DESCENDANTS OF AZAZEL

Chapter Two: Behind the Wall

Chapter Two: Behind the Wall

The heartbeat was getting weaker.

I stood in the middle of the crowded hallway, surrounded by students pushing toward the nearest exit, but somehow everything around me had become distant.

The fire alarm continued screaming.

Teachers shouted.

Shoes scraped against the floor.

Someone bumped into my shoulder.

None of it mattered.

I could still hear that heartbeat.

Thump.

A pause.

Thump.

Another pause.

It was faint.

Too faint.

“Jack!”

Danny grabbed my arm.

“What are you doing?”

I looked at him.

“Someone’s inside.”

“What?”

“I heard someone.”

Danny stared at me.

“Where?”

I pointed toward the corridor.

“Over there.”

“Jack, everybody’s getting out.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you going that way?”

I didn’t have an answer.

I pulled my arm free.

“I’ll be right back.”

“Jack!”

I ran.

“Jack!”

I ignored him.

I didn’t know why I was running.

I didn’t know why I could hear the heartbeat.

I didn’t even know if I had actually heard it.

Maybe it was my imagination.

Maybe the alarm was messing with my head.

Maybe someone was trapped somewhere.

I turned the corner.

The hallway was almost empty.

Smoke wasn’t visible.

There was no fire.

That made everything more confusing.

I slowed down.

The heartbeat was still there.

Thump.

Thump.

I looked around.

The sound seemed to be coming from the science wing.

I walked toward it.

The closer I got, the louder it became.

My heart began beating faster too.

I reached the science laboratory.

The door was closed.

I tried the handle.

Locked.

“Hello?”

Nothing.

I knocked.

“Is anyone inside?”

Silence.

Then—

Thump.

My eyes widened.

Someone was definitely inside.

I looked through the small glass window in the door.

The room was dark.

“Hello?”

A faint sound came from inside.

A cough.

I stepped back.

“Hey!”

I tried the handle again.

Still locked.

I looked around for something I could use.

There was a fire extinguisher mounted on the wall.

I grabbed it.

For a second, I just stared at it.

“What am I doing?”

I raised it and struck the glass.

It cracked.

I hit it again.

The glass shattered.

I reached through the broken window and unlocked the door.

When I opened it, smoke rushed toward me.

I covered my mouth.

“Hello!”

Someone coughed.

I stepped inside.

The smoke wasn’t thick enough to completely blind me, but it burned my eyes.

I could barely see.

Then I noticed something.

A student was lying on the floor near one of the laboratory tables.

A girl.

She looked unconscious.

I ran toward her.

“Hey!”

No response.

I crouched beside her.

She was breathing.

Barely.

I grabbed her shoulders.

“Wake up!”

Nothing.

I lifted her.

She was heavier than I expected.

I pulled her arm around my neck and tried to drag her toward the door.

My eyes watered.

The alarm continued screaming.

I could hear footsteps outside now.

Teachers were approaching.

“Help!” I shouted.

I dragged the girl through the doorway.

Two teachers rushed toward me.

“Get her outside!”

They took her from me.

I stumbled backward, coughing.

A teacher grabbed my shoulder.

“What were you doing in there?”

“There was someone inside.”

“We told everyone to evacuate!”

“She was trapped.”

The teacher looked toward the girl.

Then back at me.

“You did the right thing.”

I nodded.

My lungs felt like they were burning.

I walked outside with the other students.

Danny immediately found me.

“Are you insane?”

“I found someone.”

“I know!”

He looked at my face.

“You’re bleeding.”

“What?”

He pointed.

I touched my forehead.

My fingers came away with a small amount of blood.

I must have cut myself on the broken glass.

“It’s nothing.”

Danny shook his head.

“You ran into a building during a fire alarm.”

“There wasn’t even a fire.”

“That doesn’t make it better!”

Malcolm appeared beside us.

“What happened?”

Danny pointed at me.

“Tell him.”

I explained.

Malcolm listened quietly.

When I finished, he looked toward the school building.

“That’s strange.”

“What?”

“The alarm was triggered manually.”

I frowned.

“How do you know?”

“I heard Mr. Wilson say it.”

Principal Wilson was standing near the entrance, talking to several teachers.

Malcolm lowered his voice.

“He said there was no fire.”

Danny stared at him.

“So why did the alarm go off?”

“No idea.”

I looked back at the building.

Something didn’t feel right.

But before I could say anything, a voice called my name.

“Jack.”

I turned.

It was Amy.

She walked toward me with Chloe.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re bleeding.”

“It’s just a scratch.”

Amy looked at my forehead.

“You should get that checked.”

“I will.”

“You sure?”

I nodded.

She smiled slightly.

“Okay.”

Then she walked away.

Danny watched her leave.

“You’re bleeding and she’s the first thing you’re thinking about.”

“I wasn’t thinking about her.”

“You were.”

“I wasn’t.”

Malcolm sighed.

“You definitely were.”

I looked at both of them.

“Can we talk about something else?”

Danny grinned.

“Fine.”

He looked toward the school.

“Like why our school almost burned down.”

I stared at the building again.

The fire alarm suddenly stopped.

The courtyard became strangely quiet.

Principal Wilson stepped forward.

“Everyone remain calm. There is no fire. We are investigating the cause of the alarm. Please return to your classrooms when instructed.”

Students immediately began talking.

Some complained.

Others laughed.

A few were already recording videos on their phones.

Within minutes, rumors began spreading.

Someone said a chemistry experiment exploded.

Someone else said a student pulled the alarm as a prank.

Another person claimed there had been an intruder.

By the time we returned to class, there were at least ten different versions of what happened.

None of them were true.

At least, not completely.

⸻

History class was unusually quiet.

Mr. Reed stood at the front of the room with his arms folded.

He was one of those teachers who didn’t need to raise his voice.

When he entered the room, everyone automatically became quieter.

He looked around.

“I’ve heard approximately seventeen different stories about what happened during lunch.”

Someone laughed.

“Apparently, according to one of you, the school was attacked by terrorists.”

The class laughed again.

Mr. Reed shook his head.

“Social media has officially destroyed everyone’s ability to distinguish between information and nonsense.”

He turned toward the board.

“Open your books.”

I pulled mine out.

My forehead still hurt.

I touched the cut.

It wasn’t deep.

But something strange had happened.

The pain was already disappearing.

I frowned.

A few minutes earlier, the cut had been bleeding.

Now it barely hurt.

I looked at my fingers.

Nothing.

No blood.

I glanced around.

Nobody was paying attention.

I touched the wound again.

There was still a small mark.

But it looked much smaller than it should have.

I ignored it.

Probably adrenaline.

That was all.

“Jack.”

I looked up.

Mr. Reed was staring at me.

“Yes, sir?”

“What caused the rise of the early civilizations we discussed yesterday?”

I knew the answer.

“Control of agriculture and access to reliable food.”

“Good.”

He nodded.

“Keep listening.”

“Yes, sir.”

I looked down.

For the next forty minutes, I tried to concentrate.

But something kept bothering me.

The heartbeat.

The girl.

The strange alarm.

And the way I had somehow heard someone through a wall.

I couldn’t explain it.

I decided I wouldn’t think about it anymore.

That decision lasted approximately six minutes.

⸻

After school, I found myself standing in front of the nurse’s office.

I had been told to come in after the incident.

The nurse looked at my forehead.

“You’ll be fine.”

“That’s it?”

She smiled.

“It’s a small cut.”

She cleaned it anyway.

“You’re lucky.”

I nodded.

She placed a small bandage over it.

“Try not to break any more windows.”

I laughed.

“I’ll try.”

I walked outside.

The parking lot was almost empty.

Most students had already gone home.

I looked around for Dad’s car.

Nothing.

I checked my phone.

A message.

Dad: Running late. Ten minutes.

I sighed.

I sat on one of the benches near the front entrance.

The school felt different when it was quiet.

During the day, Ravenwood High was loud.

Now the empty hallways beyond the glass doors looked almost unfamiliar.

I leaned back.

Then I heard something.

Footsteps.

I looked up.

Nobody.

The footsteps continued.

Slow.

Measured.

Coming from inside the school.

I stood.

“Hello?”

Nothing.

I walked toward the entrance.

The doors were locked.

I could see the hallway beyond them.

Empty.

I shook my head.

Maybe someone was still inside.

I turned away.

Then I heard a voice.

Very quietly.

“Jack.”

I froze.

I turned around.

A girl was standing across the parking lot.

Maya Sterling.

She was looking directly at me.

I had seen her in class before, but we’d never really spoken.

She walked toward me.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

She stopped a few feet away.

“You were inside the science wing.”

“How did you know?”

Her expression changed for half a second.

Then she smiled.

“Everyone saw you.”

“Oh.”

She looked at my forehead.

“Does it hurt?”

“Not anymore.”

She nodded.

For some reason, she looked relieved.

I noticed.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you ask?”

She looked away.

“No reason.”

I stared at her.

She was strange.

Not bad strange.

Just…

Like she knew something I didn’t.

“You should go home,” she said.

“I am.”

“Good.”

She started walking away.

“Maya.”

She stopped.

I hesitated.

“Did you hear the girl too?”

Her back remained toward me.

“What girl?”

“The one I found.”

Maya turned slowly.

“What did you hear?”

I frowned.

“Her heartbeat.”

For the first time, her expression changed completely.

Fear.

It disappeared almost immediately.

But I saw it.

“You should forget about today,” she said.

“Why?”

“Because sometimes people hear things when they’re scared.”

Then she walked away.

I watched her disappear around the corner.

Something about that conversation bothered me.

A lot.

⸻

Across the street, inside a parked black SUV, a man watched the school entrance.

He had been there for nearly an hour.

He looked to be in his early thirties.

Dark jacket.

Dark hair.

No school identification.

His eyes followed Maya as she walked away.

He picked up his phone.

“Tell them the boy heard it.”

A voice answered from the other end.

“What exactly did he hear?”

“The heartbeat.”

There was silence.

The man looked toward the school.

“And he found the girl?”

“Yes.”

“Did he touch her?”

“Yes.”

Another silence.

Then the voice said something that made the man’s expression harden.

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve seen enough.”

“Don’t approach him.”

“I wasn’t planning to.”

“Good.”

The call ended.

The man looked through the windshield.

Jack was still sitting outside.

For several seconds, he simply watched him.

Then he whispered:

“It’s happening again.”

⸻

My father’s car arrived ten minutes later.

I climbed inside.

“Sorry,” Dad said. “Traffic.”

“It’s fine.”

He started driving.

“You look tired.”

“Long day.”

“I heard about the alarm.”

“Everyone heard about it.”

He smiled.

“Your mother called me.”

“Of course she did.”

He laughed.

Then he glanced at me.

“You didn’t get into trouble, did you?”

“No.”

A pause.

“Jack?”

“Yeah?”

“I heard you went back inside.”

I looked at him.

“How did you know?”

“Your principal called.”

“Oh.”

Dad’s hands tightened slightly around the steering wheel.

“Don’t do that again.”

“I was helping someone.”

“I know.”

His voice softened.

“And I’m proud of you.”

I looked out the window.

“Thanks.”

For the rest of the drive, neither of us spoke much.

But Dad kept looking at me.

Like he was trying to remember something.

Something he couldn’t quite reach.

⸻

That night, I couldn’t sleep.

I lay in bed staring at the ceiling.

The house was quiet.

Everyone else was asleep.

I checked my phone.

12:43 A.M.

I put it down.

Closed my eyes.

Then I heard it.

Thump.

My eyes opened.

I sat up.

Silence.

I waited.

Thump.

My heart began racing.

There it was again.

A heartbeat.

But this time it wasn’t outside my room.

It was coming from somewhere downstairs.

I slowly got out of bed.

I opened my bedroom door.

The hallway was dark.

I walked downstairs.

The heartbeat became clearer.

Thump.

Thump.

I reached the bottom of the stairs.

The sound was coming from the kitchen.

I stopped.

“Dad?”

No answer.

I walked toward the kitchen.

The light was off.

I reached for the switch.

Before I could turn it on, I heard a voice behind me.

“Jack.”

I spun around.

Dad stood at the end of the hallway.

His face looked different.

Serious.

Almost frightened.

“What are you doing awake?”

“I heard something.”

“What?”

“A heartbeat.”

Dad stared at me.

Neither of us moved.

Then he asked quietly:

“Whose?”

“I don’t know.”

He walked toward me.

“What did it sound like?”

I frowned.

“A heartbeat.”

“I know what you mean.”

He stopped directly in front of me.

For a moment, he looked into my eyes.

Then his expression changed.

He looked almost afraid.

But only for a second.

“Go back upstairs,” he said.

“Dad—”

“Now.”

I had never heard him speak to me like that.

I obeyed.

As I walked upstairs, I looked back.

Dad was still standing in the hallway.

Watching me.

Waiting until I disappeared into my room.

The moment my bedroom door closed, he pulled out his phone.

His hands were shaking.

He stared at the screen for several seconds before making the call.

When someone answered, he spoke in a voice I had never heard before.

“He’s beginning to hear them.”

A pause.

“No.”

Another pause.

“You don’t understand.”

He looked toward my bedroom door.

“He’s only seventeen.”

His voice dropped.

“And if he’s already hearing heartbeats through walls…”

He swallowed.

“…then we may have a much bigger problem than we thought.”

Outside the house, hidden beneath the darkness, something moved.

Two pale eyes watched the Carter home from across the street.

Then the figure disappeared into the night.

And somewhere far beyond Ravenwood, an old secret stirred.

A secret that had been sleeping for generations.

A secret that had finally heard the name—

Jackson Carter.