I was walking, each step slamming into the pavement like a personal rebuke; left then right, left then right. Fury boiled inside me, my anger aimed squarely at myself for letting things spiral into this mess. My whole body burned with frustration as I made my way to Alex’s apartment. It was time to head below…and end every elder I could get my hands on.
The sun glared off the snow, making everything too damn bright. The city felt like it was under a spotlight, every crack and flaw laid bare. Running wasn’t an option; I’d stick out like a sore thumb. As much as it pissed me off, I had to keep my pace measured. Every step forward felt like a punch to the underworld, each one driven by the hatred I carried… for myself, for my cowardice, for the stupid, stupid choices that led to this.
Autumn. She wasn’t the girl I knew anymore. Her whole presence was off. And Patrick? I should’ve seen it coming the moment I glimpsed the vision of Peter’s mess. But no. I tiptoed around the truth, too scared to step on anyone’s toes, terrified of what it might mean if Autumn really wanted me out. I didn’t want to be some possessive freak, some monster choking on his own obsession. For the family’s sake, I kept quiet, held back.
Not anymore.
I let my fear twist me up, let it eat away at every decision I made. How many times had I let that fear keep me from acting? How many times had I let the worst-case scenarios dictate my life? No more. This was different… Autumn’s life… her being was on the line. This ends here. Now.
The monster inside me stirred, restless and angry, a storm brewing under the surface. I replayed everything in my head… the way Autumn and Patrick’s life forces had tangled together. I’d seen it. Felt it. The pulse sense didn’t lie. But I was too blind, too stupid to recognize the curse for what it was. I had the proof staring me in the face, and I still did nothing.
The monster growled in my chest, hungry to be unleashed. Every nerve in my body screamed to let it out, to tear through the lies and the fear. My thoughts raced ahead to what came next. Carter’s family would all be there. We’d confront this together, fight to free Autumn from whatever had its claws in her.
I just hoped, prayed, that we could pull her back.
I slid the glass door shut behind me, sealing off the chill of the outside world. Inside, Alex’s apartment was steeped in shadows that pulsed in the silence. Heavy curtains still shrouded the windows, blocking out every hint of daylight. She hadn’t fully embraced her supposed immunity to the sun yet, clinging instead to the comfort of darkness she’d known for decades.
Alex emerged from the gloom like a phantom, her presence commanding. Blood-red hair cascaded over her shoulders in loose waves, catching the faintest glow from the light of the microwave clock. She was dressed for battle, every curve of her athletic, deadly body emphasized by form-fitting jeans and a snug V-neck t-shirt. There was something in her eyes too… a readiness to kill. A hunger. She didn’t just look ready; she looked lethal.
“It’s time,” I said, my voice low but firm.
“Good,” she replied, her lips curling into a predatory smile.
That was it. No need for elaborate plans or long speeches. We understood each other. With silent determination, we stepped out into the city, weaving through streets and alleys in a purposeful but disorienting route. I wasn’t entirely sure where we were headed, but Alex didn’t hesitate for a second. She moved with the confidence of someone who could feel the pull of her prey, her every step guided by something deeper, darker.
She glanced over her shoulder briefly, her crimson hair catching the breeze, before murmuring, “I can feel them.”
She had told me earlier there was a connection now, a link between her and the elders. The Primeval of Hunger coursed through her, whispering in her mind, guiding her movements. Even as we walked, I could tell her thoughts were elsewhere, her focus splintered. She was having a conversation I wasn’t privy to, locked in some private dialogue with the entity inside her.
It left her distant, but in a way that only made her more formidable. Her resolve was unshakable, her hunger for blood and death palpable. And as I followed her through the winding maze of the city, I couldn’t help but feel the weight of what was coming. The hunt had begun.
My mind raced as we hurried through the city, each step pounding with unspent aggression. I couldn’t shake the thoughts clawing at the edges of my focused mind. Why doesn’t he speak more? The Primeval inside me, Myoordrakien… the thing that was bound to my soul barely whispered. Just the occasional word, short and sharp like a blade. It felt incomplete. Alex’s Primeval seemed to practically guide her every move, and yet mine stayed silent like it was watching, waiting for something. The frustration added to the stress, a pressure cooker ready to blow.
Alex suddenly dropped to a knee, her long hair falling over her face as she clawed at a manhole cover. She slammed her fist against the metal, the sharp clang echoing in the empty street. Ice clung to the edges, locking it in place, but Alex didn’t hesitate. She beat on it with feral determination, her breath puffing out in visible clouds.
“Here,” she barked, her voice tight and raw. “This is where we go down.”
I didn’t respond. Didn’t need to. I trusted her completely. Without hesitation, I followed, gripping the edges of the cover and helping her wrench it free. We were a well-oiled machine. We slipped down one after the other, letting the manhole lid slam back into place above us with a muted clang, cutting us off from the world above.
The sewers swallowed us in darkness and stench, the air thick and suffocating. Alex didn’t slow for a second, navigating the labyrinthine tunnels like she was born to them. Every step felt like we were descending deeper into a monster’s lair, the tension in my chest coiling tighter with each turn. Rats scattered and fled away from us, slipping out of one shadow and into another, disappearing into cracks and holes in the sewer walls as they hunted for food. Their squeaks and cries were legion in the gloom of the tunnels.
She led us through twisting corridors of rough concrete and muck, deeper and deeper until the sewers broke and opened to natural caverns, their jagged walls glistening with moisture. The sound of dripping water echoed in the oppressive silence, but it wasn’t enough to drown out the pounding in my head. The adrenaline-fueled rage that wanted to plunge my hands into something and kill. I wanted it… I wanted to kill something.
I clenched my fists, nails digging into my palms as I picked up my pace to close the gap between us. The urgency boiled over, and the words burst out before I could stop them. “Alex.” My voice was low but carried an edge sharp enough to cut through the tension.
She froze, whipping her head around. Her eyes locked onto mine, her focus laser-sharp. “What is it?” she asked, her voice softer now, but still charged with the same aggression simmering under my own skin. I’d pulled her out of her trance, and I could see the flicker of concern in her expression as she pushed Hunger's voice down for a moment.
I took a breath, trying to steady the storm inside me. “We need to move fast. We can't waste time.” My tone was harsher than I intended, but I didn’t care. Every second we spent down here was another second the elders had to prepare, to strengthen their hold on everything. It would take longer… and I had to get back up topside.
Alex’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t argue. She gave a single, sharp nod, then turned back, her pace quickening as we plunged deeper into the underworld. The air grew heavier with every step, the tension crackling between us like static. We were locked in, ready to rip the elders apart.
“When we go down here, we kill. No hesitation, no stopping,” I said, my voice low but firm. “We find an elder, we kill them. We find another, we kill them. We don’t have time to linger. We end this as fast as possible.”
Alex didn’t break stride but gave me a sidelong glance, her eyes dark with curiosity. “That’s not a problem for me. I’m ready to push this power to its limit…100% from the start.” Her tone was almost eager, but then it shifted. “But why the rush? What’s going on with you?”
I exhaled sharply, trying to tamp down the mix of anger and anxiety tightening my chest. My fists clenched at my sides as we moved through the oppressive dark. “It’s Patrick. And that damn hairbrush you took from him.”
Alex slowed just slightly, her head tilting in recognition. “Oh,” she said, but I could tell she wanted more.
“Autumn is fucked up, Alex,” I spat, my voice harder than I intended. “They’ve got her in a literal cage in their basement. They keep her locked up so she doesn’t kill Patrick… or anyone else. Their life forces are tied together, twisted through whatever cursed power that brush unleashed. If one of them dies, the other does too. And it’s messing with her head, driving her to want to murder him.”
Alex’s steps faltered, her usual confidence shaken. “Shit…” she muttered, her voice barely above a whisper. She glanced at me, her expression shifting from shock to grim determination. “What are they going to do about it?”
Her eyes locked onto mine, searching. I could see the weight of her question, the unspoken challenge behind it. She wanted to know where I stood… what I was going to do. I met her gaze, my jaw tight, every muscle in my body coiled like a spring.
“We’re going to stop this,” I said, the words cutting through the dark like a blade. “One way or another.”
“They’ve got family coming,” I said, my words tight, frustration bleeding through. “People I don’t know… part of their family that has more power… more resources. Carter thinks they can help. That’s why we need to move fast. I have to be there for it.”
Alex stopped dead in her tracks, turning sharply to face me. Her crimson hair caught the faintest of light that crept in from somewhere, casting a fiery halo around her as her eyes narrowed. “You have to be there?” she asked, her tone sharp, almost accusing. “I thought I told you… our presence in their lives is what invites this kind of chaos. You’re making it worse.”
“Alex, I don’t have time for this shit right now,” I snapped, my voice tougher than I intended. “I’m not denying what you’ve said anymore… I know you’re right. But I care about her. I’ve got ties to her I can’t just cut. You keep telling me I should protect them from the shadows, and yeah, I agree. But how can I abandon them now, when I might actually be able to help?”
Her jaw tightened, and she folded her arms, her gaze drilling into me. “And how exactly do you help by being there?” she asked, her voice low, but with a challenge underneath. She wasn’t letting me off easy, not this time.
I dragged a hand through my hair, exhaling sharply. “Part of this curse… it’s messing with her memories, making her forget something I told her. Something important.”
Alex raised an eyebrow, her curiosity piqued despite herself. “And what’s that?”
I hesitated, the weight of the truth pressing down on me. “The night I told her about me. About Death. About Myoordrakien.” The name lingered in the air between us, heavy and suffocating. “When I brought it up before, it triggered something. Like the curse couldn’t keep its hold on her mind. They want me there for whatever their family is planning to break it.”
Alex’s eyes softened, though her stance remained guarded. She nodded slowly, processing my words. “I won’t pretend to understand how curses like this work,” she said finally, her voice quieter now. “But if you need to be there, then fine. I’ll go with you.”
Her words hit me like a punch to the gut. I stared at her, caught off guard. Of all the reactions I expected from Alex, this wasn’t one of them. “You’d do that?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper in the dripping caverns.
“I’m not letting you walk into this alone,” she said, her tone firm. “You’ve got ties to her… to her family… your friends. But I’m tied to you too. I don’t have much in this life… but… you’re one of the few things I look forward to… friend… or whatever you are,” she barely got out. “I just want you to know, that I get it.”
I swallowed hard, the knot of tension in my chest loosening just slightly. “Thank you, Alex,” I said, the words rough, almost strangled. I meant it. She didn’t berate me, didn’t call me reckless or stupid. For once, she just stood beside me, ready to help me in something other than slaughter. And one of the few times in this dark life, I felt like I wasn’t alone in this mess.
We pressed forward, urgency driving each step as the air grew colder and the oppressive darkness thickened. The damp stone walls around us seemed to close in, the echoes of our footfalls swallowed by the cavern’s abyssal silence. Soon, we stopped in front of something that stood out; a monolithic slab of stone, jagged and starkly different from the surrounding rock. It was darker, a chalky black on most of its surface, with striations that seemed to pulse faintly red in the dim light. This was no ordinary rock.
“It’s the petrified husk of hunger,” Alex muttered, her voice low, reverent.
She stepped closer, her fingers brushing the surface with a strange intimacy. The red marking on her wrist… the brand of her Primeval flared to life, casting a crimson glow that danced across the cavern walls. The light seemed to seep into the monolith, and with a deep, resonating groan, the walls began to shift. The ground slightly shook beneath us as the caverns were rocked with a tremor.
Stone slid against stone, and the monolith split apart, revealing a gaping maw. Razor-sharp teeth of rock lined the edges of the opening, jagged and glinting like starving fangs. The mouth of the pits yawned before us, an unholy gateway beckoning us inside. A fetid wind rushed out, carrying the scent of decay and something older, something hungry.
Without hesitation, Alex stepped through, her silhouette stark against the crimson glow that seeped out from within. I followed, the hairs on the back of my neck rising as we crossed the threshold. The teeth seemed to hum, vibrating with barely restrained malice, but they didn’t touch us. The moment we were through, the mouth slammed shut behind us with a deafening boom, the force rattling the very ground beneath our feet. It felt different than the first time… almost like we had stepped into a trap.
The cavern trembled, the walls groaning in protest, as if the pit itself resented our intrusion. We stood on uneven, shifting stone, the ground beneath us alive with an unsettling pulse, like the slow, steady heartbeat of a sleeping giant. The air was thick, oppressive, and filled with a low, guttural hum that seemed to vibrate in our bones.
Alex glanced back at me, her eyes sharp, burning with determination. “No turning back now,” she said, her voice cutting through the oppressive atmosphere.
“No,” I agreed, my voice hard. The mass of what lay ahead bore down on us, but so did the rage, the need to finish this. We pressed on, descending deeper into the belly of the beast.
The air was thick, saturated with a reddish haze that seemed to ripple and breathe around us. This wasn’t like the last time I’d been here. No, this felt… alive. The ambient air had an oppressive heat that clung to my skin, seeping into my bones, and every step sent a jolt through the ground beneath us. The walls pulsed faintly as though they were the veins of some vast, slumbering beast. They were.
I reached out with my pulse, willing it into the strange atmosphere. It surged outward, tearing through the dense, hungry air in search of life, or whatever twisted semblance of life thrived down here. The energy came back to me, distorted and strange, painted in that same eerie red that stained everything in sight. The tunnels ahead stretched into shadowed infinity, a grotesque labyrinth lit by the dull glow of seeping veins along the walls.
Alex moved ahead of me, her figure barely discernible. Her blood-red hair blended seamlessly with the crimson hues around us, making her almost spectral in the dim light. She walked with a confidence that hadn’t been there before, her steps fluid and purposeful, as if the very ground recognized her. The air around her seemed to part, the atmosphere bending to her will. Her connection to Hunger, that piece of raw power she’d absorbed from the first elder we killed, was manifesting. It was undeniable. Her fingers brushed the walls as she moved, and the stone seemed to ripple beneath her touch.
“You seem different,” I muttered, my voice rough, breaking through the heavy silence.
Alex glanced back briefly, her eyes catching the crimson light. “What do you mean?”
I hesitated, the words catching in my throat. “I don’t know. You just… fit here now. Like you belong to this place more than before.”
She exhaled softly, her lips curving into something between a smirk and a grimace. “Honestly, I feel it too,” she admitted, her tone distant, thoughtful. “Everything’s different now. The things I can do, the way it moves around me…” She trailed off, her gaze flickering ahead. “She’s speaking to me, showing me ways to tap into her power.”
She. Hunger itself. Alex’s Primeval wasn’t just a force… it was a constant presence, whispering in her mind. As we moved deeper, I couldn’t help but wonder what it was telling her. Was it shaping her, twisting her into something else? Or was she mastering it, bending it to her will? Either way, she wasn’t the same Alex who had walked these tunnels before.
The heat intensified as we pushed forward, the atmosphere vibrating with a low, guttural hum that reverberated in my chest. The walls closed in, narrowing into a throat-like tunnel that pulsed and quivered with every step we took. My pulse sense flickered uneasily, warning me of the shifting nature of the path ahead. The deeper we went, the more it felt like we were descending into the belly of some monstrous deity.
Alex pressed on without hesitation, her movements guided by some invisible force. She was a predator now, the husk of hunger itself clearing a path for her. And I followed, my body tense, my mind focused on the task at hand. We had come to kill. No hesitation, no second chances.
Every step felt like a challenge, the ground beneath us unstable and jagged, the walls waves of razor-sharp bone and rock that swallowed any traces of light, eager to swallow us next. The red haze thickened, and with it, the gravity of what we were about to face bore down on me.
A pulse echoed through the atmosphere… a faint flicker of life, distant and solitary. It sent a shiver down my spine. My instincts sharpened, and without thinking, I reached out, gripping Alex’s arm firmly. “Stop,” I muttered, my voice low but urgent. “Someone’s there.”
Alex’s gaze dropped to my hand. She didn’t pull away, didn’t snap at me. Her eyes lifted slowly, holding a peculiar expression; calm, but with something else simmering beneath. There was a quiet intensity, almost a yearning. For a moment, we stood in the suffocating red haze, and I felt it too, that pull toward her. The memory of her apartment flashed in my mind: the closeness, the heat between us as we lay together on her floor. It was instinctual, forbidden, and no matter how much I tried to bury it, the feelings clawed their way to the surface. A monstrous connection between two people touched by Primeval powers.
I swallowed hard, forcing the thoughts away. Not now. Not with everything we had to do, not with Autumn still tethered to that curse. My life was a tangled mess of fractured loyalties and unspoken truths. Once this was over… once Autumn was safe and the curse lifted… I’d have no choice but to face it all. Face her. Both of them. The truth would demand answers, and with those answers would come choices. Impossible ones. But that moment wasn’t now.
“I sense him,” Alex said suddenly, breaking my spiral of thought. Her voice was steady, yet there was a sharp edge to it. “It’s not just anyone… It’s an elder. He’s waiting for us. He knows we’re here.”
I released her arm, tension still coiled in my muscles. “Then let’s not waste time,” I replied, stepping forward. My tone was firm, but my mind was anything but steady. I could feel Alex’s gaze lingering on me, her cautious glances like silent questions. I ignored them. We couldn’t afford hesitation, not down here. My urge to kill resurfaced… it was time to unleash my anger.
The red glow from the cavern walls seemed to swell, as if reacting to our presence. The veins embedded in the petrified husk of hunger pulsed faintly, an unsettling illusion of life coursing through the rock. The atmosphere grew denser, pressing down on us like a lead blanket. Each breath felt heavier, each step a deliberate effort against the weight of the oppressive air.
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The deeper we went, the more the place seemed to come alive. The crimson veins glistened wetly, as though fresh blood was seeping through the ancient stone. The distant sound of something… someone moving, echoed faintly, barely audible but undeniable. My pulse hammered in my ears, each beat amplifying the gnawing dread and anticipation.
Alex walked beside me, her movements fluid, almost predatory. She fit into this nightmarish underworld too well. Her red hair, once vibrant and bold, now vanished into the sanguine haze, making her seem less like a person and more like a part of the petrified landscape itself. Every now and then, her hand would brush against the walls, and I’d catch a faint glow emanating from the mark on her wrist, as though the very essence of hunger was acknowledging her as one of its own.
And yet, beneath the surface, I could feel her watching me… studying me. There was an unspoken tension between us, a recognition of everything unsaid. I didn’t have to look at her to know that she was aware of my turmoil, the unsteady line I was walking between loyalty and desire, duty and instinct.
The tunnel narrowed, forcing us into a single-file march. The oppressive heat radiating from the stone made it feel like we were marching straight into the heart of some organic oven. I clenched my fists, grounding myself in the task ahead. No matter what personal chaos raged within me, I couldn’t let it distract me from the hunt. The elder was here, waiting for us. I could be deterred or slowed. I had to kill them all.
The narrowness opened after about fifty yards and we popped back out into a larger section of the husk. He was there… When my eyes locked onto the elder for the first time, I’ll admit… I was underwhelmed. He stood alone in the vast, cavernous expanse, a tall man with the appearance of someone you’d pass on the street without a second glance. No grotesque mutations, no monstrous appendages, just a lean, middle-aged figure. His light brown hair fell in long, uneven strands, framing a face that was worn but not weathered. His clothes were nothing more than tattered rags, clinging to him in strips, frayed and stained from what had to be centuries of wandering these cursed depths.
And yet, the air around him practically vibrated. It was subtle, like a low hum just out of earshot, but it was there… an undeniable aura of restrained power. He wasn’t like the first elder we’d fought, the one that came at us like a rabid animal, all fury and chaos with its eight twisted limbs and unhinged bloodlust. No, this one felt different. His strength was quieter, more deliberate. Controlled. Every inch of him radiated calm confidence, like he had no need for theatrics or displays of dominance. He simply was, and somehow, that was more unsettling.
“You’re strong,” the elder said, his voice smooth and unhurried, as if he’d been expecting us. His gaze was sharp but devoid of hostility, more like a teacher sizing up a particularly promising student. His eyes… pale blue, almost translucent, held a calm intensity that sent a chill down my spine. “Back so soon, after taking what doesn’t belong to you?” he continued, his tone carrying the faintest trace of amusement. His words hung in the air with unspoken implications. He wasn’t angry, not like I expected. If anything, he seemed intrigued, almost...curious.
Despite his ragged appearance, there was an undeniable sturdiness to him. His lean frame didn’t show any signs of weakness; instead, it hinted at a kind of strength that wasn’t purely physical. A durability forged over countless years in this wretched place. I couldn’t help but wonder… what kind of creature lurked beneath that calm exterior? What monstrous form lay hidden, waiting for the right moment to reveal itself?
Alex shifted beside me, her stance ready but not aggressive. She was studying him too, no doubt feeling the same unnerving dissonance between his outward appearance and the raw, oppressive energy he radiated.
“Who are you?” I asked, my voice steady, though my mind was already racing with possibilities. This wasn’t going to be like last time. We weren’t dealing with a mindless beast. This elder had a purpose, a strategy, and judging by the way he stood there so casually, he believed he was holding all the cards. Part of me flinch internally. Something didn’t feel right.
I fixed my glare on him, each slow step forward stoking the inferno inside me. The monster within clawed at the bars, desperate to break free. The elder’s grin spread wider, his unnerving calm clashing with the tension thickening around us.
“You know,” he said, voice smooth like oiled steel, “a smart thief covers his tracks if he doesn’t want to get caught.” He tilted his head, his pale translucent eyes gleaming in the bloody glow of the cavern. “What do you think happens after a home is ransacked? After it’s defiled by a burglar?” His words oozed with condescension, each syllable slithering under my skin. “Do you think the owners leave their doors wide open? Stay unprepared?”
The air pressed down on me, uncomfortable and stifling, as if the cavern itself was conspiring against me. My hands clenched, fingernails digging into my palms as I fought back the growing heat searing my senses. The monster was itching to tear him apart, but I kept moving forward, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing my unease.
“No,” the elder continued, his voice dropping to a menacing whisper as his grin stretched unnaturally wide. His teeth gleamed like polished knives… each one a razor-sharp fang, with rows of even more jagged blades hidden further back in his maw. “No, they wait. They prepare. They stand watch, praying for the thief’s return. And when he’s foolish enough to come back…” His grin seemed to split his face in two, his voice now a guttural rasp. “They kill him themselves.”
Then his eyes flicked past me, locking onto Alex. His tone shifted, mockingly pleasant. “But you… You’ve saved me quite a bit of trouble. Brought back what you stole, like a good little thief.”
I couldn’t listen to another word. The monster inside me roared for blood, and I let it drive me. With a guttural snarl, I launched myself at him, my body a weapon, fingers twisted into claws aimed at his smug face. But mid-flight, my heart sank… I looked down to see only my human hands. No monstrous talons. No black claws. Just brittle, useless nails. Something was wrong.
The impact was deafening like a thunderclap shattering the air. My fist connected with his face, sending a shockwave through the cavern. The elder staggered, sliding backward across the jagged stone floor. For a fleeting moment, I felt the surge of my power; proof that I was stronger. Even without the full force of my monstrous form, I carried more of the Primeval power within me than he did.
He straightened, his grin now replaced by a grim, calculating stare. “Very strong, I see,” he muttered, brushing a hand over his jaw. “Let’s fix that.”
The atmosphere shifted. The reddish light deepened, saturating the cavern in a sickly, pulsating glow. It was like standing inside a living nightmare. I immediately felt it… a draining sensation. The cavern itself was sapping my strength. My muscles grew lethargic, and my vision blurred; every step forward felt like wading through tar.
Before I could react, Alex shot past me in a blur. She was faster, sharper, her movements fluid and deadly. The relic of Hunger embedded in her pulsed with the cavern’s rhythm, making her a force of nature. She collided with the elder in a flurry of strikes, her body moving so fast I could barely track it. Their blows echoed through the cavern, each impact like a bomb going off.
I stumbled, my head spinning. The influence of this place bore down on me, twisting my thoughts, and slowing my reactions. It was like being drunk, my body and mind disjointed, operating on different wavelengths. The elder’s voice slithered through the haze, mocking and cold.
“You brought her into this,” he hissed, his voice cutting through the craggy tunnel. “Now watch as I tear her apart.”
Through the blood-red haze, I saw Alex hold her ground, her every movement a blur of precision and rage. But the elder was relentless, his calm demeanor masking the fury of each strike. I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to stay upright. The beast within clawed at my insides, demanding release. But something was keeping it at bay, holding back the full force of annihilation that churned inside me.
I needed to break through. I needed the monster. And I needed it now.
I sank to my knees, the weight of everything crashing down on me all at once. My muscles were trembling, too weak to hold me up, as if the strength I’d always relied on was slipping through my fingers. I barely managed to steady myself with my hands, the jagged rocks beneath me biting into my palms. But when I looked at them, I froze… my nails, once black and sharp, were fading. No longer the dark claws I’d grown used to as of late. They were just… normal. Human.
I didn’t even have to see my reflection to know. My eyes… those pitch-black, soulless eyes had faded back to the blue I’d been born with. My teeth, too. I ran my tongue over them, expecting the sharpness of fangs, but they were flat, smooth—completely human. It hit me like a punch to the gut. The monster inside me was losing its grip, letting go after all this time. For the first time, I felt… normal. Too normal. This was wrong…
The cavern’s reddish hue grew even more intense, almost suffocating. Every inch of me felt weaker, drained, like I was being pulled back to my human limits, unable to tap into the power that had once been so easily accessible. My body felt improper, alien in its fragility. The Primeval, the force of destruction that had once surged through my veins, was locked away. Maybe for good.
But Alex… she was different. I could feel it, though I could barely think straight. Her power was growing, becoming something more than I could track. She moved faster, stronger, more unstoppable than anything I’d ever seen before outside of myself. It was like watching a hurricane tearing through a battlefield, and I was nothing more than a helpless bystander, just trying to hold on… to survive.
I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t understand what was happening. My mind was hazy, like a fog had descended over everything I knew. I couldn’t even trust my own senses. The world around me felt unreal, like some twisted hallucination. I could hear stones and rocks tumbling from unseen heights, but my vision couldn’t break through the thick, murky red fog clouding everything.
And then, I heard them… others. More than just the creatures of this cursed place. The rest of the elders were coming. They weren’t far. I could feel it, the danger of their presence drawing closer. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t react. Every instinct I had was scrambling to catch up, but my body wouldn’t listen. My mind was too clouded, too lost in confusion to do anything but watch.
The seven forms descended from the cavern walls, emerging from the suffocating red mist that clung to the air like a weight, distorting everything around me. It was as though they were born from the very hunger that had infected this place, twisted and deformed by the Primeval essence locked deep inside them. They dropped from the shadows above, landing with a sickening thud on the jagged rock beneath us; three on one side, three on the other, and one directly in front of me. Each landing sent tremors through the ground, the vibrations crawling up my legs and making it harder to stand.
I tried to rise, but my legs betrayed me. They shook beneath me, powerless, weak. The force that had once fueled me was gone. The cavern seemed to tighten around me, suffocating me, pressing on my chest. The red hue in the air was like a living thing, draining me, pulling at my very core. What the hell was happening? How were they doing this?
The creatures that surrounded me were like nothing I had ever seen before. They were vampires, shapeshifters, and things I couldn’t name… each one was a grotesque mockery of the hunger they all shared. Their bodies were twisted, deformed by the very thing that bound them: the Primeval essence that ran through their veins. Some had multiple arms, each one long and spindly, ending in jagged claws. Others had bodies that seemed to ripple and shift with each movement, their bones reshaping beneath skin stretched too thin. There were spiderlike features; eyes that glittered from places they shouldn’t, limbs that didn’t quite belong, a horrifying mixture of human and creature. They didn't present themselves in human form at all. They came to meet me on the ground, fully transformed into their hulking, sickening forms. They didn't come to investigate or watch what would happen. They came just as I had... to kill.
The air around me was thick with their presence, their eyes glinting from every corner, watching me with a predatory gaze. The cacophony of sounds; hisses, snarls, and low, unsettling laughs echoed off the walls of the cavern, twisting in my ears like whispers in the dark. Each one of them seemed to watch me, the fallen figure on the ground, as if they knew I was struggling… knew I was weak.
I couldn’t fight back. I couldn’t even get up. It was like the very atmosphere was against me, and I could feel their eyes… countless, hungry eyes, burning into me, waiting for the moment to strike. The hunger in the air grew sharper, more intense, and the longer I stayed there, the harder it was to remember what I had been fighting for. Everything was blurring, fading, and I couldn’t think straight, not with these... things watching me.
I could feel the dread crawling into me, settling deep in my gut. Something I hadn’t felt in a long time, not since the night my own life was ripped away. It had been buried under layers of rage and survival, but now, as I watched Alex struggle with the first elder, it crept up again, suffocating, persistent. This elder… He was different. There was something about him that made my blood run cold. He wasn’t like the others. He was the one at the core… the one who stood above all the rest, more powerful than I could comprehend.
I could barely see through the red mist swirling around us, but I knew it was bad. I knew it the second I saw Alex’s ragged form fly through the air, crashing into the petrified bones with a sickening crack. Her skin shredded like it was made of paper, and I could feel the weight of every moment that passed. This was no longer just a fight. It was something else entirely.
I could feel my body burning, twitching with the power that was so close to breaking free. I knew that if I could stand up, if I could unleash everything within me, I could end this. But something was wrong. The Primeval inside me, that urge to kill that I’d lived with for so long, it was… different. There was a pulse of energy coming from the very earth beneath me, an ancient force that gripped me tighter than the need to kill ever had, pulling me down, weakening me in ways I couldn't fight.
"Sam? What's going on... are you all right? Why aren’t you fighting?" Alex’s voice cut through the fog of my mind, frantic, desperate as she stumbled to her feet.
I tried to respond, tried to speak, but my mouth betrayed me. It opened, but no words came out. My body was rebelling against me, shaking with cold chills, muscles aching like I had the worst flu imaginable. Every ounce of strength I had was slipping away. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t do anything except watch helplessly as Alex fought on, the blood and flesh of her body twisting, healing, and reattaching as she continued to push herself.
I crumpled, my arms no longer able to hold me up, and my face smashed into the cold stone floor. My body felt heavy… too heavy. The realization hit me like a truck: We were surrounded. The elders circled us like vultures, and the one in the center, the brown-haired man, was stepping forward. His presence radiated authority. He was the leader of them all, and I was powerless. My body felt like it was full of lead, sinking into the ground with every breath.
For a brief moment, something twisted in me… a sick kind of relief. I couldn’t believe it, but the thought crossed my mind. This is it. The end. The end I’ve been waiting for. The weight of the curse, the endless struggle… It could all be over.
I barely registered Alex as she tried to pull me up from the ground, shouting at me to move, her voice filled with desperation. She was beautiful, even in the midst of all this horror. Despite the vampiric and Primeval power coursing through her, it was her face I couldn’t forget. Her eyes… still human, still her signature green… they were the last thing I wanted to see in that moment… before whatever came next.
She held me tightly, refusing to let go, even as the creatures closed in. Her body was strong, yet soft in the way that only someone who had been through hell could be. She was trying to save me… confused about what was happening. So was I. I could hear the frantic breaths escaping her, the grunts of effort as she moved like an animal, desperate to escape, to find a way out.
I knew she didn’t want any of her power. I knew it had cost her everything. But at that moment, I couldn’t think about this becoming both of our fates. I couldn’t think about what was happening to me. I only thought of her, of what she needed to do. If this was truly the end… she had to survive. She had to make it out. For Autumn, for herself. She couldn’t end like this no matter how much she hated this life. She couldn’t go down like I was about to. She had to make it back. She had to.
I felt utterly helpless, like the weight of the world had finally come down on me, crushing me under its unbearable force. For the first time in a long time, I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even think straight. Something inside me was gone… shattered, burned away by the oppressive red that had taken over the world around me. The Primeval power I relied on, the murderous power that used to fuel me, was nothing but a distant memory. It was like I was just… human again. Weak. Defenseless.
Then, faster than I could register, one of the elders darted towards us, a blur of motion in my dimming vision. Before I could even blink, I was slammed into the ground, dropped like a dead weight, discarded in the chaos of their fight. The air burned, thick with that red mist, and I was paralyzed, pinned to the ground, my body useless. I couldn’t even raise my head to see what was happening. I could barely hold onto the sense that I was still breathing.
Alex was still fighting. I could hear the sickening crack of bone and the tearing of flesh. Guttural snarls and roars bellowed out, echoing down the cavern walls. She was dodging, weaving in and out of the attacks, moving like a shadow, her every motion desperate. The creature she was fighting… a shapeshifter, from the feel of it… was powerful, but Alex was stronger. I could sense it, even through the haze of weakness that had taken over me. But still, it wasn’t enough. There were too many.
And then, faster than anyone could realize, Alex did something that left me breathless. She took it… the strange, knurled piece of wood that had come from Charles. I had it in my jacket pocket… That spike… dripping with blood… was suddenly in her hand, a weapon against this creature. The shapeshifter faltered, its movements slowing in the face of whatever curse that spike carried. She stabbed him with it once… and it didn’t take long to show.
My vision swam, but through the blurriness, I could see it partially… its flesh, once vibrant with life, turning an unhealthy, sickly white. A rot was spreading. It was like the spike had unleashed something inside of it. The shapeshifter looked like it was decaying in real-time.
And then Alex moved. She was a blur of motion herself, brutal and unstoppable. The other elders watched in silence, some twisted sense of honor hanging over them as they let the fight play out. The spike dug deep into the creature’s chest over and again, and its flesh crumbled away, its bones giving way to Alex’s relentless assault. She didn’t stop. She tore through its neck, decapitated it in a swift motion, and then… then she ripped out its heart. It was black, and oily, like something that had never belonged to the living.
The fight, for a moment, felt like it might turn in our favor. But then the red light came. I barely had the strength to focus, but I saw it. From the dead body of the shapeshifter, a brilliant red glow began to pulse. It spread, like wildfire consuming everything around it. The energy shot out, breaking free in seven different wisps of red light, burning through the air like flames that didn’t belong in this world. Even through my foggy, weakening mind, I could see it… this wasn’t just energy. It was Hunger. It was alive, and it was searching for a new home.
The wisps shot out, striking the elders. The power surged into them, and I felt a cold dread rise in my chest. This wasn’t just an attack. It was transference. The power had been divided, ripped away from one, and given to the others. They were stronger now… way stronger. It was like the floor dropped out from beneath me. I could feel the change, the shift in the atmosphere. Everything was different.
Alex, too, felt it. I saw her fall, her body thrashing, convulsing as the power hit her. She screamed, and I could hear the pain in her voice, but it was a desperate cry of defiance.
And then, she looked at me. Her face was twisted with pain, her eyes wide with realization. She wanted to help me, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t save me… not now. We were outnumbered. And worse… they were stronger. Much stronger.
I had to fight, but I couldn’t. Not like this.
“Run, Alex. Get out of here,” I grunted, my voice shaking with the weight of my own helplessness. I pushed every ounce of willpower I had into trying to scream it out, to do something… anything to stop what was coming. My body screamed in protest, but I had to get up. I couldn’t just lay there and let this be the end.
Her face… her expression was agony. She knew, just as I did, that things had changed. This was no longer a fight we could win. The dread that had already been crawling up my spine hit me full force. We were outmatched.
But then, a surge. Just a hint of strength. It coursed through me. My fingernails darkened again, the Primeval power trying to claw its way back into me. The atmosphere felt… unstable, like something was cracking. The red mist was faltering. The surge of new power must have made the elder's focus shift enough to make this suppression fade.
I stood, slowly, my body shaking as I pushed myself upright. The power was there, faint but undeniable. I could feel it humming inside me, filling me with a strength I didn’t know I had left. But I wasn’t sure it was enough.
“Go…” I screamed again, my voice hoarse, desperate. I could see the hesitation in Alex’s eyes, the way she second-guessed the retreat I begged her to make.
She looked at me, torn between staying and going, but I knew. I knew she could feel it, too. The weight of the decision. The weight of the fight. We were beaten, and they were getting stronger by the second. But I couldn’t let her stay here with me. She couldn’t end like this.
"Go…" I repeated, my body trembling as the power surged again, and Alex, with a look of pure pain on her face, finally made her choice.
Flashes of movement. Low snarls. The elders were speaking, their words barely registering in the chaos, but the urgency in their voices was clear. "Stop him!" The central elder’s voice, guttural and commanding, echoed as a warning to the others. They were already on me. They lunged, their weight crashing down, pinning me to the ground.
My body trembled with rage, fury building inside me. They can’t be stronger than me. The thought repeated like a mantra, but in the face of their power, I felt small and weak. They weren’t stronger than annihilation, though. That’s what I told myself. But the reality was slipping away from me faster than I could hold on.
Then came the strongest of the elders. In a flash of movement, he struck. His foot snapped into Alex's chest, sending her flying, crashing across jagged bone shards. The wooden spike fell from her grip, and before I could even process it, he grabbed it. The flash of that ugly, knotted wood in his hand froze me in place. Six of the lesser elders struggled to hold me down, but their efforts were futile. My transformation had begun. My eyes went black, my teeth elongated. The veins under my skin turned into snakes of darkness. I was becoming It again.
But then… agony. A white-hot pain exploded in my chest. The spike was buried in me. My heart. He twisted it in, and I could feel something unfamiliar, something venomous, taking root inside of me. The weakness was sudden, like the ground had fallen out from under me. I couldn’t hear Alex’s voice anymore. It was muffled by a deafening ring in my ears. My mind, scrambling for clarity, couldn’t hold onto the chaos around me. The world slowed, everything felt distant and unreachable.
And then it hit. My extremities… my arms and legs… began to burn with unimaginable pain. The air thickened with terror. I was being torn apart. There was no escape. Their monstrous teeth sank into me, ripping, pulling, tearing. My right arm was gone in an instant. I felt it… heard it… like a sickening pop, and then it was just gone. The pain radiated through me like fire. The panic… the confusion… it was suffocating. I couldn’t make sense of it, couldn’t do anything. I was no longer whole.
Flesh was flying. My legs were next. I could feel them, even as they were being wrenched from my body. My bones… my flesh, ripped and shredded, leaving me less and less. I couldn’t scream. I couldn’t breathe. The strength that was once mine was gone, replaced by this burning emptiness that flooded every part of me. The finality of it… I was not me anymore. This was no wound… this was soul-changing. I was being eaten… piece by piece.
But it didn’t stop. One elder couldn’t pull my leg off alone… remnant strength held me together tightly. Another spider-like creature came to help. A second leg… just gone. I looked down, panic clawing at me as I tried to make sense of what was happening. The venomous wood plunged deep into my chest… it drained the life from me. I couldn’t fight it. I couldn’t fight them. There were too many… too strong.
Through the haze, I saw Alex on the outskirts of the horror. Her face was a blur, her eyes wide with shock. She was watching, knowing she couldn’t help me. The last flicker of my consciousness struggled to stay with me. She knew. There was no chance for me. Her decision was made.
She bolted. She ran, slamming her palm against a nearby wall. The surface rippled like water, swallowing her whole as stones shifted and took her away. She was gone. And in that instant, I felt utterly, devastatingly alone.
The strongest of the elders towered over me. He loomed above my broken, bleeding form, his gaze full of cruel satisfaction.
"Not so strong now, are you?" His voice was a mockery, filled with venom. He reached down, his hand a brutal blade, slicing through the side of my neck, into my chest. His hand twisted, grinding into my body, pulverizing my spine, reaching inside of me. I couldn't even scream. The pain was beyond comprehension. It was unbearable.
Then, the worst part. He yanked at my head. I could feel my neck tearing, splitting as he pulled. There was a sickening crunch, and then... nothing. The pain stopped. The noise stopped. I wasn’t breathing anymore. I wasn’t looking at anything. I just... was. Still. Silent.
My mind, frantic, reached out. I searched for him. Myoordrakien... Myoordrakien, please! Help me! But he didn’t answer. He was gone. I was alone. I searched the cage within my soul… but… the cage was empty. I was alone in death…
And then... there was nothing.