Epsilon [Werewolf]

Chapter 6 (✓)

As if that weren't bad enough, I could taste all those things as well -- all at once. My tongue ached as every vile thing in existence passed along it, forcing more tears to my eyes. It was a jolt to the stomach, a pain that went far beyond the usual nausea. Before, I had just felt sick. Now, I was almost sure my own senses would kill me, if my illness didn't kill me first. 

It seemed Alia's sharp calls worked to some avail, for the warbled surroundings quieted just a tad. However, the relief was short-lasted. Hands reached for me -- calloused, smooth, rough skin scraping over my body. My blood curdled at every grope, every touch, and that was when I started to lose it. 

My eyes shot open. A jarring scream meeting my lips as lights of every colour flashed into my retinas, burning and withering. As I shrieked, more hands reached for me, touching me wherever they could, setting every nerve on fire.

Then, all thinking ceased. Panic took over, and suddenly, I was acting on nothing but pure instinct. Colours and shapes swirled in my vision, random objects focusing one moment only to bleed away the next. I couldn't see. I was blind. But I had to get out of there. I had to leave. 

I had to run.

I broke away from Alia's grasp, thankful to be free from the cage of her fingers. A wave of gasps wobbled through the space, like a cacophony of hissing, but I didn't care. I barged ahead, slashing and swinging as hands reached for me, trying to stop me. I wouldn't let them. Everything came in dizzying flashes as I pushed through the clamour, gasping and stumbling, passing faces that I did not recognise amidst the chaos.

Relief rushed through me as the thicket of arms thinned, and without reservation I fell into a sprint down the warped entry hall. I was aware of the tables I knocked over and the vases shattering in my wake, punctuated by the angry voices rising in retaliation. I didn't care. I had to keep going.

I burst out the doors with a gasp, crossing the lawn at speeds that would put my personal bests to shame, even with my stumbles and lurches. My breaths came out in wheezing gasps, and not even the cold kiss of the night's air could loosen the tightness in my chest.

The gold light of the streetlamps juddered in my vision as I staggered upon the main road. The cacophony of crickets was deafening, and I found myself covering my ears in an attempt to drown out the sharp clicks. The distant thump of music rattled my bones, jolting every nerve in my body. 

I pushed several breaths in and out as my mind raced. My whole body throbbed, the golden blur of streetlamps wavering in my peripheral as my vision pulsed along with it. Quiet sobs escaped by chest, every nerve on fire. What was happening to me? 

I almost had my thoughts somewhat aligned when a white-hot spike of pain shot through my head. I howled, not registering the pain in my knees as they slammed into concrete, not hearing the agonising screams that escaped my lips with every painful throb. My mind roared, silencing every rational thought and feeling. I clambered to the gutters for some kind of solace, clutching my head as a new wave of pain lashed through me. Then another. Then another. It was as though I were being burned alive.

I must have been yelling, because before I knew it, hands were on me again. White faces flashed in my vision, and though their lips moved, I couldn't make out a word. All I could do was feel. Between the foreign touches and the pain eating me alive, I began to disconnect from the rational part of my head. My thoughts were wild, primitive, and before I knew it, the pressure on my skull cracked. 

I screamed and screamed, clutching my head as my skull rang out in pure agony. I could feel the bones shifting under my fingers, as though the fragments were re-arranging themselves into some sickening puzzle.

With ragged breaths I scrambled to my feet and ran. Concerned yells rose up behind me, but I ignored them. Though I was blind, broken, and had no idea of where I was running to, I had a compelling sense of direction. Amidst the chaos of my head, I didn't question the feeling. Instead I clung for it to dear life, gripping to this small fragment of clarity as the world shattered around me.

I ran faster, desperate for the freedom those yelling behind me couldn't give. My legs screamed with every step, as though they too were breaking like the the bones in my skull. Black dots swam in my vision, my chest rising and falling erratically to make up for my lack of oxygen. All I could think about was the safety of bushes, the solace of pine trees and looming shadows. And when I picked up the heavy scent of pine and moisture, I realized where that fragment of clarity was taking me.

The forest.

As I neared the tree line, a blinding heat seared at my cuticles, and moments later black nails sprouted from the nail beds. I sobbed in horror as they continued to grow, sharpening into the unmistakable shape of claws. The joints of my knees bent in a way that shouldn't be possible, and I was forced to the ground, shaking and yelling as every muscle and bone twisted and contorted, dislocating and relocating. I seized, an animalistic scream ripping from my throat as my back did the same, and then my head -- bones breaking and re-forming, muscles tearing before being struck anew.

When the crushing of my body ceased, I rolled over, poised on all fours. Maybe it was instinct, or perhaps it was my fear, but something compelled me onwards.

My new limbs moved, and before I knew it, I was running. Pain continued to pulse through me with every action, but it was weaker now. Dimmer, like the aftermath of a great fire, leaving only smouldering embers its wake. I ran until the music-boom was nothing but a faint pulse behind me. I ran until the lights of the neighbourhood guttered, and the yells of the concerned faded into oblivion. I yelped as pain bloomed at my tail bone, as though it were elongating; when daggers pierced through my gums, filling my mouth with a metallic tang; when my muscles twanged and cramped, adjusting to this new body. By the time I was knees-deep in the forest, I was no longer human. 

That much I knew.

With nothing but my pain-fogged mind and the burning urge to run, I thundered through the undergrowth, not sparing a glance backward as my paws hit the sodden earth. I continued to run, even as the distant sound of the town dwindled, replaced instead by the quiet melodies of the night.