Outside, Leo could feel his body freeze as he stood there, watching that accursed door. Just based on the shift in atmosphere, he could see clear as day that Anthony had woken up.

  He glanced over to Patrick, signalling him to start acting.

  Right as he did so, he saw the door begin to rattle as loud thuds and crashes could be heard behind. It looked like Connie was putting up a struggle trying to contain him like planned. Though from the sounds of it, Anthony wouldn’t be held in for much longer.

  The goal of their plan wasn’t to kill the demon. It was to contain it, or at least stall it for as long as possible until the military arrived. This required coordination from as many people as possible, though it was unlikely for them to work together very well. Behind him, he could see some already rushing to hide in their rooms, shutting the metal doors behind them as they peeked at Anthony.

  Based on what Connie had told him, the possession seemed to have significantly diminished the demon’s strength, or at least limited it. According to her, the host’s body needs to grow stronger, allowing for the demon to break the limiters on its strength.

  Of course, this was only based on the intensity of the scent Connie got and the power she saw displayed by the possessed Mindflayer. For all he knew, the demon could be many times more powerful than they presumed now that it decided to reveal itself.

  All around him, people began to slowly congregate around the rattling door, its metal scraping on the stone wall, threatening to break out of its hinges. Unfortunately half remained in their rooms, cowering deep inside their rooms hoping to wait things out.

  Those that were standing ready began brandishing their makeshift weapons. Some held sharpened sticks or knives from the kitchen alongside a wooden plank used as a shield.

  In all honesty, Leo doubted those would do anything remotely useful.

  ‘Whatever makes them feel safe, I guess.’

  As the aggressive rattling continued, Leo approached Patrick. “You all good?”

  Patrick nodded. “That message of yours better have gone through in time…”

  Leo tiredly sighed. “I hope so too.”

  Behind them, Joshua had some makeshift blade about as long as half his arm with Oliver standing with his arms crossed waiting for the action. Upon closer inspection, it was just a kitchen knife tied on the end of a long stick. He had no idea where Oliver had gotten the stick, but he didn’t really want to ask. And oddly enough, Oliver seemed a little excited?

  Alyssa and her teammates both seemed to be concentrating on something as their backs were facing them. It looked like they were tracing something on the floor with chalk, drawing a large circle with strange symbols inside.

  Leo whispered to Patrick, curious about their odd actions. “Um, what are those two doing, exactly?”

  “They’re setting up some formation. Something to do with their Refractions working together. I’m not sure what it’ll do, but they mentioned it would immobilize him.”

  Leo understood exactly what he meant. They needed to protect those two girls until their Refraction took effect. Leo hoped that from the effort it took, it would bring about good results.

  Standing guard of the two, Tyler and Kate stood with some makeshift shields made by broken tabletops in hand with some kitchen knives attached to their waists. What surprised Leo was how casual the two were despite the violent rattling. They even laughed together, chatting as they normally would.

  Were they really okay up there?

  The twins stood at a lowered position as if prepared to pounce on something. The same was for the majority of the rest as they got ready to take action against the incoming enemy. Leo saw their faces filled with fear, their eyes trembled, keeping their unblinking gaze on the rattling room, flinching at the louder bangs coming from inside.

  In the corner of his eye, he saw one person sparkle with electricity around their body while another had short spikes protruding from her back. All around he saw a myriad of Refractions all aimed at a single target.

  Initially, he had been surprised by the number of Smogborn in the dormitory, but looking back now, it did make sense. It explained how so many had survived the previous trials, he was especially impressed by how many powerless survived. In the end, Leo trusted they could take care of themselves.

  To his side, he saw somebody’s arms turn into blades, brandishing them against each other while another’s eyes began to glow a dark red. He wasn’t really sure what they could do, but it was much better than nothing.

  ‘Maybe we really could do this.’

  As he had that optimistic thought, the loud rattling stopped. Reviving the silence that once thrived in the dormitory. A pool of darkness separated from the dark room’s peep hole, surging through the crowd startling many of the people outside, causing them to step away. Soon, the pool reached Leo’s feet as a pair of black hands lifted the exhausted body of Connie who quickly laid on the cold floor, the black cloth sliding off her, bringing back color to her body. As the mantle of shadow dispersed, he could hear her labored breaths.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Struggling to get her words out, she said, “I…did my best…He’s a little stronger than expected…”

  Leo knelt down. “Can you keep going?”

  She weakly nodded, resting against one of the nearby pillars. “I just need to catch a breather.”

  Leo patted her shoulder. “A well deserved one at that.”

  All heads whipped towards the closed door as Anthony’s voice pierced through the silence.

  The metal door slowly creeped open with a loud creaking sound, slamming into the wall behind it once it fully extended, allowing the outside light to illuminate the dark room.

  Leo squinted, trying to coax the figure of his friend from the dark. “Anthony?”

  From behind the black curtain, Anthony stepped out, his right eye’s white pupil surrounded by streaks that resembled cracking glass. His hair had turned a slight gray color as if he had aged, and with a warm smile, he laid his eyes on Leo.

  “Leo! It feels like it's been ages! How are things today?”

  Leo took a step forward. “I could ask the same for you.” He pointed at his head. “What’s with the hair?”

  Anthony ran his fingers through his hair, slicking it back. “Like it? The process was painful, but totally worth it.”

  Leo looked at his altered friend from head to toe and frowned. “What have you done, Anthony?”

  A confused expression grew across Anthony’s face. “C’mon. You know what happened. Check it!”

  Saying that, he opened up his hands to his side as if grabbing a pole. Between his open fingers, a transparent spear fell down from the ceiling, piercing the stone floor. Its shaft was as clear as ice with lacerating edges covering the weapon.

  Pulling it out, the tip of the spear was as thin as a needle, its sharpness was frightening to see as it had stabbed into the floor like nothing. The protruding edges from before were gone, replaced with an unnatural smoothness, the spearhead was made to perfection. Just from looking at it, Leo knew instinctively that one hit from that would be the end of him.

  Anthony acted like an excited child as he gloated. “Pretty cool right? Now I can do stuff like you!”

  Leo asked, “What are you talking about?”

  Anthony tilted his head. “Well, you guys always thought I’d be useless until I could do stuff like this, no? Throwing me away like some broken toy!”

  “What? Anthony, we-”

  “Shut up!”

  Anthony no longer had that childlike excitement, but instead created a more murderous atmosphere. His eyes filled with hostility and unbridled anger, all directed at Leo.

  “You thought I wouldn’t notice? Replacing me with…” he pointed at Patrick and Connie. “...that. C’mon, I’m not stupid. Especially not after that confession from that bitch from earlier.”

  “Confession?”

  His warm smile completely turned as it suddenly became more sinister as if having caught somebody red handed. “Oh yes. That Mindtap or whatever. What was her name…Sera! Yes. That bitch Sera confessed that the person who told her about my little ‘predicament’ was you! Yes, you! Now imagine my surprise when I heard such a thing. But I must say, Leo. I gotta thank you for it.”

  “Thank me…?” That Mindtap really messed up! Just how bad did things go in that dreamworld of his?

  Anthony became overjoyed as he raised both his hands over his head, forming a Y-shape. “It was your actions that led me to reaching clarity. My mind was always doubtful, confused, unsure. But after that act…oh boy. I feel like I know exactly what I need to do now! All that doubt? Gone! It’s as if a blindfold had finally been taken off of me. So yes, Leo. My best friend. You have my most sincere gratitude. Thank you.”

  Leo exclaimed. “You were already a contractor anyway! I was just trying to help you!”

  Anthony looked at him with an overly baffled look, stabbing his glass spear into the ground. “Contractor? You thought I was a contractor?” His head flung back as he began laughing maniacally at the bold claim. “I didn’t even know what a contractor was at that point! I only signed that contract after the fact you ratted me out on those disgusting charges!”

  Hearing that, Leo’s heart sank.

  ‘After?’

  His arms went limp, hanging to his side as his eyes widened in horror at realizing what he had done. He had pushed Anthony into signing a contract. This entire time, Anthony had been fighting back, refraining from even talking to the demon. But because of what he told the Lieutenant, Anthony was now a true contractor.

  Anthony continued on. “Well, ‘disgusting’ is a strong word for that now. Now, it’s nothing but a blessing. I’ve got…what do you call them…Refractions now! Not only that, but I got a pretty strong one at that! All thanks to you, my dear friend!”

  Leo’s lips quivered, his voice struggling to remain stable. “That’s not a Refraction, Anthony…Your soul…”

  The room froze with silence before Anthony burst into a fit of hysterical laughter, tears coming to his eyes, filled with a mixture of bewilderment, bitterness, and a hint of sadness as he held his stomach. “You think…ah…You think that I care about that thing now? Look at my life, Leo! Sophie, my fiance, is gone! Chris, one of my closest and oldest friends, is gone! And now, at my lowest, the person I thought was my friend has thrown me away! Now, I know exactly what I need to do in order to fix all this.”

  Anthony gripped the transparent, needle-like spear, a crack forming underneath as his anger seethed out from him, causing many to falter and take a step back while others prepared to attack.

  “Now, I just need to make things right.”

  He lifted the spear, its tip slicing through the stone ground like butter, and pointed it directly at Leo. A small crystalline material crept out from his body in small shards as he glared at him.

  “Come here, Leo. You wanted to fix things, let’s fix them.”