Cold Blooded

Success

warning: blood, a lot this time

"Mr. Childe?" Yin rasped as he looked up at the man. His voice had grown rough from misuse. When was the last time I talked?

The ginger turned his head slightly to look at him, and stumbled back a step when their eyes locked. Yin stared up at him and tilted his head slightly, not sure what else to do.

Childe shook his head slightly as if trying to deny what he was seeing. He ran a hand through his hair and someone in a big hat beside him asked something. Yin couldn't hear the words, but after that Mr. Childe didn't look back at him.

"Good morning, everyone!" Three called from the balcony to the people around him. His back was to Yin, but his voice was filled with unbridled joy. "As I mentioned in my letters to all of you, I have been working with enhancing strength and power within a chosen subject."

Three turned to Yin with a wide swoop of his arms. "This is the result of years of those experiments. Our very own Tartaglia found him and was the one who harvested all of the karma that we needed to make this project a success."

Mr. Childe went stiff, a smile plastered on his face, as people politely clapped around him. The man stole a glance at Yin, but looked away again.

"Without any further ado," Three turned around and gripped the railings. He was practically shaking with excitement. "Yin, it's playtime!"

A pain more intense than anything Chongyun had ever felt before stabbed at his head. He stumbled backwards a few steps and tried shaking his head. He stumbled and fell to his knees. Yin grabbed his head and screamed in pain.

The people on the balcony all took a few steps closer, interested and excited to see what would happen. Yin barely even saw them.

Kill Them.

A woman's voice whispered quietly in Yin's ear. The voice was calming and soothing in the midst of his pain. It was offering a path out of the pain, it would be so, so easy...

Yin let out another yell and yanked his head to the side. No, he shook his head, his whole body trembling.

Kill them, darling.

"No!" Yin yelled aloud. "Get out of my head! Get out!" His voice was rough, but sounded so insignificant compared to the soft voice. Like a raft in a storm, drowned out when faced with nature's glory.

From up above, Three leaned in closer. Fascinated with what was happening to his little toy. He giggled quietly to himself and triggered a mechanism in the wall.

The doors surrounding the room below slowly opened to reveal rows and rows of kids and teens. They were dressed in nothing more than rags. Some held makeshift weapons, while others had nothing but themselves.

They all stared at the man writhing in pain in the middle of the room. They were all frozen in terror.

Kill them. Do it, please, for me.

"No, no, no!" Yin shook his head with each word, as he tried to fight the voice. "Get out, get out! Please, just get out of my head!"

Oh, darling, you're not in control anymore. The voice laughed, like a mother chuckling at their child's antics. Please, my lovely, kill them. For me...

Yin's arms fell to his sides. The pain in his head faded away as something else took over. He raised his eyes to the blinding lights above, and a smile spread across his face. He began to chuckle, but then it became a laugh that turned into the howls of a madman.

Yin couldn't stop smiling as he felt the change deep within himself. He felt it outside as well. He was changing. His teeth got longer and sharper, a dark blackness slid out from beneath his sleeves and formed sharp talons over his hands. His muscles bulged and he grew larger.

He released a roar from deep within him as the lady chuckled softly by his ear. Yin turned to face the children around him and he was filled with hunger. He could hear their hearts beating in their chests and he wanted all of it. All of their blood, he needed it.

Good, my child. Now go and feast.

Yin smiled and ran at the crowd. He grabbed a small girl by the throat and lifted her from the ground. He ran his claws down her throat and her crimson blood flowed down his arms and dripped to the floor as the light faded from her eyes. Yin threw the girl aside and began to lick her blood from his fingers and arm.

An older boy ran at him with a sharpened stick and tears in his eyes. Yin slashed at the boy's face and ripped the stick from his hands. He cut the boy's throat as easily as the girl's and let the blood flow into his mouth.

One after the other, the children came at him with war cries and fear in their eyes. Yin slaughtered them with ease and bathed in their blood. The woman's voice cheering him on and silence from the onlookers above.

Soon, only a few children remained. Yin was soaked in blood and shaking with excitement and power. The blood was everywhere and it was delicious, it was everything. He wanted more. He needed more, more and more and more!

A boy with choppy dark blue hair stood shaking with a rusted, dented sword. For a moment, Yin froze. He stared at the boy and stumbled backwards.

Kill him, child.

The lady whispered in Yin's ear, but he shook his head. It's not him, Yin had seen this boy again and again in his dreams. He knew him, he was his... friend. It couldn't be him. It had been too long and this boy was much too young.

You're right, my love, it's not anyone important. Go ahead and kill him for me.

Yin shook his head, not this one. He couldn't kill this one. Yin's talons began to melt away like shadows as he backed away shaking his head. This was wrong. What was he doing?!

A girl ran up behind Yin and stabbed a sharp scrap of metal into his side. Yin let out a feral howl and the monster was back. His talons returned and the girl was gone in seconds.

Finish them off, darling. For me.

Yin threw himself at the remaining children. They fell before him like flames in a strong wind. He tore them to shreds and ripped at them with his teeth. He held the blue haired boy against the ground and leaving his last shred of humanity behind, snapped the boy's neck.

Yin looked around him, at the corpses, at the blood, and then up at Three and the other onlookers. Some stared at him with fascination, others indifference. Three had the look of a child at a birthday, he was beaming. Two people looked terrified. Mr. Childe stared down at him with regret, fear, and pain all dancing across his face. The girl from before with the green hair and the purple hood looked as if she were about to throw up.

"Well done," Three said with an enthusiastic clap. The boy turned the crowd around him. "This is the future of fighting, comrades. Anyways, the show's over, Yin"

I can't wait to play with you next time, my love.

The voice began to fade with the rest of the world. Yin grabbed at his head. His talons disappeared into his sleeves and he shrunk back to his original size. His mind returned to him for just a moment to see the carnage and death he had wrecked. He had enjoyed wrecking.

He was a monster.

~author's note~

I was clearly far too angry and stressed out while I was working on this... anyways, that happened. Some how we have managed to make our way back to the storyline that I wrote up. Thanks for reading!

chapter art posted by @Wiliam_Liam