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Chapter 11: Missing flares

Sam looked towards the girl who just arrived, then turned to see the one beside him. The face of the girl next to him was frozen in the same mischievous smile she had, only now it was eerie instead of alluring.

Sam took out his cellphone and attempted to unlock it but, just as he feared, it was off as if the battery had ran out completely.

"Who- who- what are you!?" Sam asked as he stood up, but there was no doubt about it, it was a cryptid.

The whole group watched in disbelief as the smile on her face became wider and wider, impossibly so, its cheeks parted showing all of her teeth and even her throat was visible. Its anatomy seemed to be human, but no human would be capable of doing something like that.

Chills and shivers ran down through everyone\'s spine in an instinctive reaction, much like that of a prey in front of it\'s Predator.

Uriel didn\'t have the luxury of time to make sense of anything. Several flares made an arch in the sky, including one nearby, providing just a bit of light in the background and everyone ran towards the nearest one as if they has agreed to do so.

When Uriel came to his senses he was already far from the campfire with only Luna by his side. "What the hell was that!?" he said loudly but in a hushed voice fearing that something might find them.

"I don\'t- I don\'t know, do you think Sam is going to be fine? should we go back?" Luna asked.

Uriel\'s thoughts were a mess, but her calm voice and the warm touch of Luna\'s hand somehow managed to soothe him. He took a few seconds to ponder what had happened, but his rationality couldn\'t explain any of it.

"Was that thing a cryptid!?" Uriel asked, still panting after the race.

"It\'s not likely to be someone\'s trait, at least I don\'t think so..." She shook her head in the complete darkness.

"At any rate, we should walk towards the nearest flare, there we\'ll find Miss Dragonfang and the soldiers, they\'ll protect us." His words died in the darkness as they now noticed there were several flares missing in the sky, it couldn\'t be called an oval or a circle because only two thirds of them were fired.

"No, no, no! this is bad, this is really bad!" Uriel was on the verge of crying.

"We should have listened to Sam."

"The same Sam who made out with a crytid? I don\'t think so..." Luna said with a scoff.

They walked towards the nearest flare and noticed that Shaker was already there and the soldiers were turning on their lanterns. Flashlights would have been a lot more useful if not for cryptids\' ability that would shut electric devices off rendering them useless, forcing the army to carry old school gear such as gas fueled lanterns.

"Halt!" The corporal shouted in a rough voice making her sound tough and unforgiving.

Knowing that taking another step was dangerous, Uriel lifted his arms in a sign of surrender, still holding on to Luna\'s hand.

"We\'re not one of those things- I mean, we ran together by the hand and never let go, we aren\'t cryptids."

The lieutenant seemed to ponder for a few seconds, but she ended up nodding at the soldier to lower her weapon.

"It\'s not likely that both of you are shapeshifters so you may come near."

They did so in a haste and took refuge behind the same corporal that had been pointing her gun at them. When Uriel attempted to let go of Luna she didn\'t allow it. "We shouldn\'t get separated." She said as she took a hair tie from her wrist and she stretched it tying themselves together. Being tied together would keep them from getting separated, as well as proving they were both humans, as long as there was only one shapeshifter at least.

"Hey Shaker, now that You have a trait You should help us to secure the perimeter." Lieutenant Dragonfang said, but the man didn\'t seem too thrilled.

"Oh really? what\'s in it for me?" He asked with a crooked smile.

"For starters, You get to stay in our group, also, you\'ll earn some credits for every cryptid You slay..."

"Now you\'re talking! You can count on me!" He cut her short.

"I mean no disrespect, but what could someone who just acquired his trait could possibly do?" Luna tilted her head confounded.

"You\'re only saying that because you didn\'t see me running, I never thought I could run so fast but ever since I got my trait I feel invincible! I could probable beat the crap out of cryptids with my bare hands." Shaker said excitedly, but Luna wasn\'t yet convinced.

"That\'s right, you probably can, even the weakest trait modifies the body at a cellular level, but don\'t get too cocky... It made you stronger, not invincible." Lieutenant Dragonfang warned him.

Not even a full minute passed when someone else came running from the same path they came from, probably following the flare as they did.

"It\'s me! don\'t shoot please!" The cute girl that was previously mimicked by the cryptid said amidst sobs lifting her arms in the air in a sign of peace when she noticed the soldiers pointing their weapons at her.

"Are you now?" Lieutenant Dragonfang said doubtfully. "These two came together and since only one shapeshifter cryptid was reported I\'m fairly certain they are not cryptids, how can we know for sure that you\'re not one of those things?"

"I- I don\'t know, please! I\'m scared!" She took another step forward.

"Do not move or we\'ll open fire, consider yourself warned." Lieutenant Dragonfang was not one to play games, well, she was, but not in the face of impending danger.

"Miss Dragonfang, I think she\'s the real one, her clothes are dirty an she seems to be tired. The creature that infiltrated our group previously was wearing clean clothes..." Luna said worried that the girl she had just been acquainted with might get killed.

"There\'s no certainty that the creature didn\'t mimic that now, but that gives me an idea... take off your clothes." The Lieutenant commanded. "Whatever that creature is, it\'s able to mimic people\'s attire perfectly, but I don\'t think it\'ll be able to create materials out of thin air. I bet it is either an illusion or it shifts its body to look like clothes but won\'t be able to take them off, the same as we can\'t take off our fingers." She explained her line of thought.

Uriel thought it was a gamble, but he didn\'t like the alternative any better. He too didn\'t want to see the girl being shot at in front of him.

"No way! those guys will see me naked! I\'d rather die than being humiliated like that" She covered her bosom with her arms looking modest and shy, it was worlds apart from the way the cryptid behaved previously.

"Ask them and the soldiers to turn their backs and I\'ll do it."

"Take off your clothes now, this is an order." Lieutenant Dragonfang didn\'t have to raise her voice to sound authoritative, her commanding voice was more than enough to make people do her bidding. Although she didn\'t like the situation either, turning their backs on a possible enemy was a stupid thing to do and keeping everyone safe was more important than decorum.

The poor girl sobbed some more, but the Lieutenant left her no choice. Shaker didn\'t take his lecherous eyes from her, not wanting to miss a second of the show. Just when the girl was about to take off her shirt Uriel had an idea.

"Wait! you can take off your piercings, that should be proof enough!" The girl\'s eyes glimmered with hope, but Shaker glared daggers at him.

"I didn\'t think of that..." Lieutenant Dragonfang asked her to toss over the earrings towards them and when she received them she proceeded to examine them.

They were made of metal, apparently silver, and there was nothing odd about them. "Alright, you\'re clear, but stay close to your classmates." Only then did she allow her to join the group and, when she was close, the lieutenant looked at her device and she was relieved to see that nothing was out of place. They were safe... For now.