Page 117 of Monsterland Mayhem

“Drink and declare the chase,” he whispers, shoving the vial into my hands. “But make sure you touch the water before you flee.”

I shake my head, his words telling me what to do without providing any context as to how that relates to the statues and their strange reflections.

But when I glance back at him, he’s gone.

And all I have is the vial.

Drink me, the label says.

I close my eyes.

If I take this, I’ll go into heat. Perhaps immediately since I already have some of this elixir in my system.

Maybe that’s what he means by initiating the chase.

But… but how does that solve any of this?

The Alphas stalking toward me are half crazed, their auras radiating pain as they come for me.

Catum is the only one stopping them from ripping me apart.

I don’t want to make that worse.

Unless something about the ritual will snap them out of it?I wonder. The pink-haired man hasn’t led me astray yet.

And Alice told me to start the ritual in the courtyard.

Maybe this is the final step.

My eyes open once more, my spine steeling as I stand. “All right,” I mutter to myself. The craziest solutions are what have worked so far in this world. Why not try this one, too?

Clearing my throat, I fix my focus on the Alphas coming at me from the side. They’re walking over the remains of the others who came before them without even glancing down, their eyes fixated on me.

“You want me?” I ask them, my voice exuding a calm I don’t quite feel.

A calm that fizzles out of me as I force myself to knock the contents into the back of my throat and swallow.

“Then come and get me!” I shout, bolting toward the water and Krolic’s watching form.

His eyes meet mine, a note of panic lingering in his gaze that I can’t quite ignore.

Maybe I made the wrong choice.

Who the hell even knows?

But I run through the shallow area of the water, the liquid a blessing against my bare feet. A tingling sensation crawls up my skin, nearly making me stumble.

It feels like magic.

Healing, I realize as the aches on my soles begin to subside.How… fascinating.

So fascinating that I can’t help but stop and look down.

It’s a stupid thing to do, especially when I have a horde of Alphas bellowing in my wake. However, the water feels so inviting, like it’s calling me home.

Almost like the portal in the cave,I think, recalling how the dark hole intrigued me enough to touch it. Almost as though it was beckoning me to fall in.

My knees bend of their own accord, my fingers reaching for the water again now, curious as to why I feel so compelled to touch it.