[Flashback]

The heat was immense, hotter than anything he had ever felt before. Eliot Zanes opened his eyes to a scene that left him confused and disoriented. The school ceiling above him was engulfed in flames, the floor next to him looked charred and burnt, but he felt fine. As he laid on the cold, yet warm ground he felt oddly at peace, something he hadn’t felt in years. Just as he was beginning to feel at ease, a pain racked his head, a pain that was both inside and outside of his head. He also heard what sounded like whispers, but they were so quiet that he couldn’t make out any words.

He then decided to sit up despite the pain and the setting in nausea. What he saw around him horrified, confused, and most of all, angered him: his two best friends were laying motionless beside him. Zander seemed fine, which was a relief—although a temporary one—but the same couldn’t be said for Vincent. He was clearly burnt, wounded, bleeding, and was a mess overall.

Eliot didn’t know what to do, all he felt was the heat—the heat from the fire, and the heat from within. Like he always does, he just sat there, unable to do anything.

Before he could do anything else or think about anything else, he heard a loud bang that left his ears ringing. He turned around to see what made that noise, but before seeing the cause of the ear-piercing sound, another bang went off; this one was a little closer.

When Eliot looked in the direction of the sound, he saw a figure in the flames pointing something at a body that was laying on the ground. The figure was the same one as before the...before the what? Eliot’s mind had a hard time comprehending what was going on.

Another bang went off, and the hand of the figure recoiled in response. Even though Eliot’s mind couldn’t keep up with what was going on around him, he realized in an instant what the sound he was hearing was upon seeing the figure; he knew it all too well. Images of his brother and his mother flashed before his eyes. The heat around him seemed to only get hotter when he came to the realization of what the figure was holding. It was a gun—more specifically, a pistol.

He didn’t even realize it, but Eliot immediately stood up and faced the figure, his eyes burning with the same passion as the fire—the difference being that Eliot’s eyes spelled more danger. The whispers in his head began to become more clear to him and he could almost make out the words he was hearing. Eliot marched towards the figure with anger in his eyes and in his heart. The figure didn’t even seem to notice his presence until Eliot’s head began to throb and pulse in the direction of the figure.

The figure turned, its hood dropping down, revealing its identity. Eliot’s advance was halted instantly and he stood there frozen.

“Oh, Eliot, why did you have to be here?” the figure said in a depressing, yet bizarre manner.

Eliot tried to respond but the only words that came out were the figure’s name. “J-Jeremy…”

“It’s such a shame, you were the only one who was ever nice to me. Well...perhaps Vincent too, but he’s a special case,” Jeremy said nonchalantly. He then looked down at another body that was next to him and frowned. “You know, I can’t tell if I’m enjoying this or not. Like, I thought finally getting back at everyone would make me actually feel better, but I’m not really feeling it. Maybe I need to just finish the job?” He pointed his pistol at the body and fired it, impaling the young woman's head.

The heat within Eliot’s heart and mind began to grow and burn even brighter.

“I guess that sadly includes you and your friends too,” Jeremy said with a half-frown. He then marched forward to a body that was about ten feet from Eliot. He shot a bullet into the abdomen region of the body. “Fuck you, Jarrod, that’s what you get! Those muscles aren’t doing you much good now, huh?” Jeremy suddenly snapped and screamed with tears streaming from his face.

Eliot’s mind was now half-paying attention to what was going on and half-thinking about the incident in his life. Flashes from this past incident began to intermingle with the present situation at hand. Eliot began to blend those two images, not knowing which was truly happening.

In front of him, Eliot saw his mother standing there, with his brother behind him, and his father was being held back by his mother, holding a bag of white powder.

Another bullet was fired into Jarrod’s body, this one into his heart.

Eliot’s father was yelling at his mother about something while pointing at Eliot’s older brother, Monte. Eliot’s father had tears in his angry eyes and eventually, he snapped and tackled Monte. Fists flew from both of them.

A third bullet was fired, this one into Jarrod’s head.

Monte walked out of the door, giving Eliot one final glance before slamming it shut. He was never seen again.

“That one felt soooo much better,” Jeremy laughed. “I can feel those voices in my brain now, I understand them—I guess it has to be those I really hate. I must appease the voices.” Jeremy’s neck then snapped in Eliot’s direction, his eyes both crazed and dead at the same time. “I’m sorry, Eliot, but Zander is definitely next on the chopping block.”

“Stop…” Eliot said, the heat within his body reached a point that he had never felt before.

“What did you say to me?”

The words that had been just whispers in his head suddenly became much clearer. There were three words that now bounced endlessly in his head: anger, fear, hatred. He felt those words slowly envelope him, and he did not resist in the slightest. His mind, body, and being, began to become one with those words, and he felt his sight suddenly go red—a never-ending, burning red. That red enveloped everything that he loathed, everything that he feared, and everything that he hated. That red enveloped the world, himself included.

Eliot screamed out in agony, causing the windows nearby to shake with fear. As he screamed, a hulking figure appeared from his body, almost like an apparition. It was translucent until it was fully free from Eliot’s body. The figure was a furred, wolf-like creature that was taller than Eliot, even on all fours. Its body took up most of the hallway, emphasizing the sheer, unnatural size of the beast. Its body had bones that protruded from certain sections of its body, mainly at the major joints in its legs and back. Its jaw opened in an unnatural way, unhinging itself so far that the bottom part of its jaw was almost perpendicular to the floor.

From its jaw, dripped a clear fluid that seemed to quickly ignite upon coming in contact with the flames around. From its jaw, dripped gasoline that its body naturally produced and excreted.

The creature howled so loud that all of the windows shattered around it as the sound reverberated through the hallway. As it prowled towards Jeremy, its massive claws sank into the floor, as if the floor was made of sand.

Jeremy backed away slowly, almost tripping on the bodies of his victims. He then raised his pistol up in a panicked way and fired four bullets at the creature. The creature howled and flexed its muscles in anger, showing that there was not an ounce of fat on the towering creature’s body. The bullets didn’t seem to deter the beast, only make it angrier.

The creature then rushed forward at a speed that didn't seem possible for its size. The flames themselves seemed to cower in fear as the creature sped through, curling around the beast. The creature’s eyes burnt with fiery hatred and anger that was hotter than the fire around it.

As it ran towards Jeremy, its claws continued to tear up the floor, leaving gashes all throughout the hallway. Before Jeremy could react, the berserk creature swung one of its front claws at him, digging into the side of his body. Jeremy was lifted into the air, the claw sinking halfway into his torso. His body was then flung and scattered against the wall, completely torn to shreds. The creature then let out another bone-chilling howl and started slashing at every wall and every possible structure around it without restraint or care.

Just as it was getting started with the absolute destruction of the school, a group of people emerged from the stairwell. In response to the new threat, the prowling creature got into an offensive stance in front of the zoned-out Eliot, who was just staring at the ceiling, motionless.