Jessica's sneakers squeaked against the linoleum as she ran, her lungs burning with each breath. The fluorescent lights flickered overhead, casting jerky shadows that made her heightened senses alarmingly scream. Behind her, she could hear the ragged breathing of her squad mates and the familiar footfalls of Kevin and Salina.

  They rounded the corner toward the main entrance, hope fluttering in Jessica's chest. But it died when she saw the exit doors sealed with a thick layer of pink, gelatinous goo.

  "No, no, no!" Tiffany slammed her palm against the door. "This can't be happening!"

  Jessica's nose wrinkled at the sickly sweet smell emanating from the substance. Her enhanced senses picked up something else beneath it—something rotten and wrong that made her wolf instincts howl with a warning.

  "The windows," Mia gasped, already sprinting toward the nearest one. "There has to be—"

  Her words cut off as she reached the glass. More of the pink slime coated the outside, forming an opaque barrier that blocked any view of the parking lot beyond.

  "It's everywhere." Amber's voice quivered. "We're trapped."

  Kevin ran his fingers through his hair, his usual calm demeanor cracking. "No phones, no exits... it's containing us."

  "The office," Jessica said, forcing her voice steady despite the panic clawing at her throat. "There are landlines in the main office. We can call for help."

  "If they still work," Salina muttered, but she was already moving in that direction.

  Jessica took point, her enhanced hearing straining for any sign of the creature. The hallway stretched before them, empty and silent except for their footsteps and racing hearts. She could smell the fear rolling off her friends in waves.

  They reached the office without incident, but Jessica's relief was short-lived. Her nose caught that sickly sweet scent again, stronger now.

  "The vents," Kevin said, eyes darting to the ceiling. "Block the vents, now!"

  Jessica's muscles tensed as she scanned the room. Her gaze landed on a metal rod leaning against the wall—probably left by the janitor. She snatched it up and began jamming it into the vent covers, forcing them shut.

  "Use anything you can find," Kevin ordered, already shoving a filing cabinet beneath one of the larger ducts.

  Tiffany lunged for the phones, her fingers trembling as she punched in numbers. "Dead. They're all dead."

  "It cut the lines." Salina's voice was grim. "It must be smarter than a pile of boogers.”

  "How?" Mia's voice cracked. "How does it know about phones? How does it know anything? It's goo!”

  "Mia—" Jessica started, but Amber cut her off.

  "This is your fault!" She whirled on Jessica, Kevin, and Salina, tears streaming down her face. "Weird stuff always happens around you three. First the castle, the camp, then the ski resort, and now Camella's—" Her voice broke. "Camella's gone and we're next and it's because you're cursed or something!"

  The accusation hit Jessica like a physical blow. She moved before she could think, her palm connecting with Amber's cheek in a sharp crack that echoed through the office.

  "Get it together," Jessica growled, fighting to keep her wolf nature in check as adrenaline surged through her. "None of us knew this would happen. But right now, surviving is more important than pointing fingers."

  Amber stared at her, one hand pressed to her reddening cheek. The silence stretched taut between them until Kevin cleared his throat.

  "Listen, based on what we've seen and what Jessica said, this thing can alter its form at will." He spoke carefully, like someone trying not to spook a frightened animal. "It can move through small spaces, possibly liquefying itself to travel through the ventilation system."

  "And we know bug spray hurts it," Salina added, "but not enough to stop it completely."

  "It's like that movie we watched last month." Kevin snapped his fingers. "The one with the alien slime monster."

  "Globulus." Salina's lips quivered despite the situation. "Worst B-movie ever."

  "This isn't funny!" Tiffany's voice rose. "This isn't some cheap horror flick. This is real!"

  "Which is exactly why we need to take it seriously." Kevin's expression hardened. "If this thing gets out of the school, it could destroy the entire town. We have to stop it here."

  "Fight it?" Tiffany laughed, the sound edged with hysteria. "That's suicide!"

  Jessica stepped forward, squaring her shoulders. The wolf inside her rose, lending her strength. "We don't have a choice. I won't let anyone else die tonight."

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  "I need a sample," Kevin said. "If I can study it, maybe I can find a weakness we can exploit."

  Jessica met his eyes, understanding clicking into place. They'd done this dance before, though usually with less lethal supernatural creatures. "You want to use us as bait."

  "More like a distraction." Kevin had the grace to look apologetic. "We need to draw it out somewhere contained, somewhere I can get close enough to scrape off a piece without getting absorbed."

  The cheerleaders exchanged horrified looks. Jessica couldn't blame them—they'd signed up for pep rallies and competitions, not monster hunting.

  "So that's it?" Mia's voice trembled. "Either we help you get your science experiment, or we die?"

  Jessica turned to face her squad, seeing the terror in their eyes. But beneath it, she saw something else—the same steel that had gotten them through countless brutal practices and nail-biting competitions.

  "No," Jessica said firmly. "We get the sample, or we die trying. Because right now, those are our only options."

  The overhead lights flickered, and somewhere in the distance, something that wasn't quite human anymore let out a wet, gurgling scream of hunger.

  *****

  The fluorescent lights flickered overhead in the stage assembly room, casting strange shadows across the worn wooden floorboards. Jessica's nose twitched at the musty smell of old curtains and prop dust as she helped Kevin arrange the fire extinguishers in a loose semicircle.

  "You sure this will work?" she asked, straightening up and wiping sweat from her forehead. The weight of what they were about to attempt pressed down on her shoulders like a physical thing.

  Kevin adjusted his glasses, his dark fingers drumming against the red metal cylinder. "The temperature change should slow it down enough for us to get a sample. Should being the operative word."

  "Oh, that's comforting." Jessica's laugh came out shakier than she'd intended.

  From the catwalk above, Salina's voice drifted down. "Almost done with the binding circle up here." The soft scratch of chalk against metal accompanied her words. "Though I still say we should just burn the whole place down and call it a day."

  "Right, because arson is totally the answer." Jessica rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling. Trust Salina to suggest the most dramatic solution possible.

  "Hey, fire solves most problems." Salina's black-painted fingernails appeared over the railing as she leaned down to look at them. "Just ask the Salem witch trials."

  "Can we focus?" Kevin cut in, though his lips twitched. "Jessica, you remember the plan?"

  She nodded, trying to ignore the way her heart hammered against her ribs. "Lure it here, dodge when you guys blast it, let Salina trap it while you get your sample." Her fingers curled into fists at her sides. "Simple."

  "Simple," Kevin echoed, not sounding convinced. He pulled a small glass jar from his backpack, along with what looked like a butter knife. "Just... be careful out there, okay? We don't know what this thing is capable of."

  Jessica forced a bright smile, channeling her inner cheerleader. "Please, I deal with Tiffany Barns on a daily basis. How bad could it be?"

  But as she stepped out into the dark hallway, leaving her friends behind, the fake confidence evaporated like morning dew. Her enhanced senses picked up every tiny sound—the hum of distant generators, the creak of settling walls, the soft whisper of air through the vents. Any of them could be the creature.

  Focus, she told herself. You're a werewolf, for crying out loud. Act like it.

  The cafeteria doors loomed ahead, their small windows dark. Jessica's nose caught a whiff of something chemical and wrong, like melted plastic mixed with rotting fruit. Her wolf instincts screamed at her to run the other way.

  She pushed the door open anyway.

  The cafeteria was a maze of upturned tables and scattered chairs, evidence of earlier panic. In the dim emergency lighting, shadows pooled like spilled ink between the islands of furniture. And there, hunched by the serving counter, was Camella.

  "Oh thank god," Camella said, stumbling to her feet. "Jessica, I've been hiding here for hours. That... that thing, it—"

  But Jessica had already stopped breathing. Because underneath the familiar scent of Camella's coconut shampoo and cherry lip gloss was that same chemical wrongness she'd caught in the hall. Only stronger now. Much stronger.

  Not Camella, her wolf senses howled. Danger. Predator. Run!

  Instead, Jessica's hand crept toward the can of bug spray in her back pocket. "It's okay," she said, forcing her voice to stay steady. "You're safe now. Come here."

  Not-Camella took a step forward, and Jessica glimpsed something wrong about the way she moved. Like watching a puppet with too many joints.

  "I was so scared," Not-Camella said, and now Jessica could hear it—the slight echo in the voice, like two people speaking almost in sync. "I thought it was going to—"

  Jessica whipped out the bug spray and fired. The chemicals hit Not-Camella full in the face, and the scream that erupted was nothing human. The thing wearing Camella's shape rippled, its outline going fuzzy like a TV with bad reception. Then it melted, flesh running like wax to reveal something pink and writhing underneath.

  "Oh god," Jessica gagged, stumbling backward. The creature reared up, its true form a nightmare of tentacles and teeth and glistening pseudo-flesh. Faces screaming all over its form.

  She turned and ran.

  Her cheerleader's muscles carried her through the halls at top speed, the monster's wet slithering sounds close behind. She didn't dare look back, focusing instead on the route they'd planned. Left at the water fountain. Right past the trophy case. Straight shot to the stage doors.

  Something wet and rope-like whipped past her head, missing by inches. Jessica put on an extra burst of speed, her wolf strength lending power to her strides.

  The stage doors appeared ahead. Jessica hit them at full tilt, bursting through into the prepared trap. She dove to the side, rolling behind a stack of props.

  "Now!" she screamed.

  The air filled with the whoosh of fire extinguishers and the creature's piercing shriek. Through the white chemical fog, Jessica saw the monster thrashing, its movements growing sluggish as the cold took hold.

  "Vincula spiritus!" Salina's voice rang out from above. Blue light flared, forming a circle of glowing symbols around the creature.

  Kevin darted forward, jar in hand. The monster struck at him, but its movements were slow, almost drunk. He scraped a glob of its substance into the jar and leaped back before its tentacles could reach him.

  "Got it!" he yelled triumphantly.

  Then everything went wrong.

  The creature surged, its form stretching and bubbling like boiling tar. The binding circle shattered with a sound like breaking glass. Before anyone could react, a tentacle shot out and wrapped around Amber's waist.

  "No!" Jessica lunged forward, but she was too late. The monster retreated into the shadows, dragging a screaming Amber with it. By the time Jessica reached the spot, they were gone.

  Silence fell, broken only by harsh breathing and the distant drip of something wet. Jessica stood in the center of the ruined trap, staring at the place where Amber had disappeared. Her hands shook as she clenched them into fists.

  "We got the sample," Kevin said quietly, holding up the jar. Inside, the pink substance pulsed gently, like a tiny alien heart.

  "Damn! We lost Amber," Jessica spat. The wolf in her was howling for blood, demanding she chase down the creature and tear it apart.

  Salina's boots clattered on the metal steps as she descended from the catwalk. "We'll get her back," she said, her usual sarcasm replaced by steel. “We just need to hold onto our hope.”

  “Hopefully it’s too full to eat.” Jessica nodded, but couldn't shake the image of Amber's terrified face as the monster dragged her away. One more friend lost. One more failure to add to her growing list.

  "Come on," Kevin said, already pulling out his notebook. "Let's see what secrets this sample can tell us."

  As they left the stage, Jessica cast one last look into the darkness where the creature had vanished. I'm coming for you, she promised silently. Whatever you are, wherever you take them, I'm going to find you. And then you'll learn what happens when you mess with a werewolf's friends.

  The empty stage offered no reply, but somewhere in the darkness, something dripped. And waited.