Different | ✔️

4 | The Inner Beast

"Ahh, what's going on?" I mumbled, but the throbbing pain in my head made it impossible for me to concentrate. My lashes fluttered as a memory flashed through my mind. An old forgotten memory I suppressed deep down. Th-that face, that voice. M-mother. Moisture filled my eyes as I was almost on the verge of tears. She was standing miles away from me that I could barely make out a feeble outline of her face. Her lips parted, and the words that echoed in my ear jolted me right out of slumber.

Beads of sweat slid down my face, panting heavily, I shook my head, trying to snap myself back to reality, to the truth, to the fact that she left me and was never coming back. But her words kept on echoing in my head, over and over again. The same words continuously cracking the perfect facade I put up to deceive everyone around me, to shut the inner beast out, until I could no longer contain it. It was out, now there was no turning back.

Run. Run, Aurora! Don't ever look back, Run! 

My eyes blazed with rage in it purest form. My mind was a whirlwind of unanswered question frantically in search of anyone to set me free from this bondage, from this chaos going on in my head. The thumbing in my head only made things worse. A shrill escaped my lips, and then I knew—the beast had awakened, and it was all her fault! 

Run. It's her fault. Run, Aurora. It's her fault. Don't ever look back, Run! No. Don't ever come searching for me, please. 

"NO!" I cried out with tears flowing down my pale cheeks. My mind was in a constant battle with itself. Memories from my past added more flame to the roaring fire. The beast was out, and there was no one to contain it, and it was all her fault. Two figures hovered in front, theirs lip constantly moving, but their words were inaudible. A deafening sound pierced my ear as another shrill slipped out of my lips and everywhere went still with only one word in my mind.

Kill her.

My vision blocked out the other person standing beside her. The words pounded in my mind, beckoning unto me, and I knew too well that if I didn't answer its call. I'd go berserk, and there would be no end to it. Rage pulsed through every single vein in my system, and blood surged to my heart rapidly, making it thump faster each passing seconds. I tore through the ropes around my hands and legs and stood on feet, slightly hunching my back like a ravaging animal glaring at its prey, thinking of a perfect way to subdue its prey and consume it.

She stumbled backwards as I took a step closer. The other person came forward, gripping a sword firmly, and plunged it at me. Before it could pierce through my skin, I skidded a few feet back. Once the sword collided with the concrete ground, I surged at the figure, giving the person no time to regain stamina. With my fist curled up, I threw the figure back into the slab wall. It made a heavy impact that the ground rumbled under my feet. It showed no sign of movement. 

I brought my attention back to her. She held the sword in her hand, mumbling words that were inaudible to me. I walked towards her, she raised the sword at me with fear dancing in her eyes. I swiftly came around her and tightened my grip on her wrist until the sword slipped out of her hands. She hauled a punch to my guts, but that seemed to have no effect on me as I just stared at her with a blank expression on my face. 

She stepped back, balancing her weight on her left foot, and threw her right fist out in a curved punch at my temple. Turning ninety degrees to the side, I brought my right forearm up to counter the blow, formed a fist with my left, and lunged it at her outstretched jaw. She glided backwards and landed her back against the slab wall with a loud thud, blood dripped from her mouth, and an odd sense of satisfaction rumbled within me. 

I wanted more.

Blood. 

I approached her as she was huffing while pulling away from me. Her lips moved again, but the words were still inaudible. The only voice in my subconscious reached my ear. Kill her. A smirk grew on my lips as I kept on walking towards her, watching her dragging herself away from me while being out of breath ignited the hunger in me. It was like watching my prey pitifully try to escape from my grasp. I held a handful of her hair and tugged it hard. I could see beads of blood seeping out of each strand. I laughed. Why did I find this so satisfying?