Allison looked at me with tears brimming in the corners of her eyes before she leaped at me and hugged me tightly.
"Liam! I can't believe it's really you."
The big crybaby held me tightly as she bawled her eyes out. I stroked the back of her hair while returning her embrace.
"Of course it's me. I came to rescue my cowardly big sis."
My words only caused more tears to flow down her flushed cheeks, and I was forced to wipe them away. Out of all my siblings, I would say Allison and I were the closest. She was the only one I couldn't chase away when I needed some time alone.
She would always chase behind me when we were kids, as I was her go-to whenever she was scared. I can't remember how many times she snuck into my room because she thought she saw a spider. She was scared to death of those things. Just hearing the mention of a spider was enough for her to squeal like a little girl. Most of the time we would end up sleeping together because of her cowardice.
And even though she was seven years older than me, you would've thought that I was the oldest sibling. Allison is a beautiful woman who had white-colored hair just like my mom, Derrick, and Lily. Liora and I had black hair just like our dad.
"Derrick is here too," I told her, which brought a smile to her face.
"He is?! Where is he?!"
"I left him behind."
"Then let's go find him. Come on!" She excitedly grabbed my hand and was practically jumping up and down.
"Slow down. Besides, he'll probably scold you when he sees your face covered in snot and tears," I teased, which caused her to pout and frantically begin wiping the tears from her face.
With Allison locked onto my arm, I walked back to Derrick and Isabella, who had captured the people who were attacking us. Allison looked at them in surprise when she saw and urged both of them to release the people they had captured.
Apparently, they were all students of the university and the girl Derrick called a goth was the one leading the group. According to Allison, the girl's name was Ivy. Another thing about Ivy was that she wreaked of silver.
"Allison, who are these people?" Ivy asked, looking at us with disdain.
"They are my family," Allison responded with a warm smile on her beautiful face.
Even after hearing Allison's words, Ivy still looked at us warily. Though after saying that, Allison tapped me on the shoulder and pointed at Isabella.
"Who is she?"
"She's your new sister."
"She is?!"
Allison didn't question it for a second and ran to give Isabella a hug. Isabella looked like a scared cat as Allison warmly embraced her. But in the end Isabella gave her a pat on the head and a small smile came to her face. When she was done embracing Isabella, she went to Derrick next. Derrick frowned as Allison showered him with hugs and kisses on the side of his cheek.
"Enough of that," Derrick spat, trying to shove her off, but Allison was adamant about showing affection to her younger brother.
"How did the three of you manage to get here?" Ivy asked, looking at us warily. "You couldn't have fought your way through all the monsters on the outside."
I understood her point. Anyone who knew the terror of the demogorgons would be suspicious. This girl struck me as a smart woman. Another thing I noted about her was that she reeked of silver.
"There were none outside. Those things only appear at night," Derrick explained. "If so, why haven't you guys escaped yet?"
"How could we? We've been lost for three days. This damn place is like a maze," she hissed. "Plus, we've been scared to death ever since we saw…" Ivy paused for a second. It looked as if she had remembered something unpleasant. She took a deep breath before continuing.
"We separated once to find the service door we entered through to get here, but then a group of us saw something that stopped us in our tracks. The service door was completely destroyed, meaning that one of the creatures had made it inside. In the end, we were forced to barricade that entrance because more creatures were planning to enter."
"If that's the case and a demogorgon entered the tunnel, then all of you should be dead by now," Derrick said.
"Those things are not simply monsters," one of the surviving boys spoke up with dilated pupils. "That monster show up at least five times a day to hunt us down. It never kills more than one of us at a time. The moment it gets a prey it retreats. In the beginning, there were 50 of us; now there are just five of us left. For the last three days, we haven't slept or eaten a bite. We have to be constantly on the move since we don't know when that thing will show up."
"The last three days have been hell for us. We just want to go home to our families," another shy-looking girl cried.
"That's why we attacked you," Ivy continued. "We made up our minds to fight the next time the monster showed up, and perhaps we were misled by desperation; that's why we mistook you for the monster."
"Well, you're in luck," Derrick grinned. "We are here to get you guys out of here."
Though he spoke with confidence, the group of survivors didn't seem to have much faith in him.
Ivy frowned at him, probably thinking he was an idiot.
"What chance do you stand of getting us out of here? Besides, you just told us something important. The monsters on the outside are only active during the day, so all we have to do is wait until morning or daylight to escape."
"The only problem is that you don't have till morning. The military is planning to bomb this place in a few hours."
Everyone's eyes widened in shock.
"What?!"
"It can't be!"
"It's the truth," Derrick reaffirmed. "The demogorgon infestation here is forcing their hands."
The group of survivors whispered among themselves before finally coming to a decision.
"How will you get us out of here?" Ivy asked with a newfound passion brimming in her eyes.
Derrick grinned and told them.
"We have an exit."
He then turned to me since I was the only one who knew where the exit was. So with everyone's cooperation, I began leading them toward the exit. Not far into our walk, I picked up a vile scent. It smelled as if the tunnel we were currently in was transformed into a sewage waste.
I knew exactly what that scent meant, and I was immediately on my guard.
As if driven by a primal force of darkness, a demogorgon spawned like an omen of death. Its loud scream reverberated against the concrete walls of the tunnel as it charged at us.