Inside a dark and narrow alley, a place where the shadows grew darker the deeper you walked. In such an alley, a blurry figure could be observed hunching over something. The stench of blood and rotten flesh engulfed the entirety of the alley as a disturbing sound could be heard coming from the creature’s direction.

*Crunch, crunch*

It was munching on what appeared to be a small creature’s carcass, as the sound of cracking bones echoed loudly in the surroundings. It cared not for the bone fragments mixing in with the flesh as it swallowed them all the same.

*Gulp.*

The creature gulped down the bloody mouthful it held in its mouth and slowly stood up from its hunched position. If anyone was nearby to look at it, and, provided they hadn’t run away by now, they would have seen what appeared to be a human enshrouded in complete darkness. But even though it looked human, human it was not, as its claw-like hands held the head of its prey.

“Not enough… Need more...” The creature’s cracked voice resounded amidst the silence, spreading a chill in the surroundings. Its shadowy body propelled itself further into the alley as it left the crime scene behind. The echoes of its last words resounding in its wake.

“Want to be… Human…”

~~~

Nathan’s eyes regained focus as an intense amount of rage engulfed him, the excruciating pain of suffocation lessening, if only by a little. He didn’t know why, but for a split second, he felt like everything was within his grasp. The monster haunting him must have been really flabbergasted just now. Or else, why would its control over him diminish?

Enraged as he was, Nathan didn’t waste this god-sent opportunity as his already outstretched hands reached backward, further than they had ever reached before. Ignoring the claw-like fingers on his neck, Nathan’s hands aimed for the creature’s head by the side of his face.

The monster’s grip around his neck lessened as it tried to retract its head but, sadly for it, Nathan’s outbreak was all too sudden and he managed to clutch firmly onto the creature’s hair.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?!” Shouted Nathan as he pulled hard to the front. The creature’s body was literally sent flying through the air in a single motion as it landed before his very eyes. It has to be said that Nathan was still seated on the bench, so sending something of a similar build flying from his position was a feat that defied the very idea of physics.

The creature’s fingers couldn’t keep hold of Nathan’s neck, leaving faint scratch marks behind as it let go. Using the momentum, Nathan rolled forward along with the monster in an attempt to get on top of it.

The two fought for dominance over each other as they twisted and twirled on the gravel-paved road. And, even though the creature was flimsier than it looked, it still fought quite fiercely, adding a scratch here and there whenever it found an opening.

After what seemed to be an eternity of rolling in the dark, Nathan finally came to rest on top of it. With one hand holding down a freezing neckline and the other ready to land a punch straight on its face, Nathan breathed heavily as his system desperately begged for oxygen. He might have ended up on top after the struggle, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t affected by the creature’s earlier attempt to strangle him.

“Huff… Huff.” The monster was awfully quiet all of a sudden, not moving a single inch as Nathan fought hard to take control of his breathing. ‘Did it finally give up?’ He pondered while glaring intently at the creature’s figure.

The veil of darkness enshrouding their surroundings was more than enough to block Nathan’s vision from discerning what the creature below his feet looked like. He could tell its body was similar to that of a human, but human it was not. The creature’s claw-like hands were more than enough proof of that. Having fought in the dark for so long, Nathan’s pitch-black pupils were slowly getting accustomed to the dim surroundings.

Squinting in an attempt to make out the creature’s facial features, he couldn’t help feeling disbelief at what he saw. Pale white skin, thinned out facial features, short and curly black hair that blended in with the darkness around them, and finally a pair of pitch-black eyes that seemed to be staring right into his very soul.

‘The heck?!’ Nathan was dumbstruck, staring at the creature that looked like a mirror image of himself. Disbelief was painted all over his face as the grip he had around the monster’s neck faltered.

The creature must have sensed the change in Nathan’s disposition, as its expression distorted into an all too familiar evil grin. Starting with the back of its head, the nightmare’s body slowly started fading into the ground, becoming one with the shadows.

It gazed deep into Nathan’s pupils, sending shivers down his spine as flashbacks of the day he broke the mirror in his house surfaced in his mind. The hand he held high until now was suddenly brought downwards with incredible momentum, aiming for the creature’s head. Alas, by the time his punch made it to the monster’s nostrils, it had already vanished completely into the ground.

*Crack*

A loud cracking sound burst from Nathan’s knuckles as his fist collided with the cold hard ground. “Ugh!” Letting a soft moan escape his mouth, Nathan shuddered at the pain rushing through his body’s nerve system. It was so intense, that it brought him back to his senses. After all, the nightmare wasn’t over yet, and the monster was still lurking in the shadows.

“Where are you?!” Nathan shouted, his furious voice echoing through the wide street. The chilly atmosphere was still there, so it had to be somewhere nearby. He silently waited a good two minutes, but the monster still showed no signs of attacking. ‘Did it escape?’ Recalling the past, Nathan quickly dismissed any similar thoughts he had on the matter and tried to look relaxed.

His gut feeling told him this was the only way to lure it out from its hiding hole. And, true to his thoughts, the moment he let out a sigh, the monster made its move.

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Crawling out of the shadows beneath him, a pair of claw-like hands pulled hard at Nathan’s feet, dragging him down to the floor. Nathan wasn’t omnipotent; he expected a sneak attack from the creature in some way but, other than that, he had no clue where it would be coming from. With little to no options left, he fell flat on his back. He did try to make the best of his fall though. Thinking the abomination was behind him, Nathan elbowed backward as he fell.

Sadly, the creature had yet to leave the shadows.

After bringing him to ground level, the monster posing as Nathan jumped out of the shadows and successfully landed on top of him. With a swift movement of its hands, it pressed its clawed fingers in a tight grip around Nathan’s neck again. Suffocating once more, Nathan wondered whether or not this was the only method of attack it knew of. Suffocation by strangling.

He had to concede this much though, it was pretty effective. ‘Why is this bastard heavier all of a sudden?!’ he pondered in his mind as the creature’s weight seemed to be quite inconsistent to before. Nathan tried to rip its arms away from his neck, but the creature’s grasp was deadlocked onto him. Grinning hideously at his vain attempt to struggle, the monster’s jaw cracked open in an almost impossible way.

*Crack, crack*

Its face deformed into that of an abomination’s as two rows of sharp teeth glistened in the dark, the creature’s earlier humanly exterior nowhere to be seen. “So you finally reveal your true form…” Nathan mumbled through gritted teeth, wasting what little breath he had left in his lungs.

“Human…” The monstrosity spoke, and its hideous, cracking voice was filled with longing as its open maw descended on Nathan’s right shoulder, procuring a loud scream of pain.

“Ahhhhh!!!”

Nathan’s vision turned red as the creature ripped through tendons, muscles, and bones alike. Things weren’t looking good for him. His lungs were burning and his shoulder was bleeding profusely as the creature dug in further and further, and yet, all that Nathan could think of in this situation was the following.

‘Why?! Why?! Why?! Why?! Why?! Why?! Why?! Why?! WHY ME GOD DAMN IT!’ Tears were falling endlessly from his tightly shut eyes as the pain receptors of his body blinked away. He couldn’t think straight anymore as he simply wished for a way out of this nightmare.

‘Just kill me already! Let this nightmare end already!’ However much he pleaded in his mind, the creature showed no signs of stopping. It really enjoyed itself this time.

“You fuckin’ sadist!” Nathan mumbled through gritted teeth as he desperately searched for a way out. Albeit, there was none.

‘If only I had a weapon…’ lamenting inwardly, he finally ceased flailing. The monster had either eaten something important, or his pain receptors had finally ceased working. Feeling hopeless, Nathan resigned to his fate. He couldn’t win, simple as that.

Turning his head to the left in an attempt to look away from the monster, his gaze fell on an object resting quietly within the reach of his hand. He must have been hallucinating, Nathan told himself. After all, how could there be a knife so conveniently placed there? Right? ‘Is this a dying man’s fantasy?’ he wondered but grabbed the knife intently by the hilt all the same.

Nathan didn’t even think twice before stabbing the knife deep into the creature’s throat. After all, everything felt way too surreal for him to care. “Graaaaaaahhh!!!” A wild scream escaped the monster’s throat as it released Nathan’s neck.

‘Strange, is it screaming?’ Without realizing it, Nathan’s grip on the hilt kept pushing the knife further inside the creature’s throat.

“GRAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!” By the second time it roared, Nathan’s body seemed to reboot itself. He let go of the knife and threw the once more weightless creature off of him. ‘Oxygen… I need... to breathe,’ even though his mind was telling him what was needed, his body seemed to have forgotten how it felt to breathe. “Cough!” A cough filled with the stench of blood escaped Nathan’s mouth and with it, he finally inhaled a tiny bit of air.

“Cough! Cough! Cough!” After what seemed to be the biggest coughing fit of his life, Nathan’s brain finally began working again as oxygen made its way in. With heavy breaths and blurry red eyes, he glanced towards the creature’s direction a few feet away.

The monstrosity was rolling in pain as it desperately tried to remove the dagger lodged deep inside its neck. Every time it tried though, a jolt of pain would send it banging on the floor again. Glaring furiously with its rage-filled eyes, the creature stumbled towards Nathan.

Having come this far, Nathan refused to give in either. Not saying another word, he slowly stood up and simply glared daggers in the creature’s direction, trying to prevent another mouthful of blood from escaping his mouth. ‘It’s either you or me, fucker,’ his gaze implied, and the creature understood there would be no other way out.

The two stared at each other for a moment before madly rushing ahead. One had its claws fully extended, while the other rushed forward with one limp arm. Nathan knew he was disadvantaged in this confrontation, but he had a plan.

As the distance between the two of them narrowed, the creature’s claws aimed for his head. Nathan had no plans of dodging and rushed straight into the monster’s open claws. The creature didn’t expect such a suicidal move, so all it managed to achieve was graze one of Nathan’s ears as it missed, if only by a little.

Using his momentum, Nathan pushed the creature down with his left shoulder and scrambled to get on top of it. Pinning it down, all the creature could do was flail its arms and legs as it screamed in an attempt to get away. Sadly for it, Nathan would never let that happen again. Using his only good arm, he pulled the knife out of the creature’s neck and raised it high up in the air.

A black substance spurted out from where the knife had lodged itself into, dying the surroundings black. The creature screamed in pain and once more started blending in with the darkness below.

“NO YOU FUCKIN’ DONT!” Nathan screamed at the top of his lungs as a mouthful of crimson blood burst out of his mouth, dying the creature’s face red. The knife in his hand was brought down and into the monster’s chest, stabbing right where he assumed its heart was supposed to be.

The creature’s expression deformed into a grimace as it finally ceased any and all forms of resistance, slowly awaiting for its death. ‘Serves you right.’ Thought Nathan as he stared down at this reflection of his. Thankfully, his pain receptors seemed to still be off, or else it would be doubtful whether he could do any of this or not.

Feeling that words were no longer needed, Nathan just stared at it from above as it slowly bled away. And so did the monster, silently staring back at him through its pair of pitch-black eyes.

*Crack!*

A loud cracking sound resounded from the sky above, taking Nathan’s focus away from the monster. And then another, and another, as the dream began to slowly shatter. Looking at the lightless and cracking sky up above, he marveled at the sight before his eyes.

“Wanted to be… Human…” With a snap of his head, Nathan’s gaze was once more locked with the creature’s. Its time had come apparently, as its shadowy body turned into wisps of black and silver threads. Nathan stared dumbfounded as the threads revolved around him endlessly.

Roaring sounds could be heard in the distance as the cracking had reached all the way to the floor by now. Feeling a weird sense of attraction, Nathan stretched his hand outwards, lightly touching one of the black threads revolving around him.

The thread, as if incensed by his touch, ceased revolving and rushed towards his torso, fading right where his heart was supposed to be. But that was not all; after the first one followed the second and then the third, until there were no more strands left revolving around him.

‘What is going on…’ Nathan’s mind was way too tired to process what was happening. The cracking around him intensified until it was everywhere. Even below his feet.

And then… Everything shattered.