It was a fine morning, clear weather. Not too hot but not too cold, just the ideal day to enjoy a walk outside. Definitely not the day you would think your life would irreversibly change.

Lea was walking towards the market center for her morning shift; she graduated from art college, majoring in graphic designing, and was working as a freelancer in her field. But because of her lack of talent and experience, work just wasn’t abundant enough to sustain her daily life. Thus, she walked towards the market, where she was forced to work at a part-time job in the nearby square.

But to be honest, she was completely content with the way her life was going, living at her own pace, slowly building up her skills and experience to eventually being able to support herself without working under a company. That was the dream.

Plus, the part-time job wasn’t too boring as well. At least, not as bad as her friends described it as.

This daily life, however, was interrupted by unusual flying words in front of her face.

Which was then followed by an ominous countdown.

She didn’t know what she was looking at. The street in the early morning was almost empty, but she saw some workers picking up crates, stopping their hands, and looking in front of them.

The seconds flowed quickly and the countdown ended long before she got a grip on what was going on.

And then the screeching happened, her ears were blasted with the most painful sound ever, which stopped as soon as it came, and that wasn't even the weirdest thing as of yet. When she picked herself up from the ground, with one hand in her head, Lea was greeted- by a giant ball of light in the middle of the market.

she stared in awe, as the ball as big as a car floated in the middle of the street. It looked confused as she was, looking around and contemplating? Even though it had no face or… anything, she felt like it was.

Then as if making up its mind, it blinked once resolutely and split itself into hundreds of smaller versions of itself, each shooting towards different directions

And one coming directly at her.

She was still in the middle of her astonishment when she noticed that it was coming straight at her. Before she could take a step back, the smaller ball of light hovered right in front of her face and blinked.

And nothing registered in her mind. Nothing else mattered anymore.

Not the job she had to go to, not the deadline of her work, and not the screams she heard in the distance.

Lea followed the orb towards the building, like a moth to the flame.

She could see nothing else but the light.

…………………………………….

…………….....

..........

Lea woke up groggy and weak and with a terrible headache; she tried getting up but her head swayed left and right like it weighed 10 pounds more.

She turned and lied on her stomach and was about to push herself up using her hands when she noticed that she was lying on the floor, not her room and that she was naked, with her clothes just draped over her.

Lea lifted her upper body and looked around while her hand grasped on the clothes covering her. She saw other people lying naked just like her on the floor and her mind went to the worst conclusion, but then she noticed the state of the people lying on the floor.

One’s face was bashed up like if it was hit with a brick and the other person was lying down with his head floating on top of a pool of blood.

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Like a sudden revelation. She remembered the events of the past day, of the ball of light; her following it towards a building and staying in the dark, staring at it for hours until someone came.

Whom she… attacked? she remembered in shock.

Why did I do all of that? She remembered gruesomely clawing that person’s face out with her nails while she desperately tried to kill him, which ended with a fist in her face and a fade to black.

Lea held her head with her hand. At least that explains the headache.

She chuckled as she got up, her hands around the clothes. It was way harder than she thought. Her arms and legs felt like noodles and her balance was also off.

She moved towards the bodies lying around; she remembered them, like her, they were also with her, gazing at the ball in the dark, which she didn’t see as she looked around.

Did it leave?

Before Lea could speculate further, she heard a low growl. Not the growl you hear in dogs but the kind of growl you imagine a bear or lion would make, a deep one, a primal one, a scary one. Which was followed by a rhythmic tapping on the ceramic floor of four legs. Coming closer.

Lea remembered the giant ball of light; she remembered just looking it at dumbstruck when it came.

She looked around immediately, not waiting to see what was coming. She had a feeling that it would be the last thing she would see.

The only thing to hide behind in was a locker. She moved towards it with her noodle legs, ignoring her mind telling her that she would die just like the troupe in horror movies; of people hiding in the lockers. Suddenly opened by the killer and killed for jump scares.

She opened it quickly but stealthily, thanking the gods that it was not locked, and closed it, which made noise despite her efforts. The tapping increased in reaction to the noise and the owner of the growl came into view, barely being seen through the small slits of the locker. It was nightmare fuel, just like what she was expecting.

The best way to describe it was that it looked like a mix of a werewolf and a Komodo-dragon.

it was only tall as her waist but made it up with its bulkiness. It looked like a wolf but moved more like how a lizard would move. But the weirdest thing about the creature - Was that it had its skull over its head rather than inside its head; its boney white head appearing as a stark contrast to its dark grey body.

its yellow slitted eyes peeking through its skull and saw the bodies lying on the floor eliciting it to come closer while looking around for anything that moves.

Lea stayed still while praying to all gods that it wouldn’t notice her scent among the group of people lying on the floor, and the beast, as if forgetting the noise ever occurred, went towards the body; the body, which although looked like a half starving man, was definitively alive and weakly breathing.

Its boney face went closer to the unconscious head. The skull which ended as sharp spikes loomed right over his head, and before she could even flinch it chomped down on his face. The person woke up immediately to his face being eaten. He cried a guttural half-scream, made from his half-chomped face. He struggled, trying to tear away from the beast’s skull, punching and scratching its head while it was eating his face. And with one last crunch, the person stopped moving.

Lea did not look away, nor close her eyes.

She struggled to not make a noise while shaking, trying not to hyperventilate, while the beast moved from its first meal to the next person lying on the floor.

unlike the first, this one's head was munched without so much as a whimper, the person too deep in slumber, now forever in it. She closed her eyes, unable to look at the dreadful sight.

A sound suddenly interrupted the feast, piercing the chewing sounds. Lea opened her eyes, in fear. For a moment she thought it was her, but the beast looked in some other direction, completely alert, and after a moment, dashed towards it and away from the view of the locker.

It was then followed by two screams and a loud smashing sound, which was followed by sounds of a series of scuffles, then a final roar which she could feel from inside the locker, and then suddenly silence.

"........................."

She didn’t know what to think. One of them sounded humane. Did it kill the person as well? Lea thought in fright. Just what was happening to the world she knew a day ago!

Her despair however was interrupted by footsteps coming closer, but this time of two legs. A person walked into view, the one whom she attacked last night. Lea was left stunned inside the locker. He was still alive? After that beast went after him. Did he kill it?

Lea almost opened the locker in joy to call out to him but then hesitated...

She did technically attack him, even though she was not herself. And his face looked horrible with all the tearing and clawing she did. She also remembered him skewering the person in front of her with a weapon.

But this hesitation was quickly snuffed out. This is stupid. she criticized her thoughts.

It was not him who attacked her, but her who attacked him, if anything she should show herself as harmless to show that she wouldn't claw his face again like last time.

Lea looked at the person who watched the bloodied bodies with guilt painted on his face.

She made her mind and opened the locker door to meet a bewildered person staring at her.

“Um... hey? … you, ok?’”