I Am The Demon Prince

CHAPTER 7: Winter Lies

Alex and Jenna escorted Lila back to the main quad, where Tyler waited beneath the glowing streetlights. The moment he saw his sister, he shoved his phone into his coat pocket and rushed over, grabbing her shoulders to inspect her. His face paled at the sight of her trembling hands and dirt-covered jacket.

“What happened behind the building?” Tyler demanded, glancing between Lila and Alex.

“A stray dog chased her near the rusted gate,” Tyler answered before either of them could speak, hastily spinning a cover story. “Some frat guys play pranks with the old pipes to scare freshmen. They leave food out for strays, which brings wild dogs onto campus.”

He repeated the explanation twice while brushing dead leaves from her sleeves, desperate to make her believe him. Lila, however, didn't buy a single word. She crossed her arms and stared up at him.

“Dogs don't have hands, Tyler,” she stated.

“Shadows play tricks when you're scared,” Tyler insisted, refusing to meet her eyes.

Lila didn't argue further, but she waited for an opportunity to corner Alex.

The next morning, Tyler left their dorm room to buy sodas from the vending machine, leaving Alex alone with his sister. Lila zipped up her canvas backpack, turned to face him and dropped all pretense.

“What did the voice mean?” she asked. “Why did it call you Prince Thraxul?”

Alex plucked a loose thread from his jeans, keeping his expression perfectly neutral. “People say crazy things when they want to scare you. You should listen to your brother and stay out of the dark parts of campus.”

Lila narrowed her dark eyes, clearly unsatisfied with his attempt to brush her off.

By Sunday afternoon, she boarded the regional bus looking far more curious than frightened. Tyler stood on the concrete curb, watching the taillights disappear down the avenue. He shoved his bare hands into his pockets, released a long breath, then turned toward his roommate.

“If anything touches her, I won't stop to ask what side you're on,” Tyler warned, his voice dropping low. “I'll end whoever brings this war to my family.”

“I'd help you do it,” Alex replied.

Winter descended on Crestwood overnight, dumping a foot of snow across the lawns and burying the walkways beneath a thick white blanket. The biting cold brought more than inconvenience to the university staff. On Tuesday evening, the first night guard assigned to the science building vanished.

A second guard disappeared on Wednesday without radioing for backup. Campus police discovered their abandoned flashlights in the snow beside the metal tunnel hatch, yet there were no footprints leading away from the scene.

By Thursday afternoon, rumors had exploded across the dining hall. Students crowded around the long tables, trading wild theories about cracked pathways, recent blackouts and the missing staff members.

Alex sat near the back window with his lunch tray, eating a sandwich while surveying the noisy room.

Korrath stood at the center of the largest group near the beverage station. Dressed in a thick wool sweater, he gestured with his coffee cup, playing the role of a concerned fellow student perfectly.

“Everyone should stay out of the old tunnels,” Korrath advised, raising his voice just enough to carry over the chatter. “Those underground maintenance paths aren't safe, especially with the ice building up near the grates.”

A worried cheerleader nodded, moving closer to him for reassurance. Korrath responded with a warm, comforting smile.

Alex watched the exchange before setting his sandwich down.

The realization struck hard. Korrath wasn't simply enjoying the chaos spreading across campus. He had started the rumor himself, ensuring the tunnels attracted attention while setting a public trap to force Alex into the open. He wanted the entire school focused on the science building.

Jenna met Alex outside the dining hall and led him across the snowy quad to the library. They bypassed the main reading room, heading into the back archives, where Professor Grant Holbrook waited behind a cluttered wooden desk. Tyler sat in a nearby chair, tapping his foot restlessly against the floorboards.

Holbrook pushed a leather-bound ledger across the desk and opened its cracked pages.

“Look at the dates.”

Alex scanned the columns of names and dates written in fading brown ink. The ledger documented campus disappearances spanning two hundred years. The names clustered around the winter months, while the victims' last known locations consistently mapped to the steam tunnels beneath the science department.

“These line up with the demonic breeding cycles,” Jenna noted, leaning over the desk to examine the handwriting. “They use the tunnels to build nests when the temperature drops, dragging people underground to feed their young.”

Holbrook turned to an entry dated just one year before Alex arrived on campus.

“A tunnel nest was discovered here last winter. It was cleared and sealed by a lone Order warrior.”

He stared at the page, his voice breaking as he read the warrior's name aloud.

Jenna went rigid. She grabbed the edge of the desk, her knuckles whitening beneath the fluorescent lights as she stared at the familiar name.

“She was my mentor,” Jenna said quietly. “She sealed that hatch with her own blood. She gave her life to close it, making sure nothing ever came out of that particular tunnel again.”

“Someone broke her seal and reopened the nest,” Holbrook explained. “The guards were dragged down there to feed whatever is growing inside. They won't survive the night unless someone gets them out.”

At midnight, the three of them gathered behind the science building. Tyler carried a thick length of rebar he'd borrowed from a construction site, gripping the rusted metal like a baseball bat. Jenna held her silver blade in one hand and a red fire axe in the other. As Alex approached, she tossed him the axe.

He caught the wooden handle, tested its weight, then swung the weapon once to check his balance and grip.

“Do not break the seal on your chest,” Jenna warned, pointing her blade toward his jacket. “Use the axe. Let the steel do the work tonight.”

“I know how to swing it,” Alex replied.

They stood over the metal hatch. Snow had melted around its iron rim, leaving a perfect circle of dead, blackened grass. Warm, damp air seeped through the grating, carrying a foul stench of burnt copper and old blood.

Tyler seized the metal handle and hauled the hatch open. Its hinges screeched through the quiet night, sounding like metal tearing against metal.

Alex descended the iron ladder first, planting his boots firmly on the rungs. Jenna followed close behind, with Tyler bringing up the rear. The tunnel walls felt slick with dark moisture and the temperature climbed steadily as they descended deeper underground.

They navigated the narrow passage until it widened into a massive chamber carved from cracked stone.

Two campus guards sat tied to a concrete pillar near the center. Both were alive, but their eyes were wide with panic, thick gray duct tape covering their mouths. They thrashed against their ropes as the flashlights swept across the floor.

Tyler stepped forward to cut them loose.

Before he could cross the room, the heavy iron door behind them slammed shut. The metal lock ground into place with a loud, final click, trapping them inside the cavern.

Torches mounted along the stone walls burst into flames, bathing the chamber in orange light. Shadows peeled away from the corners, revealing dozens of gaunt, clawed creatures crouching in the dirt. They hissed and bared their jagged teeth, blocking every possible exit.

At the far end of the chamber, Korrath emerged from the darkness and offered them a lazy salute.

“I was worried you wouldn't come,” Korrath said…