Rafa was propped up on a chair at the center table. He could feel the weight of the room as they stared at him. Gab’s hand rested on his arm trying to calm his body from trembling.

  Emilio leaned in. He let out a few hums before he looked over at Scarlet. “This is the red zone at work. My uncle has told me many stories of how people can go mad just from being close to it. This is why we need to leave immediately.” He said while shaking his head. Scarlet let out a gasp as a response.

  “That would never happen to me!” Levi said puffing out his chest.

  “What…” Rafa struggled to speak, for him it felt like he hadn’t had anything to drink for weeks.

  Gab pushed on Rafa’s arm until he was looking at her. “Hey… it’s ok. You shouldn’t speak right now.” She said. Her eyes still red from fresh tears.

  “You were screaming so much while you were out that you might’ve strained something. We found a package of bottles behind the desk. Just drink some of that and take it easy.” Emilio pointed at the bottle that Rafa was only now noticing.

  Rafa quickly took the cap off the bottle and began to drink. The water felt like it was instantly helping. But Rafa paused mid drink. The bottle fell from his lips slowly before being set gently on the table.

  There was a new member in the room. A little boy sitting on one of the beds behind Levi. The boy was humming a song that the others seemed to not hear. Rafa bit his tongue thinking this could be just another case of him going crazy.

  “Where will we go when we escape?” Scarlet asked. Her words suggesting she had an idea.

  Rafa stood up slowly and began walking towards the kid. “Where are you going?” Gab asked while grabbing his hand, an event that would normally make Rafa melt but right now it felt wrong.

  “I just need to lie down.” Rafa said. His hand slipped from Gab’s and the others continued.

  “England. It’s far from the red zone and I have some family there. Maybe they can even help you guys with some food or finding a place.” Emilio said.

  To Rafa all the other voices in the room began to be drowned out by the boys humming. As he grew closer he realized the girl, whose face was concealed by red mist was sitting next to the boy. The two were holding hands.

  They were only two feet away from Rafa. That’s when the boy turned his gaze away from the group and directed it at Rafa. Their eyes carried with them the weight of the sun.

  The girl’s fingers tightened. “That’s him Thomas.” She whispered into the boys ear.

  Thomas' eyes narrowed as he studied Rafa. “He’s weak.” Thomas said without lowering his voice. The two children’s lack of breathing was causing Rafa to believe they weren’t real.

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  “Yes but I saw Luci’s light in him.” The girl continued to whisper even though Thomas wasn’t going along with it.

  Thomas raised his hand and pointed at the ceiling where a crack began to form in the building. Red moss began to crawl out of the crack until it began to drip on the floor.

  Rafa blinked and the children were gone. “They aren’t real…” Rafa said aloud, his voice drifting once he realized the crack Thomas pointed to was still overflowing and growing.

  “Who are you…” Levi began to ask before even turning around but froze when he saw the red moss.

  Even though the children were gone Rafa could still feel their eyes on him. “Let’s test him.” Thomas whispered and with his voice large, heavy masses began to fall from the crack leaving a thud to cause a wave of silence across the room.

  A skeleton, barely held together by the moss, began to crawl to its feet from the ever growing pile of moss.

  Rafa froze. Death was staring him in the eyes, yet all he could see was his father’s face. “Rafa! Get back!” Levi’s voice washed over Rafa breaking the trance like state the children had put him in.

  Levi had pulled Rafa behind him and held a chair like a weapon. The skeleton raised its arms and reached for Levi.

  “Help me!” The voice rolled out of the skeleton’s unhinged jaw.

  A sharp, glass shattering came from Scarlet alerting the whole room that bodies covered in red moss had begun to shuffle in from the hall.

  Levi raised the chair high above his head and brought it crashing down upon the skeleton sending bones across the room.

  Rafa noticed that the skeleton flinched before the impact. “Wait…” Rafa hesitated almost sure that something that was dead like this couldn’t feel emotions.

  “We need to run!” Gab yelled taking Rafa by the hand. The two began to run towards the door where Emilio and Scarlet were pushing back the bodies that were trying so desperately to reach them.

  With each hit or shove, the bodies began to show how much they had been decomposing. Arms, heads and pieces of their torsos began piling up in the doorway.

  “Stay down!” Levi desperate screams were matched with loud thuds as he continued to strike the skeleton.

  Rafa saw the bones and body parts that littered the floor began to slowly float towards the skeleton. With each time its body was put back together the skeleton was growing noticeably larger.

  “Help…” The skeleton tried to plead before its bones were shattered by Levi. Rafa saw that the skeleton wasn’t fighting back, tears were trailing down its skull.

  Rafa stepped toward Levi, but Gab pulled him back toward the doorway. “Let Levi handle that one, we need help over here!” She said as the horde of bodies pushed Emilio and Scarlet back further into the room.

  “Wait.” Rafa realized the words came before the thought. He didn’t understand where the words came from but he did realize his words were too quiet to reach anyone else other himself. Something foreign began building in his chest, something that was warm.

  The skeleton tried to stand only to be met with Levi’s chair once more. Levi grabbed the skeleton by the skull. He ripped it away from the body and threw it to the ground causing it to release deafening screams. He then placed his foot on the skull and began stomping on it causing it to crack under the pressure.

  “Levi!” Rafa yelled but wasn’t heard. Gab screamed as one of the bodies grabbed onto Scarlets arm.

  Rafa was torn between where his focus should be but the crying skeleton began to cry stealing his focus. Levi raised his foot once more, high in the air ready to end the skeleton.

  At that moment Rafa lost feeling in his legs, his hands began to shake uncontrollably.

  “Stop!” Rafa screamed at Levi. The warm feeling in his chest began to become unbearably hot. A shock wave of light burst from Rafa’s chest and threw everyone off their feet. Once the light wave passed over the skeleton and bodies from the hall they began to grow slow until they stopped moving altogether.

  The room was silent, Rafa’s heavy breathing was the only thing that could be heard.

  Rafa grabbed at his chest to soothe the pain and tears ran down his cheeks. He could feel the weight of every pair of eyes.

  “Thank you…” The skeleton whispered. Many questions ran through Rafa’s mind. Like what happened to them or what did he just do but the bones of the skeleton began to turn into bright dust that floated towards the roof, seemingly passing through the ceiling like it was nothing.

  For a moment everything was quiet. Everyone exchanged confused looks. Rafa’s hands began to tremble.

  “I’m… I’m sorry Levi.” Rafa’s voice rattled against his bones. Everything that Rafa had learned before this moment had told him he was in the wrong for stopping Levi who was only trying to help him.

  “Rafa…” Levi whispered. Thoughts of Rafa being infected by the red moss began to fill his mind.

  Before another word could be said the doorway to the room burst free from the wall. It was thrown through the room, colliding with the wall across the room.

  Michael stood there with his sword drawn. A mix of worry and excitement covered his face. “Where? Where is he?!” Michael, unable to control his own voice, began to yell.

  “Who?” Gab asked. She stood up to face the angel. That’s when she realized Yuri was handcuffed to the angel.

  “God. I felt his light just now.” Michael said but his voice trailed once all eyes landed on Rafa once more once light was brought up.