Chapter 127

  “So, what happened?” Jonah asked quietly.

  There was a brief pause before Elena began, “We saw someone fall from a roof. At first, we thought it erson, but then we realized it was the morphus—though I didn’t know its the time.”

  Elena fell silent for a long moment, as if relut to recall what came .

  “And then it attacked yroup?” Jonah gently prodded.

  “Nht away. It got up and just stared at us.”

  “Hold on,” Michael interrupted. “You said it fell off the roof?”

  “Yes,” Elena firmed.

  “How tall was the building?”

  “Ten stories.”

  “So you’re saying the morphus fell from that height and then got up like it was nothing?”

  “That’s exactly what happened,” Elena replied, her tone uedly firm.

  Michael appeared taken aback by the firmness in her voice, hesitating before answering. When he did, his voice softened.

  “Did it at least sustain any injuries from the fall?” he asked.

  “I ’t say for sure,” Elena answered. “If it did, it didn’t show.”

  “So it fell from a ten-story building and then just jumped to its feet as if nothing happened?” he asked again.

  “That’s what I just said,” Elena replied.

  Michael scoffed but remained silent.

  “You mentio didn’t attack yht away,” Toby interjected. “Do you know why?”

  Jake didn’t hear her answer—she probably shook her head. Then she said, “The morphus seemed intelligent to me. Rather than attag, it raised its hands and shook its head when one of my teammates suggested we kill it.”

  “So it actually uood human speech?” Jonah asked.

  “It certainly seemed that way. But my teammates didn’t notice. They were hell-bent on killing it. I tried to reason with them, but they either didn’t hear me or just ignored me. What happened was so fast I barely had time to uand what was happening.”

  Elena paused for a moment, as if catg her breath.

  “When my teammates opened fire on the morphus, it charged at us instantly,” she tinued. “I ’t even describe how fast the creature was. My teammates kept shooting, but I holy ’t recall if they even mao hit it. If they did, it had little effect. The morphus just circled us, waiting for my teammates to run out of bullets in their guns. When that happened, it charged at us. And then… then—”

  Her voice broke, and Elena fell silent.

  “It’s okay, hon,” Hanna said gently. “You don’t have to relive this. We have a pretty good idea of what happened .”

  “Yeah,” Michael said. “The unkilble morphus killed all her teammates. What I don’t get is how she lived while they didn’t.”

  “Michael, shut the hell up,” Hanna snapped, her voice ced with anger.

  “I’m just being curious. Aren’t you curious too?”

  “I swear, Michael, if you don’t cut it out, I’ll sock you.”

  Michael opened his mouth to speak, but Elena suddenly spoke up, raising her void cutting him off.

  “I ran,” she decred. “I ran, okay? Is your curiosity satisfied now?”

  “Okay,” Michael replied. “You ran. But didn’t the morphus chase after you?”

  There was a brief pause before Elena finally answered, “It did.”

  Silenveloped the group again. Michael waited a few seds, and when it became clear that she wouldn’t tinue, he prodded, “And?”

  “Leave her alone, man,” Jonah interjected.

  “Yeah,” Toby added. “She clearly mao escape. What’s so hard to uand about that?”

  “I didn’t mao get away,” Elena said suddenly. “The morphus was so fast it should’ve caught up with me easily.”

  “Then how did you escape?” Michael asked.

  “It was right there, chasing me, getting closer. I k was about to catch me. And then it… just disappeared,” Elena expined.

  “What do you mean?” Michael asked, puzzled. “It was right after you and then just vanished?”

  “Yes. It was right on my heels. I was terrified, too scared to look back. At one point, I realized it should have caught me by now, but it hadn’t. When I finally dared to gnce back, it was simply gone.”

  “So the scary, bloodthirsty morphus just let you escape for some reason?” Michael scoffed. “Expin that to me”

  “I ’t expin it,” she replied. “I’m just telling you what happened.”

  For a moment, silence hung in the air. Then Michael spoke up again, his tone sharper this time.

  “Tell me something,” he directed at Elena. “Did you run while your teammates were still fighting the morphus?”

  “Hey, what the hell are you implying?” Hanna interjected, her voice thick with anger.

  “I’m not implying anything,” Michael shot back. “I just want to know. Think about it. She had time to escape, which meaeammates were still fighting the morphus. Instead of helping them, she must’ve turned her ba them and run while the creature was distracted by her friends. She took that ce to save herself.”

  “Hey, you ’t just accuse her of leavieammates behind,” Toby interjected. “Quit being an asshole.”

  “I just want to know if—”

  “Yes,” Elena snapped, her voice raised and trembling. “I ran while two of my teammates were still alive and fighting the morphus. When I realized there was no way we could kill it, I… just ran.”

  “Hey, nobody’s acg you of anything, hon,” Hanna said gently. “You did what you had to do to save your life. If you had stayed, you would’ve beeoo. Think about it this way: if your teammates hadn’t opened fire on the morphus, they might’ve been alive. And you did try to vihem against provoking it.”

  “I mean, it’s always o know which teammates you rely on and which might leave you in the lurch,” Michael said matter-of-factly.

  Suddenly, Elena snapped, her voice crag with emotion.

  “You think you’re tough, but you’ve never entered the morphus,” she yelled, teetering on the brink of losing it. “You don’t uand!”

  “Hey, don’t freak out, I just—”

  Elena didn’t let him finish his sentence. “You think you kill the morphus? But you’ve never eve! Who knows—maybe you’d be paralyzed with fear, uo even run if you entered it. People like you, full of bravado, tend to be the biggest cowards.”

  “Did you just call me a coward?” Michael replied slowly, his toight.

  “Guys, if that jerk says another word, I swear to God, I’m gonna punch his lights out,” Hanna interjected, her voice full of anger.

  “And I’ll help her,” Toby added.

  “Yeah, Michael, you really o shut the hell up already,” Jonah chimed in.

  Michael sighed, “You guys, I ’t believe you’re actually buyiory about this imaginary morphus. Really?”

  “Michael, you’re teetering on the edge of crossing a line,” Gerard warned, a threatening edge to his voice.

  “Et tu, Brute?” Michael excimed dramatically. “You actually believe her story? Even with all the holes in it?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe. But you’re being a real asshht now. You o stht now.”

  Jake fully expected Michael to blurt out something foolish again. However, there was only silence. Either Michael didn’t want to mess with Gerard, or with everyone against him, he decided to drop the issue.

  Jake’s sharp hearing picked up the muted sounds of Elena and Hanna talking, though their versation was quiet enough that the rest of the group couldn’t hear them. He assumed the two women were huddled together, with Hanna hugging Elena and trying to calm her down. While he could hear their voices, he couldn’t make out the words. He did mao cate phrase from Elena, though. She said, “I still have nightmares about it. I fear that someday I might see the morphus again. Sometimes, it feels like it keeps stalking me, lurking in the shadows, just waiting for the perfeent to jump out and finish what it started.”

  Hanna offered some words of fort to Elena, but Jake couldn’t make out exactly what she said.

  He remembered that when he was killing Elena’s teammates, his craving for human blood had taken over his judgment. However, a long time had passed sihen, and he was now much better at trolling himself. He no longer slipped into a frenzy when fighting humans, always keeping a clear mind.

  As for his emotions and feelings, they were mostly bnk. He hardly ever felt anything sihe transformation. However, as he listeo Elena tell her story, he felt a long-fotten sense of empathy bubbling up inside him. He felt bad for Elena and what she was going through because of him. Jake weled that feeling because it meant he wasn’t a plete monster yet. He was still capable of uanding and sympathizing with others.

  Jonah, Toby, Michael, and Gerard steered away from the previous subjed began talking about Los Demonios. For a few moments, Jake listeo their versation, wanting to learn what they had to say about the gang. Sure enough, they hated it. Jake discovered what he already khe bandits from Los Demonios were everywhere, attag and capturing regur survivors. Nobody knew much about them, except that the people who were inally in the gang, as well as those captured and ter recruited into their ranks, were truly evil. Regur survivors were now in a dire situation. They had to be on the lookout not only for mutants but also for the Demons, whose gang seemed to grow stronger with each passing day.

  The group tiheir versation, but Jake decided it was time to leave. He turned around and made his way back to the stairs. The st thing he heard was Gerard suggesting they team up with roups of survivors to wage war against Los Demonios. He pointed out that with the gang growing stronger every single day, they could hide and run from the Demons only for so long.

  A mier, Jake stepped out of the building, and Elena along with the rest of her group never realized he’d been listening to their versation just outside their room.