Leo sat on a log, the cool air of the forest filling his lungs. Richard and Kelly sat across from him, their faces a mixture of concern and disbelief. The three of them had spent the last hour talking about what had happened, but no matter how many times Leo explained it, his words still felt distant, unreal.

“So... you’re a fiend now?” Kelly’s voice was the first to break the silence. She folded her arms, her brows furrowed as she tried to piece together everything he’d told them.

Leo nodded. “Yeah. It’s hard to explain, but I’m still... me. Or at least, I think I am.” He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t know how it happened. The fiend that attacked me... it ate me. But somehow, I ended up inside its body, and now I’m like this. But the memories... they’re all jumbled up. I can’t tell what’s real, what’s mine, and what’s... theirs.”

“What do you mean, ‘theirs?’” Kelly asked, her tone cautious, as if she didn’t want to believe what Leo was telling her.

Leo ran a hand through his hair, trying to find the right words. “When it ate me, I became assimilated into it. I could see its memories, or the memories of other people it ate. Sometimes it’s like I’m seeing a glimpse through their eyes. Other times, it’s like I’m living someone else’s entire life in only a second. It’s dreamlike, but it feels so real.” He paused, glancing between the two of them. “And that fiend I just ate over there, I absorbed its memories too. I can remember eating fiends I’ve never seen before. There was one fiend that could turn invisible, and that’s why I’m able to do the same. I was also able to absorb its ability.”

Richard leaned back, crossing his arms. “Wait, so you’re telling us you can just... absorb memories and powers from fiends? Like Rogue?”

“Something like that.” Leo shrugged. “I don’t fully understand it, but yeah. In my memories, every time I ate one of them, I got stronger. I learned their abilities, their skills, their knowledge, but it also gets a little confusing. Don’t worry, I’m still in control, though.”

Kelly bit her lip, clearly uneasy. “But... What if you’re not really in control? What if you, this fiend—whatever it is—just took over Leo? You said you can take the memories of those you eat, right? What if it just ate Leo, gained his memories, and now you think you are Leo. Maybe you’re just wearing him like a mask.”

Leo winced at her words. He had been thinking the same thing, though he hadn’t said it out loud. “I don’t know. You might be right, but I don’t feel like I’ve lost myself completely. I still know who I am—Leo Winfield, seventeen years old, brother to Emma, son to Gloria and Marcus. I still remember my life. The fiend didn’t take that from me.”

Richard glanced between them. “Look, Kelly, I get what you’re saying, but... this is still Leo. I don’t care if he’s got some freaky fiend powers now—he’s our friend. We can’t just turn our backs on him.”

Kelly exhaled deeply, her expression softening. “I’m not saying we abandon him. I just...” She looked back at Leo, her eyes filled with uncertainty. “How can we be sure it’s really you?”

Leo swallowed, his throat tight. “I don’t know. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to prove it to you, but I don’t want to hurt anyone. I don’t want to be this... thing. But every time I get close to people, I feel hungry. It’s not the smell. It’s like... something about being near humans triggers it, like some sort of aura that humans emit.”

“Do you feel hungry right now?” Kelly asked, her voice dropping to a cautious whisper.

Leo blinked, realizing for the first time that the hunger he’d felt earlier was gone. The gnawing, insatiable need for flesh wasn’t eating away at him anymore. “No. I think it’s because I ate that other fiend. Maybe feeding on fiends reduces the hunger.”

Richard’s eyes widened. “So, if you keep eating fiends, you won’t crave human flesh?”

“I think so,” Leo replied, feeling a small flicker of hope. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. And I’ve noticed something else, too. After I ate that fiend, I’ve been able to stay like this—human-looking. I think as long as I keep feeding on them, I can maintain this form.”

“Well, that’s something, at least,” Kelly muttered, her arms still crossed tightly over her chest. “So... what now?”

“I want to come back. I don’t think I’ll last another day out here. I want to live like a person again, not hide in the woods and get eaten by those… things.”

Kelly raised an eyebrow. “You’re saying the city is safer than the forest?”

“For fiends? Yeah.” Leo chuckled darkly. “I’ve seen things, felt things I couldn’t have imagined before,” Leo continued, his eyes narrowing as he remembered the brutal fight. “That fiend I just killed? To put it simply, compared to what else is out here, it’s like comparing a mouse to a bear. Plus, there’s more food in the city, so I won’t have to put myself in danger by hunting all the time.”

Richard furrowed his brow. “But the Cleaners—”

Leo cut him off, shaking his head. “Pfft, the Cleaners are all incompetent pricks. If I stay here, it’s only a matter of time before I end up dead. It’s kill or be killed out here.”

Kelly interjected, “But won’t you be putting other people at risk by being near them? Even if you were able to control your hunger, it’s not a guarantee that you won’t hurt people.”

Kelly was right. Leo knew that he couldn’t return to human society even if he tried his best to pretend as a human. “You’re right Kelly. I guess I should… I don’t know.” He felt discouraged, maybe his fate was to hold out for as long as he could out here.

“There’s that old warehouse near the edge of town,” Richard said, his voice thoughtful. “Kelly and I used to pass by it all the time. It’s big, abandoned. You could stay there, at least for a while. I hope no criminals are hanging around inside. Then again, I doubt they’ll be missed.”

Leo’s expression brightened at the idea. “That could actually work. Yeah, let’s do it.”

Richard gave Leo a pat on the shoulder. “Alright, then. Let’s get you out of here and back to that warehouse. It’s better than hiding out in the woods, anyway.”

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The warehouse was massive, its metal frame rusted and decaying from years of neglect. Leo stood in the doorway, staring into the darkness beyond. The air inside was stale and cold, a far cry from the crisp air of the forest. Richard and Kelly had dropped him off here, leaving him to get settled in his new hideout.

“This place is pretty creepy,” Leo muttered to himself, taking a few steps inside. The floor creaked beneath his feet, and the sound echoed through the cavernous space. He had to admit, though—creepy as it was, it felt like the perfect place for a fiend to hide.

He wandered through the maze of metal beams and crumbling walls, his footsteps barely making a sound. His body had adjusted quickly to its new form—moving in near silence was second nature now. His muscles didn’t feel as awkward or uncoordinated as they had before. He felt... in control.

The air grew colder as he ventured deeper into the warehouse. A strange feeling settled over him—a sense that he wasn’t alone. Leo stopped, his senses on high alert. He could hear something faint, like the distant patter of footsteps. He strained his ears, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound.

“Is someone here?” he whispered to himself, glancing around.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. His body jerked forward, his breath catching in his throat as something pierced him from behind. He staggered, clutching at his chest, feeling the warm trickle of blood on his fingers.

Leo spun around, his heart pounding. Standing before him was a fiend—its body was small and hunched, its limbs long and skeletal, its face twisted into a grotesque snarl. It had large ears that could sense small vibrations, yet it had no eyes. It let out a high-pitched shriek that reverberated through the warehouse, sending waves of pain shooting through Leo’s skull.

He gritted his teeth, willing his body to heal, and within seconds, the wound began to close. His regeneration was faster than he’d expected, but the pain didn’t fade. The fiend shrieked again, louder this time, and Leo clutched his head as the sound clawed at his mind.

“Shut up!” Leo growled, his voice ragged as he lunged toward the fiend.

He slashed at the creature with his claws, but the fiend dodged with an unnatural speed, darting to the side and letting out another shriek. Leo stumbled, his vision blurring as the high-pitched wail disoriented him. He could see multiple copies of the fiend now, all swirling around him like phantoms.

The fiend lashed out with its claws, tearing at Leo’s flesh. He felt each blow, but his body was already healing, regenerating faster than the fiend could do damage. He had to fight back. He had to focus.

With a guttural roar, Leo let loose a scream of his own, the force of the sound knocking the fiend back. It staggered, disoriented for a brief moment, and Leo seized the opportunity, lunging at the creature with everything he had.

He drove his claws into the fiend’s side, but the creature twisted, slipping out of his grasp and darting away into the shadows. Leo’s breath came in heavy gasps as he tried to chase it down, but the fiend was fast—too fast. It vanished into the darkness, leaving Leo alone once more.

For a moment, there was only silence.

But then, Leo heard it—the faint, high-pitched clicks, like a bat using echolocation. This fiend didn’t need eyes to track him; it could sense him by sound. The chirps grew louder and sharper, a signal that the fiend was closing in, honing in on his exact location through the sound waves bouncing off his surroundings.

Leo felt a surge of panic, but his instincts kicked in. He knew he couldn’t rely on just turning invisible—it wouldn’t fool something that could “see” him through sound. Instead, he focused on sound instead of light. His invisibility allowed light waves to pass through his body, preventing light from reflecting off of him. In theory, he could apply this phenomenon to sound waves, but he had never tried this before. He focused on the waves of sound coming at him, they felt slower and thicker than light. He probably couldn’t maintain it for longer than 3 seconds, but that was all he needed.

As the fiend lunged toward him, Leo timed it perfectly. Letting the noise from its chirping pass through his body at the last second, turning completely invisible to the fiend and dodging the strike. The creature swiped through the air, missing him by inches, its head jerking from side to side in confusion. To the fiend, it was as if Leo had vanished.

Seizing the opportunity, Leo lunged forward and sank his claws into the fiend’s face, ripping off a chunk of flesh. The fiend let out an ear-piercing screech, thrashing wildly as blood gushed from the wound. It staggered back, disoriented by the sudden loss of its target.

Leo’s heart pounded, but he was learning—this fight was about more than brute strength. He could outthink it.

Leo didn’t hesitate. He pounced, tearing into the creature with his claws, biting into its flesh. The taste was foul—rotten and bitter, nothing like the human flesh he craved. But as he devoured the fiend, he felt a surge of energy, a rush of memories flooding his mind.

The warehouse... he could see it now, every corner, every passageway. The fiend had been living here, hiding in the shadows, stalking its prey. And now, those memories were his.

He crushed the fiend’s head beneath his foot, the sound of bone and flesh splattering against the floor. This place was his now. His domain.

Breathing heavily, Leo wiped the blood from his mouth, his mind racing with the new knowledge he had gained. He could hear faint sounds in the distance—the sounds of the city, the hum of cars, the buzz of electricity. His senses had sharpened, and now, he knew how to use sound to his advantage, just like the fiend had.

“I need a plan,” he muttered to himself, glancing down at the fiend’s mangled body. He couldn’t live like this forever, constantly hiding and feeding on other fiends. But if he wanted to stay human—if he wanted to keep his humanity—he would have to keep feeding. A quick bite every week might be enough to stave off the hunger, but he doubted the fiends would go down without a fight.

Still, he had the advantage now. His heightened senses, his control over sound, his ability to blend in... he could survive this.

Days passed, and Leo slowly adjusted to his new life in the warehouse. His acute awareness of his surroundings and the aura of other fiends allowed him to track down fiends in the more isolated parts of the city. He hunted them in alleys, sewers, and abandoned buildings, using his newfound abilities to stalk and kill them before they could strike first.

During the day, he maintained his human appearance, blending into society as best he could. He picked up odd jobs—working at a convenience store, washing dishes at a diner—just enough to earn enough money for meat from the supermarket. It wasn’t the same as human flesh, but it kept him fed, at least for now.

Richard and Kelly checked in on him from time to time, and though their conversations were light, Leo couldn’t help but feel the distance between them. Richard would talk about baseball, complaining about the game he had lost last week, while Kelly rambled on about politics, presidential elections, and leftism. They would talk about the SATs, about going to college, about their futures.

But Leo knew he didn’t have a future. Not the way they did. He was a fiend now, living a half-life in the shadows, constantly on edge, constantly hunting to survive.

“How are you doing?” Richard asked one day as they sat on the rooftop of the warehouse, the city sprawling out beneath them.

“I’m good,” Leo replied, though the words felt hollow. In truth, he wasn’t sure how he was doing. Every day was a fight to keep his hunger in check, a battle to stay human in a world that saw him as a monster.

And though he was grateful for Richard and Kelly’s company, he couldn’t help but feel a deep, aching loneliness. They could talk about their lives, and their futures, but Leo would never have that. He could never live a normal life again.

He missed it—the simple things, the mundane things. But that life was gone, and it was too late to ever get it back.

All he could do now was survive.