CHAPTER 171: 171-THE UNKNOWN THREAT

Clementine:

"Come on, say it. Tell him it was just a mistake," Joshua insisted. I don’t know how Suki managed to stand so straight, because I could feel my own knees going weak.

Why wasn’t she saying it? She could just say it and let Jack know she would choose Joshua. But I remembered that one conversation I overheard behind a tree. And it seemed Joshua was right, she had made real promises to Jack.

And Jack? I expected him to at least back up his friend, to confirm it was just a mistake like he’d said before. But now, with Suki caught under both their gazes, he didn’t step forward to defend her. He just watched her face, almost like he was waiting for her to decide.

Suki took a deep breath and raised her head to look at Joshua. "It’s true. He was just a mistake."

As soon as she said it, I watched Jack’s face harden.

"You were dealing with a lot at that time, and you couldn’t give me attention, so out of spite and anger, I decided to screw your best friend. I know what I did was wrong. I know I ruined friendships. But trust me, if I have to pick, it will always be you," she finished.

The two guys just stared at her for a moment before Joshua started clapping.

"So you betrayed me for someone who used you as a tool to vent her anger? Good luck, dude. You screwed up," he said, making fun of Jack, who watched her in disbelief, tears forming in his eyes.

"I need to go," Suki said, moving quickly to get to one of the rooms before Jack could confront her in front of us.

As expected, Jack tried to follow, but Joshua grabbed his hand.

"Seriously, dude. While I’m still here, you’re not going to the same room as her. You’ll go to the room on the other side." It was a clear alpha warning his beta to stay away. Jack had no choice but to nod and walk in the opposite direction.

Once their drama ended, I noticed Yorick and Haiden exchange a glance and then stifle their laughter.

"I really thought she would pick Jack," Yorick complained, making me frown at them.

"No, she didn’t, so you lost. You’ll take care of our clothes when we get back to the mainland," Haiden said. That’s when I realized they had made bets.

After a while, we finished dinner and just wanted to sleep. Ian seemed really tense, this was a lot of responsibility for him, especially not messing up the carving. I wanted to go talk to him and let him know we trusted him, but he went straight to the second floor to sleep, and I didn’t get the chance.

Every member of the team had decided to stay awake as a guard for the night. I took that role for our team because I honestly wasn’t sleepy at all. The others insisted, but I could tell they were tired, so they went ahead and slept on the couches.

Joshua stayed awake from his team, and I noticed Jack wandering around in his room. Oriana was supposed to be on guard for her team, but she was already nodding off.

Suddenly a loud noise interrupted our peace. I made direct eye contact with Joshua. It felt like something had hit the mansion wall and then started climbing it. At least, that’s how it seemed.

We stared at each other in silence before I got up from the couch and walked toward the wall. At the same time, Jack came out of his room, giving us a look as if to ask whether we’d heard the same thing. I was the only one who nodded.

The three of us reached the wall, and then we heard it together, something crawling on top of the mansion. It felt odd. We hadn’t realized other monsters could get here. This was definitely not Fleshmingos. Fleshmingos couldn’t climb. This thing was snarling, making a weird gargling noise, so we knew it was a monster.

Joshua quickly ran over and blew out the candles. It was entirely silent, and we followed suit. Then we heard the creature crawl to another floor. At that point, we debated whether to go to the second floor or if that would make too much noise.

After a tense, silent moment, we began walking toward the staircase together.

We reached the third floor instead of the second and finally stopped to look out the window. It was dark, and the rain made it hard to see.

Suddenly, something slammed against the glass. I almost shrieked, but Joshua was quick, placing his hand over my mouth and holding me from behind. I just stared as a big, scary tail swayed across the window in a strange, jerky way before moving away, as the creature kept climbing over the mansion. Even Jack looked shocked.

"Well, thanks to the monster, I can figure out you smell extremely good," Joshua whispered from behind me, right in my ear, jolting me back to reality. I pulled away swiftly and stared at him in shock. He just smirked and pointed outside, indicating the monster.

It was so odd, he somehow found a way to flirt while we were paralyzed with fear of whatever was outside.

We noticed that when the tail slammed against the windows, they didn’t even crack, even though it was a pretty hard hit. It confused me, and I’m pretty sure the others noticed too, because Jack was quickly inspecting the glass.

After a few seconds, we heard a knock on the main door. It was frantic, and we all jolted, staring at each other. We rushed downstairs to see who it was.

But before we could reach the door, a loud, guttural scream shattered the air, followed by a girl’s scream. There was just one name she managed to scream before everything went silent.

"Jessie!"

I recognized the voice. It was Valerie’s. I lunged for the door, but Joshua grabbed me from behind, covering my mouth to stop me from opening it. Jack ran to the window, peering outside. He gestured at me, then pointed to his lips.

"She ran away. She’s fine."

That was all he said, and I stopped protesting.