Adam Pavell

2:17 a.m., Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Adam Pavell was no longer human.

Not after what the Adumbrae terrorist had done to him.

I’m sorry…

Fresh blood was on his shriveled hands and arms, slowly drying, forming a sticky coat over his pockmarked skin. Blood dripped from the sides of his permanent impish grin that stretched from one pointy ear to the next. Between his uneven serrated teeth, stringy bits of flesh were stuck. He was disgusted to think that the metallic taste of blood and the soft texture of flesh felt right as he chewed.

I’m truly sorry…I can’t stop myself…

His claws stabbed the folds of flesh of the meaty stomach of their prey. His ears twitched at the infuriating screams. The prey was yelling for help while trying to fight them off, but the others held him down, chomping on his arms and legs, devouring everything they could.

Adam had to move fast or else there would be nothing left for him. He furiously shoved the others away, their snarling heads, clawed hands, tentacles, and barbed appendages. He grabbed as much flesh as he could, putting it into his gaping mouth before the others could eat the best parts.

Forgive me…this isn’t me…my body is no longer my own.

The helpless resident of the building he used to guard was no longer screaming. Dead. Yet, he and the others continued their feeding frenzy. His claws snagged some tendon; he pulled it out with an annoyed growl. He crushed their prey's brittle bones and sucked out the juicy marrow they contained.

Inside his head, Adam the human begged the entity that had full control of his body it wouldn’t look at the face of the person he was eating. It didn’t listen to his pleas, but it—or rather I, as it was me and I was just a tiny piece of consciousness left at the corner of my mind—was too focused on eating that he stuck his head into the writhing mass of mutations to gnaw the leftover flesh off the bones that he still ended up not seeing this person’s face.

Please forgive me…

Please save me…

After a short while, the body was bones.

And most of the bones were also eaten.

The meal done, most of them calmed down and walked away. Adam mumbled words made incoherent by his monster vocals cords. He didn’t know what he was saying, he didn’t know what the entity was thinking. He continued shambling through the hallway while grumbling gibberish, his long arms brushing against his outwardly bowed knees. The tail made of bones that was his spine extending out of his body lazily swished behind him.

He didn’t know which part of the building he was at. He didn’t know how many people he had eaten. Each time he found a human, a ravenous need to kill and consume filled his head. That sensation, the insatiable hunger, he feared feeling it.

And if he feared the all-consuming hunger, he absolutely dreaded the cry—the call others made when they found food. His mind blanked out after hearing those calls. And the next thing he knew, when he was able to regather what little remained of his scattered consciousness, he would already be eating someone.

But I haven’t killed anyone!

He had convinced himself of that. Even if he was turned into a monster and had memories of eating humans, he was never the one who dealt the killing blow. He was weak and injured; he couldn’t chase people down. It was the others that hunted and killed. He only ate. It may not be the most lucid or most justifiable of thoughts, but he grasped at anything that could comfort him.

I hope it was true.

With no prey to hunt or to eat, the voice inside his head had quieted. He still couldn’t control his body for he had been driven into a small space at the edge of his mind, but at the least he found peace.

It was in these moments of respite he could clearly think.

He remembered what happened after the small parasite entered his nostril. He couldn’t resist because the hardened plaster that was the power of the Adumbrae terrorist kept him in place. He recalled the mental battle, the voice inside his head, his mind pushed away.

Then there was something…something not from this world, something from across the void talking. But not to him; to the creature that took control of his body. The mutations followed. The terrorist laughed and taunted him as he lost his body to the new entity that moved in his mind.

The terrorist…Finlay. Adam vividly recalled his name, even if nothing else.

To make matters worse, Finlay’s boss called him again and apparently berated him for not following orders. He then took out his annoyance on the mutating Adam, toying with him, wounding him and breaking some of his bones. That was the reason why Adam’s monster body was severely weakened.

Finlay’s unhinged laughter still rung in Adam’s ears. The terrorist monologued about the ‘true plan’, whatever that meant, and that he was going to get back at the woman who got angry at him. Something about that woman being loyal to the wrong person.

Adam couldn’t recall much of what else Finlay said because memories of his torture resurfaced each time he thought about it. Fortunately, he wasn’t able to feel pain during that ordeal. Or was it really fortunate? He was already losing his body at that point after all. He was just in the backseat, watching his monster form getting broken by a deranged Adumbrae.

There were shrieks ahead of him.

It wasn’t the cry, so he didn’t care.

Or maybe he should? He stopped walking in that direction. Was it the others eating each other? He didn’t know why they did that for he hadn’t felt such an urge himself. Best to avoid those that do eat others; given how weak he was, they'd probably just eat him too.

A charred slug-human hybrid came from the direction of the riot of monstrous calls. It slithered with great effort across the floor, leaving a trail of black liquid and gelatinous blobs. It reached out to him with a pudgy hand. Its half-burnt human face looked up to him and asked for help.

At the end of the corridor, the one responsible for the commotion showed itself. A smoldering humanoid, a walking charcoal of a man. Adam took a hesitant step backward. Was this one going to attack him?

Is that our uniform?

Most of it was burnt away, but Adam had been a security guard of this building for years and they rarely changed the design of their uniform so he easily recognized it.

Who was this? Most of them were killed; he saw it in the security cameras. The boys at the parking area especially met cruel fates.

The monster Adam didn’t know what to do. He knew he was weak and couldn’t fight this one. He crouched beside the moaning slug and attempted to use its bulk to hide. It kept on saying, “Help me”, to his ear but he didn’t pay attention to it.

He kept very still while the charcoal man walked past him.

“Ramon…where are you?” it said in a hoarse voice.

Ramon? Who was that? He felt that he had heard that name before. The charcoal man kept on repeating it, his voice getting softer as he went further away. Adam stared at the back of the charcoal man as it turned left and disappeared from view.

Comfort.

It was nonsense and stupid and selfish, but somehow, Adam felt comfort that another guard was also turned into a monster.

Why am I thinking like this?

His ears fluttered.

A sound. Faint. Familiar.

He got back up his feet, his heart raced, his monster body feeling anticipation. But even if his heart wasn’t his anymore, Adam could feel the phantom beating of fear. The fear grew in the same vein the monster’s anticipation grew.

Anticipation of the hunt.

There was the call. The call the monster waited for, the call that Adam the human was terrified to hear.

The others found prey! He must hurry!

Hurry or there would be nothing left for him to eat!

When he arrived at the feast, he found three humans. Two of them had fallen. The others crowded on top of them; there was no place for him. The last one was inside a glass office. She barricaded herself by pushing down a bookcase to block the door. But that wouldn’t stop them, not for long. The others were still busy eating the two humans they caught.

Adam the monster licked his lips in anticipation. The glass walls would be easy to bring down. Even though he was weak, he could probably do it. He was going to do it! He’d get to the prey first before the others.

No! Don’t kill her!

“Security? Help me!” the woman inside the room yelled into the office phone. “Hello, Security?!”

Sorry, no one is going to answer that.

“Call the BID—Is anyone there?” She slammed down the receiver on the table. “Fucking useless! Is everyone dead?"

Adam swiped at the glass wall with his claws.

“You stupid monster!” the woman aimed a gun at him. “Come in here and I’ll shoot you!”

It made him pause for a bit. A gun was supposed to be dangerous; his human brain knew that. But why did the monster stop too? It didn’t care about what he thought before.

“I clawed my way to the top only to die like this? My fucking career!” She swung around, confused where to point the gun as others came and pressed themselves against the glass walls. They weren’t making a move yet, as if to savor her fear. “All of life’s work! No! No! This isn’t going to end like this.”

Clawing her way to the top? He has heard that before. M…Mel…I know her! But I can’t recall her name...

The memory of a lawyer getting angry at the security guards because of some complaint floated in his miniscule consciousness. He couldn’t remember the exact incident, but this woman was etched in his brain because she nearly got him fired by threatening to sue the management due to some petty grievance.

Maybe I should eat…No! No! That’s not me talking!

This was the right time for revenge. He was going to kill and eat her. He began slamming his body at the glass wall. Web-like cracks spread on its surface. Faster! Before the others made their move.

“I’m not going down as monster food!”

I’m so sorry. I can’t do anything to help you…

The others were already here! The woman was yelling all sorts of profanities at them from the other side of the wall while pulling out her hair and waving her gun. He couldn’t understand what exactly she was saying because that was no longer the focus of his thoughts.

He had to get to inside! He had to take the first bite!

The glass shattered and the crowd of monsters finally got in the room. They scrambled on top of each other to get to the woman who standing behind the large table. She had the gun in her hand pointed at her head.

“I’m going out on my own terms!”

BANG!

Thank you it wasn’t me who killed you…I’m sorry…

Adam the monster didn’t care if the prey killed itself. He jumped in the crowd and pushed in. He was like the runt of the litter. If he didn’t position himself well, he wouldn’t be able to eat. He was prepared to fight even if he was weak!

FEAR!

He instinctively jumped to the other side of the huge wood office table and scrambled to hide beneath it. He curled up to one side, deathly afraid of...something. His heart pounded, terrified beyond anything he has ever felt before.

All the others were also frozen in fear.

The blank eyes of the woman’s corpse stared at his cowering body. What’s happening? he asked her even though she wasn’t going to answer, blood draining out the hole on the side of her head.

BAAMM! BAM!

“This is fun! They really can’t do anything if the gizmo is on.”

“Boss Dekano, wutz this thing called again?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t listening when Mister explained.”

There was more shooting.

“Stop that!”

“It’s fine to shoot them, right Boss? We’re not taking these as samples?”

“Yea, Boss. Wez gotz plenty already—"

“Stop shooting, you idiots, because I’m calling that asshole Finlay! Let’s hear what he has to say before clapping his smug cheeks.”

The terrorists!

Adam couldn’t see them because the bottom part of the table he was hiding behind blocked his view. And that was good. If he couldn’t see them, they couldn’t see him either. They seemed to be killing some of the others for fun. What were they doing here?

“Finlay! You bastard, you finally picked up. What the hell are you doing? What’s up with the late report that Erind may be out of her room?”

Adam tried to focus on the conversation, but the entity who had control of his body was shivering in fear. From the bits and pieces he could pick up, it seemed Finlay was delayed with the updates from the security room and Dekano was going there to check up on him. They also sent some people to capture this Erind they were hunting and kill the survivors who were helping her escape. The wolf woman, whoever she was, still wasn’t around.

“Just the residents of this building with Erind? My men should be able to handle them then. Slinky had to go down because Ichor said they're getting attacked outside the building. Might be those fuckers harassing our operations.”

Who was he referring to? The BID? Were they going to be rescued? Probably not. That gave Adam a pause. What would he do if rescue indeed came? The BID and the police were going to kill him!

“Bob is with Stella, and I’m going to check on your incompetent ass. That’s why I’m making sure that only normal humans are with Erind!”

There was a pause as this Dekano person listened to Finlay’s response.

“Don’t play games with me, Finlay! Miss Stella is going to rip you apart. After she deals with the wolf woman and captures her, I’m sure she’s going to kill you—” There was a stomp on the ground followed by a couple of shots.

“Boss! You killed them too. I thought you said—”

“I know what I said! That asshole Finlay dropped the call on me.”

“We should putz him in his placez, boss.”

“Yeah!” the other one chimed in. “Take him down a peg. He’s too cocky just because he’s part of the army that guards the Red Island.”

“Nah,” Dekano said. “He’s being a dick because he knows Miss Stella can’t use her power all the time.”

“The longer she doesn’t use it, the stronger her transformation gets, right Boss?”

“Yes. And that bastard Finlay is banking on Miss Stella saving her power for the wolf woman instead of squishing him like the slimy worm that he is.”

After the terrorists left, Adam the monster still didn’t leave his hiding spot. But the others were already moving. They pulled away the woman’s corpse and ate her. He didn’t join in, the overwhelming fear still gripping his heart. Then, he noticed black liquid on the floor, it was spreading towards him.

Curious, he finally got out from under the table and checked the other side.

One of the others. Dead.

He was so hungry.

There was nothing left of the woman.

He was very, very hungry. He knew the others ate each other. Should he try this one?

He knelt down beside it and started eating. It felt right. Maybe he should start eating the others too. Maybe he would get stronger. Stronger so he wouldn’t fear anything. He didn’t want to experience that fear again.

Maybe...just maybe...if he ate that charcoal man he would get very, very strong. Stronger? Adam the monster would like that. The charcoal man was going to be food the next time he saw him.

I’m sorry my fellow guard…I can’t control myself…I hope we don’t meet each other again.