Aaron's legs carried him forward like he was a puppet. He could hear his own breath rasping in his ears, but underneath it was the whisper of the Lustrix, steady, patient, pressing against his skull until it drowned out everything else. The campsite was alive with the sound of fire crackling, a dog barking, someone laughing at a dumb joke. It should have been comforting. It should have made him stop. Instead it just made the mask pulse harder, each sound twisting into something grotesque inside his head.
He lurked just past the tree line, his eyes locked on the girl with the long hair. She tossed her head back, brushing it behind her ear, and in that moment Aaron's knees nearly buckled. He wasn't seeing her anymore. He was seeing the mask's version — skin too soft, neck too pale, a target drawn across her throat. She was glowing like bait, and he was the hook already sunk too deep to pull free. His body trembled, his nails digging into his palms so hard that blood slicked his fists, but even that pain wasn't enough to shake him out of it.
The dog barked again and turned toward the trees. Its ears pricked. The girl reached down and patted its head, whispering something sweet, completely oblivious to what was watching her. Aaron's breath hitched, the sound too loud, and the dog stiffened. For a second he thought he'd been caught. His heart froze, but then the mask tightened around his skin, and the dog whimpered, shrinking back like it could sense something much worse than just a boy hiding in the shadows.
Aaron stepped out of the trees before he even knew what he was doing. His voice caught in his throat. He wanted to scream, to warn them, but nothing came out except a low, broken sound. The family didn't even notice him at first. They were too busy laughing, too wrapped up in their little world. Only the girl turned, her eyes meeting his through the dim light of the fire. She smiled — not out of recognition, but the kind of polite, awkward smile you give a stranger who looks lost.
That smile cracked something in him. The mask squeezed down, and Aaron's lips twisted into a grin that wasn't his. His hands shook at his sides. He felt the hunger roar up from the Lustrix, flooding his body with heat, pulling him forward step by step until he was inside their circle of firelight.
The girl tilted her head, confused now. "Hey, are you—?" she started, but the words never finished.
Aaron lunged.
The fire scattered sparks into the air as the family erupted in chaos. The dog yelped and bolted, the mother screamed, the brother shot to his feet. But Aaron only saw the girl. He hit her hard, knocking her backwards off the log, her hair fanning out against the dirt as she cried out in shock. His hands clamped down on her wrists with strength that wasn't his own. She struggled beneath him, kicking, thrashing, her voice rising in terror.
Aaron's mind was screaming too. He told himself to stop, to let go, to run, but the mask turned her cries into laughter in his ears. It twisted the panic in her eyes into something mocking, taunting, daring him. His cock was hard, painful against his pants, and he hated himself for it. He wanted to puke, to claw his own skin off, but the Lustrix pulsed in time with his heartbeat, each throb drowning him deeper in its grip.
The girl's brother grabbed for him, shouting, trying to tear him off, but Aaron whipped his head around with a snarl. The mask flared, veins black across his face, his eyes burning red for an instant. The boy stumbled back, terrified, as if he'd just looked into the face of something that wasn't human anymore. The mother screamed louder, dragging her son back toward the tent.
Aaron turned back to the girl, panting, drool dripping from his lips. She was sobbing now, kicking uselessly, her voice breaking as she begged him to stop. Her words cut into him, somewhere deep, but the Lustrix smothered it, replacing the sound with something sweeter, something that made him press harder down on her wrists.
And then his mind fractured.
For just a split second, he wasn't there. He was standing in a circus tent again, the ringmaster booming, the crowd cheering. The girl wasn't beneath him anymore, she was in the center of the ring, spinning with ribbons, smiling wide as the lights hit her. The laughter of the audience was deafening. He laughed with them, clapping his hands, feeling warm for the first time in forever.
When he blinked, he was back on the ground, the girl screaming under him, nails raking at his arms, blood on her face where she'd been slammed into the dirt. He howled like an animal, not sure if it was from rage or despair, and bent down close enough that his teeth brushed her ear.
"Help me," he whispered, and for a moment it wasn't clear if he was begging her or mocking her.
Up above, Vilgax's ship broke through the atmosphere. The heat of re-entry lit its hull like a meteor. Inside, the warlord loomed over his command crew, eyes fixed on the blue planet swelling larger in the viewport. His claws tightened around the railing. The Omnitrix was here. He could feel it, pulsing like a beacon. Nothing on this world would stop him.
Down in the forest, Aaron's laughter cracked through the night, a sound that didn't belong to a boy anymore.