The growl deepened, reverberating through the ruined corridor. Ben's every instinct screamed to run, but Lena stood firm, blade drawn, eyes fixed on the shadows ahead.
"Stay behind me," she ordered.
Ben's fists clenched. "Like hell. I can—"
The rest of his words choked off when the creature emerged.
At first, it looked like a man. A man stretched too far. Its arms hung long, fingers ending in jagged claws that scraped the concrete as it walked. Its chest bulged with tumor-like knots of flesh, pulsing faintly, as if something inside it struggled to escape. And where its face should have been—only a gaping maw, ringed with crooked teeth, leaking strings of black saliva.
The stench hit next, a mix of rot and iron, and Ben gagged.
Lena didn't flinch. She slid one foot back, lowering her stance like a predator ready to strike. "Mutant."
The thing twitched at her voice. Then it screamed—a piercing, animal howl that rattled the walls.
It charged.
Lena dodged with a sharp spin, her blade slicing deep into its side. Black ichor splattered across the floor. The mutant shrieked and lashed out, claws tearing chunks from the wall where she'd been standing a second earlier.
Ben froze, his body shaking. Move. Help her. Do something.
The heat stirred in his chest again. His veins burned. His muscles screamed to be unleashed. But fear clamped down harder. What if he lost control again? What if Lena looked at him like she looked at the monster?
"Ben!" Lena's voice cut through his panic. She was cornered, her back against a collapsed pillar, the mutant's maw snapping inches from her face. "NOW!"
Something inside him broke.
He roared—not with fear, but with rage—and hurled himself at the creature. His shoulder slammed into its chest, and the impact echoed like a cannon blast. Flesh tore. Bones cracked. The mutant flew across the corridor, smashing into a heap of rubble.
Ben stumbled forward, panting, his arms shaking violently. His vision blurred, tinted red. The heat coursed through him, burning, intoxicating. He wanted to tear more. To crush. To feed the hunger clawing in his gut.
The mutant dragged itself up again, impossibly. Its maw opened wider, unhinged, like it was about to swallow him whole.
Ben growled back. And for a terrifying second, he wasn't sure if the sound came from him… or from whatever the drug had turned him into.