CHAPTER 260: 260-SHE LOCKED HIM OUT

Clementine:

Once we reached the house, Haiden stepped ahead and opened the door for us. The energy in the north felt strange. Maybe it was because we hadn’t been here for a few days, but I wasn’t sure. There was something different. I noticed there weren’t many fleshmingos around either.

Maybe we arrived when they were off somewhere else. Whatever the case, we rushed inside to avoid attracting their attention, since we had no idea how narrow this underground space was going to be. Was it a clear passage, like a highway, or more like a mine? We had no clue. If any monster got in there with us and it was too narrow, we’d be trapped.

Once we all stepped inside, Troy locked the door. Then we began walking toward the basement.

The moment we reached the small area leading to the basement door, I noticed a closet had been knocked over. A distant memory from my previous time in the north hit me hard.

"Oh," I gasped.

"what is going on?" Yorick asked, probably after noticing the look on my face.

"Remember I told you guys about the house where a closet was knocked over and something was in the basement? And then I found those monsters," I snapped my fingers, trying to recall more details.

"Earth Eaters," Haiden added, helping me remember what we’d learned from Ian last time.

"I feel like there are many houses with these tunnels, and they all connect at one point. Those things must’ve come from there," I agreed with Haiden.

I remembered that was exactly the last time things were right between us and Ian, especially between me and him. After that, everything went downhill.

"Alright," Yorick said, turning to Ian almost reluctantly. "He also said they don’t come alone," Yorick recalled, still watching Ian, waiting for him to add something.

But Ian didn’t seem the least bit interested.

"Do you think those things come from basements?" Troy asked, glancing at me.

I looked around and noticed Oriana holding my hand too tightly, refusing to let go. It was hard to explore while she clung to me, and I had to practically drag her along.

I guess all of us were expecting a little bit of information from Ian, but after how he had acted, it was clear he’d rather avoid us.

"Okay, you know what, guys? Let’s just go. We’ll see once we’re there," I said, feeling a little defeated. I just hoped this underground passage wasn’t as closed off as we imagined. Maybe it would be more like a proper tunnel, well-structured ones, maybe.

Troy and Haiden stepped ahead while Yorick moved the closet out of the way. Soon, they were all standing in front of the door. I joined Oriana and tried to free my hand, because if we wanted to survive, we’d need both hands to fight. She reluctantly let go, but the back of her hand still brushed against mine, as if ready to hold it again.

"Okay, keep yourself steady, just in case something attacks us," Troy said, ready to open the door.

"Wait a minute," Haiden called out suddenly, stopping us again. "How about we get the weapons ready first? We already know we’re going to run into these things, right?"

"Let’s go and prepare some weapons before we go downstairs," Oriana finally spoke up, offering advice instead of just being scared.

Honestly, I was proud of her at that moment. I knew it wasn’t easy for her. She’d told me early this morning that she had no idea when her family would finally ask her to come attend her father’s funeral.

As planned, we started using all the wooden furniture around to build weapons, mainly spears. We made sure to keep them sharp and not too short, since we didn’t know how long these things were or how far the point would need to go to reach their hearts.

While we were struggling with it, I noticed Ian was barely doing anything. He sat by the window, staring outside. When the fles mingos’ sounds started echoing through the air, I saw him watching their movements curiously. I wondered why he wasn’t trying to make himself a weapon.

"Is Ian not gonna get a weapon?" Oriana asked, someone who was the least aware of his actions.

Oriana was staring at Ian. I bet he heard her because I noticed his body move slightly, just a small shift. None of us responded, and that made her stare at me for a bit too long, probably waiting for an explanation. But our group only shared drama among ourselves, so no one replied, and the topic was dropped.

Once we had enough spears, we walked toward the basement door again. I don’t know why, but even though I was furious with that idiot, I still left a few spears on the ground. I knew I’d be mad about it later, but maybe it was because he was my mate. I was slightly worried for him, and with how calm he was acting, I was scared he’d get himself killed.

We opened the door, and surprisingly, nothing came up either. So we just kept going down. I noticed Ian didn’t immediately follow us.

In the basement, there was another door. Everything felt like a surprise, we hadn’t been informed about anything. The door opened and led us into a dark tunnel, but at least it was a tunnel and not a mine and the more we walked, the wider it became. At least we knew we wouldn’t be cramped if a monster attacked us.

There were turns to the left and right, and while we kept moving forward, probably all thinking the same thing, the ground beneath us shook, the tunnel trembled, and a loud hissing sound echoed through the space. I could only imagine it was the earth eater. Then came frantic, heavy steps racing toward us, filled with anger and aggression.

We all started sprinting, and none of us could tell who was going in which direction. But I knew someone was coming with me because I could hear footsteps behind me. Then, when someone tried to grab my hand, I realized it was Oriana.

I held her hand tightly, and we reached one of the corners where we took a turn. There was some kind of a barred door. I rushed inside to close it and save us from whatever was chasing us.

When I turned around, I finally saw who was with us. Oriana had gotten in first, and then there was Troy running toward us.

"Come on, Troy! Quick!" I yelled as I saw the thing racing behind him. The earth eater looked even more terrifying alive, its head shaking wildly as it chased Troy.

"Clementine, close the fucking gate!"

Then Oriana did something completely unexpected. Instead of waiting for Troy to reach us, she rushed forward and started shutting the door.