Loud groans reverberated down the long halls of the building. Danny crept his way down the stark-white passage, his desire to help slowly losing out to his growing fear. 

He had been told that Claude had returned to the shelter looking a tad sick not long before he’d come for the overnight shift. When the groaning started Danny hopped up and headed toward the sound, quickly realising it was coming from Claude's room. As he had gotten closer, the groans had gotten more pained, taking on an almost inhuman quality. 

Danny considered heading back to the office and calling an ambulance but steeled himself. He was already so close to the man’s room, he decided to check on him and call an ambulance if necessary. He had his phone clenched, ready to make the call. 

Danny stopped outside the door of the room, a few of the other guys staying in the shelter had poked their heads out of their rooms to see what was happening. He fumbled with the master key a little before knocking on the door. “Claude, mate, it’s Danny. What’s happening in there? Do you need an ambulance?” 

He got a pained shriek in response, rattling the ears of everyone nearby. The door then swung open, pulling Danny forward along with his key. A man charged out of the room, crashing into Danny. The man only vaguely resembled the Claude that Danny knew, his face was contorted in pain and his hair and skin were drenched in sweat that was evaporating at a visible rate. The most shocking feature of all was his eyes. They glowed a deep orange, a colour which seemed to have spread throughout all of the veins in the man’s body. The amber glow could even be seen beneath his sweat-drenched clothes. Still, it was those eyes that Danny locked onto. 

Danny was so shocked by the sight that he froze, but Claude didn’t. The inhuman figure scrambled over Danny, and as he did the amber, glowing liquid spilt out of a wound on his leg. Claude dashed down the hallway toward the shelter’s exit, howling in pain. His howls were soon joined by Danny’s own. The glowing liquid had fallen onto the exposed skin of Danny’s arm, sizzling as it did so. Danny felt firey pain race across his body, igniting what felt like every cell inside him. He writhed in pain, crying out in agony. He felt hands on him, trying to hold him, but his senses were lost in the throws of pain. 

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He heard voices, felt himself move, and soon found bright lights blaring down on him. He was struggling to make sense of the changes happening around him though. People were blurry shapes distorted in the light, voices were distant calls and shouts, and there was only one distinct presence in his mind, the pain. His body no longer felt like it was his, instead, it had been taken over by a hostile force. This invader had wreaked havoc throughout the lands that were his body and now they were laying siege to the last remaining castle, his mind. 

Constant waves of hot pain crashed against his brain, threatening to overwhelm him each time they struck. Danny dug deep, searching for strength he wasn’t sure he had. He could barely muster a cohesive thought but something instinctual was screaming at him to fight. Something in him knew that giving up would be the end for him. So, like so many times before, he continued to resist. 

The pain was unrelenting, having taken complete control of his body it left him feeling like there was no escape. The assault came from every cell in his body at this point, begging him to give in and surrender to the pain. Doubt began to infect his mind. His already shaky mind was growing more and more haggard. The ceaseless pain continued to chip away at his resolve and the seeds of doubt began to pollinate throughout his mind. 

What if I just give in? Will the pain finally stop? The first thoughts he was able to muster together rang through his mind. He felt himself slipping, the doubt having created cracks in his resistance. 

Suddenly his body that had been writhing in pain stilled. A deep, guttural roar formed in his belly, it rose through his chest, gaining strength, and then tore its way out of his throat. The roar startled everyone in the emergency ward he had been brought to. Doctors and nurses alike stopped what they were doing, something about the roar having resonated within them.  They watched the young man’s body finally relax, the strange glow pulsing beneath his skin subsiding. 

Danny finally felt a sense of peace, the pain that had tormented his body and mind had been replaced with a warm glow that washed across him in gentle waves. His instincts finally stopped screaming at him and he felt his weary consciousness wane. 

At 3:04 AM in an emergency ward in the quiet city of Madley, Danny Skala lost consciousness.