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Clementine's desperation became frustration as he, Mathew, and Mavis hurried through the academy halls in search of Sebastien. He'd lost sight of him when he'd turned into the corridor they were now walking through, and Clementine suspected he'd either disappeared into another of the secret passages he knew Sebastien used or had simply disappeared into a wall again. He knew he wasn't going to find him, but he felt too stubborn to just give up.

          But when the air around them began to return to its usual temperature, and the whispers died down, Clementine slowed and came to a halt with an annoyed huff. Why the hell did Sebastien do that? Was it really so important that he got to a murder scene first now that he was about to hand in the murderer of every Ravenblood student?

          He sighed irritably and dragged his hand over his face as he turned to face Mathew and Mavis.

          "Why did he leave so fast? Did he have to get to class?" Mavis asked.

          "Something like that," he grumbled. "Come on, we should get back."

          The three of them headed back the way they'd come, but despite the whispers having faded, Clementine couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. Every step he took seemed to tease something which eagerly waited to pounce. He stuck close to his allies, walking a little faster.

          "Should we go back to the lounge?" Mathew asked.

          Mavis nodded. "Maybe Sebastien will come back. It also seems like a good place to avoid an attack."

          "Yeah," Clementine uttered, but when they turned into the next corridor, he came to an abrupt halt, setting his eyes on the two kids waiting outside the lounge they had left to chase Sebastien.

          Clementine stared in trepidation, a shiver of unsettling angst racing through his stiff body. He heard some sort of hostile growl come from Mathew, and Mavis hid behind them both. Clementine shuddered as the duo moved away from the wall and stood in front of the door, glaring right at him. It took him a moment, but he was pretty sure he'd seen both of their faces in the student files. The black-haired boy was Benjamin, and the tall, furrow-faced girl at his side was Kristen...or was she Jasmine? It didn't matter. They were Ravenblood—that was what mattered.

          "What do you want?" Mathew growled, clenching his fists.

          "They were with Ian," Clementine uttered, trying his best to hide how nervous he was feeling without Sebastien there to back them up. If he wasn't in such a terrible state, he and Mathew would surely make easy work of these two. There were only two of them, though. Could Mathew deal with them on his own?

          "Guys," Mavis uttered fearfully.

          They looked over their shoulders, setting their sights on another two kids, who had stepped into the corridor from the way they'd just come from. One of them was definitely Ravenblood, but the scruffier guy's eyes shimmered in the lantern light. Wolf walker.

          Clementine's hopes of getting out of this withered. He was right. They had been watching him. They'd obviously seen Sebastien leave and had decided to take their chance.

          He set his eyes back on the pair in front of him, his heart now racing in his chest as he failed to keep his composure. He tried to think of a way out, but they were surrounded. His only hope was Mathew—could he handle four opponents?

          "Where's your little boyfriend now?" Benjamin asked with a grin.

          "You're screwed now," the wolf walker called.

          "What do we do?" Mavis squeaked, gripping Clementine's arm.

          The Ravenblood didn't immediately attack, though. They seemed almost cautious. Of course they were. They suspected Clementine had killed all their dead society members, didn't they? Clementine tried to think of a way to use that to his advantage, and as he eyed each of his foes, he scowled, doing his best to hide his angst.

          "Did Lucinda send you to do her dirty work?" he asked them. "Just like she sent Ian and everyone else."

          Mathew and Mavis frowned at Clementine.

          Benjamin scoffed as all four of them glanced at one another.

          "She did tell you what happened to them all, right?" Clementine asked. If he stalled them, then maybe Sebastien would turn up in time to help kill them. But he knew better than to hope such a thing would happen this time. Sebastien had just left to do something that Clementine had learned took days.

          "Ian was an idiot," the girl uttered. "What are we waiting around for?! Let's get them!" She didn't wait for her fellows' agreement. The girl sprung forward, extending her right arm; her fingers morphed into bird-like talons, and with a horrific screech, she lunged for Clementine—

          Mathew leapt in front of Clementine and collided with the girl. As they both hit the ground and struggled against one another, the other three kids burst into action.

          Clementine was instantly consumed by his fear—Mavis screamed, but as he turned and went to pull her away from the charging bird-taloned boy, she abruptly shrunk herself to the size of a pen, causing the boy to stumble and fall face-first onto the floor. Mavis frantically flapped her dragonfly-like wings beside Clementine as they both turned to face Benjamin, who was coming for Clementine.

          He had no choice but to fight. While Mathew kept the girl pinned on the ground, Clementine summoned a blade. His withering hand ached as he gripped the weapon's hilt, but he ignored the pain and scowled, watching as Benjamin's arms morphed to adorn bird-like talons. At the same time, a horrific snarl came from behind Clementine. Mavis, who was hovering at his side, let out a high-pitched scream, and before Clementine could turn to face the huge black wolf the fourth kid had morphed into, it slammed its body into his, propelling him towards the wall.

         As he hit the wall, he groaned painfully, but he managed to keep hold of his blade and remained on his feet. As quickly as he could, he turned to face his opponents; Mavis had flown higher to avoid the battle, and Mathew was still holding the girl down, but she'd managed to dig her claws into him several times, the floor around them splattered with his blood.

          Benjamin avoided Clementine's swing and grabbed his arm, making him grunt painfully. However, Clementine swiftly summoned his blade into his other hand, and before Benjamin had time to react, he plunged the dagger into the boy's side.

          With an agonized yelp, Benjamin let go of Clementine and stumbled to the side, gripping the dagger with both his hands. But the wolf walker immediately collided with Clementine, forcing him to the floor. He grunted and struggled, gripping the huge wolf's throat with his aching hands. It snapped its jaws, snarled, and seethed, trying desperately to reach him. Clementine gritted his teeth, his body trembling, his heart racing. He could feel his strength quickly waning—the beast's jaws were edging closer to his face, and as he turned his head away from its maw, he watched Mathew morph into a huge brown bear. Clementine hoped he'd done so to help him with the wolf which was just inches from his face, but the girl Mathew had been fighting collided with the bear, slashing at him with a pair of black feathered wings.

          Clementine tried to summon another blade, but he was putting his all into holding the wolf back. And as its snapping jaws were just moments from clamping down on his face, a rumbling snarl sent a shiver of horror through his trembling body—

          The wolf was suddenly torn from over him. Clementine lay there under the weight of his shock and fatigue. Snarls, growls, and yelps came from every direction. The sound of tearing flesh, snapping jaws, and spilling blood. He could hear Mavis' petrified screams, the roars of Mathew's bear form, and ear-piercing bird-like shrieking from the Ravenblood kids.

          He found enough strength to lean on his arm, allowing him to stare over at the carnage. He set his sights on the wolfish, bat-winged creature currently tearing into the black wolf's neck, and when he noticed its glowing blue eyes, he scowled in confusion.

          With a loud snap, the winged hound broke the yelping wolf's neck and let its still, mangled body drop to the floor. It then set its eyes on Clementine, blood dripping from its maw.

          Fear struck Clementine. He knew that he should run; that creature was the same smaller beast he'd seen wandering the halls at night, and as it started to prowl towards him, he tried to scramble to his feet.

          "Let's go!" Mathew insisted, suddenly grabbing Clementine's arms, pulling him to his feet.

          Clementine didn't resist. The moment he was on his feet, he fled with his Mathew. Where was Mavis? He looked back over his shoulder, but all he could see back there was the winged hound and the bodies of the four attackers. The hound wasn't chasing them, though...it just stood there.

          "What was that thing?!" came Mavis' squeaky voice.

          He looked up at Mathew, spotting Mavis sitting on his shoulder, still no bigger than a pen. Mathew was also grasping a profusely bleeding wound on his side and his breathing was stifled.

          But before Clementine could say anything, a trio of horrific growls came from up ahead. He stopped running, gripping Mathew's arm to make him stop, too.

          "There are more of them?" Mathew breathed.

          Clementine could see the shadows of those creatures growing on the wall up ahead—they couldn't go that way and he didn't want to head back the way they'd come, either—the smaller hound was still standing over the bodies. He frantically looked around, and when he set his eyes on a storage closet, he gripped Mathew's arm.

          "Here," he uttered, pulling the door open.

          Once they were inside the small closet, Clementine pulled the door shut. Both he and Mathew held their hands over their mouths, silencing their panting breaths.

          They waited, listening.

          Thumping footsteps grew louder and louder, soon followed by deep, breathy growls. Clementine's racing heart beat a little harder as the shadows of those creatures passed by the door. The hairs on the back of his neck stood tall; he could feel Mathew trembling behind him, but he dared not to speak a word.

          A chorus of growls cut through the ominous silence as the sound of thumping footsteps stopped. Clementine listened, and when he heard tearing flesh and savage snarls, the academy went cold. He wrapped his arms around himself, frowning sceptically as the anguished whispers seethed through the walls. Did these creatures cause the cold and the whispers? Was he right in suspecting they had something to do with the disposal of bodies? He'd seen them chewing on Ian's body back then, and now, it sounded like they were devouring the bodies of the four kids he and his allies had just faced.

          "Clementine," Mathew whispered.

          He looked up at him.

          "What are those things?"

          "I don't know," he replied, keeping his voice as hushed as possible.

          "I don't like this," Mavis uttered. "Something about those things is amiss."

          Mathew nodded. "Is it safe to head back?"

          Clementine listened closely...but the sound of snarling and tearing was gone. Either the whispers were making it hard to hear, or the creatures had finished devouring the corpses. He listened for a moment longer, but his desperation to get back to his dorm encouraged him to check if the coast was clear. So, he quietly and gently gripped the door handle...and pushed it open.

          His hands trembled as his angst made him feel nauseous, but he did his best to ignore it...and peeked outside the closet. His eyes widened when he set them on the pack of creatures. All six of them, along with the seventh smaller hound, were feasting on the bodies like a pack of savage, starved lions. The smaller beast was the only one which possessed blue eyes and a faint blue aura—it was also the only one not eating...again. It stood beside the larger, horned hound, sniffing at the bodies. Why?

          The horned beast then raised its head, staring into the lounge. Clementine wasn't sure what it might be looking at, but once its packmates had devoured every trace of the four dead Ravenblood, it snarled quietly and headed into the lounge. Each of them followed it inside, and once the smaller beast moved inside, it eased the door shut with its wing.

          Clementine wanted to seize his chance to run, but before he could say anything, the whispers died down, the academy warmed up, and the lounge door creaked open. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to see walk out...but it certainly wasn't Professor Huxley. He watched the tall, amber-eyed man strut out of the room, straightening his blazer. He tidied his ruffled hair and wiped a smear of black from his bottom lip. And just as they had been when Clementine saw Huxley many nights ago, the man's eyes were bloodshot.

          Professor Warren followed him out...and then Quincy, McMillan, and Ingrid. There was no sign of the creatures, and Clementine felt what he had seen could only mean one thing...those creatures weren't students or animals, they were the professors.

          Of course they were. It all made sense. Well, most of it. The only thing Clementine didn't understand was why. Why were the professors devouring the dead students' bodies? He scowled sceptically, waiting for the sixth beast to emerge and join the others.

          "Is it safe?" Mavis suddenly whispered.

          Shaking his head, he backed into the closet, but as he tried to pull the door shut, it creaked.

          Clementine froze.

          "Who's there?" came Professor Warren's voice.

          Mathew and Mavis frowned in confusion.

          "Is that Professor Warren?" Mathew asked.

          "Show yourself!" Professor Quincy demanded.

          A horrified stare warped Clementine's face. If the professors discovered them, they'd surely kill all three of them. What Clementine had just seen looked like something the professors would do anything to keep secret, and there was only one option for them.

          He looked up at Mathew and Mavis. "Run."

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