Darkness. Everywhere he looked there was darkness. Nate didn’t know how long he remained in this state, but he hated it. Everything was suspended in this void, this empty space. It was like a vacuum. The silence was deafening.

After what felt like an eternity, a door appeared. Nate sighed in relief as he moved towards the door. He didn’t have a physical body, not in this empty space. What he had instead was a formless conscience that moved forward when he willed it. He moved towards the door and opened it.

A river of black water burst through the door. The force of the torrent forced him backward. The water moved with a mind of its own as it enveloped his body in a cold grasp. The grasp became a squeeze and then a firm grip, the water continued to contract.

Nate relished in the pain. It was better than the nothingness of his previous state. He’d much rather be subjected to this pain, rather than sit in empty space. At least with the water it felt like he had a body again.

The pain increased to a crescendo until finally his mind could not take it anymore. With the sound of a thousand glasses breaking, the water snuffed out his consciousness.

The darkness changed. Nate was now at what appeared to be an amusement park. The blue sky, the vibrant colors of the tents, the brown dirt on the floor. The colors were so bright compared to the darkness of his mind that he had to close his eyes.

“Honey, are you okay?” A sweet, soothing sound entered his ears. The familiar voice made Nate choke up.

He opened his eyes carefully, afraid the bright colors would blind him again. What met his eyes was the angelic face of his mother. Her eyebrows were furrowed as she leaned toward him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?” She repeated.

Nate’s vision became blurry as his eyes filled up with tears. “Yeah.” He said in a choked up voice. He moved forward and enveloped her in a hug.

“Oh…” His mother said in surprise as she hugged him back. “What’s gotten into you today?”

Nate didn’t say anything as he hugged her tighter, burying his face in her shoulder. “I miss you so much.”

“Miss me? I’m right here sweetheart.” She said in a soothing voice as she rubbed her hand up and down his back.

It reminded him of when he was a kid. Back then he would often hug his mother, kiss her on the check, and tell her how much he loved her. But when he got older, it stopped. Of course he still loved her, and she knew it, but he’d never hug her or kiss her on the cheek and tell her how much he loved her.

Only after her death did he realize how foolish he’d been. Nate didn’t want to leave his mother’s embrace. He wanted to stay here, where it was safe and continue to relish in the fabricated memory. Un-fortunately, things didn’t work out the way he wanted.

“There you are.” A warbled voice said. The sound was grating on the ears, like the discordant note of nails on chalkboard. It broke the peaceful harmony between Nate and his mother.

“What is that noise?” Nate’s mother began to move away from Nate, but Nate held her firmly.

“Ignore it mother, please. It’s nothing.” He said, he didn’t want the sweet memory to end so soon.

“Oh? Is that what you think of me?” The warbled voice spoke again, a note of anger in its voice.

With a snap of a finger, Nate’s mother fragmented into dust. Nate stumbled forward from the sudden disappearance. The sweet memory was over, now came the nightmare. As much as he wanted to close his eyes and wish it away, he couldn’t. It was here, and it would be heard.

Nate turned towards the voice and the demon that killed his family appeared before him. She looked the same as the day he first saw her, she wore human skin that was so deformed it made his eyes hurt. The skin was riddled with warts and her head seemed to inflate and deflate, following the rhythm of her breathing.

She smiled when he finally looked at her. “Shall we begin?” She giggled as she clapped her hands.

The world changed again. He was in his family’s apartment on the night they were killed. The blood-stained carpet, his sister’s limb, and the sight of his dead mother greeted his eyes. Nate grit his teeth but remained stoic, despite the scene playing out before him.

His father runs into the room with a bloody knife. He stands in front of Nate, pleading his innocence but doesn’t notice the corpse that’s re-animating behind him. Nate doesn’t bother telling his father about the danger. It was pointless.

The scene played out like it did so many times, with him falling through the window of the apartment and falling eight stories. This time, when he hits the floor, the world changes again. He’s in Black Watch Asylum.

Nate’s world changes scene after scene as the demon makes him re-live the horrors of his life.

“Do you want to know the worst thing about it all?” The demon laughs as the scene changes again.

This time he’s standing in a corridor with cells lining up each side of the room. The stench of blood and feces assault his nose. The sounds of people crying, wailing in despair stabs his ears, as well as his soul, striking deep within him.

“Why couldn’t you help these people? They needed you, yet you did nothing to stop this. It was happening right under your nose, yet you couldn’t do anything to stop it!” The demon cackled.

Nate had seen this scene a thousand times already, but each time he saw it, it was like a fresh wound inflicted upon his soul. If the scene of him hugging his mom was the best his mind could imagine, this scene before him was its polar opposite.

He didn’t know why this was happening to him. He thought he’d be dead after that violet lightning struck a hole in his chest, but then what was he experiencing now? Was he in hell?

The last scene of his life played out in his head and as he looked up at the dark sky, still roiling with the violet lightning that had just struck a hole through his chest. He was on the ground, lying on his back. The world began to darken and he felt the urge to sleep.

Nate fought this feeling as much as he could, he didn’t want to go back to that state of nothing. He’d much rather be inflicted with the emotional trauma by the demon, rather than go back to that void where the deafening silence grinded his mind to dust.

All his efforts were pathetic, he couldn’t stop the darkness from reclaiming his mind. The world disappeared and he was back in the sea of emptiness where all his senses where muted and the blackness claimed his mind, body, and soul.

…

Dark clouds filled the sky, bathing the area below it in shadows. It seemed as if all the clouds in a ten-mile radius had all converged in this one location. The dark clouds roiled like a gelatinous blob. Violet-purple lightning would flash on occasion, making the dark clouds look more sinister.

A drop of rain fell. It sped towards the ground like a missile, it’s flight was ended when it crashed upon a fresh corpse. The corpse belonged to the Guardians; teams Alpha and Bravo. A dozen guardians lie dead on the ground, their life blood staining the forest floor.

Surrounding these Guardians were another hundred corpses. These were humans that failed the experiments. The failed experiments were essentially mindless zombies that were only good for fodder.

Standing in the middle of this carnage was Aiden. His silver fur was stained with crimson-red blood. His long white hair was matted into clumps and dripping with the red liquid. Although the fight was over, the madness remained in his eyes. Those eyes belonged to a feral wolf unleashed.

A part of him wanted to let his inner darkness out, to feed on the fresh kills that lie before him. But Aiden refused that part of him with an iron will. The very thought repulsed his human side.

The sound of clapping was heard over the pitter-patter of rain fall. Aiden turned his head towards the sound and saw a large man walking out of the forest. This man was at least seven feet tall, and his frame was heavily muscled. Scars crisscrossed all over his body. One scar ran down the side of his face, down to his lips that were turned upward into a grin.

“Looks like they were telling the truth about you. You really are stronger then the common werewolf.” Zerker chuckled as he approached Aiden. He stepped on several Guardians as he made his way over.

Aiden watched the man approach. He was exhausted from the battle and would rather conserve his energy for this new threat. Zerker continued to draw closer until he was twenty feet away. Then he stood with his arms crossed and appraised Aiden from head to toe.

“It’s a shame.” Zerker said as he sucked his teeth. “I really wanted to fight you at full strength, but orders are orders.”

“So, you stood by as I killed all these people?” Aiden said incredulously.

Zerker shrugged his shoulders. “You’re the one who killed them. We assumed you’d spare them like you did others.”

Aiden scoffed. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. How could the man be so dismissive of his own teammates? The only reason he’d spared Guardians in the past was because after ten years of being on the run, he grew tired of killing.

The Guardians he usually ran into were low-leveled, barely worth his effort. But these Guardians, they were strong, stronger than any other Guardian he’d faced before. And their level of teamwork was overwhelming. After an hour of battle, he’d finally overcame them, but not without cost. He was covered in blood, and some of it belonged to him.

“I know you’re exhausted, but please tell me you saved a little something?” Zerker said as he rolled his shoulders and began loosening up. Once he was done he flashed a smile at Aiden. “Here I come.”

Zerker exploded forward, tossing up clumps of mud from his previous location. He ran in a straight line towards Aiden. Aiden wasn’t ready for the man’s speed, it startled him. He barely managed to dodge the man’s straight forward charge.

Zerker dug his feet into the ground to stop, but the slick mud made him slide before coming to a stop. “Prepare yourself, I’m nothing like the Guardians you’ve faced before.” Zerker shouted as he charged again.

This time Aiden was a little bit more prepared. Although Zerker was fast, Aiden was just a bit faster. He dodged Zerker’s wild swing by going under it and slashed at the man’s exposed ribs with his serrated claws.

Zerker’s whole body erupted with red fire, blasting Aiden ten feet away. He rolled several times on the ground. The fire was snuffed out by the rain and mud, but Aiden could still feel its burn. It lingered on his body, it felt as if a million needles were stabbing him over and over again.

Aiden forced himself to his knees, but he felt wrung out. He was exhausted, and his whole body was shaky and in pain. He glared up at Zerker.

Zerker grinned down at Aiden. “Surprised?”

The man had been taught magic, Aiden was sure of it. Was the Academy supporting the Guardians? Countless scenarios ran through Aiden’s head, but he pushed them to the side as Zerker walked towards him.

“I’m wrapping it up now.” Zerker said in an annoyed voice. Then he turned to Aiden with an apologetic look. “Looks like my fun is over.”

“You’re really looking down on me.” Aiden snarled. He spread out his arms and inhaled deeply.

A throb of energy exploded out of his body. Behind him, the image of a large grey wolf with blue streaks across it’s body appeared. Zerker paled when he saw the ethereal wolf, it’s eyes seemed to penetrate his soul.

The wolf howled a hair-raising howl. Aiden opened his eyes, they were now shining white and his whole body was covered with white threads of energy. He rose to his feet like a puppet. The wolf’s image contracted over his body and the two became one.