As the footsteps grew closer, Tariq took a steady breath. His body wasn’t reacting the way it had to Abemi. That meant this was an actual person—or whatever it was was exceptionally good at imitating one.

  A few seconds later, a young woman cautiously peered around the corner. She looked about eighteen, with pale skin and blue eyes, wearing a thin flannel jacket and black leggings. Her eyes swept over the hallway before landing on Wyatt’s body—and his severed head.

  They widened in horror.

  “Oh—no, no, no, we’re okay, we’re friendly, see!” Zora said quickly, stepping forward with her hands raised.

  Tariq offered a small, awkward wave as Zora continued. “I’m Zora, and this is Tariq. We’re students here. What about you?”

  Tariq’s spine tingled.

  Another heartbeat joined the first—then another. And another, it was as if they were all coming out of hiding... but how did they all hide their heartbeats before?

  Ragged breathing drew his attention to a classroom on their right.

  “Hehehehehe…” a raspy, congested chuckle echoed faintly. “…Tariq?”

  “Tariq? Hello?” Zora said, waving a hand in front of his face.

  “Y—yeah, hold on,” Tariq muttered, already moving.

  He followed the sound of the breathing until he stood directly beside the wall it came from. He raised his fist and punched straight through it. His arm disappeared into the darkness beyond, his hand closing around something soft—and spiky.

  He yanked back.

  The wall crumbled as whatever he grabbed was pulled through, thrashing violently in his grip.

  Tariq’s eyes widened.

  “Tariq, what the fuck is that?” Zora screamed.

  “I don’t know what this is!” Tariq shouted back.

  He turned just in time to see Sasha’s eyes roll back as she collapsed, her body hitting the floor unconscious.

  The creature in Tariq’s grasp screamed as its neck began to decay beneath his fingers. Its arms and legs twisted at impossible angles, bones cracking and popping as it writhed. Its bloated chest expanded and contracted erratically as it struggled to breathe.

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  “Let me go!” it shrieked.

  A blast of air exploded outward, slamming into Tariq—but he held firm. This wasn’t going to end peacefully.

  He brought his other hand up and drove it through what he assumed was its head.

  The creature's head burst apart in a spray of blood and sinew.

  Letting it go its remains hit the floor with a wet thud.

  Tariq stared down at it, equal parts disgusted and unsettled.

  “I think you’re starting to get a little too comfortable with killing, Tariq,” Zora said quietly as she crouched beside the body, examining it.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Tariq asked as he turned away, walking toward where Sasha lay unconscious near the hole in the wall.

  “I mean… what if it wasn’t an enemy?” Zora asked.

  Tariq looked down at his hands, the blue glow still pulsing faintly around them.

  “It started attacking me,” he said. “What else was I supposed to do?”

  He grabbed Sasha by the collar of her shirt and dragged her over to the wall, feeling the collar quickly decay in his grip. He still didn’t know how to turn the glow off.

  “Yeah, you literally punched through a wall and dragged it ou—” Zora stopped mid-sentence.

  Tariq finished pulling Sasha clear and turned back toward her. “What?”

  Zora opened and closed her mouth a few times before finally speaking.

  “I… I know who this is.”

  She lifted one of the creature’s arms, revealing a red-and-black Spider-Man watch strapped to its wrist.

  “This belonged to his sister,” Zora said, her voice shaking. “She made him wear it every day for good luck.”

  Her hands fell to her face.

  “This is Bryan… Bryan Tildebrand.”

  Tariq tilted his head, running through the short list of names he recognized. Nothing clicked.

  Zora sniffed. “What happened to him…”

  Tariq knelt beside her, studying the remains. It looked like everything inside had been forced outward—or maybe reshaped.

  Or changing.

  He glanced down at himself, at his strength, his speed, the way his body healed. If whatever caused this could enhance someone… maybe it could also destroy them.

  Zora sighed as she stood. “Why is this happening…” she murmured, turning toward Tariq. “I’m worried about our parents. We need to get home.”

  Tariq nodded. So much had happened that he’d nearly forgotten about them.

  “What about Sasha?” he asked. “We can’t leave her. And I can’t carry her right now.”

  He raised his glowing hands. Zora squinted at them.

  “No way…” she breathed, stepping closer until she was only inches from him.

  “Zora, get back,” Tariq warned. “You’ve seen what—”

  She raised a hand, silencing him. “Can you not see this?” she asked.

  “See what?” Tariq replied, glancing down. “The blue glow? Yeah, that’s what I—”

  “No, Tariq. You.” Her eyes lit up. “That’s Cherenkov radiation!”

  Tariq stepped back. “What? No—that’s impossible.”

  “No,” Zora snapped, stepping forward. “What’s impossible is everything we’ve seen today. Your eyes changing. Abemi turning into a mass of tentacles. All of this.”

  She crossed her arms. “Face it—the impossible is happening. And do you really think I wouldn’t recognize Cherenkov radiation? Me?”

  Tariq sighed. Zora could be infuriatingly childish—but it was easy to forget she was the valedictorian of their graduating class, holding the highest GPA even in college. As much as it bothered him, she was smarter than he was.

  He waved her off. “Focus, Zora. What do we do with Sasha?”

  Zora looked down at Sasha’s unmoving body and sighed. “We can’t leave her. We’ll have to wait for her to wake up.”

  Ragged breathing echoed again. The heartbeats Tariq had sensed earlier were closer now.

  “Okay,” he said. “We wait.”

  He turned and stepped back out through the hole into the courtyard.

  “Where are you going?” Zora asked.

  Tariq glanced back. “To make sure we’re safe.”