"What the freak?!"
Sami yelled and lunged to the right, only for the creature to crash down where he had been a heartbeat ago.
'Shit. Shit. Shit.' He scrambled to his feet and immediately started running as fast as his legs could carry him. He didn't need to look back to know the creature had already begun chasing him. He could hear it shriek, a high-pitched sound that clicked like a swarm of insects.
His heart thundered as dread gripped his entire being.
"What the hell is that?!"
He glanced over his shoulder and his eyes widened even more when he saw just how close the creature was. Panicked, he tried to increase his speed and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Help! Somebody, please help me!"
But his voice only echoed. It was as if he and the creature were the only beings around. Still, he didn't stop yelling.
"Dammit! What sort of situation is this?!" he yelled, louder this time. "Help!"
The narrow alley was damp, and he struggled to maintain his footing so he wouldn't fall. A few meters ahead, the alley branched to the right and left.
Skidding, he grabbed an exposed pipe at the corner to stop his momentum and save himself from falling. Then he ran to the right.
The creature couldn't stop in time. It ran past him, slowed down, turned back, and then followed into the path he had taken.
'Where do I go? What do I do?' Sami thought to himself as he ducked under a low-hanging steam pipe and continued running.
Just then, he felt a voice in the back of his head again. This time, it was louder and deeper:
"Give me control. I bet I can run faster than you."
Panting, Sami turned back instinctively, but there was no one around except the creature struggling to catch up to him. The only reason it had not caught him yet was that the alley was narrow for its big form and so it had trouble moving. Still, that did not stop it.
"Great… just great. As if waking up in some random hot guy's body is not enough. But now I'm schizophrenic?" Sami gritted his teeth and ran faster.
The alley was littered with trash and debris: small bins, piles of garbage bags, discarded furniture, and even collapsed holo-billboards leaning into the passage. Sami leapt over the smaller obstacles, while the larger ones he shoved aside, hoping they would slow the momentum of the creature chasing him.
Then he saw a branch to the left a few meters away. Just like before, he grabbed an exposed pipe to slow his momentum, then he lunged into the left path, but almost immediately, he yelled, "Fuck!"
He could see two large dumpsters stacked on top of each other, forming a dead end some meters away. Still running, he glanced back to see that the creature had followed him into this path.
Sami's mind raced as his heart thundered in his chest. He did not want to die here to that… thing. But looking at the dumpsters blocking his path ahead, he could tell he would not be able to climb over them, as they were both taller than him. His expression grew somber as the realization dawned on him that he would die… again.
But just as he was about to reach the dumpsters and began to slow, the voice spoke again, more urgent and annoyed this time:
"Hey, brat! If you don't stop acting like a child, we are both going to die. You hear me? We are both going to die. Give me control, dammit!"
At this point, Sami decided to give in to the strange but familiar voice.
"How?" he asked, confused; his voice was hoarse.
The voice in his head replied instantly, "Just say, take over!"
Sami yelled, "Take over then!"
Instantly, his gray eyes darkened, changing into a deep crimson color, and the aura around him changed. Sami suddenly could not feel his legs, his hands, or any part of his body, but he could still see through his eyes… and his body kept running. It felt like something had possessed him, taking full control over his body while he was trapped in his subconscious, forced to sit back and watch.
Upon reaching the dumpsters, his body leapt onto the left wall, ran two steps along it with acrobatic precision, then pushed off and grabbed the top of the second dumpster before vaulting over.
Since the creature was chasing at top speed, it could not slow in time and crashed into the dumpsters with a loud noise that echoed through the alley.
Unfortunately for it, the upper dumpster rolled off and fell onto the creature's large spider-like abdomen, sending metal and trash flying out of it.
The creature shrieked in pain as it struggled beneath the weight, while the other dumpster had rolled forward slightly from the crash but still stood between it and Sami.
Upon seeing the creature stuck, Sami spoke, though his voice didn't leave his body's mouth; instead, it echoed within his subconscious.
"Great. Now let's get out of here!"
But his body… or rather Vel's body, did not answer. It just stood there, watching the creature struggle under the weight.
"Hey, I said let's go before that… thing frees itself."
Still, the body ignored him. Instead, it turned to look left, and when it noticed a metal pipe on the floor, it reached out and grabbed it. Then it leapt over the dumpster between him and the creature.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" Sami yelled in confusion. But with the body's mouth shut, the only sound in the alley was the creature's shrieking.
Then, whatever was possessing the body raised the metal pole high above its head and slammed it down on the creature's skull. The shrieking ceased instantly. It lifted the pole and struck again, and again, each blow crunching through bone until blood splattered across the alley. Finally, the body's mouth twisted open on its own, releasing a jagged, manic laugh that reveled in the carnage.
Sami's heart thundered within his subconscious as he wondered what kind of psychopathic creature he had let take control of the body.
'Is it Vel? Has he somehow come back and gotten control over his body?' he thought as he continued watching the grotesque sight. Then he saw the body straighten and inhale sharply, as if drawing in all the air around it, before exhaling, and in that moment whatever was possessing it spoke in a chilling voice:
"Ah… I no longer feel enraged. I feel…" Its grin grew wider, like a madman's, and its eyes shone brighter with a crimson light. "…Good."