Rudely making his way through his opponent's territory, that being a great forest with cold winds and snow at every step, Riley desired to grow in strength.
Through combat, he would have to understand how to use his ability "the right way," and overcome the obstacle ahead.
Utilizing his sixth sense, he searched the forest for a servant. Yet, he found that there was only the sense of a man behind him—his trainer of sorts, Frank Russo.
Did he… was this a trap?
Quickly turning around, Riley faced the now-far campfire, a small ball of orange light inside of the dark winter forest.
"You, seriously, if that's the case…!"
Then came a great thud.
Struck from the side, Riley was flown through the air, his body crashing into a tree. Not wasting time following the procedure of "get his and groan for a bit before standing," he grabbed hold of [Hanging] and remained in the air near the tree, summoning [Crashing] before allowing it to explode in full glory.
The waves of the grand explosion struck the forest, rapidly providing well-needed light.
And, in the light, he saw… He saw.
What the…?
At a glance, one was easily able to ascertain that it was not a human being.
Utilizing the sixth sense, he was well aware that his "teacher" was back at the campfire. So, therefore, upon seeing this… "thing," he understood that at the very least, his teacher wasn't the one who dealt the blow.
However, also using the sixth sense, he was able to find that whatever-the-heck was before him was seemingly not one of Ghira's chosen servants; it did not exude any discernable sense.
As his eyes peered into the light spurred on by his created fire, they winced and squinted, trying to make shape of what exactly it was.
To lay the foundation, it was tall. As it stood fully upright on two feet, its long arms dug into the earth, looking up at him. Staring into its eyes, Riley felt immediate repulsion towards the hairless, overwhelmingly thin-yet-sagging green skinned figure.
Its face was countless in sagging wrinkles, and it shook and trembled violently, the eyes carved out and replaced with voids of darkness—so too did its open mouth have rows of teeth, akin to a shark.
Getting a feel for its body, Riley summoned [Crashing], dropping the car on—,
"Hk."
With outlandish speed, the monster leapt towards him, winding back its arm and swinging it. Its claws akin to the blade of a karambit, Riley's chest was split open four times.
And yet, even as his blood spilled out into the air,
"—Then, die."
With a quick slash of his blade, Riley returned the favor, slicing the monster's chest open with [Bleeding]. The result was a calamity of blood, which soared out, painting the trees blue. In response to the pain, the creature unleashed a deafening, ear-splitting shriek which forced Riley to cover his ears.
It stumbled back and around through the snow, collapsing to the dirt and covering its head, rolling around. Its movements gave Riley the impression of an insect, skittering along the snow as it vibrated intensely.
Riley grit his teeth, looking down at the creature as he bled onto the snow. The sensation of being cut—it was by no means new.
"After everything that's happened… yeah, this isn't as bad as it usually is."
A snide grin on his face, Riley kicked off the bark. In his overwhelming might, it shook the upper body of the tree, as he lunged down and—
"I wanted, to…"
Swinging [Bleeding], Riley aimed to behead the creature. And yet, right when he beheaded the monster, instead of blue blood spraying, it was in fact a sea of—
Chains?!
Hearing the metallic chains wrap around his body, restraining both arms and legs, he was pulled forth into the creature's body. Feeling its skeletal, disgusting gaunt flesh touch his own, he screamed into the midnight forest, only to be drowned out.
Absorbed.
Riley Woods had been absorbed into its flesh.
"Wanted." The creature had "wanted."
First and foremost, above all else, without room to spare for doubt or mistake, undeniably and unquestionable, intently, deeply, viscerally and primally—
Human. The creature wanted to be "human."
…
Something had gone wrong. That was without question.
Using the sixth sense, Frank found nothing. Still, summoning a radar which detected lifeforms he wished to track, he did still manage to find that there was an existence within the forest.
Did he die? If so, that's… that's just sad.
The man got up from the lock, sighing in annoyance as he armed himself with a Benelli M1014, walking through the forest.
He shouldn't have died so quickly. He was behind a massacre—even if he died, it shouldn't have been instantly.
Approaching the large fire Riley had created, Frank looked around, searching for the monster. Swapping into the radar, he found the monster's position was moving further away from him. In fact, it was heading towards a nearby town.
"...Hm."
Taking a deep inhale, Frank readied himself. Cracking his knuckles and stretching, limbering up his old body, the man prepared.
"It's the final hunt…"
The man did not have a family to leave behind. With a relaxed expression, he dedicated himself to giving it his all on the final hunt.
…
Opening his eyes, Riley Woods sat up in his bed. Sweaty. He felt warm, and his sheets were wet with sweat.
Wait, no way… did I seriously sleep in after school?
He did not enjoy naps. Especially since school was burdensome, his time at home felt like the only free time he had to satisfy himself; using it to sleep and not be conscious was redundant in his eyes.
Looking out at the window, he got out of bed and opened up the blinds. Seeing the moon in the night sky, he looked up and put his hand on his hip, clicking his tongue.
"Shit…"
I don't feel tired at all. Way to go, doofus. Now I'm gonna be really sleepy at school tomorrow… Wait, maybe Nina could take care of me?
Making an offended expression, he stepped back, shaking his head.
Wait, wha? Since when did I start thinking like that? That's… that's dumb. Wait, do I like Nina? No, not in that way… Since when?
Right now, outside of the looming reality that he would likely embarrass himself or get yelled at by a teacher, the most troublesome part was that, for some reason, he found himself crushing on Nina.
His forehead brimming with itchy heat, he wiped it with his forearm and looked outside at the city around him. It was beautiful, with all the colors it wore. Though, surprisingly, it was much quieter than usual, which he didn't mind—probably helped him sleep, actually.
No way, I like Nina? That doesn't… wha? Ah… no, it's best to give up now.
His offended expression slowly shifted. His lips curved into a small frown, his posture shrunk and his eyes and brows relaxed.
Yeah. I'm ugly and short, she's popular and kind. And pretty, too. Don't forget that. Yep, yep, I'd say it's over for me.
Feeling a sensation in his stomach, he heard it growl, and he nodded his head.
Whatever. I'll probably… no, I'm definitely going to die before I confess my feelings. Even if I make it to eighteen, I'll still probably never confess. She'd throw up if I did, I bet.
Walking out of his room, he ensured that he tiptoed around the house, not wanting to wake up his parents or Joey. Reaching the kitchen, he opened the fridge up, looking for—
"Huh?"
A rope tied in the shape of a noose. That was what he found in the refrigerator.
Is… shit, does mom and dad know? Are they pulling a prank on me?
Swallowing the spit building up in his mouth, Riley looked around. He closed the door, taking out the light of the room. Now submerged in darkness his eyes had been reset in, he had a lot more difficulty moving down the hallway, unable to see as he held his hand out like a blind person.
Though, I guess I technically am blind right now, right? What even constitutes "blind" to begin with? I feel like if you can't see, you're blind, even if it's not a medical condition.
Plunged thoroughly into the mundanity of his life, Riley reached his room and took his phone off the charger, using the flashlight to guide him. Walking over to his mom and dad's room, he turned off the flashlight and gently opened the door.
As he entered, he stopped moving, quieting his breathing.
Wait, why would they pull a prank on me? They love me, they wouldn't make a joke out of it… Still, who put the noose there?
Listening intently, he heard nothing. That was a problem.
Turning on his flashlight, Riley shined the white light onto his parent's bedroom, finding that they were not in their bed at all.
"What the… fuck?"
With the slip of his tongue, he cursed and shook his head, going to look at the bathroom. But with the lights of the bathroom off, when he gently opened the door and looked inside with the flashlight—nowhere to be seen.
"Shit, wait, where's Joey?"
Turning around and immediately picking up the pace, his heartbeat began to accelerate with worry. Going to Joey's room and opening up the door—
The door flung open, and Riley felt the hand of an adult wrap around his throat, his body forced to the ground.
"AGH, SHIT!!" The boy screamed in terror.
The sensation of a light weight pressed on his stomach, the phone dropped to the ground, emitting light in the ceiling.
Vision reintroduced, Riley felt his throat squeezing, as if his Adam's Apple was being forced into the back of his neck. Before him was a corpse. Its neck had been twisted around repeatedly, leading to folds of skin all along its neck.
Its blue skin and black abyss for eyes, with only a small white dot in the center, stared down on him.
Clutching, squeezing, wringing his neck—the world began to shift. From below, Riley curled his fingers and began punching upwards against the man, punchingpunchingpunching to fight back.
Yet, when that was of no use, even his weak body managed to shove the man off of him as he got up. Coughing and wheezing, he held his neck and ran away.
Escaping out to the balcony, he breathed heavily, his body shaking with fear as he peered through the glass window, seeing the man approach from down the hallway. Swaying side to side, the man moved his thin body, staring at Riley with his bloated, blue face.
"Shit, w-what the, hk, what the fuck is that, what the fuck is that, w-wha…?!"
The man reached him and opened the door, with Riley gritting his teeth.
Having sensed that the man's body was incredibly light, he did not hide on the balcony for nothing. Once the man peeked from behind the door, Riley tackled him, able to take it down to the ground. Mounting the man, he jammed his thumb into the abyss for an eyesocket, using that to hold the skull to the ground.
Overwhelmed, he felt the sensation of killing intent coursing through him.
He knew that without question, he was going to kill whoever it was before him. Even if he did not know why he felt this way, it was a sensation he felt ingrained into his anatomy.
Reaching his hand to the side, Riley saw a small vase with a red spider lily inside. Raising a brow, he was confused, instinctively curious about the new flower he'd never grown or seen in his apartment.
Grabbing the vase, he raised it into the air, and smashed it down onto the man's face. Shattering it, he grabbed a sharp piece, dragging the edge along the corpse's eyes, slicing them open before getting to his feet.
The man, covered in dirt, did not seem to be a human being.
Raising his foot, Riley slammed down with all his might upon the man's neck. Sensing that the neck had been twisted around repeatedly, Riley felt an instinctual disgust.
Even still, he continued.
Thud. Slam. Stomp.
Thud. Thud.
Slip.
"Oop." He had given a bad kick, his foot slipped.
Thud. Thud.
Crunch.
The snapping of bone under his shoes, Riley grunted, a tingling in his heel. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he opened the door and went to the kitchen. Opening up the refrigerator, he grabbed the noose and went back over to the corpse.
Just to be safe, of course.
Wrapping and tightening the noose around the man's already broken and eviscerated neck, the teenage boy tied the end of the noose to the balcony railing. Deriving a strange satisfaction, he heaved the light corpse over the edge.
Hearing the sound of a rope stretching, he looked over, seeing it. Swaying in the wind, the corpse laid entirely limp.
Walking back over to the hallway, he picked up his phone.
I should call the police, shouldn't I?
Checking Joey's room, he found it smeared in sharpie writing. Over, and over—"I miss my brother."
I miss my brother. I miss my brother. I miss my brother. I miss my brother. I miss my brother, I miss my brother, I miss my brother, I miss my brother, I miss my brother, I miss my brother I miss my brother I miss my brother I miss my brother I miss my brother I miss my brother——
The scribbles of a lunatic, the engravement of those four words, which overwhelmed Riley's senses so overwhelmingly that he had lost meaning of the words "miss" and "brother."
"W-what the… what the fuck is this…"
Staring in disbelief, he felt his cheeks stiffen, digging the nail of his thumb into the skin of his index finger.
"What…"
Scoffing, he took a step inside, reading the writing on the wall once more, using his flashlight to see. He tried to turn the light on inside the room, but even when he flickered the lightswitch repeatedly, nothing happened.
Reading the walls, he continued to spin around the room, noticing that the words led down to a spiral. They formed a spiral shape around the room, and the writing continued from the wall to the floor.
Due to the wood flooring, it was difficult to see, yet when he followed the tracks, he read the line at the centermost point in the room.
"I love my brother Riley."