My eyes shot open to the inky black darkness of my room. I felt different; I couldn't describe it. I felt more alert more ……. HUNGRY

“AAAAARGH”

I doubled over in pain. My stomach hurt in a way I couldn't describe even worse than when I was stuck in prison.

H̶̼͍̤͎͛̍̑͐̔̃̐͊̍̈́̀̊̈́́̚̕Ư̴̡̡͎̭̬͈̭͎̫̾̄̇̒̑̾̉̉̅̿͆̃̽N̷̨̨̧͇̼̖͙̝͍̥͖̞̪̦̫̥̐͗͊͛̔͛̕̚͜T̶̨͓̱̙̦̣̺̰̭̯̼̙̳͕͙̭͍̩͎̗̮̆̾̑̒͐

A voice I didn't recognise said something, but I couldn't make it out.

K̴̛̞̔ ̶͖͛Ǐ̴̘͊ ̶̮̘̒L̸̯͓͐͐̅ ̴̤͂͠L̶̨̹̒͌

"Stop! it hurts….WHAT ARE YOU SAYING"

F̴̢̛̞̪̫͗̾͑͆̏̎͘ ̶̮̘̥͋͆̉̔Ȩ̵̦̱̟̩͎̞̞͚̲̼̖̅͝ ̶̛͉̞̟̱̞̮̪̭̐̈̈͂̊͜͠E̶͕͎̟̥͍̯̒̎͜ ̸̜͕͓̺̒̓̃͝D̸̝̤̤̲̖͔̙͖̦̜̩͍̓̍͛̂̍͐̃̃͠͝͝ͅ

I fell out of my bed and started crawling towards the window. The unknown voice constantly saying things I couldn't understand

"need to get to the window. Need fresh air."

I don't know how long I was crawling for, but it felt like an eternity, but I finally made it using the ledge. I pulled myself up—ignoring the pain as best as I could. The moment I was standing, I used all my strength to push open the window. It swung wide open. And then the smell hit me. The smell of the city, from the rats that scurried on the street to all the people asleep. Unaware that a predator was among them. I drank in the smell. How could I never have noticed it before? And finally, the voice spoke to me, and I could understand it all too well.

D E V O U R

And without further word, I lept out of my window.

******************************************************************************************************************************

"Spare change. Any spare change, ma'am."

She gave me a look of disgust and hurried away.

"Yeah, sounds about right."

I sighed and decided I would call it a night. So I packed up my prised belongings of an old tattered blanket and a small wooden bowl and headed "home". Home was a good 20 minutes away if I took the usual route, but I decided to take the faster route. I ducked into one of the side alleys and started walking. I walked down the alley for a few minutes until I felt something behind me. I looked behind me to see if anyone was there. Nothing.

"Just the wind is all. Settle your nerves, old man," I told myself as I turned back around to continue walking.

*GROWL*

I stopped dead in my tracks. There was something behind me; I could feel it. I got ready to take off and run, but the creature let out another growl, letting me know it was a bad idea.

"L…L…LOO..LOOK, I'M JUST A BEGGAR I..I ..I…I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING VALUABLE, OKAY."

It let out another deep growl. And then I felt something wet touch my neck. I shuddered in response.

The creature grabbed my shoulder and slowly turned me around. My heart raced. Oh god, what was this creature going to do to me? I thought to myself. It turned me around, and I was met with the creature in all its fear-inducing glory. It had bright glowing red eyes, silver hair and a mouth full of serrated teeth dripping with blood. I looked down and through the torn and blood-stained clothing to see a big purple thing moving. The purple thing slowly slithered up my body.

"OH god, please stop."

But the creature ignored the pleas. The purple thing kept slithering until it reached my neck and started wrapping itself around my neck.

"look, I don't know what you want, but maybe we can come to a-"

My voice got caught in my throat as the purple thing started tightening around my neck. I punched and kicked at the creature and at the purple thing, but they both shrugged off my attacks like nothing. I looked at the creature. It had a sadistic toothy smile on its face. I was enjoying this. My vision slowly faded to black and then nothing.

******************************************************************************************************************************

Finally, the prey is asleep. I unwrapped my tongue around his neck, and it dropped to the ground like the useless lump of flesh it was. How many does that make it now 5? I'm not sure I haven't been keeping track. I picked up his body and went to find somewhere quiet I didn't want to be interrupted during my meal. I quick hop, skip and a jump, and I was in my quiet place. It was a secluded area near the rear of the town. Judging by the desolate houses and the litter all over the place, not many people come here. I dumped the body and floor and began to dig, starting with my favourite part, the heart.

'A̷̤̠̗̥̻̔̂͝ ̷̧̬̜̊͋͋̾̕͜Ḑ̵̗̟͔͙͓̲̈́̊̈͛͊͒̈́̉͑̅͋͝͝ͅͅ ̶̢̥͈̪͉͇̼͎̣͇̇̅̄̓̋̓̅͂̈̾͗̍̑̕͜͝S̴̢̧̢̩͙̱̩̣̝̘̜̜̍͛̃̏̀ ̷̺̋͗͗̑̓̂̆̈́̈̈̉͑̀͝Ǒ̷̢̧̓̾̾̀̓̒̇̅͐̉̈̓͝ ̷̧͈̦̣͓̻̳̼͉̘͔͕̞̙͒̒̉͒̾̀̚͝͠͠N̶̢̹͎̖͔̳̓̾̇͆̋̈́̈́̂̓̐̔̾͘͜͝͝'

"God, that hurts, please stop," I said whilst wrapping my hand on my head. It was different but still just as painful.

'A̷̤̠̗̥̻̔̂͝ ̷̧̬̜̊͋͋̾̕͜Ḑ̵̗̟͔͙͓̲̈́̊̈͛͊͒̈́̉͑̅͋͝͝ͅͅ ̶̢̥͈̪͉͇̼͎̣͇̇̅̄̓̋̓̅͂̈̾͗̍̑̕͜͝S̴̢̧̢̩͙̱̩̣̝̘̜̜̍͛̃̏̀ ̷̺̋͗͗̑̓̂̆̈́̈̈̉͑̀͝Ǒ̷̢̧̓̾̾̀̓̒̇̅͐̉̈̓͝ ̷̧͈̦̣͓̻̳̼͉̘͔͕̞̙͒̒̉͒̾̀̚͝͠͠N̶̢̹͎̖͔̳̓̾̇͆̋̈́̈́̂̓̐̔̾͘͜͝͝'

"Who is saying that STOP IT."

A̸̫̜̦̭̟͕͔̤͝ ̵̢̢͔͚̦̹̱̗̱͇̫͉̝̇͜͜Ḑ̶̧̧̨̡̰͉͉͕͖͎͇̦̩͌̈́̊͗̓̔̏͊͝͝ ̷̟̘͓̖̬̫̥̪͑̀̏͑͂͒̕S̵͈̩̾̒̂͘ ̸̧͕̽̑͌̿͌̎͌͠O̷̡͙͛̈̄̾̍̆̆͆̓̍͜͜ ̸̧̢̢̳͖̘̠̦̠͇͕͖̩̊̅͋͋̈̉͗̇̐͌͘͝ͅͅN̴͍̬̩͖̫̹̟̝̯͉͙̩̂̌ ̷͖̬̦͎̞̮̳̯͈̮̪̭̋͗̔͒̄̔̍̿̆͒̄̄̏́͜ ̷̢̳̰̠̲̗̮͕̹̪͇͙͙̘̅̑̈́̋͒̽̀̽̌̾̓̎̚̕̚ ̸̨̼͕͕̳͔͔͎̄Į̷̨̺͕̻͇͙̥̣̬͕̗̻͂̄̇̈́ͅ ̶̡̨̘̘̳͉̞̹̪̹́͐͐̋̎̉̓̕̚ ̷̛̛̗̰͔̹̯̬͇͙͓̩̻͗͗́͒̓̊̆͗̋̈͠͝͝ ̸̢̡̳̭̝̫͕̞̩̜͓̣̙̻̎̌̆̉̋̇͆̃͝͠ͅḰ̶̢̡̩̦̳͙͖̤̼̼̩͉͕͑̑̓̀̉̿̚͝Ņ̸̥̯̞͖̜̗̦̳̱̺̻̈́̍̑̂̚̕͝Ọ̷̢͖̪̩̻͔̰̞̐͊W̵̢̿̾̉̅́͘ ̴͎̈́̔̑́̃ ̵̨̦̩̺̣̣͍̪̼̺͎̋̇͂̕͜ ̸̛̛̺̦̜̝̜̳̪̻͉͓̻̇̈̂̈̽̈́́̓͐̈͘ͅY̴͎̘̥̘̘̠͚͓̲̬̲͎̗̤̜̓́̊̿̽̎̋͋̈͆͘͠Ǭ̶̡̱̟͎͇̘̣̩̺̜̀͜ͅU̶̢̨͇̲̣̫͉̣͖̜͙̤̖͊́̎̂͛͜͠͝ͅR̵̛̳̱̜͉̤͕̫̟͍̈́̎̾͑́͗͑̔͋͗̾̉̀͠ ̷̡̢͚̱̞͔̤͕͉̩̬̞͙̀̊͋̈͒͛̎͜͜͝ ̷͉̰͓̫͓̱̻͔̠̓̉̄̊ͅͅI̶̧̢̛̛̻̤̘̪̹̬͕̽̀͆̓̃̀́͌̿̊͘͝͠ͅͅN̵̡͎̬̲̞̺̞̪͈̟̒̃̈́̔ ̶̡̡̟̻͍͛̇͘̕ ̸̢̀̔͐͂͂̍̅̆̌̅̎̚T̸̢̰͙̘̑̆̀̐͝H̷̰̟̩̤͎̞̺̭̺͍̤̟̬̜̒͗̂͆Ḙ̸̢͍͖͕͕͍̪̦͖͇͕͐͗̄͑͒̓́̓̚͝͠R̴̢̛͚͚͖̤̲̠̺̯̙̲͙̣̽̈́̌̂̐̒̀̈́̏̽͂͜͝ͅE̸̖͋͂̈̉͐̓̆̏͝͝ ̸̢̧̱͚̝͔̺̩͖̖͍̀

"Who is this Adson person. Leave me alone."

The voice kept pushing harder and harder. It kept saying this name Adson. Who was it? Why did it sound so familiar?

'ADSON'

The voice finally broke through; I could understand it now. It was Alexis, and the name she was calling out was mine.

'ADSON'

"Alexis…..that….you."

'YES, it seems I finally broke through. Yes, I am Alexis. Do you know who you are?'

"I'm…….Adson"

'Oh, thank god you didn't lose yourself.'

"Yeah, it was a close one, though. It is just so easy to give yourself like that, and the worst part is that it felt good, like really good."

'But you didn't. That's what matters. You came back. I knew this might happen, but I thought when the time would come, I would help in restraining It, but your instincts were stronger than I ever could have thought.'

"instincts?"

'that's the best way I could describe it. What took over your body was our race's most basic but most powerful desire to devour everything in its path. This desire is so powerful that it can overwhelm our being, leaving nothing but a mindless monster. No, there is no way to get rid of it. The only thing you can do is manage it by eating people.'

I looked at my bloodsoaked hands and towards the still unconscious man.

"Fuck”

'I know it's a lot to take in. it's why I kept it from you. You've changed so much in so little time I didn't want to hit you with it so soon.'

"I know" I slowly stood up and walked to the body ", I know, but this is my life now." I plunged my hand into his chest and took out his heart, and took a large bite out of it.

"Funny, it doesn't taste as nice as usual."

But I kept eating anyway.