Athena's breath hitched as she watched the creature shift its grotesque form, its elongated limbs stretching unnaturally as it sniffed the air.
The way it moved, slow and deliberate, was far too intelligent for a mindless beast. It knew they were there. It was searching for them.
Xavier motioned for everyone to stay low. The team moved swiftly, pressing themselves against the ruins for cover, but Athena knew it wouldn't be enough.
She could feel the weight of the creature's attention, an invisible pressure that made her skin crawl.
This wasn't like fighting zombies, those things attacked mindlessly, drawn only to sound and movement. But this? This monster was calculating. It was hunting them.
A guttural growl rumbled from its throat, its head snapping in their direction with unnatural speed.
Its face was wrong, where a human's eyes should be, there were deep, glowing slits, like molten embers burning beneath decayed flesh.
