In the darkness, the soon-to-be grotesque figure concealed itself, moving cautiously through the night. Desperate for solace, it eagerly sought anything to soothe its troubled spirit. The whispers in its mind incessantly urged it to harvest, to gather souls. Unable to bear the stifling confines of its rented casita any longer, it ventured outside, hoping to escape its tortured thoughts, only to discover a world in ruins, just as broken and desolate.
"Come on, Felicia. You need it." Said the distorted voice.
"Leave me alone!" Felicia rasped.
"You need us."
"I do not!"
The restless woman walked down the sidewalk, her arms wrapped tightly around herself as if to protect herself from the outside world. She looked around furtively, avoiding eye contact with anyone she passed by. Her hood was pulled up, casting a shadow over her face as she tried to disappear into the anonymity of the city. Her athletic figure was covered with a cloak, which she clutched tightly around her body.
Felicia's steps were slow and deliberate as she strolled aimlessly, lost in thought. She begged the darkness to leave her alone, seeking solace in the night's embrace.
"I let you control." The honeyed voice offered.
"Shut it!" She let out a loud yell, but the distorted, glitchy voice inside her mind made it difficult for people around her to comprehend as they couldn't hear them. She felt isolated.
"See? These people think you're weird. A freak."
"No... just stop it." Muttered the creator. "Just leave me alone."
"After what you've done to Naomi? You have the audacity to say that?"
Felicia's ears pricked up as the distorted voice echoed through her side, jarring her senses. She turned her head to the side and saw a reflection of herself in the glass wall of the building. The grotesque image stared back at her, with her menacingly proud horns and her dragon wings spread wide, casting a dark shadow as the black wings were accompanied by the faint scent of blood, staining her senses. The long tail of a spiky dragon, yet jaguar patterned reminded her of the innocent lives it had taken, by choking the neck of its victim.
And the eyes.
The eyes of a corrupt.
The eyes, possessed a hypnotic power, their quivering scleras a mesmerizing blend of crimson and ivory. They pulsed in rhythmic circles, their metaphysical glow drawing in unsuspecting souls, ready to be annihilated. The iris, once gleaming gold, now appeared as a ghostly shade. And within the pupils were like the hunger of a ferocious jaguar, longing for the taste of flesh.
It was sickening, it was cruel, it was dreadful.
Yet, it felt great. The power, the control. All feeding to her wants.
Felicia surrendered herself to the suffocating depths of the fiend city, as the inky blackness devoured any trace of starlight. The city's slumbering inhabitants lay dormant, some were oblivious to the rampant lawlessness that plagued the streets. With each step she took through dimly lit alleys, the air thickened with the stench of wrongdoing. Normally, she would have intervened, but tonight her troubled self made an insatiable longing compelled her to assimilate into the city of Celaudron. A city full of crimes.
"Hiding yourself in the worst part of this world, what's that going to help you?" The monster reflection of hers spoke, its arms gracefully behind its back, obscuring the sharp claws that always used to tear bodies into halves.
"They won't find me here," Felicia spoke, unhugging herself.
"What if they do? What if... Danial do?" The reflection grinned, its razor-sharp fangs were an appalling sight to Felicia. She feared. "What about Sarah?"
"Shut up." Felicia tried to silence her corrupt self.
"Reap, Felicia. You haven't done it in months, your heart craves." Provoked the reflection.
"You craved it." She breathed. "Not me."
"We're the same."
"I am not like you!" Along with the forceful yell, Felicia's fists slammed into the glass wall. The bursting particles dug into Felicia's knuckles, and the rest flung to the road. Her breathing became shallow, coming in quick bursts. Her broad chest rose and fell, hyperventilating. She lost her temper, every day being taunted by the dark emphasis, she lost her appetite, her sense of humanity, and even luxury failed to comfort the creator.
The sight of Felicia going haywire caused nearby onlookers to gasp in disbelief, prompting some to hastily scatter.
"Weakling." The voice spoke. However, it never left as much as the troubled creator wanted to. "You're weak, powerless, vulnerable, helpless, passive-"
"Enough!" Felicia formed a knife, aiming at her throat.
Felicia was on the precipice of a desperate getaway. Her frayed mind was a torturous burden, pushing her to the brink of extinction. No one would mourn her absence, the thought of not breathing again was a great solution. She would vanish, a ghost of time, never to be seen again.
If she were dead, who would have even cared?
"Just like that? Seriously you're such a bitch." Mocked the glitchy voice.
"You won't ever find someone like me, nor even be like me."
"Cut it out, jerk."
As Felicia's hand trembled, she could feel the knife's cold steel slicing through her warm skin, her shaky grip adding pressure to her throat. It did not bother her to stop despite the pain.
"Stop it, asshole. You're going to kill yourself!" The distorted voice yelled, its malfunctioning voice strained Felicia's ears.
Felicia felt a strange connection to the darkness, as if it was intimately tied to her essence. Her twisted mind seemed to unravel, as if a locked gateway had suddenly opened, revealing a serene path. "Were you afraid?"
"Hah?"
"You're afraid if your vessel die, don't you?" Said Felicia, her knife unwavering yet.
"Bullshit, you think you're the only vessel here? You think I need you to survive-"
"Of course, you certainly can locate another vessel. However, it is a challenge to uncover a person who possesses my unique traits and qualities... isn't it?"
The distorted voice silenced itself, as if it finally learned to behave.
"You will hurt when I am hurt, is that so?" Felicia asked.
Silence.
"You know I can just end myself, willingly. You know immortals could die by killing themselves willingly. Right?" A hint of pride finally tinted her voice.
Silence.
"You could find a new body, a new vessel to live in. But how long does it take to live in a body before you rot?"
"You got me, now shut the fuck up." The distorted voice rasped.
The knife in Felicia's hand evaporated into thin air, "I guess... I can control you."
"You're a jerk." Mocked the distorted voice. "I like you better when you're helpless."
A sudden, resounding crash jolted Felicia and her shadowy counterpart from their quarrel. The sound resembled a bottle of wine slamming into a wall."You lunatic! What did you do to my store??!!" A taut voice yelled, a man from behind.
Felicia turned around only to see a man around his thirties, seemingly like the shop owner. The man pointed rapidly with the shattered bottle he held, attempting to hurt Felicia.
"You crazy criminals! Are you going to pay for this?!"
"Sorry Sir, I did not mean to cause damage-"
"Liar! You lying bitch!"
"Excuse me?"
At this precise instant, Felicia's tormented psyche was gravely insulted. The shopkeeper's act of aggression offended her pride, her unwavering persona. His attack enraged her.
"You fucking bitch, you ruined everything!" Continued the rude man.
Felicia contorted her golden eyes into a gruesome hue, her bloody knuckles whitened from rage as she struggled to maintain composure. She was itching to deliver a lashing of her fury and frustration to this man.
"Looks like he's lashing out at you," The distorted self of Felicia spoke. "Maybe it's a good start to finally reap?"
"No. I am not." Felicia protested, "Do not take your opportunity to demolish my brain in this."
"Well, this guy is an asshole to me. Maybe his soul is not so priceless." The dark said, seemingly uniting its intention with Felicia.
"I am not reaping again." The creator clarified.
"What are you standing there, idiot?! Are you even listening??" The man continued to boil Felicia's blood.
"C'mon, Fel. It's my fault that I got you into this, and that son of a bitch is yelling at you for that. Help me make it up to you will ya?" The distorted voice, though eerie, carried a sincere tone that hinted at a desire to be helpful.
"Of course, it is your fault." Felicia perceived her shadowy counterpart's demeanor and deciphered that the man's act of aggression infuriated the creature. Their shared feelings of pride and arrogance aligned them as one in the moment.
"My fault?! What the fuck are you talking about?!" The shopkeeper assumed that Felicia was speaking to him, causing him to blow a slap on the creator's face. "You broke my store and tell me it's my fault?!"
Felicia's senses were overwhelmed as the unexpected blow landed on her cheek with a deafening thud. The searing pain reverberated through her like a relentless drumbeat, leaving her senses reeling. Anger surged within her, reaching its boiling point, while her heart became a vessel of pure wrath. The man hadn't even granted her a chance to defend herself, yet he stood there, mockingly and insultingly, exposing her vulnerability to the onlookers on the sidewalk.
"Okay, let me take over now." The distorted voice rasped. "This man literally slapped a woman!"
Felicia finally yielded to her rage, deeming it harmless to give in to her volatile emotions.
"Fine, go ahead."
With a shrill scream, Felicia tumbled to the ground, hands clutching her head tightly as if she needed to break her skull. The rude shopkeeper stepped back in fear, only after noticing his ears trailed a flow of blood.
The pain became too intense, and the creator tore her cloak off her body, unveiling her aching muscles that turned a crimson hue.
Her wings unfurled with a bone-cracking sound, ripping through her delicate skin. Sinister tails sprouted from her lower back, writhing like serpents. Her arms elongated, ending in razor-sharp white claws that gleamed in the dim light. Horns erupted from her scalp, piercing through her scalp with a searing pain.
The intricate patterns of the jaguar came burning on her skin. Her fangs grew longer, protruding from her now distended jaw, while her eyes throbbed with an otherworldly intensity. The air charged with the red smoke of her metamorphosis.
The grotesque stood up, with one foot and another. Her imposing shoulders stood, the monster bore her fangs.
"What- WHAT ARE YOU?!!" Shouted in fear the once rude and bold shopkeeper.
Felicia could feel the man's beating heart pounding so heavily as if her eyes scanned them like an x-ray. Her mouth watered, craving for the palpitating meat.
She could no longer delay the retaliation, and her body urged her to attack. The man had offended her, and he deserved to be punished. She needed to break him, to tear him apart, and to satiate her raging thirst for blood and pain.
Felicia's razor-sharp teeth sunk into the neck of the man when she pounced, never giving the man a chance to avoid it. Felicia's massive claws dug themselves into the shopkeeper's body, pulling out his heart along with the breaking bones of the ribs. The man had no time to utter a scream as he was swiftly disarmed by her merciless assault. However, his eyes watered from the excruciating pain before his body system shut.
The savage beast did not waste time, feasting on the heart she held. It was over before the body was allowed to collapse to the floor.
The citizen of Celaudron, who were doing various bribing halted their crimes. Their attention trailed to the gaping hole in the mangled body.
"One is not enough, you need more." The voice spoke. "We needed more."
Felicia's eyes darted around her vicinity, her heightened senses were able to notice and locate the pounding hearts of the people that surrounded her.
Her muscular figure obeyed the commands, her limbs capturing and ripping away bodies, her tail choking and suffocating the lungs, her teeth devouring the flesh of numerous innocent or sinful lives.
"Reap, Monster."