The moment the glass doors opened, I thrust my phone into my pocket and took off into the dusk. I was still scared of being outside as the sky began to darken, but staying inside with someone who allowed one of them to bite him, who might be infected by their curse, was a scarier thought to me. I would rather brave the wilderness than him.

  He could be infected, under their spell. One of those monsters could have enthralled him, and perhaps he’d already called the monster who’d seized control of him. That may have been why he didn’t allow me to stay in the library and call a taxi. They may have ordered him to release me into the night. Maybe they were already out there, waiting for the hunt to begin.

  My feet pounded against the pavement as I sprinted away from the library, and within seconds, I found myself silently cursing. Why had I decided to wear Converse of all shoes? Sometimes, I just wore trainers, and they would have been so much better. They were comfier. There was more padding, but the things on my feet…

  I risked a glance down, my eyes narrowing as I spotted the red shoes. I’d had them for too long. Maybe long ago, they could have been fine to run in, but I’d been wearing them for years. The soles had been worn down. They were flattened, and any padding they might have had before has been rendered useless. I could feel every stray stone on the pavement below, and each step seemed to reverberate through my bones.

  A wince came over my face as my laptop shifted within my backpack. One of the sharp corners had moved, so it was being repeatedly driven into my spine with each step, but I couldn’t stop and adjust it. If I paused or slowed for even an instant, something could catch up with me, and I couldn’t let that happen. I was running out of time, too. I was in a race against the sun, trying desperately to get back to my dorm before the sun disappeared beyond the horizon.

  Movement blurred in the corner of my eye, and I almost fell as my head whipped around. My gaze landed on the glass-fronted building I was running along, and I half expected to see a bat or a wolf bearing down upon me, but there was nothing. It was just my reflection; all I could see was my own terrified face peering back at me.

  A spark of relief flared in my heart, but it was weak and flickering. That was good, though. Smart. It would be foolish to feel it any more strongly, and I knew it. It would have made me drop my guard, convince me that there was nothing out there to worry about. They couldn’t enter campus at all.

  And that would lead to my death. I was certain of that. The moment I allowed myself to relax, to slow and trust that I was safe, they would emerge from the steadily growing shadows. I would be surrounded in an instant, and there would be nothing I could do to fight back.

  A shiver of fear slipped down my spine as I threw myself around the corner at the end of the building, lunging towards the covered stairwell that led to the bridge. The light inside shone out like a beacon, promising safety and protection, but I knew it was a lie. There was no safety to be found in there.

  The stairwell had no doors. Both sides were open to the night, and I knew any security it could offer was nothing more than an illusion. No one owned the stairs, I was pretty sure. It wasn’t a place of residence, and the creatures that scared me most wouldn’t even need to ask permission to enter. They’d be able to stroll right in as I cowered in fear.

  That thought pushed me to run faster, taking the steps two at a time as I tried to ignore the growing pain in my back where my laptop kept catching. The corner seemed to be hitting the exact same spot every single time, and I knew there would be a bruise there in the morning.

  But that didn’t matter. Not really. As long as I was still alive in the morning to be bruised, I didn’t care. The laptop could dig deep into my flesh, bruise the very bone itself. I didn’t care as long as I survived.

  My toe caught on the edge of a step, and my breath fled my lungs with a curse as I began to fall. Blindly, I reached out towards the railing, the other hand shooting out in front of me. Pain radiated through my hands and shoulders as I caught myself before my knees could slam into the deceptively sharp tiles on the stairs, and fear threatened to suffocate me.

  I stood quickly, snatching my hands back and inspecting them closely for any sign of a cut. My heart pounded, and my hands shook as I turned them slowly. If there was any blood, I was screwed. It wouldn’t matter whether the campus grounds had been sanctified or not. They would still come for me.

  Those monsters could smell freshly spilt blood from over a mile away, and I had no clue how big the campus was, but I was pretty sure I was less than a mile from the edge of it. That meant they’d know. Any passing creature would smell it, and they would be driven into a frenzy by the mere scent. They would risk immolation, the agony of burning to death, for even just a taste of my blood. That would be worth it to them.

  But my hands were intact. They were starting to turn red, and pain throbbed within them, but I couldn’t see any blood. That meant I needed to keep running. I couldn’t stay still for any longer and wait for death to find me.

  I started moving again, racing up the final few steps before hesitating as I reached the top and stared out at the bridge. The lights that lined it were spread so far apart. I’d never noticed it before, not in the daytime, but they were placed just far enough that I’d be shrouded by shadows between each one. Was that intentional?

  My hands shook as I gripped my backpack straps and forced myself to step out onto the bridge. My heartbeat was loud in my ears as I ran, and I tried desperately to keep my eyes on the path ahead. The fear of falling once more pulled at me. It would be bad if I fell on the bridge, and I knew that. It had tall barriers on either side, making it impossible to slip over accidentally, but that wasn’t what I was worried about.

  The bridge was coated in a thin layer of tiny stones. They must have once been stuck to the metal surface below, but they’d long since come loose. If I were to trip, if I fell and landed on my hands, my skin would be shredded in an instant. It would be as though someone had taken sandpaper to my flesh, and there would be no resistance. The stones would tear straight through.

  Tears of pure fear welled in my eyes, and I tightened my grip on my backpack straps, trying to push that mental image aside. It wouldn’t happen. I was clumsy, but not that clumsy. And even if I were to fall, I would be fine, I tried to reassure myself, despite knowing it was a lie. I was on campus. Campus was safe.

  My gaze flicked towards the edge of the bridge, glancing down at the train tracks below. Was I still on campus whilst on the bridge? It was too high up. I wasn’t technically over the university property. I was above the railway that bisected the grounds, and I wasn’t sure how the blessing worked. Did the bridge even count?

  The question almost made me stop and turn back, but I was already too far. I was over halfway across the bridge, and there was nowhere else for me to go. Every university building would have already been locked. I was alone, and I had to make it back home, back to my dorm.

  I peeked through the barriers on the side of the bridge again, trying to see what waited below, but it was too dark. I couldn’t see anything other than shadows, and that did little to reassure me. Anything could have been down there. There was no way of me knowing.

  Finally, I reached the far side of the bridge. I was bathed in light once more as I darted inside, leaping down the stairs without hesitation, but too soon, I was returned to the darkness. The dorms could almost be seen, though. The buildings around me blocked them from sight, but as soon as I passed a couple more, they’d be there. My goal, my safety, would be visible.

  My chest ached from running. A stitch burnt in my side, making it impossible to draw a full breath, but I couldn’t let myself slow. I could taste blood. It sickened me and filled me with fear, but it wasn’t real. It wasn’t enough to summon the monsters, and I needed to keep going.

  I should have practised, I realised as I slipped between the technology and media buildings. I should have continued to run the drills that one of my old schools used to make us do. They were ridiculous, or so I thought. I assumed they were just being dramatic. That village had been so safe. There were no attacks there unless people went looking for trouble, and I didn’t see the point of the sprint drills they used to make us do every single day, but I should have. If I’d listened to the teachers, if I’d continued doing as I’d been taught after we moved away, it would have been better.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  But I was too lazy, and that might have cost me my life.

  Something shifted behind the glass beside me, but I didn’t look. Not that time. It was in the building, and that was all that mattered. There was a barrier between us, and it wouldn’t be able to get to me. Not easily. I didn’t need to check whether the thing inside was a person or something infinitely more terrifying. I didn’t want to see my death approaching until it was too late.

  I reached the edge of the buildings, bursting out into the clearing beyond. My heart swelled with fear as I scanned the space, sprinting right through the centre. I’d always hated that part of campus. It was too open, too exposed. There were no buildings on either side of the barely maintained area. It was just an empty space with a road on the far side and the dorms beyond it, and that was apparently intentional.

  Back in the day, before the troubles began, they used to have events there. Multiple ones. They’d throw parties and fairs that stretched out long into the night. Students would spend hours socialising and drinking with their newly gained friends. They’d enjoy their time there, but that was long before I even enrolled at the university. Any event that happened nowadays finished long before the sun even began to dip lower in the sky. Very few people risked being out any later than that.

  I didn’t either. I’d ventured into my garden after dark on a handful of occasions. Rebellion had pushed me out there, irritation over the rules that had been imposed upon me, but I never made it far from the door. I was never more than a step away from it, and the smallest of noises, the slightest hint that I was not alone, sent me scampering back inside with terror fluttering in my heart.

  The world was too still. It had suddenly become too silent, and I didn’t like it. I hated it. There was still some motion out there. In the distance, I could hear the soft hum of cars. When I squinted, taking my eyes off the path before me for just a moment, I could see people huddled in front of the only nightclub still operating in the city.

  It was foolish, I told myself as I looked back at the ground in front of me. They were humans, I was pretty sure, and they were risking their lives to be there. Why? What about standing around in front of a grim and dingy club was so wonderful that they’d be willing to risk death or eternal damnation? I just didn’t understand.

  The flapping of bat wings came from above, and I lifted my arms to cover my neck, a sob escaping my mouth as I pushed myself to run even faster. I was already moving as quickly as I could, but it wasn’t enough.

  It was just a bird, though. Some were nocturnal, I told myself. It was probably just one of those. Like, an owl or something. They only really came out after dark, and I wasn’t sure if they really lived in cities or flew through them often, but they had to do it from time to time, right? Maybe it had gotten lost. That was it. It was just an owl, not a vamp—

  I couldn’t even bring myself to think the word; it scared me too much, and my brain refused to do it. It was stupid, ridiculous, but I was terrified that if I thought it, I’d somehow summon one of them. The monsters would be drawn to my location, if they weren’t already circling me and waiting to strike.

  A tear slipped free from my eye, tracing a warm path down my wind-chilled cheek. The tall metal fence surrounding the accommodation was in view. Once I reached it, once I was inside, I’d feel better. I knew I would. It was safe in there.

  Safer, at least. I wasn’t sure if it actually provided any additional security to the people inside. Perhaps it was just an illusion designed to make us feel better about our chances of survival against the many monsters that roamed the world. The metal bars were too flimsy, after all. They were plated with silver and engraved for our protection, but they were spaced too far apart, and the bats and other horrifying creatures could surely slip in. They didn’t all need invites, after all. If they managed to get onto campus, if the security was a lie, they could get through the bars.

  Even if it did nothing, I didn’t care. I still wanted to be enclosed within the fence rather than out in the open, where anything could swoop down and steal me away. The worst of the monsters couldn’t get through, and that was what I cared most about. Even if they were invited somehow, they needed to have someone with them. A student. They needed to use a key fob to get in.

  My stomach sank. My key fob. Normally, when it was getting late, I’d walk back to the accommodation with my keys clasped in my hand. Then, I could get through the gate quicker, or if anything happened and I was attacked, I could use them as a weapon. I knew they wouldn’t do much, but it had to be better than nothing. Maybe it would give me half a second more. Just a moment to get away from them, and that might be all I needed.

  But my hands were empty. I wasn’t holding my keys. In my haste to get packed up with the librarian watching over me and tutting angrily, I’d thrown them into my bag. I hadn’t even really thought about it. I’d been too distracted by him, and I just assumed I’d have time or that I’d be able to call a taxi or something. My keys were probably somewhere at the bottom of my bag.

  I risked a glance around at the quiet street. Tears blurred my vision, making it difficult to tell whether it was truly empty, but I thought it was. I couldn’t see anything else moving, and the only sounds were my hurried footsteps and frantic gasping.

  Without breaking my stride, I slung my backpack off one shoulder and ripped the zip open, plunging my hand inside. I fumbled around, trying to feel the cool touch of metal, but I couldn’t. I clutched the bag to my chest with my other hand, reaching deeper.

  Had the librarian somehow taken them? Did he lift them from my bag without me realising, intending to leave me outside in the cold all night, at the mercy of whatever creature finds me? No. When would he have had the chance to do that? They had to be in there somewhere.

  My heart leapt into my throat as I stepped off the curb without noticing. My foot plunged through the air, and I was sure I was about to fall before it hit the road. The motion shook me, jolted the bag in my hand and sent the corner of my notebook digging into the tender skin of my forearm.

  I pulled my arm back with a gasp, watching as my notebook was nudged out of the opening of my bag. I tried desperately to grab it as it fell, but I was too slow. The book slammed into my calf on its way to the ground, shooting off to the side, and all I could do was watch it.

  A sob escaped my mouth. That book was full of seminar notes. I’d tried using my laptop during them at first, but the desks in the tiny tutorial rooms were so small, and my laptop was too old and clunky. It took up too much space, and everyone else had much newer models. They were so sleek, and I was too self-conscious to keep bringing it. The notebook was better. It was smaller, and some people still wrote things by hand. Not many, but some did.

  I didn’t retrieve it, though. I couldn’t. It was too dangerous to waste any time when I was so close to safety, and every warning I’d ever received about taking risks seemed to echo through my mind. I’d just have to leave it there. It was right at the edge of the road, anyway. No one would pick it up or do anything to it, so I could just grab it on the way to my lecture in the morning. It would still be there, I told myself as another shuddering sob shook me, and my fingers finally brushed against my keys.

  Tears flowed freely down my face in a combination of fear and relief that I’d found them just as I reached the gate. I pulled my hand out, thrusting them out towards the reader. My sobs were so loud they drowned out all other sound, and I couldn’t hear the soft buzz of the fob being accepted or the clunk of the lock opening. It must have, though. I was holding my fob in front of the reader.

  I reached out, pushing on the gate, but it didn’t move. Ice started to wash over me as I stared at it blankly before trying my fob again. Nothing happened, though. The gate didn’t move as I tried to shake it. It wasn’t opening for me.

  “No… no, no, no,” I whispered to myself as my hand shot out, reaching for the call bell.

  A blaring noise crackled from the speakers, and I waited, trying the gate again. Why wasn’t it opening? The gate always opened. I’d never had any problems with it, and I didn’t know anyone who had. The call bell was just there for emergencies, for when someone forgot to bring their fob or something.

  I pressed the bell again, waiting for security to answer me, but no voice sounded. It always did. Someone was always there. Security were meant to be there throughout the night. They had to answer me.

  “Please!” I cried, pressing the button again and again. “Please, let me in! I’m not a monster. I live here! My fob isn’t working. Please!”

  Words slipped from my mouth as desperation grew within me, but my pleas went unanswered. I didn’t know what to do. There was no other way to get through the gate unless someone came down and opened it from me.

  That could work. Maybe if I called one of my flatmates… Will. He’d do it. He wasn’t as scared as the others. He’d been out even later than I was the other day, so I knew he’d come down and open the gate for me.

  I reached for my pocket, my sweaty hands slipping on the smooth plastic of my phone case. My jeans were too tight. My pocket was barely big enough to fit my phone in the first place, and it was almost impossible to get a grip on it because of how badly my hands were shaking.

  Noise came from behind me, the rustle of a cloak or maybe the flap of a wing. I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t turn to check which one it was.

  “Our father, who art in heaven,” I started, but it was barely audible between my sobs. “Hallow be thy name—”

  “Don’t worry. You’re safe here,” a soft voice interrupted me, his words somehow reaching my ears and making my entire body stiffen immediately. “Nothing dangerous can enter campus.”