After school got out, we geared up and walked to the ruined 3 story building we had been shown by Hunter, observing as we did, the luminescent yellow eyes that peered at us from the topmost window before vanishing from sight.

  Even as my mind tried to focus on the task, my discovery ate at the back of it, like a gnawing parasite.

  Begging to be put at the forefront so it could sink it's teeth into the minds of my squad.

  Clones.

  Were we clones?

  Or are there clones of us, living normal lives while we died in the muck!?

  "He's up there." Green snickered out loud, trying to change the subject, "Why are we looking up Mr. Teeth, again?"

  I remind him, speaking so everyone could hear my response, "Because Charlie told us to, in direct conjunction with our search for the Shadowyn, so Mr. Teeth knows something."

  Wolf shook her head, "its always so strange, listening to you two talk...to yourselves."

  Edge nodded thoughtfully but said nothing, Love shrugged, "I think it's cute!"

  I looked at them, then back at the building, then back to them.

  "Guys...", I had to tell them what I'd found, no matter how worried I was about the reaction, I knew they'd want to know.

  "I found out something horrible a few hours ago, and I need to share it with you all. I've been debating on whether it needs to be said and I've decided that it does."

  The mood shifted from interested to invested as I took a deep breath before speaking, "Penelope Graves is a clone of the JAB that I killed the night we escaped...she was a tiny, freckle faced little shitling...and you could call me crazy, but I know it was her."

  There was a brief silence before Edge nodded, "I surmised quite some time ago that it was why there hasn't been any news about a mass disappearance of children." He looked around before looking back at me, "You're certain?"

  I nodded more vehemently this time, "I've never been more certain of anything, we have to assume they did the same to us."

  The silence that fell over the group was monumental, it rang in my ears as everyone processed the information, before Wolf spoke up, "This is good to know...the phrase food for thought is an understatement, but we need to focus, we have a town to save."

  That sentiment seemed to at least comfort the others, who both nodded, "We'll revisit this." Said Edge, Love simply grabbed hold of my hand, squeezing as she looked at me with a sympathetic gaze.

  And like that the matter seemed to rest, if a little uneasily.

  With the resolve of someone tired of talking, Green wordlessly turned towards the boarded up entrance. Once we were close enough he reared back and kicked it in, caving in the massive board that had been nailed to the previous door.

  Both came down in a hail of splintered wood and sawdust.

  As Green forced our way through what was left, my team was quick to follow.

  The smell that wafted out of the interior was one of must and rot, I wanted to retch, but Green inhaled happily, Edge groaned in exasperation, "Ok, so we're just huffing asbestos now!?" Immediately after, A mask was stretched over our face, forcefully by Edge, before he distributed it to everyone else, "Figured it was a good precaution to take."

  Wolf hugged him as he put the mask on her, "You're a lifesaver."

  Edge rolled his eyes as he put the mask on Love, "probably literally...alright...let's go."

  We walked into the hospital's lobby and immediately the odor of freshly rotting flesh hit me like a baseball bat to the face, not because it was unexpected or too much for me, but because it had been hiding behind this must of oldness, unveiled only once we passed a certain threshold, as if something had wanted us to believe that there was nothing here.

  This proved it.

  The Shadowyn was here.

  Knowing where Mr. Teeth was, we started our climb up the creaky old stairs, the air thick with anticipation.

  Rounding the top step onto the second floor, we froze.

  At the end of the dimly lit hallway stood what seemed, at first, to be a man, standing on two legs in the shadows of the unlit hallway, illuminated only by the light from the sparse windows.

  Then it turned.

  Its head was unmistakably canine, snarling, saliva dribbling out it's mouth between sickle-shaped fangs. What looked to have been a coyote twisted into something wrong. Black fur stretched across its humanoid torso, arms, and legs, coarse and bristling with tension. In its left hand, a blade, eerily similar to the ones Demonhead had wielded.

  A guard.

  The Cynocephalid classification was broad, encompassing all forms of humanoid canid entities. The name itself was literal, meaning "dog head."

  "Guys... Cynocephalid." My voice was barely above a breath.

  I reached for my sword, fingers fumbling for the hilt. The steel was familiar, grounding. I glanced down, it was Blasphemy. The sword had returned, apparently having surreptitiously replaced my standard issue without anyone noticing.

  “Oh… hey.”

  A low murmur echoed in my mind, a familiar mental caress as it greeted me.

  The group raised their guns, muscle memory kicking in, but as soon as we had our hackles raised, the thing simply vanished. No puff of smoke, no distortion. One moment it was there, and the next, gone.

  Up until now I've had files that correspond to these creatures, but Cynocephalids fall under the "Fae" umbrella and share a lot of traits with them, including the weakness to Iron and white ash, and im not writing that whole thing out.

  Green threw a glance at Edge, who had already pulled his notebook out, his hand working furiously as he scribbled in some quick notes.

  “Got anything for this?” I asked.

  Edge swallowed hard, sweat beading at his temple as he deftly stowed his journal and pulled out his glue gun. “Black fur and teleportation… this looks like a Shuck variant Cyno.”

  Shuck variants, according to Agency protocol, stemmed from the original Phasic entity, the infamous Black Shuck, the first recorded canid entity in Agency history. Unlike standard Cynocephalids, Shuck variants had Phasic properties.

  Phasic meant they weren’t just your standard Canid tangibles, they could teleport or just walk through walls.

  Edge could have been right, but we wouldn’t have long to confirm and plan.

  Then a flash of steel suddenly cut my thoughts to the quick.

  Pain erupted in my left shoulder as the massive black dog-man reappeared, its sword carving into flesh, blood spattering across the floor!

  Then two heavy, booted feet appeared out of thin air and slammed into my chest, launching me backward!

  I collided with the wall and slid down it, breath forced from my lungs.

  As i hit the floor, Edge yelled, "We need to anchor him in place or we'll never get ahold of him! Grab whatever he hits you with next, and we can get him!"

  Edge rushed at the creature, dodging under a swing of it's sword and kicking it in the ankle, causing it to overbalance and vanish again before rematerializing behind him, kicking him in her back and sending him sprawling!

  As it finished materializing, It pivoted sharply, locking onto Love, lowering it's arms as if to bite.

  She braced herself, fists raised, ready to smack it, only for Wolf to shove her aside, wolf's forearm held out like a shield just as the creature lunged.

  She obviously seemed to trust, not only in her pain tolerance, but in the nomex fabric of her suit jacket, something that would be an incredible advantage against a bite attack in any other circumstance.

  But this was a phasic werewolf man in combat gear, obviously sent to guard the Shadowyn base, it wouldn't be that easy.

  The Cyno's jaws clamped down, digging into Wolf's forearm, the bones shattering as the maw snapped shut, shredding her arm!

  Blood sprayed.

  Wolf screamed.

  “STAB HIM NOW!” she bellowed!

  Immediately Blasphemy pulled me upright, like it had hoisted me by my pants and the back of my collar, and as soon as my feet where firmly on ground, I lunged, stabbing the thing in it's side, the Cynocephalid relinquished Wolf's arm and screamed at the ceiling as she collapsed to the floor.

  I twisted the blade per my training, blood splattered on my face and the beast crumpled to the floor, dead.

  As the beast died on the floor, the adrenaline high was replaced with pain and panic, I turned to Wolf who was laying there in shock, looking at the shreds of what used to be her arm.

  Edge was hurriedly attempting to tie off a tourniquet, Love was hyperventilating as we watched Wolf slowly begin to bleed out and go into actual shock.

  That's when I heard the Dragon's voice, booming in my head, replacing Green for a monent, I coughed as my body rocked with the vibration, the sound catching me off guard, "would you kill for this girl?"

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  I look around in shock, wondering if this was some sort of trick, but then he bellowed in my head, "WOULD YOU KILL FOR HER!?"

  "yes!" I squeaked internally, my whole body feeling like it was wracked with pain as the Dragon chuckled, "Would you bleed for her?" The Dragon didnt wait for an answer, "Then open a vein and pour it into her mouth."

  I blink, "my...blood?"

  The Dragon's thoughts battered my own, "No, you stupid boy, MY blood! Time is short, do it now."

  Without thinking, I picked up the single edged flat tipped sword the Cynocephalid had been using and slashed open my wrist, drawing the blade from left to right across my left wrist.

  I felt no pain, but the blade had done it's job and blood began to flow from my wrist, down into a barely conscious Wolf's open mouth.

  "Green, what the fuck are you doing!?" Edge grabbed my wrist to push it away from her as she began to sputter, but the wound had already sealed.

  Edge was about to stand up and swing on me, but Wolf distracted him by screaming in pain!

  Edge and Love looked down and saw that her arm had ceased bleeding and the bones had begun to knit themselves back together, they watched in horror as her arm began to grow new flesh!

  I laughed with relief!

  "Green, what did you do!?" Edge asked angrily as I stood there and watched.

  Only after her arm had regained all it's skin, did I answer.

  I don't know why, but Green (or maybe the Dragon) took control of my mouth to tell them something different than I had experienced.

  "They used the Dragon's blood to augment all of us, so I figured that if it could juice up my healing...it would work for any of you."

  "Wolf...can you stand?" Love was crouched over her as she looked down at her now shaking hand, "N-no...I feel...weak...is this how it feels for you, Green?"

  I nod, remembering how exhausted I always was whenever I had to heal from something this bad, it came as no surprise to me that she would feel the same.

  "It does tend to feel that way, but we dont have time to dawdle."

  "Silly, silly." I heard a croak from upstairs.

  Demonhead was here.

  We all fell silent.

  I cleaned my sword off, straightening up before motioning to Edge //with me// and then pointing to Love, //you, take her downstairs//

  Love shook her head, //no//

  I rolled my eyes and motioned, //For fuck's sake just take her downstairs, she can barely walk!//

  Wolf held up a hand, //stop arguing, Love, take me downstairs//

  Love sighed, then nodded, //ok// before hoisting Wolf up under her arms and walking downstairs as quietly as possible.

  "S-silly..." still upstairs but distant for some reason, as if he was moving away from the stairway.

  Edge gestured for us to move up. Before I could even reach the stairs, he latched onto the wall, scaling it effortlessly, climbing toward the ceiling.

  I followed, arriving on the third floor only to be met with a jarring sight, Charlie, standing stiffly beside a door. Spray-painted across it in bold, jagged letters were the words: "Mr. Teeth's Room."

  I moved toward him, my steps slow, deliberate, as dread coiled in my gut. He had been the one to send us here, why would he meet us here and where was Demonhead?

  That was when I saw it, the blood. It caked his hands, staining the left arm of his hoodie. A handprint, just above the elbow, as if he'd dressed in a hurry after leaving a murder scene.

  After committing a murder.

  Tentatively, I approached, my unease growing when he didn't acknowledge the sound of my footsteps. I swallowed hard before speaking his name.

  "Charlie?"

  His head snapped toward me. My scalp prickled, my breath caught. His irises, white, unnatural, set against black sclera.

  Demonhead's eyes.

  Then, he blinked, and they were gone, replaced by his usual baby blues.

  "Good, you're here... What’s that look for?"

  He had noticed the way I held my sword, pointed directly at him, Blasphemy whispering, murmuring, feeding off my tension.

  For a few long seconds, I struggled to phrase my question in a way that wouldn’t set him off. Considering his and Hunter's history with the Shadowyn, there were no easy ways to ask.

  So I abandoned subtlety.

  "You’re Demonhead?" I said, voice tight.

  Silence.

  Deathly silence.

  Above us, Edge crept along, moving unnoticed. At least, unnoticed by Charlie, though, for all I knew, he had already noticed, yet Charlie’s eyes remained fixed on me.

  Then he spoke.

  "I'm really glad you figured that out," he said, almost cheerfully. "I was worried I'd have to transform in front of you for you to get it."

  He sounded relieved.

  I didn't share whatever sentiment he seemed to be putting out.

  He sighed. "Relax, we're the same kind, you and I."

  I squinted at him, gripping Blasphemy tighter. "The hell do you mean?"

  He began to pace, movements slow, calculated. He was working some sort of angle, I knew it.

  "You and I have both been used," he continued, "and will, in all probability, continue to be used by our creators. But we don’t have to be."

  I tracked his movements, watching, analyzing. He was building toward something.

  Then, a thought hit me. My stomach twisted.

  "Are the others also secretly pawns of the Shadowyn? Or were you sent to kill them?"

  Charlie laughed. His eyes flickered, his own, Demonhead’s, his own, Demonhead’s, like a malfunctioning screen.

  "Hunter and the others are my friends. I'd never harm them, not even if I was ordered to," he said as his gaze darkened.

  "You, on the other hand..."

  There was no hesitation. No weight in his words, no concern.

  I stiffened, but said nothing. Edge had vanished, I could only assume he was lining up a shot.

  Regardless of my silence, Charlie pressed on.

  "Never mind that," he continued, "together, with our squads combined, we could take them both down."

  Suddenly I understood. I had seen this movie before.

  "Don’t try to Vader me, man," I said dryly. "I dont have time for this. Either move, or get ready to fight."

  Charlie laughed, low, dark, venomous. His eyes shifted again, but this time, the blackness stayed, consuming the irises in slow bleeding tendrils, spiraling inward, creeping across the whites towards his irises from behind his eyes sockets.

  "It took your whole squad to get me on the run last time," he murmured, voice thick with haughty bravado. "What makes you think this’ll go differently?"

  That was when Edge fired.

  Two precise shots, straight from the rightmost top corner of the leftmost wall of the hallway.

  The perfect angle.

  One hit Charlie in the head.

  The next, his heart.

  Charlie keeled over, a wet splat the only noise he made on contact with the floor.

  Edge dropped from his perch. "Thanks for keeping him occupied."

  Green scoffed. "Bait!? You used me as bait?"

  Edge punched me in the chest, grinning. "And you were fantastic. Now, let’s talk to Mr. Teeth and get back to the girls."

  I wrenched back control of our body, stepping toward the door. But the moment my fingers curled around the handle, something pulled back.

  "Please, don’t."

  The voice, melodic, keening, scintillating, was doubled, twinned, like two people speaking in eerie synchronization.

  Or one being, with two mouths.

  I hesitated, deciding to rest my hands in my pockets. My voice was steady as I spoke.

  "Mr. Teeth, I presume."

  "That I am," the voice huffed. "You took your sweet time. That thing was here to KILL me. Not something I'd predicted."

  I leaned against the doorframe as Edge ensured Charlie's corpse was triple and quadruple tapped.

  "So," I continued, "where's the Shadowyn's home base?"

  A relieved sigh from Mr. Teeth. "Directly beneath our feet. Go into the sub-basement, and you will find the door."

  I turned to Edge in disbelief, but he had already begun descending the stairs from which we had come.

  This made no sense.

  "Why haven’t you told anyone this already?" I asked. "Hunter and the others could’ve figured this out by now if you’d been this forthcoming. Did they not ask?"

  Mr. Teeth groaned. "They did ask. They just didn’t need to know. Because if they had learned where it was, they would have died outright in the attempt to storm it. The only way was to wait for you."