Chapter 17 : The beast

THEO. I don’t know what shocks me the most: everything Amarantha said, or the fact that Maxine is also here to listen to everything. I clamp my mouth harder against her mouth as she tries to whisper profuse apologies, bending my body just enough to cover hers while I take a peek from behind the office. I just want to see who that man is. I want to know who’s planning all these things for the camp and those people who got turned. But of course, Maxine is struggling at every turn. To be fair to her, I don’t think she’s struggling just to spite me. I think she genuinely thinks I might hurt her. So I ease up my grip and whisper, “Can you take a look at that man? I need you to describe him to me….” Maxine looks at me. “I’m really sorry about everything, Theo. I swear I didn’t mean to—” “Apology later. Man now. Quick.” She nods hastily and tries to crawl to watch the man walking away. But as she takes a step forward, the man stops in his tracks and slowly looks back. I grab the back of Maxine’s overalls and yank her back, making her land on top of me. I hold her down so she won’t try to get up, but she already knows that she might be in deep trouble. She presses herself closer to me, shaking even with the pleasant chill, and that’s when I realize how afraid she really is. “You don’t have to look,” I whisper to her, putting my hand on top of her head. For some reason, her every breath seems to resonate with me. I can feel heat spreading in my body. The kind of heat that’s comforting and sweet and homey. “Let’s just stay quiet and let them all pass.” I listen closely to the ground and the man’s footsteps. Soon enough, he starts again, and this time he’s walking away for good. I can hear the metal gates opening for him, closing again when he’s too far away to be heard. Meanwhile, Amarantha is left in her office, the creaks on the floor signaling that she’s pacing around. She’s whispering to herself too. “Pick up, pick up, pick up….” A small beep sounds from the inside, and she takes a huge breath before using her normal voice. “Finally.” She sounds like she’s in control once again. “I need you to prepare the facilities out back. Do you understand? I need it ready by sunrise.” With that, she stays quiet. I can almost see her collapsing on the couch. Part of me feels sorry for her, but the biggest part of me is burning with curiosity and rage. They’re going to bring in Humans who have been turned against their will. I just know it. I need to see it. I gently lead Maxine off me. She seems to still be stuck in a daze by the time I sit her down on the grass. She meets my eyes, and I can tell that more apologies are on their way, but I just say, “Let’s get out of here.” She looks at me, then she nods. Together, we run towards the sewers. It’s completely dark in here, but our eyes adjust just quickly enough for us to know where we are. We stand in front of the tunnel that I dug up, the one that leads outside of the borders. “There it is,” I say. “You can go now. Best of luck out there.” Maxine stays in her spot. Her fear is almost emanating off her, but I can tell she’s trying to put on a brave front. “So this is it? After all the things you’ve done to stop me?” “I never stopped you,” I whisper, reaching toward her and disabling the tracking device around her neck. “I just didn’t really know what you wanted, that’s all. I guess I forgot that you had a whole different life out there in the Human world and you want to go back to that. I was selfish. I wanted you in my cause.” She nods slowly. “Why are you out here then? Just to see me go?” “I want to go out and find that facility that Amarantha was talking about,” I mutter. “It’s about to become so messy in this camp. I think it would be the perfect time for me to act fast. I need to get my people together.” “There’s something off going on,” she whispers. “There would be so many Human-Borns now. That’s scary.” “What’s scarier is how they have so many to begin with.” I sigh and start walking. “Let’s go. I will lead you to the closest Human civilization. I have to warn you, though. They’re not going to be very friendly.” “That’s alright. Because I don’t think I’m going.” I wheel around to look at Maxine, who’s lagging behind a couple of steps. “What?” “I won’t go out into the Human world,” she says, pulling level with me. “I want to go with you to that facility. I want to see what’s going on.” I don’t know why, but those words are enough to pin me to my spot. I can’t move. I can’t speak. All I can think about is the wave of gratitude flooding my chest. However, when she smiles at me, I find myself fluttering with a different kind of warm emotion that I don’t want to name. “Remember what you were saying when I asked you why the campers are being kept here despite being excellent fighters?” she asks, looking into the darkness in the distance. “I think I know the answer.” “What do you think it is?” “I think someone wants to weaponize you.” She shakes her head. “They’re all turning you into killing machines. I just thought about it, how they want you to have very little motivation, how they all bait you with hope. They’re never going to give you the freedom they promise.” “They really won’t,” I whisper. “I’ve been here my whole life. I’ve seen people come. I’ve seen all the people pile up. And now they want to add more. It’s strange. But that just proves you need to leave.” “It proves I need to stay.” Maxine beckons me to follow her. “Now let’s find that facility.” I’ve never gone to this place with anyone, and I always thought that finally having company would ease the tension somehow. But it didn’t. Not with Maxine. We barely say anything as we look around the forest, carefully avoiding all the things on the forest floor that would make a sound. My heart is in my throat and I’m nervous as hell. Nervous for the first time ever. Maxine, on the other hand, seems to just be focused on the task at hand. I have to say that it’s surprising, but she seems to be right at home. I keep thinking that she will just bolt and leave me, but so far she’s here. On and on we go. I don’t know if we’re just being so slow in our attempt to be careful, but it seems that we’ve been walking for hours. I’m starting to feel on edge. But before I can call it a night and give up, I find a strange shape in the forest. The flat line of a roof and the structure of walls. Guards are coming and going, carrying beds and pillows as well as gigantic locked chests. Maxine and I hide behind a boulder, watching them work. I wait for them to ship the subjects in but they just leave after a while, clearing the area. “We need to see what those chests contain,” Maxine says, and I nod in agreement. Together, we jump from behind the boulder and race towards the facility. I tug on the door handles and the doors open. No one even bothered to lock it. My pulse is racing. We exchange glances and nod. Then together, we push open the doors. We’re about to go in when suddenly, a growl shakes the entire forest. Maxine and I turn around, and my body freezes when I see gigantic yellow eyes burning in the distance. The trees and the bushes rustle. The ground shakes, both from the heavy footsteps and the low roar. Slowly, the branches part. The leaves scatter. And from the pit of darkness emerges a gigantic wolf.