From that time onward, his life had never been the same. When he woke up that night, the lab had been overturned, the once organized space turned into haphazard chaos of broken glass and destroyed equipment.
That night, he didn't know how he managed to get home. It was as if he closed his eyes and somehow made it back. He hadn't given it much thought at the time, until a wave of hunger hit him. He rushed into the kitchen, opening the fridge and pulling out leftovers.
He shoved the cold food into his mouth, only to reflexively regurgitate it the next moment. It didn't taste like it should; it tasted like crap on his tongue. His stomach growled in hunger. He took another bite of the food, expecting it to be different, but the outcome remained the same.
"What's happening to me?" he thought, confusion mixing with fear. His thoughts were chaotic. The world spun, his ears rang. The sounds, the sounds were even worse: rodents squeaking, insects scurrying around. He could see the world in a different light.
But it didn't bring him joy. His head rang and pulsed, the headache amplifying with each and every passing second. And the hunger, the hunger made him feel weak, his throat so dry he could barely breathe.
He rushed to the sink, taking a quick sip that managed to calm him slightly. The hunger was still persistent. His stomach burned, ached, as if it were eating itself. He rushed back to the fridge, searching for something, anything, he could consume.
His gaze finally locked onto something: a slab of meat, wrapped and frozen. His decision was instinctive. He grabbed the cut of meat, his tongue going to work, licking frantically, but there was nothing.
Minutes later, he lay panting on the floor, barely able to think or move. The house was a mess, ingredients and food items staining the walls and floors. With no satiety, he gradually lost consciousness.....
When he woke up, he was already on top of a woman. His grip was locked tight around her, her weak retaliation barely registering. She looked to be in her mid-thirties, auburn hair tangled and matted, but that wasn't what caught his attention.
It was the way she looked at him, pure horror, raw fear. It was all too familiar. His mother had worn that same expression the night she was stabbed.
Something dropped onto the woman's face, and he froze.
'What?' the thought flickered through his mind in confusion.
His grip loosened instantly, and he stumbled back on reflex. The woman, free, scrambled to her feet and fled, her sobs fading as she disappeared into the distance.
He touched his lip. A thick, warm liquid smeared his fingers. When he pulled his hand back and looked, it was red. It was blood.
His eyes widened in shock, his arm trembling as fragmented memories surged back in blurred flashes. Still shaking, he turned his head and he saw it.
A man lay collapsed on the floor, blood pooling beneath him. He understood instantly. He had killed him, fed on him.
~Back To Present~
Tears streamed down his face, his sobs breaking down into whimpers he couldn't control. His body trembled violently as he reached for the necklace at his chest, a familiar face flashing through his mind.
His tears fell heavier, spilling freely. "I'm sorry, Olivia… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry…"
Bang!
His body seized suddenly, every movement locking in place as the sobs died in his throat. Then came the familiar sensation, the loss of control, his body moving against his will. He knew it all too well.
His head snapped sharply to the left. Glass shattered somewhere behind him, the sound echoing through the building. A millisecond later, a bullet grazed the side of his head, drawing blood.
At that moment, he felt his consciousness begin to fade. He recognized the sensation instantly, the monster was waking up. Crimson liquid trickled down his ear, and with it came a sudden, desperate opportunity.
There was a sniper trained on him.
If he could delay the awakening for just a second, the shot could end everything. Michael summoned the last of his strength and will, hell-bent on staying conscious.
Bang! Another shot rang in his ear, a warning this time. Then the real impact came, the bullet slammed into his skull, rattling his vision and tearing his grip on consciousness apart. His mind dipped, unable to fight anymore. Through the blur, the only thing he could make out was men in tactical gear bursting into the building.
He closed his eyes with a faint smile. This was the end he had so desperately wanted.
His hopes were for naught.
The bullet lodged in his head began to shift, slowly forcing itself back out as the wound healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Before the tactical team could fully surround him, his body betrayed him.
His skin darkened first, the human tone draining away as if swallowed by shadow. Veins bulged grotesquely beneath the surface, glowing faintly red before splitting open as coarse, black hair tore through his flesh. His muscles swelled and twisted, fibers snapping and reforming with sickening cracks as his frame stretched beyond human limits.
His fingers curled inward violently. Bones snapped. Joints bent the wrong way.
Each finger elongated, nails thickening and blackening before sharpening into talons that scraped against the concrete as his hands slammed to the floor. A wet, animalistic growl forced its way out of its throat, shredding what little remained of his humanity.
Its spine arched sharply.
With a deafening crack, something forced its way out of its back. Flesh split open as massive appendages erupted outward, bone pushing through muscle and skin before being wrapped in stretched, leathery membrane.
The wings unfurled fully with a thunderous snap, bat-like and enormous, the torn edges ragged and disturbing.
Jaw distended with a brutal jerk, teeth loosening before dropping free and clattering to the ground. New ones erupted in their place, long, jagged fangs that pushed past its lips as its mouth widened unnaturally. Its ears elongated and sharpened, tearing through skin as its skull reshaped itself, horns curving upward from its brow in a slow, grinding ascent.
Its eyes were last.
The whites darkened, flooding with red until there was nothing human left in them. When they snapped open again, they glowed with feral awareness, locking onto the soldiers below as prey, blood bags.
The bullet finally fell free from its skull, clinking harmlessly against the floor.
It rose to its full height, towering now, a hulking silhouette of muscle, wings, and shadow. The creature inhaled deeply, nostrils flaring as it tasted the air, gun oil, fear, sweat, blood. So much blood.
The monster bared its fangs and slowly turned toward them. The men froze, shock and disbelief pinching their stomachs. The transformation had happened in the blink of an eye. Then It smiled, so terrifying it made their skin crawl.
Some of them swallowed hard, gripping their weapons like lifelines. If it weren't for training, they'd have pissed themselves.
"Open fire!" the voice barked through the comms. Instinct and training kicked in. Guns raised, triggers pulled.
Ratatatatata! Bullets screamed toward the monster. For a heartbeat, confidence was high. Then the rounds bounced off, clinking uselessly against its flesh. Bruises popped up where the bullets hit, but within seconds, they faded.
The men's faces went pale. It had tanked it all. Their military-grade equipment useless.
The monster tilted its head, fangs flashing in the dim light. It savored the fear radiating off them, the way they started to hesitate, muscles tightening, hearts hammering.
"Lawton, take the shot," a voice barked over the comms.
Crack!
The sniper fired. Perfect aim. The bullet sped toward its target, but the monster moved in time enough to let it miss by a centimeter. It heard the rifle bark before the bullet even arrived, and that tiny delay was all it needed.
The operatives swallowed hard, their hope draining as fast as their courage.
"Fire!" someone from the group yelled and they all fired in unison.
Gunfire filled the room nonstop. The sound blurred into one long, ugly noise. Men shouted over comms, voices cracking, orders overlapping and falling apart.
The mutant finally moved. One second it was there, the next it wasn't.
A soldier was yanked forward so fast his feet left the ground. There was a sharp crack as his neck snapped. His body hit the floor a moment later.
Another man turned, rifle half-raised. A claw punched through his chest from behind. The monster ripped its arm free and shoved the corpse aside without slowing down.
They tried to keep firing. It didn't matter. Bullets hit, bruised, healed, nothing worked.
"Fall back! Fall back!" someone screamed.
It was too late.
The monster barreled through them, wings slamming into bodies, sending men crashing into walls. One operative emptied his magazine point blank into its face. The creature barely blinked. It grabbed him by the helmet and slammed his head into the concrete until he stopped moving.
Blood covered the floor now. Thick and warm. The smell of death filled the air.
The creature paused, chest rising and falling slightly. It looked around slowly, eyes locking onto the last few survivors. Fear rolled off them in waves. It could feel their hearts racing, hear them pounding.
One man stumbled backward, tripped over a body, and fell. He scrambled, trying to crawl away. The monster lunged toward him.
The man accepted his fate at that moment. There was no escape. He closed his eyes, trembling, waiting for death. But it never came.
Instead, the first thing he felt was cold. A bone-chilling cold that crawled through him, making his body shiver.
His eyes snapped open, locking onto the figure standing before him. A man with impossibly broad shoulders stood there, shielding him completely.
"Sorry, I couldn't make it in time,"