Beast Soul

The group of young boys wound their way through the dirty and damp sewers with Max leading the way, followed by Harold, who was right behind Max, Alphonso, and then finally Gerald, who was at the tail end of the group.

The sewers were dark, which limited visibility to the path they had made through here. While the rest of the group were having trouble walking through the dirty water that was only getting thicker and more gooey the more they walked, making them feel disgusted, Max, who was in the lead, didn't seem to have any sort of issues with it. He was moving with the same pace as before, and he walked with an expression as though he was possessed, which frightened the young boys.

"Uh, Max?" Gerald, who was feeling quite uncomfortable because of him, called out to him from behind, which forced Max to stop moving and turn around, the light from his phone hitting Gerald in the face. "What's the problem, Gerald?" He asked, looking annoyed.

'Why're you the one who's looking annoyed? I'm the one who should be annoyed.' Gerald thought to himself. But of course, he didn't say that. 

"What are we even doing?" Gerald said with a concerned expression on his face. Harold and Alphonso looked at each other. "What do you mean?" Max tilted his head and stared at Gerald with a confused look.

"Why the hell are we following a suspicious noise that we heard coming out from inside an old sewer system that had probably never been used in a decade?" Gerald shook his head. "And why are you so obsessed with this noise? Something dangerous could be down here."

"I'm not forcing you to follow me," Max shrugged his shoulders. "You know that, right?"

"Yeah I know that…" Gerald said as he rolled his eyes. He then stopped speaking for a second, seemingly figuring out what to say, before continuing. "... But I wasn't going to leave my friends alone.."

Harold and Alphonso looked at each other once again, and then back to Gerald. Max didn't reply immediately. He nodded his head, and after a brief period of silence, he opened his mouth to speak. "I heard something."

"Yeah, you told us." Alphonso replied.

"That's not all," Max shook his head. "The noise. I heard something within it. Someone - or something - speaking."

"Speaking?" Harold raised his eyebrows. "Like 'speaking' speaking?"

Max nodded his head. "Whatever it was, it was asking for my help." He shrugged. "It sounded like it was in pain."

Gerald narrowed his eyes. He didn't know what to say.

Thump! Thump!

The group looked around, now turned alert. There it was again. The sound!

Thump! Thump!

"It's near," Max turned around and whispered, causing Gerald to look in the same direction. "What?"

Whoosh!

All of a sudden, Max began to run straight forward, catching the group completely off guard.

Splash! Splash! Splash!

"W-Wait up! Max!" After a moment of confusion, Gerald darted forward, yelling at Max as he moved past Alphonso and Harold, who immediately ran after the two.

Max led them towards what seemed like the centre of the sewer system that connected all the pipes from various locations, meeting together in a very large circular space, which had a large single opening on the opposite side, through which the joined wastewater could exit out.

The circular space had sand deposited in the middle of it, and as the sewer system had not been used in a very long time, there was little to no water in this specific spot.

"Woah…" Alphonso couldn't help but mutter to himself as he stared at the large space. "What the hell is this place?" Gerald looked around, similarly in awe of the location. 

"Look," Harold, who had spotted something, called for the attention of others, and the rest of the group turned towards him. He pointed his finger at the centre of the large space, where they could see something underneath the pile of sand, it's shape protruding outwards. "What is that?" He asked, looking uncomfortable.

Gerald squinted his eyes, staring at the pile of sand in the middle of the space, trying to figure out what that was. All of a sudden, his eyes widened, and his lips quivered. "T-That looks like a.."

"A person!" Max finished Gerald's words for him, and the two turned to look at each other for a brief second before shifting their gazes back to the pile of sand in the middle of the large underground space.

It was, indeed, a human body that was partially buried underneath the pile of sand. The group, who were still standing right on the edges of the circular space, stared at the centre of the chamber, but did not take a step forward.

"Wha- What should we do?" Harold turned to look at the rest of the group, who couldn't give a reply.

"We should probably call the cops." Alphonso said as he pulled up the number pad in his phone, only for his eyes to widen with surprise. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me.."

"What?" Gerald asked, and Alphonso turned his screen towards him. "No signal." He pointed at the notification bar. "We're screwed." 

"Oh f*ck no.." Harold said as he began muttering under his breath. "This is just like those horror movies. We have to leave.."

"Yeah, I know." Gerald nodded his head and turned around, only to see Max begin walking towards the pile of sand, and called out to him. "M-Max! Jesus Christ, what the hell are you doing?"

"He's calling for me…" Max mumbled something, but Gerald couldn't quite catch his words. He screamed, "Max! Come back here!"

"Max! Please!" Harold joined in. "Listen to Gerald! We have to leave right now!"

"God f*cking damn it!" Alphonso cursed under his breath, and he dashed towards Max. 

"Alphonso!" Gerald yelled out loud, and frustrated by the actions of the other two, he too leapt forward, followed by Harold.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Max reached near the pile of sand, and stood next to the partially covered human body, staring at it with intrigue and fear in his eyes.

"I'm here.." Max whispered softly, before he quickly began swatting away the sand that was covering the body using his hands.

BAM!

But before he could do so, he was tackled to the ground by Alphonso, and the two boys crashed down onto the muddy ground.

"Max! Alphonso!" Gerald slowed down as he got closer to the two boys and tried to grab Max.

"Let me go!" Max slapped his hand away and tried to rush over towards the body, but he was quickly restrained by Alphonso, who had used his tight grip to pin him down to the ground.

"Max! Listen to us!" We have to leave right now!" Gerald tried to get Max's attention, but right then…

Thud! Thud! Thud!

All of a sudden, the human body began to shake violently, which caused Harold, who was standing next to it, to fall down onto the ground, terrified by what was happening.

"Wha- wha- What the f*ck!" Harold screamed loudly, and the group watched in horror as the stomach of the human body ripped open like paper, and from inside of it, shot out multiple fleshy vines with horrifying animal mouths on each of its tips!

The vine monsters wiggled in the air, trembling furiously, before opening their mouths, revealing their sharp teeth and long, disgusting tongues, and shouting loudly!

Screeeee!

---------------

"Ugh!" Jamie fell down onto the ground with a loud noise, gasping for air. His face was now covered in injuries, dripping with blood, sweat and mucus. He tried to move his limbs, but he was simply too tired to move. His eyes then shifted towards Ella, who was still lying on the ground, unconscious. 

'Why the hell is this happening to me?' Jamie wanted to know. He wanted to understand why the mysterious figure was beating him up, and not letting the two of them go. The mysterious man had been fighting them (beating them up) for almost half an hour now, and from the looks of it, doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon either.

"P-Please, l-leave us alone…" Benny, who was still standing opposite the mysterious man, couldn't handle it anymore.

BAM!

With a loud noise, he fell to his knees, and prostrated in front of the mysterious figure. His whole body was trembling, and his face was pale and covered with injuries. "P-Please let us go… p-please…" Benny's voice was cracking as he spoke. 

The mysterious figure, Noah, simply stood in front of him without replying. His eyes were cold and emotionless. Although he wasn't completely aware of it, his eyes were now partially black. 

Grab!

Noah ignored Benny's pleading and pulled him by his hair and raised him up, causing him to scream in pain.

"Let you go?" Noah spoke softly. His voice, which was sounding normal just a few seconds ago, was now replaced by a harsh and sinister voice, which made the already fearful Benny tremble. Noah pulled Benny closer to his face, and whispered into his ear. "But I'm just getting started."

Right then…

"Hm?" Noah, whose gaze was on Benny, suddenly turned around and looked into the sky. 

"Interesting…" Others couldn't hear it, but he could. A cry. And not a normal one. Something different. Something… beastly.

Wham!

Noah suddenly pushed Benny away, causing him to be flung back and land right on top of Jamie, and the two young men groaned.

"Wh-What the hell?" Jamie pushed Benny away and turned to look at the mysterious figure, only to find no one there.

It was as if he had disappeared into thin air.