The cafeteria was still in shambles when Alex and Amethyst stepped back in. Tables overturned. Glass shattered. The air held this burned, coppery smell, like someone left a hot plate on too long. Smoke curled around the ceiling vents, and somewhere behind the wreckage, a low growl echoed.
They crept forward. The silence wasn't comforting—it pressed against Alex’s ears like a warning.
Then the Dweller turned.
It was crouched on top of the lunch counter now, its long limbs coiled like springs. Purple scales shimmered where the light hit, and its black, empty eyes locked onto them like twin voids. A thread of green drool dangled from its mouth and hissed as it hit the metal.
“Shit,” Alex whispered.
“Yup,” Amethyst said, popping her neck. “Big-ass lizard. Okay. Time to die, ugly.”
The thing lunged.
Alex dove sideways as claws ripped through the air where his face had been. Metal screeched. Sparks burst as the Dweller’s hand tore through a vending machine.
“Split!” Amethyst shouted.
Alex scrambled behind a table, heart hammering, and flicked his wrist.
[Blood Arrows – Activated]
[MP: 120/125]
Pain lanced through his forearm, but the bow formed instantly, red and gleaming in his hands. His fingers tingled with the pull of the string as he aimed and let fly. The arrow whistled—fast and clean.
It hit the Dweller in the shoulder, jerking it sideways.
The monster hissed and clawed at the air, spinning to face him.
“Buy me a second!” Amethyst yelled.
Alex ran left, dodging a swipe, another claw slicing the air beside his head. He fired again, missing this time. The arrow shattered against a tray rack.
[Blood Arrows – Cooldown: 20 seconds]
The Dweller bounded after him.
“Hey, flame breath!” Amethyst’s voice rang out.
The thing twisted—and met her head-on.
[Phoenix Slash – Activated]
[MP: 120/125]
Her axe burst to life in a wave of turquoise fire, and with one fluid motion, she drove the blade into the Dweller’s side. It shrieked. The fire clung to its scales, burning even as it tried to retreat.
Amethyst followed it, relentless, swinging again—but this time, it jumped back, and her axe hit tile instead of flesh.
[Phoenix Slash – Cooldown: 20 seconds]
“Dammit!” she yelled, staggering slightly.
The Dweller’s tail lashed out and caught her in the ribs. She slammed into a table, gasping.
“Amethyst!”
“I’m good!” she coughed, waving him off. “Focus!” She the saw her HP stat blare at her.
[HP 105/130]
Alex gritted his teeth, pulling up his bow again.
[Blood Arrows – Activated]
[MP: 115/125]
He aimed for its eye. Missed—again. The arrow glanced off the creature’s skull and spun away.
“God, why can’t this thing just die!” he snapped.
“Because it’s not from Earth,” Amethyst said, pulling herself upright. “And neither are we anymore.”
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
She didn’t wait.
[Flame Strings – Activated]
[MP: 115/125]
Fire lashed from her hands—bright red-orange cords that shot across the cafeteria and latched onto the Dweller’s limbs. The beast shrieked and thrashed as the strings wrapped tighter, searing its skin. It stumbled forward, snarling, arms pinned awkwardly.
“I can do this for ten seconds!” she shouted. “Go!”
Alex ran, sliding behind a table to stabilize his arm.
He took a breath. Focused.
One clean shot.
[Blood Arrows – Activated]
[MP: 110/125]
He let go.
The arrow sailed true, punching through the creature’s open mouth and deep into its skull.
It froze.
Then it dropped.
One thud. Then silence.
Smoke drifted through the air again. Alex stared at the body, chest heaving, pulse pounding in his throat. His bow faded from his hands, leaving a dull ache behind.
[Dweller Defeated: +1000 XP Gained]
[XP: 1000/40000]
[Grade Progress: 2.5%]
“Holy crap,” Amethyst muttered, rubbing at her ribs. Her system blared.
Alex didn’t respond. He just walked closer to the thing’s corpse and stared. The purple scales were already dulling. The strings of fire had left blackened welts all over its limbs.
It looked like something from a nightmare.
And he’d killed it.
“We’re not normal anymore,” he said, finally.
“Nope.”
“Do you think we’ll ever be again?”
Amethyst shrugged, wincing a little as she stretched. “I don’t think this is about going back. I think it’s about figuring out how to move forward without losing our minds.”
Alex blew out a breath. “That’s comforting.”
“I try.” She gave him a crooked smile.
The overhead lights flickered again. Somewhere in the building, an alarm was still going off.
They knew sirens would follow. Teachers would come back. Questions would be asked.
They couldn’t be here when that happened.
“We need to go,” Alex said.
“Yeah. Let’s bounce before the government shows up and decides we’re space weapons.” Amethyst nodded
“You’re not wrong.” He blinked at her.
She tugged her balaclava back down tighter and nudged his shoulder. “Race you to the back exit?”
Alex rolled his eyes but started running anyway.
#####
Alex’s hands were still shaking by the time they slid into the truck.
The cafeteria felt miles behind them now, but he could still hear the Dweller’s screech echoing in his head. He gripped the wheel too tightly, barely glancing at Amethyst as she slammed the passenger door and let out a long exhale.
They didn’t talk for a while.
Alex started the engine, and the rumble under him was weirdly comforting. Normal. Familiar. He pulled out of the school lot, taking the back road out past the trees and rundown fences.
They didn’t stop driving until they hit the highway.
The sun was starting to drop, casting that golden sort of light that made everything look surreal. Amethyst rolled the window down, wind catching in her curls as she stared out at the blur of cornfields.
“Where are we going?” she finally asked.
“Daisy’s Diner. Hour out. No one we know goes there.”
“Hiding?”
“Yeah.”
“Cool.”
Another long pause.
Alex glanced at her. She was twisting the end of one curl between her fingers, her knees pulled up on the seat. Something about her looked less excitable now. More grounded. Tired.
“I’m not good at sitting still,” she said eventually. “But after today? I don’t know if I can go back and pretend like we’re just two students who watched a giant lizard melt into the floor.”
Alex didn’t answer. His throat was tight.
“I’ve been thinking,” Amethyst continued, quieter now, “since the teachers didn’t see us during the evac… and since the Dweller’s visible…”
She let the thought hang there like bait.
He didn’t bite.
“…We could play dead,” she said, glancing at him. “At least until we get to Athian. No trail. No school calling home. No weird government knock on the door asking why we’re still alive.”
Alex stared at the road, knuckles white against the wheel.
“You think they’d buy it?”
“I mean,” she shrugged, “there’s a wrecked cafeteria, claw marks everywhere, and the last thing anyone saw was us heading the opposite way. If we disappear… people might assume the thing got us before it died.”
“And my parents?”
Amethyst sighed. “I know. It sucks. I’m not saying forever.”
Alex swallowed hard. His eyes burned.
The idea made sense. He knew it did. It was clean. It gave them room to figure this out before questions buried them. But the thought of his mom crying in the kitchen, of his dad punching the wall or calling every hospital in the county—
“I can’t just… disappear.”
“I’m not saying don’t go back. I’m saying delay the return until we know what we’re in.”
He didn’t answer.
“I believe in aliens,” Amethyst said suddenly, resting her chin on her knees. “And monsters. And all the weird things most people roll their eyes at. I’ve always believed it. But today still scared the shit out of me.”
Alex snorted softly, staring ahead. “Yeah. Same.”
They drove the rest of the way in silence.
By the time they pulled into Daisy’s parking lot, the diner was half-empty, glowing warm in the darkening light. Alex parked near the side, cutting the engine.
He sat there for a second, fingers still curled on the wheel.
Amethyst didn’t push.
“I just… I didn’t ask for any of this,” he said quietly.
“I don’t think any of us did.”
“And it’s only the beginning.”
She nodded. “That’s why we need to stay ahead. We do this right, we get answers. We make it through. We go home, eventually. But if we screw up early on…”
She let that sit.
Alex’s stomach twisted.
He looked out the window at the neon flicker of the DINER sign, then back at her.
“I’ll play dead,” he said. “But not for long.”
Amethyst offered a tired smile. “Good. I was worried I’d have to fake your death and mine. That’d be a whole mess.”
“Shut up.”
“‘Missing, presumed dead,’” she quoted, doing a dramatic voice. “Just two martyrs in the war against purple lizards.”
He rolled his eyes and opened the door. “Let’s eat before I regret this.”
