One of the dots floated in front of Cayden. Pete scurried away from him. But because Cayden has his collar on a leash he can’t go anywhere. All around them, murmurs floated from the building.

“Eat it!” The people in the right section are urging the old man to eat the glowing ball. They nudge him to take the ball. But the old man is reluctant. He was shivering from fright.

“Damn it old man. Give it to me. I will eat that myself.” A man with greasy sleeveless shirt and beer belly grumbled, grabbing for the ball.

“Whoever the glowing ball chooses must eat it themselves.” The woman said, her eyes still eerily glowing.

In Cayden’s section on third floor, only he and Pete are present. Their neighbors are not yet home. Cayden does not know if he was supposed to say they are lucky or have dumb misfortune luck for not being here at this hour.

“Man, aren’t you going to eat that?” Pete pointed. Cayden held Pete’s arms.

“Pete, if I tell you the people who ate that ball will die will you believe me?”

“Huh?”

Cayden pointed to the woman whose face is glowing eerily with her eyes.

“Do you think she came all this way just to let us take a choice of making her disappear or not?”

Pete did not answer. Instead, he looks at him strangely. The look in his eyes has suspicion written on it.

Cayden knows that look. He knows Pete is stupid but has above average observation skills. Cayden took a step back. Wary of the woman’s eyes staring down at him.

He slowly raised both his hands in a surrender position. Shaking his head as he took three more steps back.

In the dark night, the full moon is not present in the night sky. Strong winds accompanied by thunderstorms boomed the whole building. It was one damn stormy night. Whether the clear skies disappearance has anything to do with the strange woman, no one knows. The windows rattled and plastics swirled in the wind.

Cayden knows better. This is the first stage of the Dark Tower’s manifestation.

The three people had already eaten their glowing balls. Only Cayden’s glowing ball is left untouched. Everyone had their eyes on him.

“Hey, why haven’t you eaten that?!” It was the same man who attempt to steal the old man’s glowing ball. Cayden did not answer. Instead, he look calmly at the green woman.

“I already gave my answer.” Cayden said. The woman grin.

“Good choice. 3 out 4 voted for my disappearance. Should I go away now?” The woman cooed. She look at the faces of the humans in the building. Looking straight at their expectant faces without knowing what will happen in the near future. She grinned. Such naivety.

“No, no, no. I can’t do that. We haven’t touched the delicious part yet.”

She stared at the three people who ingested the glowing balls. Her eyes are sickening. One can feel as if their guts are twisting whenever she laid those eyes on them. Cayden’s heart beat very quickly, as if it want to jump out of his throat. He can’t calm his heart no matter how much he tried to.

“Three are heroes and one is a rogue. To punish the rogue, the heroes must suffer.” And she grinned.

Cayden’s body froze. He watch helplessly as the three well bodied, two women and one old man who ingested the balls crack their bones and twist their necks. Their skin became sickeningly pale with blue and green veins swelling out. One eyeball almost burst out of their eyes, their mouths twisting at an unnatural angle.

The eerie greenery in the woman's face can be seen in their bodies. People screamed and tried to get away from them. A child step back from his mother, pointing to the possesed woman,

"What's wrong with this lady?"

Little did they know the possesed lady the child referred to would attack him and eat away his neck.

The devouring happened so fast, the tenants around the child could not react. Even the mother stood dumbfounded.

"Alex!"

She approached him. Disregarding the possessed woman. When the mother held her dead child in her arms, sobbing, the child twist his limbs. Bone cracking sound was heard one after another. And then a growl people could not imagine coming from the six year old boy erupted before its accompanied by the mother's piercing scream.

Panic erupted and people are running in different directions. Some attempted to get back to their rooms but the doors won't open.

Above them, the woman floating within the dark storm clouds laugh wholeheartedly.

"Three are heroes and one is a rogue. To punish the onlookers, my wryths have taken the soul of the heroes." The woman repeated three times. But because of the chaos, no one is paying her any attention.

"How do we get out of here?!" Cayden shouted above the screams. The woman turn her head towards him.

"Get out?" She tilted her face covered in green mist.

"Did I say you can go out? Hehe… young mortal, please do not assume this is merely a game. I am the boss and you play by my rules. If I want to keep you here to entertain my wryths then you have no rights to disobey me. If I don't, hm, maybe I can have you play fire ball with my storm beast? The choice purely falls on me mortal, not yours. Tonight, not a single mortal can leave the premises." She twisted her lips, opening her mouth that has green smoke slithering from the inside.

"Of course, if you can give me a satisfying show then maybe I can release you before the predestined time." The woman looked at the distance and hummed.

"Well, be sure to stay alive until midnight okay? Or else I'll be very disappointed in you."

And she laughed. The storm deepen and thunder struck. The faces that once looked at her in awe disappeared. Replaced with pale faces with bulging blue veins covered in green mist. The others who are healthy enough to run had sprinted in different sections of the four section building. But the numbers are decreasing dramatically.

The wryths that the woman mentioned are fast, strong and vicious. Because of the restrictions in room corridors, the wryths can prey easily on the escaping tenants. There was nowhere to hide. The doors of their rooms won't open, the stairs offer no hiding place. The exit is sealed. Even jumping off the ledge to escape is impossible. With nowhere to turn to everyone is frantic about where to go. The wryths are coming for them.

The woman watch a young man holding a hand of a girl, bawling his eyes out as he watch his girlfriend devoured by the infected wryths. The young man took five more steps before his eyes meet a wooden chair.

His heart is heavy because he's leaving his girlfriend behind. But he can't take a step further. As he thought, his conscience can't take it. He immediately took the chair and ran back to slam it against the wryth. The wryth man was struck and he fall down. The young man celebrated and wrap his arms around his girlfriend.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I did not mean -" he cupped her face and pressed their foreheads together. His face was suffused with relief, that is until the girlfriend sank her teeth into his neck. Blood splattered out and screams echoed.

The green woman saw this scene and clap her hands in delight.

“What a sight! Nice! Nice!” She looked at the others. There was a mother and daughter pair who shove each other out of the way. The wryths appeared immediately in front of them. They turn back on their heels and run in the opposite direction.

When the mother went pass her daughter and run in front, the daughter grab the mother’s hair and pulled her sideways. She hit her head on the sturdy walls, slamming herself hard. This gives the wryths a chance to devour her flesh.

It was obvious the daughter is desperate to survive, she was on the brink of madness but she continued to run through corridors like a madman. Cayden and Pete weren’t spared either. The beer bellied man who tried to steal the glowing ball from the old man is now nothing but a wryth.

He is coming for them.

Cayden could not imagine that even transformed humans hold grudges. Cayden and Pete are about to turn into a corridor but another group of survivors are scrambling on their feet to run from the wryths, chasing behind them. Forcing Cayden and Pete to turn in another direction.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Pete’s breathing is accompanied by him cursing countless words.

“How come nobody told me we’re having zombie apocalypse today?!”

That’s why I force you to pack up. Cayden wanted to say but he’s too busy looking for an alternative exit to go to. Cayden sprinted towards the stairs when he bump into the beer bellied wryth man.

Strong arms suddenly caught his shoulders. He was immediately lifted off his feet and slammed against the wall. The strong force and the heavy impact caused his eyes to see stars. His body ached, his breath was literally knocked out of his lungs.

The beer bellied wryth man took hold of his collar. Ignoring the pain, Cayden sheathe the machete from his waist and slice it in the wryth’s face. Cayden’s eyesight is immediately covered in blood.

Above him, he heard the woman speak again.

“Three are heroes and one is a rogue. Spill the rogue’s blood and you will be spared.”