Rising from the Ashes (Andrew and Lauren) novel Chapter 1517

"Mr. Wright Senior, what happened?" Logan rushed forward to steady Kevin and asked urgently, "Where's the rest of your security team? Why are there only a few of you left?"

Kevin was still clutching a pistol, completely out of ammo. Blood covered his face, arms, and chest. No one could tell whether it was his or someone else's.

"Logan? Andrew? It's you…" Kevin exhaled heavily, his voice shaky. "We need to go now. Get the hell away from this cursed place."

He wiped the blood from his face, visibly rattled. "Leave now. I'm serious. Without heavy firepower, this place is a goddamn nightmare."

Andrew frowned. "What exactly did you run into?"

Kevin's mouth was dry as he swallowed hard. His voice trembled. "We don't even know what the hell they were. They were insanely fast and extremely bloodthirsty, and they seemed to be able to smell the living.

"Most importantly, they weren't afraid of death. Regular pistols can't kill them unless you get a headshot."

Kevin was a martial king, yet he was visibly traumatized.

Chantelle, Natasha, and Ralph had not even seen what had attacked them, yet their faces had already gone pale. Even Tiana, who had been obsessively focused on the treasure, was starting to second-guess everything. Her expression turned ghost-white.

"Fast and bulletproof? Is it a zombie? Did something crawl out of a grave?" Logan suddenly blurted out.

This scared the others even more, making their faces turn white.

Chantelle gritted her teeth and hissed. "Mr. Keller, don't talk nonsense. I think you've been reading too many tomb-raiding novels. Where would zombies come from? Don't be superstitious."

Logan shook his head. "I'm not talking nonsense—I'm making a logical deduction. They can't be killed and move very fast—if they're not zombies, what are they?"

Andrew waved his hand. "Creatures that can't be killed and move very fast aren't unheard of. For instance, that black tiger from earlier."

"That's right, I know what they were." Tora nodded, looked at the others, and his Adam's apple bobbed: "Those should be evil creatures recorded in ancient books—Blood Ghouls."

Hearing the name, everyone froze. Mouths fell open in disbelief and horror.

Chantelle could not help herself. "Captain Tora, please. That's impossible. Creatures like that are myths, just legends. They don't actually exist."

Tora's face darkened. "Ms. Garcia, I've lived through hell tonight. Do I look like I'm in the mood to joke?"

With that, he stormed up to her, yanked open his bloodstained shirt, and revealed the gaping wound across his chest. The flesh was torn wide, bloody and mangled, and the skin around the gash had gone a sickly, rotting green.

The sight alone made several people recoil.

Tora gritted his teeth as he explained, "This was from the Blood Ghoul. And in return, I drove my blade straight into its chest. But it didn't flinch—not even a little. If I hadn't dodged fast enough, that thing would've ripped my heart out."