The door clicks shut behind me, and for the first time in what feels like hours, silence envelops me. My breathing is heavy, ragged, as I slump against the wall of the small, unused storage room. The pain from my injuries radiates through my body with every breath, each movement a fresh wave of agony. The gashes across my side and the burns on my chest are healing too slowly. My body is failing me, and the realization claws at the back of my mind like a nightmare that refuses to end.
I slide down the wall, my legs giving out beneath me, and collapse onto the cold, hard floor. My breath comes in shallow gasps as I try to control the pain coursing through my veins. I press a hand to my side, feeling the sticky warmth of blood still leaking from the wound. I should be healing faster, but I'm not. It's like the energy I had before is slipping away, draining faster than my body can replenish it.
The hunger is back.
It gnaws at me, twisting my insides, making my limbs shake. I can feel it in every part of me, the emptiness that refuses to be filled no matter how much I devour. It's worse now, more desperate, more relentless. My body aches, my stomach tightens, and my vision blurs. I need to eat. I need to find something, anything, before the hunger consumes me.
I push myself up, leaning against the wall for support, and scan the room. It's small, cramped, filled with boxes and crates that are covered in dust. No one has been in here for a long time. The air is stale, thick with the smell of rust and decay. There's nothing alive here. Nothing I can eat.
But then, in the far corner of the room, I see it.
At first, I think it's just a pile of debris, something discarded and forgotten in this dark, forgotten place. But as I move closer, I see that it's not just a pile of junk. It's a creature—a fusion, like the ones I've encountered before. Its body is twisted and broken, its skin pale and stretched taut over its misshapen limbs. It's alive, barely. Its chest rises and falls with shallow, labored breaths, and its eyes flicker weakly in the dim light.
It's dying.
I feel a wave of nausea roll through me as I kneel beside it. The creature is grotesque, a mangled fusion of parts that don't belong together. Its skin is cold to the touch, slimy and wet, and the stench of decay hangs heavy in the air around it. But I don't care. I can't afford to care. I *need* to eat.
Without hesitation, I tear into its flesh.
The taste is revolting, worse than anything I've eaten before. It's like biting into rotten meat, the foul taste coating my tongue and making my stomach churn. I gag, nearly vomiting, but I force myself to keep going. I rip off another piece, chewing slowly, trying not to think about how disgusting it is. The nausea intensifies, but I push through it. I don't have a choice.
As I consume the creature's flesh, I can feel a faint pulse of energy spread through me. It's not much—just a flicker of strength that dulls the pain in my wounds and steadies my trembling limbs. But it's enough to keep me going. Enough to keep me alive.
I tear off one last piece, swallowing it down with a grimace, before sitting back on my heels. The creature lets out a weak, pitiful sound, its body twitching as it takes its final breaths. I stare down at it, feeling... nothing. No guilt. No remorse. Just relief that I won't collapse here, alone in the dark.
But the hunger is still there. Always there.
I wipe the blood from my mouth and push myself to my feet, my body still weak but steadier than before. My eyes scan the room again, searching for anything else I can consume. And that's when I see it.
In the far corner of the room, half-hidden behind a stack of crates, there's something glowing. A soft, green light pulses faintly, casting an eerie glow across the floor. I step toward it, my heart pounding in my chest.
It's a cocoon.
The sight of it sends a strange shiver through me, my instincts flaring up in a way I don't understand. It looks... *wrong*. The cocoon is large, about the size of a small child, its surface slick and pulsating with that unnatural green light. There's something inside it, something that makes my brain buzz with a strange, hypnotic energy.
I can't look away.
Without realizing it, I'm moving closer, my fingers twitching at my sides. The closer I get, the stronger the pull. My mind goes blank, and all I can think about is the cocoon, the way it glows, the way it pulses. I don't know what it is, but I know I need to *eat it*.
I reach out, my fingers brushing against the surface of the cocoon. The material is soft, almost pliable, and it yields under my touch. The green light pulses faster, more urgently, as if it knows what I'm about to do. My mouth waters, and the hunger surges inside me, stronger than ever before.
Without hesitation, I tear into it.
The green liquid inside the cocoon spills out, thick and viscous, coating my hands as I rip the covering apart. The smell hits me first—overpowering and foul, like something rotting in the sun. I gag, but the hunger pushes me forward, forcing me to scoop up the liquid and shove it into my mouth.
It's the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted. It coats my tongue, thick and slimy, filling my mouth with a bitter, metallic flavor. I retch, my body recoiling, but I can't stop. I *need* this.
I tear off another piece of the cocoon's outer shell, the green liquid oozing out and dripping onto the floor. It's vile, almost burning as it slides down my throat, but with each bite, I feel a surge of energy. My limbs stop shaking. My vision clears. The pain in my wounds dulls to a faint throb.
But something else happens.
As I pull more of the cocoon apart, I see something inside. Something that makes my stomach drop.
A child.
It's small, curled up in the fetal position inside the cocoon, its skin green and translucent. Its eyes are closed, its face peaceful, almost serene. But the sight of it fills me with a sudden, overwhelming sense of dread.
I stagger back, my hands shaking, the green liquid still dripping from my fingers. My mind reels, trying to process what I'm seeing. A fetus. A living, breathing a undeveloped child a fetus inside the cocoon. How... how could I not have known?
But then the smell hits me. The smell of the fetus blood, its flesh. It floods my senses, sharp and intoxicating, and the hunger returns, stronger than ever before. My stomach twists, my mouth waters, and before I can stop myself, I'm moving forward again.
The fetus scent fills the air, sweet and irresistible. I know what I'm about to do, but I can't stop. I *need* this.
I reach out, my fingers wrapping around the child's small neck, and I tear its throat apart.
The blood spills out, warm and rich, and I devour it. The taste is incredible, unlike anything I've ever consumed before. It's sweet, pure, and as I tear into the fetus flesh, I can feel the power surging through me. My body hums with energy, the pain from my injuries fading completely. My wounds close, my muscles strengthen, and for the first time in what feels like forever, the first time I have eaten enough to think clearly the hunger is still there but it's not controlling me to kill.
I keep eating, my teeth tearing through the child's soft flesh, the blood running down my chin. The power surges through me with every bite, stronger and stronger, until I feel like I could rip through the walls of this labyrinth with my bare hands.
By the time I'm finished, there's nothing left of the child but scraps of torn flesh and bloodstained bones.
I sit back, wiping the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand, and take a deep breath. My body feels... different. Stronger. Clearer. The fog that has clouded my mind since I woke up in this place is gone, replaced by a sharp clarity I haven't felt in a long time.
For the first time, I can *think* straight.