The road never came.
They walked and walked for so fucking long, Eric began to feel sorry for Elara. He did not feel fatigue from the long trekk except for the strength sapping from him because of his inner battle.
They kept looking forward, walking towards the road that Elara mentioned that never came into view.
What came instead was silence.
The kind that crawled up your neck and whispered things behind your ears. The kind that didn't feel like peace, but like something holding its breath.
Eric pressed a palm to the bark of a twisted pine tree, letting the cold bite into his skin. He didn't trust himself to keep moving without breaking into a sprint. Not when his knees ached like he'd been running for hours. Not when the bones in his back were moving.
They'd walked for what felt like forever. Elara kept behind him, quiet and watchful. Probably scared. Probably thinking of turning around. Probably realizing she should've left him in that cell.
Eric wouldn't blame her.
He didn't even know where they were anymore.
"Hey," she said, breaking the silence. "You okay?"
No.
He wasn't.
His hands were shaking. His heart was pounding, but it wasn't fear.
It was something else.
He turned to her, jaw tight. "Something's wrong."
Elara scanned the trees. "You hear something?"
"I smell something."
The wind shifted and it hit him like a punch.
Burned plastic. Oil. Copper.
And blood.
Not just a drop. Spilled.
He jerked his head toward the tree line. "We need to move."
But they didn't get far.
A voice cut through the trees, calm and cold...
"Eric."
He turned slowly.
A boy stood between the branches.
He looked about Eric's age, maybe older, but he wasn't normal. His skin was pale and tight, veins crawling just under the surface. His eyes gleamed like silver coins, wide and hungry. He smiled like someone who knew too much and cared too little.
"You made it out," the boy said. "Didn't think you would."
Eric stepped forward, jaw clenched. "Who the hell are you?"
"Like you," the boy said. "Just… earlier."
His movements were too smooth. No tension. No fear. Like he wasn't even human anymore.
"I remember you," the boy went on. "The favorite. The quiet one. Always watching. Never asking questions. That made you perfect."
Eric's blood turned to ice. "You were in the lab."
"I was before the lab." He tilted his head. "We all were."
Elara stepped forward, tense. "What do you want?"
The boy's grin widened. "To see what he made you into."
Eric didn't wait. He pushed Elara into the nearby bushes and then lunged. The fight hit like lightning.
Eric wasn't sure who threw the first punch. Maybe it was him. Maybe the other kid. It didn't matter. One second he was standing, the next he was moving fast, too fast. The forest spun around him. Fists cracked against flesh. Elbows met bone. Blood splattered leaves.
Eric had never moved like this.
He wasn't thinking, just reacting. Muscle memory that wasn't his. Instinct that didn't belong to him. His body fought like it knew the enemy. He had to admit he kind of liked it.
But the other boy was faster, stronger. More precise.
He had to be consuming gallons of blood. Or it was just that Eric was new and weak.
A blur of motion sent Eric crashing into a tree. He coughed blood. Laughed bitterly.
"Still green," the boy said, circling. "Still holding back."
Eric wiped his mouth, eyes wild. "I don't know how far I can go."
"Then let me help you find out."
He came at Eric again, claws out this time. Long, sharp, curved like bone daggers. Eric barely dodged. The claw sliced across his shoulder. Pain shot down his arm.
Eric grabbed the boy by the neck and slammed him into a tree. Bark exploded behind him. But the boy just laughed, eyes glowing, blood in his teeth.
"Feels good, doesn't it?" he hissed. "The strength. The freedom."
Eric roared, slamming his fist into the kid's ribs once, twice, until he felt something crack.
The boy's smile never left.
And then, from behind Eric, he heard Elara's muffled voice "Eric!!" she screamed. Eric turned.
Too slow.
The boy kicked him in the side, and Eric went flying.
His back slammed into a rock. Bad, blinding pain exploded behind his eyes.
Elara was on the ground, wheezing, trying to sit up.
The boy stepped toward her.
Eric saw her hand go to the scalpel she'd stolen from the lab.
He saw the fear in her eyes.
He felt the pulse in her chest.
Something in Eric's body snapped.
He didn't just move, he exploded forward.
Claws he didn't know he had extended from his fingers. His back arched. His spine felt molten.
He hit the boy like a storm, driving him into the dirt, snarling. This time, he didn't hold back.
Flesh tore.
Teeth gnashed.
And for the second time, Eric tasted blood that wasn't his.
The boy kicked him off, face half torn. He hissed, fury bleeding into panic.
"You're not ready," he spat. "But you will be."
Then he vanished. Gone in the blink of an eye.
Almost like he has been swallowed by the trees.
Eric dropped to his knees.
His arms were shaking. His hands and claws, were stained red.
He stared at them like they weren't his.
"Elara…" he said hoarsely.
She didn't speak. Just looked at him, eyes wide, lips parted.
Eric's voice cracked. "Did I...did I hurt you?"
She shook her head slowly. "No. You… you stopped him."
He nodded, but there was no relief in his eyes. Only horror.
He looked down at his hands again. "I liked it," he whispered.
"What?"
"I liked the way it felt." He said and looked up at her. Showing her his blood stained face.
A in his eyes, something new had entered.
Something worse than fear. Something he dreaded but could not quite shake the feeling of...
Hunger.