Chapter Thirty-One: Monster Attack

(E Pluribus Unum, Pt. 2)

***

The lights were going crazy.

Cami stared at the lights, dread and fear squeezing her throat, her heart, as she stared at the lights, buzzing more and more frantically. Cami could feel the static on her skin as everyone gathered in a loose circle, staring at the lights before she looked at Alistair, at his wide eyes—sensing the ghosts' fear maybe—then at Will, seeing her friend's hand against the back of his neck, a look of terror on his face before she looked back up, eyeing the lights along with everyone else.

"He's here," Will said, his voice cracking slightly as it sent a spike of fear through Cami.

Alistair looked at her, at her eyes wide with fear, as Max, Lucas, Mike and El registered what was happening, as El got a look on her face.

Immediately they moved to the elevators, which the nurse noticed as she yelled, "Hey, hey, hey! Two at a time!"

They ignored her—the Mind Flayer or the Flayed or some other monster attacking Nancy and Jonathan was more important than some stupid rule—as they stood in front of the elevators. Mike slammed his hand against the buttons as they anxiously waited for it to arrive. Cami's heart beat like a trapped bird, fear pumping through her bloodstream—fear for Nancy and Jonathan, of the danger they were in, and carajo, why wasn't the elevator opening?!

Mike noticed it too, and he decided, "Stairs", and they rushed to the nearest stairwell, El pulling the door open with a thought, and they sprinted up it. It was small and cramped, but Cami hardly cared, fear for Nancy and Jonathan making her run up them faster, to keep running and follow those flickering lights, to save them before it was too late.

Keep running. Keep running! her mind screamed at Cami as she ran, as they all ran, until they arrived at the level where the lights were flickering the most—where Nancy and Jonathan were most likely at. A level of the hospital that still looked under construction, and the flickering lights could be mistaken as that.

But construction could not explain the flickering.

Cami made to run when she heard a gasp and she whirled, her heart stopping as she saw Alistair hunched over, blood dripping from his nose. Panicked concern for her best friend lurched within Cami as he inhaled and exhaled sharply before standing, see them all look at him in concern.

"I'm okay," he said, wiping the blood away—just as a roar sounded.

Cami's heart lurched, her eyes going wide, before she sprinted after it, Mike, Max, El, Lucas, Will and Alistair running after it as well, bolting through half-finished corridors as the lights buzzed frantically, as they passed alcoves that, to her horror, had blood and bodies within them. Cami stifled a horrified scream at that as she kept running, chasing after the roars as they came closer and closer—until they arrived and saw Jonathan at a door, slamming a fire extinguisher into the glass window, blood running down his face, desperation in his eyes.

"Jonathan!" Will yelled.

His brother turned, eyes wide at seeing them there, before he said, "Nancy, she's in there, she—"

He didn't say anything more. Because they were running to the door and El was slamming it off its hinges with her mind, revealing Nancy pressed against the wall, and...

A thing was hovering over her, twisting around as it snarled. It had multiple legs and shards of bone sticking out of its red, fleshy mass, and Cami gagged on both the rancid smell radiating from it and the nauseating horror churning within her at what she was seeing, shoving down the urge to vomit.

"Holy fuck," Alistair breathed, his eyes wide, as they all stared in horrified confusion at the monster.

"Mierda," Cami hissed, still feeling nauseated.

"Jesus," Mike said.

"What the fuck?" Max whispered, but the monster's roar cut her off.

It lurched forward and Cami's heart slammed into her chest in panic, but El was already moving, her hand raised as she slammed the monster into the wall with a yell. She slammed it into another wall, then up into the ceiling and down at the floor. The impact it made thundered through Cami as El raised her other hand and with a final yell, she threw it through the window—down into the parking lot below.

"Go!" she yelled as they ran again—but now for the front entrance, Jonathan running to Nancy. They ran down the stairs again and out through the lobby—at that point, the older teens had caught up—as El slammed the doors open and they sprinted outside.

They stopped at the spot where El had flung the monster out, and Cami's nausea increased as she saw it not rising up to attack but instead melting down and going into the drain with a sickening, wet squelching sound, until there was nothing but slime, gore, and a femur bone cracked in half.

Cami's stomach flip-flopped in revulsion as they stared at it in silence, before Max said, "What the fuck just happened?"

"That thing. Do you think it was..." Lucas started, but he couldn't finish it as a sick look came onto his face.

"I think it was. I... I think I felt whoever that had been being... melted," Alistair confessed.

The horrified, sick looks intensified on everyone's faces, as the urge to vomit became too unbearable to keep back for Cami.

She slammed a hand to her mouth and whirled, vomiting up the contents of her stomach onto the asphalt of the parking lot, even as her stomach still churned with nausea and the horror of what she'd just witnessed. Distantly, she felt her hair being pulled back from her face and hands rubbing soothing circles along her back, as she kept vomiting, until nothing was left in her stomach to hurl up.

Cami's body shook as she now registered Max was holding her hair back and Alistair was rubbing her back, as Nancy turned to her, worry in her face as she asked, "Are you okay, Cami?"

"No," Cami croaked, wiping the vomit from her mouth, feeling the horrible, acidic taste in her mouth as Alistair kept rubbing her back in soothing circles. And even though Cami knew she'd only throw up bile, her stomach still churned with nausea, like she was going to vomit again at the memory of that monster, what the Mind Flayer had created.

Those poor people...

Cami bit back down the urge to vomit again as they all looked at each other, registering what they had just seen.

Because as horrifying and nauseating as that was, it had them learn something new—that monster was new. And if Alistair was right, if it had been created from the person or people the Mind Flayer had Flayed being melted down and transformed into a monster... what did that mean for the Mind Flayer's plans of world domination? What did that mean for anyone else it possessed?

What did that mean for Valerie, if Cami's fears about her missing sister were true?

They had to find that source. As soon as possible.

***

This was fun :)

I loved writing this! Writing the descriptions of the monster were so fun :) And yeah, poor Cami—I am honestly surprised none of them threw up after seeing that monster (especially Nancy and Jonathan since they saw Tom and Bruce being melted and changed into that creature)

Also, Cami didn't know one of Nancy's and Jonathan's asshole co-workers was one of the Flayed, so don't come at her for thinking that way (even though Bruce definitely deserved that for being a sexist asshole)

And Cami is definitely scared that her sister could be not only Flayed, but also changed into one of those monsters. Fortunately, that isn't the case, but can you blame her for worrying?

Next chapter is back with Valerie, Steve and Robin—and you get to see Valerie's plan >:)

Spanish translations:

Carajo: Fuck

Mierda: Shit

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!