I had a lot of trouble sleeping that night. The blankets stuck to my skin, rough and uncomfortable. I got up and paced about the room, but it made no difference. Despite the heat of the day, the stone floor tiles were icy cold at night. It still didn’t make the bed any more warm or inviting. As I lay back between the rough sheets, I could overhear the footsteps of Angels streaming back and forth through the halls, which did little to quiet the questions racing through my head.

Blood Thunder. This mysterious group of people wanted our extermination. How had this happened? I lay there for ages, scrolling through countless posts and articles, watching video after video, trying to get to the root of all this. This had all started with the video from Vancouver, of course. But it seemed like after that, a flood of videos had surfaced from all around the world. Like someone had been waiting for something like this to blow up, just to share everything they had stored.

And it had worked scarily well.

Like wildfire, the movement had torn across the internet, popping up in profiles and statuses as people banded together against the ‘alien threat’. There were people who were skeptical, of course. Who wouldn’t be? But as people continued to speak out, the idea wormed its way into the minds and hearts of people around the world. Sure, no governments had openly made a statement on this whole matter. But whispers and rumours abounded that they were hunting for these ‘human-insect hybrids’ all around the world. I had to imagine that with concrete proof, the world would go insane. But for now, things were silent.

And that made Blood Thunder furious.

According to their manifesto, an alien threat had descended among the human race. These aliens were hiding in their midst, disguised as humans. They could transform into insect-human hybrids and were slowly replacing people one by one. Anyone from outside of Blood Thunder was viewed with intense scrutiny... even the people within the organization were under heavy surveillance. They wanted nothing to do with us, nothing but our total eradication.

And then the public figures got involved. CEOs, politicians, military leaders, all voicing their support for Blood Thunder. Oh, there had been backlash, but those voices had been easily drowned out by the cheers of their supporters. The movement was gaining intense ground... which brought us to today.

I tapped the video. A frazzled-looking young woman was staring into the camera. “Hello, everyone,” she said. “I hope you’re doing well. The bugs haven’t gotten to me yet.” She glanced around the room, as if trying to confirm her own statement. The leader of Blood Thunder was, oddly enough, this woman. She brushed aside a lock of frizzy orange hair before continuing. “As you can see, I’m not in Amsterdam anymore.” She panned the camera around the room, revealing a rather plain hotel room, with a bright blue sky and sun out the window. “I’ve got an insider tip that the bugs are planning a major attack on Timbuktu next. So your girl Rocky is right on in the city, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.”

“An insider tip,” I whispered to myself. A spy indeed. But who would be a spy within our organization? What reason would you have? Actually, come to think of it, weren’t there a lot of reasons? Loss of autonomy. Military training. The expectation that we would fight and kill humans. What... whatever was happening to Carmen. And not just her, but the many others who were going through the same or similar things. But still... complete eradication. Why did it have to be all or nothing all the time?

Then again, wasn’t it the same with us? The Demons were evil. We needed to eradicate them completely. Even though Thea existed. But then again, there was a greater purpose to this. And the Demons were an existential threat, if not to everyone else, then at least to us. They were the real ones infiltrating everything. We were... well, we weren’t exactly humans anymore, but we used to be. It was all backwards. Why did this have to be so confusing?

“So far, I haven’t encountered any bugs. I have met with lots of you, and you guys have all been so great. I’m so glad to see the amount of international support we’ve garnered for this cause. It’s worth fighting for. The world’s governments can’t cover this up forever. We’re going to be strong.” She looked around again, as if double-checking that nobody else had entered the room in the intervening moments. “You guys saw the video from Vancouver"

Now, the real the question was this: was Rocky legitimate? Or was she lying? I could tell that she definitely wasn’t a Demon. Even through video, it was frighteningly obvious when a Demon was a Demon. But how could she be genuine and say these things? Wasn’t Blood Thunder working with the Demons? Didn’t they see Echoes? And she was the very leader of the organization.... or was it?

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Rocky pulled out a bandana, bright blue with a blood-red lighting bolt emblazoned on the middle. Tying the cloth around her forehead, she looked to the camera one final time. “Okay, true believers. I’m heading out again. If you see your girl on the street, just make the signal. I want to know how many real people we have here... I’m kinda paranoid.” She chuckled. “But I’m excited. This time for sure. We’ll catch a bug live, and show the whole world the creeping underbelly that they refuse to acknowledge.”

The video ended. It was taken... eight hours ago? I checked her social media accounts. No updates since? What had happened? I wanted to know so badly. Blood Thunder chats were abuzz, still, asking the same thing. Where was she? Was she okay? I saw others reporting that they’d arrived in the city, too. Some said that they’d seen her out and about on the streets earlier that day...

I kind of wanted to meet her.

“Still awake?” Thea’s voice startled me. “You are, aren’t you?”

She was close. So close. Too close. I turned to the wall, my temples throbbing, my vision blurring. It was overwhelming. I fell to my knees. The creature inside me was struggling to escape. My skin flaked away in strips, raw muscle burning in contact with the air, and slowly dissolving as my chrysalis solidified. Breaking free, my Imago crawled against the wall again, scratching against the stone with black-and-orange claws, trying to get to her.

“Thea,” I managed to choke out.

“Are you beginning to understand what I mean? How Quetzal’s plan is... different?” she chuckled. “And how it exposes the Angels for what they are?”

“I...”

“You feel their control closing in around you, now? Their compulsions? How they take and take and take, and twist you into their tools. How you exist to kill. And not just Echoes, not just Demons, but now even humans. ‘Oh, it’s for the greater good,’ they say. But you know better, don’t you?”

Her words hit hard. I felt sick. My body kept pressed against the wall, powerless to resist its primal urge to seek and destroy. “Why are you here, Thea?”

“I’m reminding you of your tragic fate, Quinn. The fate that you signed up for. That you agreed to. That you can never escape from.”

“You’re sick, aren’t you?”

“I’m hoping that, if you hate where you are enough, that there’s perhaps some way to break free. You understand? You are a tool of destruction now. You are their Angel. And starting tomorrow, the blood will be on your hands. Even your mother—”

My mother. “You know what’s happening to her? Tell me!”

“No,” Thea giggled. “No. I do know what’s happening to her, but I don’t think I’ll tell you. Just keep guessing. Keep wondering. Maybe you’ll see her on the battlefield tomorrow.”

I wanted to cover my ears. My Imago didn’t have any, but the placebo effect might have help. I didn’t want to hear anything. I didn’t want to hear Thea say this, at all. “Why would you be so mean to me?”

“I want you to suffer and break free of your destiny, Quinn. There’s no guarantee that it will work, but I... well... I just have to try. And so for that, I’m sorry. But I have to be as cruel as I can.”

“But why?” Just so I could break free of my destiny?

“Why? Quinn... don’t you know?” She was even closer. Right on the other side of the wall. My head was pounding. “Because if there’s no hope for you... then there’s no hope for me, either. And I don’t think I can live like that, even if I’m doomed to do so.”

Her voice faded as she pulled away from the wall, leaving me lying against the cold stone wall. My transformation reverted, carapace peeling away to leave my skin raw and sweating. I sat there, gasping for breath, wondering if I would ever be able to wrest back control over my destiny. If she was right. Or if she was wrong.

Well, one thing was sure. It helped me get to sleep. Utterly exhausted, I crawled under the covers and was out like a light. I’d deal with this tomorrow.