Apocalyse: Marked by Chaos
Chapter 76 - 75 Seconds from Being Caught

Chapter 76: Chapter 75 Seconds from Being Caught

The moment she turned, she saw him, the stranger. The same one who had brought Lucian to Abigail’s place. He stood by the door, arms crossed, his expression unreadable.

"Isn’t this a bad idea?" he said flatly.

"I don’t care," Olivia shot back. "He’ll die if I don’t get that gland."

There was a pause.

Then, without a word, he stepped forward and rolled up his sleeves. "Then let’s get to work."

Together, they dragged the first corpse onto the table. Olivia’s hand hovered above the scalpel for a moment too long.

"Don’t hesitate," the stranger said.

"I know what I’m doing," she snapped, more to herself than to him.

She made the incision. And then another.

They moved fast, slicing, searching. Each corpse brought new hope—only to crush it all over again.

No gland.

Second body... nothing.

Third... deflated sac.

Fourth... ruptured tissue.

Her hands were shaking again. Her apron was drenched in sweat. "Why don’t they have it?" she hissed, frustration bubbling into her voice.

The stranger didn’t answer.

They opened the fifth corpse. Then the sixth.

Still nothing.

Olivia wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. "They were all high level shadowbeast. Why don’t they have it?!"

The silence weighed heavy.

She backed up from the table, her chest heaving. "I’m running out of time."

"You’re not the only one," the stranger said, his voice low. "But panic won’t help."

Olivia pressed her palms to her eyes, trying to push the sting of tears back. "This isn’t fair," she whispered. "I had it. I harvested it. Where the hell is it?"

The stranger’s eyes darted around the mess they had made. The monster’s body lay scattered on the floor, black blood pooling and staining the white floor, their cavity opened, as their internal organs came to view.

"We have to go now, we don’t have anymore shadowbeast. We might as well look for other options," he calmly said.

Olivia pressed her lips into a thin line, she can’t just go back empty handed. She was already here, maybe she didn’t look properly.

She turned heading back to the organ stored jar, but the stranger stopped her.

"We don’t have time, we can’t waste anymore here," he growled at her.

"But it could be here."

"It’s not, it has been a while since the alarm went off, your teachers should be here..." he stopped, his eyes widened slightly. "... We are good as f**ked," he cursed underneath his breath.

"What do you mean?" Olivia frowned at him.

"We have been here for a long time, and the alarm has gone off for more than an hour, but no one is here to check on it... it means only one thing, we have been set up or... there is something powerful enough to guard this place." He said in a hushed voice.

"But there is nothing here," Olivia’s eyes darted around but she could not find anything out of order aside from the mess they’d created.

The stranger grabbed Olivia’s wrist, dragging her backward. She struggled against his grip. "Let me go!" she hissed, but he didn’t loosen his hold.

"We need to leave. Now."

"I’m not done searching!" she snapped, trying to break free. "I’m not leaving him to die..."

A soft hiss echoed through the air. Both of them froze.

The main lab door slid open with a slow groan, followed by the heavy thud of something large stepping in.

Olivia’s breath caught in her throat.

The monster was huge, with spotted skin and glassy, bulging eyes. It strode into the room. Its snout flared, sniffing the air for the unfamiliar smell. Its claws scraped against the tiles as it prowled closer, its nostrils twitching.

She felt her heart hammering in her chest. Any loud sounds and the monster would hear it.

But the stranger didn’t flinch. His eyes glowed bright, almost blood-red. A strange ripple moved through the air around them. And suddenly, the monster stopped sniffing.

It tilted its head as if confused... then turned around and started stalking in the opposite direction.

Olivia stared at the stranger, stunned. Whatever he did—it worked.

But before she could even whisper a thank you, the doors hissed again.

Two figures walked in.Verax, and Stefan Danmonwalk.

Verax’s eye widened at the sight of the mass destruction. "My babies!" he cried dramatically, collapsing to his knees like a broken actor on a stage. His monocle glinted with darkened green light. "What have you done to my precious specimen? My work!"

He wailed louder, brushing away tears that may or may not have existed.

Meanwhile, Stefan’s footsteps echoed through the lab, slow, and calculated.

Olivia’s blood ran cold. He was getting closer.

Every step brought him nearer to the table where they hid. The stranger crouched lower, his arm firmly around Olivia, holding her still.

Stefan stopped right in front of their table. His boots are inches from her face. Olivia held her breath, afraid her breathing would get them discovered. Her nails dug into her palms, her face turning red, as beads of sweat dripped down from her face.

The monster walked towards Stefan, it let out a low, guttural growl. But then it suddenly moved, stepping even closer to them, sniffing again.

Stefan paused, then looked down. Silence stretched, suffocating, and unbearable.

And then...

A faint click echoed, breaking the silence.

Olivia’s heart pounded so hard she was scared it might echo too. Her entire body stiffened. One wrong move, one sound... and they’d be caught. Expelled. Or worse.

The monster’s growl deepened. Its claws scraped lightly against the tiles, sniffing the air between them and Stefan. Olivia could feel the heat of its breath even from where she was crouched.

The stranger’s grip on her arm tightened, not painfully, but firm like a silent command to hold on. His body tensed, his eyes calculating, if it comes to the worst, they will have to fight their way out.

Then Stefan slowly knelt. His hand reached out.