6. Chapter 6 - Matt #2
The corridor had gone impossibly quiet around them. Dust drifted through the beam between them, and somewhere far above, the muffled groan of shifting stone echoed faintly through the mountain. Otherwise, nothing moved.
The creature remained perfectly still.
Up close, Matt could finally see details the chaos in the tunnel collapse had hidden earlier.
The fur covering its body was uneven in places, interrupted by pale scars crossing exposed skin beneath it.
Its arms looked too long compared to human proportions, ending in curved claws darkened by old blood and stone dust. The thing’s chest rose and fell with the same heavy breathing Matt had heard through the tunnels, though now that he stood only a few yards away, he realized something even more unsettling.
The breathing sounded strained, though not from weakness. It carried the tight, deliberate control of something powerful forcing itself to stay restrained.
Matt’s hand remained near the pistol at his side, but he had not drawn it yet. Some stubborn part of his brain understood exactly how pointless that would probably be. He had already seen the thing move. If it wanted him dead, the decision would have been made long before now.
The pale eyes never left him, then the creature took a single slow step forward and Matt tensed instantly.
The hyena surged hard enough that his pulse jumped painfully against his ribs, but the creature still did not attack. It moved with cautious precision instead, lowering its massive frame as though trying not to appear threatening despite the fact that it was very obviously built for violence.
Matt swallowed before speaking into the silence. “Okay,” he said, his voice quieter than he intended. “You’re either deciding whether to eat me or this is about to become the weirdest first contact in human history.”
The creature’s head tilted again, and this time Matt realized it was not reacting with confusion but recognition. The understanding crawled down his spine.
“You understand me,” he said.
The pale eyes narrowed at the sound of Matt’s voice. Then, for the first time, the creature glanced past him toward the collapsed tunnel behind him as a low rumble vibrated through the corridor. It was not a growl so much as a warning, and a second later Matt heard the sound that had triggered it.
Distant voices echoed faintly from somewhere above the collapse, followed by the metallic crack of shifting debris. Someone was trying to clear the blocked passage.
The creature reacted instantly.
Its entire posture changed at once, broad shoulders tightening while the claws flexed against the stone floor. Matt felt the shift physically before he fully understood it. Whatever calm restraint the thing had shown until now vanished beneath something sharper and far more dangerous.
The pale eyes snapped back toward him and the creature moved.
Matt barely saw it happen. One second the corridor ahead of him was occupied. The next, the creature crossed the distance between them with terrifying speed and grabbed the front of his tactical vest hard enough to slam him backward against the wall.
Pain exploded through Matt’s shoulder as the creature slammed him against the stone wall hard enough to drive the air from his lungs.
His hand moved instinctively toward the pistol at his side, but the creature closed the distance before he could draw it, leaning in close enough that those pale eyes suddenly filled his entire field of vision.
Up close, the thing looked even less human than before. Its face carried traces of what it had once been buried beneath predatory features that no longer fully belonged to any recognizable species. Fur framed sharp bone structure while elongated fangs flashed briefly beneath curled lips.
But the eyes remained intelligent, locked onto Matt with a level of focus that felt disturbingly human beneath everything else the creature had become. There was desperation in them too, buried deep beneath the predatory tension vibrating through its massive frame.
The creature growled low in its throat before speaking in a voice roughened by disuse and shaped by something far deeper than normal human vocal cords.
“Quiet,” it said.
Matt stopped struggling instantly.
Because the thing holding him against the wall was not supposed to be able to talk.
Matt’s pulse hammered unevenly against his ribs while the creature held him pinned against the stone wall.
Up close, the thing radiated controlled violence in a way that made instinct recoil automatically.
Every part of Matt’s training screamed at him to fight back, but the pale eyes locked on his own carried something more complicated than simple aggression.
And somewhere deeper in the tunnels, something moved.
The sound echoed faintly through the corridor a second later. Stone scraped against stone far beyond the reach of the flashlight while a low vibration rolled through the floor beneath their feet.
The creature reacted instantly.
Its head snapped toward the darkness behind them while the claws gripping Matt’s vest tightened hard enough to strain the fabric. The shift in posture was subtle but unmistakable. Whatever confidence the creature carried around Matt vanished the instant that sound echoed through the tunnels.
Matt understood enough to cut through the panic flooding his system. Whatever terrified the creature had turned its attention toward the danger coming for Matt.
The thought stole his attention from the claws inches from his throat.
Another distant scrape echoed through the ruins.
This time the creature released him instantly and stepped backward into the corridor, body lowering into a defensive stance while its attention locked toward the darkness farther underground.
Matt sucked in a sharp breath and finally drew the pistol from his holster.
The creature glanced back toward him at the movement, but instead of attacking, it looked almost frustrated.
“Don’t,” it said.
The voice still sounded wrong coming from something built like that. Rough and uneven, yes, but unmistakably intelligent.
Matt kept the pistol raised anyway. “You’re going to have to give me significantly more information before I agree to anything happening right now.”
The creature ignored the weapon completely and turned its attention back toward the tunnel.
Matt heard it then: footsteps echoing somewhere deeper in the tunnels. They were not Baptiste’s and they did not move like the wolves either. These sounded faster and uneven in a way that raised the hairs along the back of his neck.
Beside him, the creature’s breathing deepened as he listened toward the darkness ahead.
Then he spoke again without taking his eyes off the tunnel.
“They followed you.”
Worry tightened his features. “Who followed me?” Matt asked.
The creature finally looked back at him, pale eyes narrowing.
“The hungry ones.”
A violent crash exploded somewhere deeper in the tunnels before Matt could respond.
Stone shattered against stone followed by a sound that did not belong anywhere near human lungs. The scream that followed it cut off abruptly.
Matt’s grip tightened around the pistol. “Okay,” he said carefully, “I’m starting to feel like this cave system has multiple murder problems.”
The creature moved toward him again, faster this time, though it stopped several feet away instead of grabbing him.
Up close, Matt noticed fresh blood matted through sections of the fur along its shoulder and ribs. Deep wounds crossed the skin beneath it, partially healed but still raw. Whatever this thing was, it had already survived something brutal down here.
“You need to move,” the creature said, the words coming more steadily now despite the strain in its voice. “They smell you.”
Matt stared at him for half a second, momentarily forgetting the claws, the blood, and the fact he was trapped underground with a creature large enough to tear him apart.
“You...can talk.”
The creature paused briefly before answering, obvious irritation flickering across his expression despite the tension tightening through the corridor. “Yes.”
“That honestly raises more questions than it answers.”
Another scream echoed faintly through the tunnels before Matt could say anything else. This one sounded closer.
The creature looked toward the darkness again, every muscle tightening beneath its skin.
Matt finally lowered the pistol. “You got a name?”
For the first time since the encounter began, hesitation crossed the creature’s expression.
“Theron,” he said.
The name hit Matt strangely hard precisely because it did not sound monstrous.
Another crash thundered behind them, followed by claws racing across stone toward the corridor.
Theron turned instantly toward the sound while the low growl returned to his throat.
“Now move,” he said.
Matt followed him deeper into the tunnels before realizing he had never answered the question himself.
“Matt,” he said between breaths.
Theron glanced back once and something in his expression changed.
“Matt,” he repeated, like he was testing the sound of it.
The sounds behind them grew louder.
Claws scraped across rock somewhere beyond the collapse chamber while uneven shrieks echoed through the tunnels in short bursts that sounded horribly excited. Matt’s pulse climbed harder with every step as the hyena sharpened into raw instinctive alertness.
“They’re tracking us?” he asked between breaths.
“They track everything,” Theron answered without slowing.
The corridor twisted sharply ahead before opening into a larger chamber supported by enormous stone columns disappearing into darkness overhead. Ancient carvings covered the walls in overlapping layers, many of them damaged beyond recognition by age and claw marks alike.
Matt barely had time to process any of it before Theron suddenly grabbed the front of his vest and yanked him sideways behind one of the collapsed pillars.
A second later, something rushed through the corridor they had just exited.