling gave a violent crack.
A slab of concrete crashed down where they had been standing seconds ago.
"Move!" Jamo barked.
Lucas didn't wait.
He grabbed Vivian's wrist and pulled her hard toward the corridor.
Not controlled.
Not calculated.
Urgent.
Real.
Vivian stumbled but kept up, her heart pounding wildly.
Behind them
The creature climbed fully out of the darkness.
Larger than the first.
Worse.
Its twisted mouth stretched into something almost like a grin.
Jamo didn't look back.
"Don't stop running!"
The tunnel ahead was already collapsing.
Metal beams bent.
Lights flickered and burst.
Dust filled the air, choking and thick.
Vivian coughed, forcing herself forward.
"Lucas, where are we going?!"
Lucas didn't slow.
"Service exit… north side."
His voice was strained.
Fighting something.
Jamo noticed it too.
"You're still not stable."
Lucas gave a short, humorless breath.
"Noted."
The ground shook again.
A deafening roar echoed behind them.
Closer.
Too close.
Vivian risked a glance back
And wished she hadn't.
The creature was coming.
Fast.
Tearing through the collapsing tunnel like it didn't feel pain.
Like it didn't care.
"Faster!" she shouted.
They pushed harder.
The passage narrowed.
Debris blocked parts of the path.
Jamo smashed through what he could.
Lucas dodged the rest.
Vivian kept moving.
Barely.
Her lungs burned.
Her body screamed.
But she didn't stop.
Not now.
Not when they were this close.
A faint light appeared ahead.
An exit.
"Go!" Jamo shouted.
Lucas reached it first.
He slammed into the door
It didn't open.
Locked.
Vivian's heart dropped.
"No"
Jamo reached them and didn't hesitate.
He grabbed the door and ripped
Metal screamed.
The hinges snapped.
The door tore open.
Cold night air rushed in.
Freedom.
"Out!" Jamo ordered.
Vivian ran through first.
Lucas followed
Then Jamo.
The moment they cleared the exit
The tunnel behind them collapsed completely.
A thunderous crash.
Dust exploded outward.
Silence followed.
Heavy.
Final.
Vivian bent over, hands on her knees, trying to breathe.
They had made it.
Barely.
Lucas stood a few feet away, chest rising unevenly.
Jamo scanned the area instantly.
They were back near the docks.
But everything felt… wrong.
Too quiet.
Vivian straightened slowly.
"Is it over?"
Jamo didn't answer.
Because it wasn't.
The ground beneath them trembled again.
Vivian's stomach dropped.
"No…"
The concrete split
Right in front of them.
And the creature burst out.
Even bigger now.
Even more twisted.
Its glowing eyes locked onto them.
Lucas stepped forward instantly.
"No more running."
Jamo moved beside him.
"Agreed."
Vivian stared at both of them.
"You can't fight that thing."
Jamo didn't look at her.
"We don't have a choice."
Lucas's voice came low.
"We never did."
The creature roared
And lunged.
They met it head-on.
Jamo attacked from the left.
Lucas from the right.
Vivian moved back
Watching.
Thinking.
There had to be a way.
Fighting it wasn't working.
It kept adapting.
Growing.
Learning.
Her mind raced.
Then
She remembered something.
The hole.
The darkness.
Where it came from.
It didn't climb out by accident.
It was drawn out.
By something.
Vivian turned sharply.
"Jamo!"
He barely dodged a claw.
"What?!"
"It came for me!"
Jamo frowned.
"What?"
Vivian's voice sharpened.
"It's not random, it's tracking me!"
Lucas blocked another strike.
"Why would it do that?"
Vivian swallowed hard.
"Because I'm not fully wolf."
The realization hit hard.
Jamo's eyes darkened.
"You think it recognizes you."
Vivian nodded.
"Or wants me."
Lucas's expression shifted.
"That's worse."
The creature lunged again
Closer this time.
Too close.
Jamo barely held it back.
Vivian made another controversial decision.
"I'll lead it away."
Both of them snapped toward her.
"No," Jamo said immediately.
Lucas shook his head.
"That's suicide."
Vivian didn't back down.
"If it wants me, I can control where it goes."
Jamo's voice dropped.
"And then what?"
Vivian met his gaze.
"Then you kill it."
Silence.
Heavy.
Impossible.
Jamo's jaw tightened.
"I'm not using you as bait."
Vivian stepped closer.
"You already did."
That hit.
Hard.
Jamo didn't respond.
Lucas looked between them.
"We don't have time for this."
The creature roared again
Closer.
Faster.
Vivian stepped back.
Decision made.
"I'm doing this."
Jamo reached for her
Too late.
She turned and ran.
Away from them.
Straight toward the open dock.
The creature paused.
Then
Followed her.
Exactly as she predicted.
Jamo cursed under his breath.
"She's right."
Lucas nodded once.
"I know."
Jamo's eyes hardened.
"Then we finish it."
They moved.
Fast.
Following both of them.
Vivian ran across the dock, her heart pounding violently.
The wind cut against her face.
The river stretched out ahead.
No escape.
Just distance.
Behind her
Heavy footsteps.
Closer.
Closer.
She didn't look back.
Didn't slow.
She reached the edge of the dock
And stopped.
The creature lunged
Right at her.
And that's when Jamo hit it.
Full force.
From the side.
Lucas followed
Driving it back.
Away from her.
Vivian stumbled back, breathing hard.
It was working.
Barely.
But working.
Until
The creature changed again.
Its body shifted.
Split.
Two forms.
Then three.
Vivian's breath caught.
"No…"
Jamo stared.
"That's not possible."
Lucas's voice dropped.
"It's evolving."
Now there were three of them.
All staring at Vivian.
All moving at once.
Jamo realized it instantly.
"This isn't a fight anymore."
Vivian's heart pounded.
"Then what is it?"
Lucas answered quietly.
"A hunt."
The creatures lunged
All at once.