I left the hospital with my whole body aching, as if a train had run over me. I tried to walk while ignoring the pain, trying to remember what had happened the night before. Where was Sota? Maybe he went back home? Maybe it was all a dream and I only fainted?
No — that was impossible. They had found me in a pool of blood.
Now I stood in front of Sota's house. I would knock and he would open the door himself; I would see him smile like he always did...
The door opened... but it was a police officer.
Behind him stood Sota's father, pale-faced, and his older brother trying to calm him. I caught sight of Sota's mother inside, collapsed on the couch.
When she saw me she lunged forward as if clutching the last straw:
"Kamino! My dear, where is Sota?! You must know where he is! What happened to him?"
Her hands were trembling as she gripped my arm. I couldn't bear the look in her eyes — a desperate hope mixed with absolute despair.
"Sota… he's gone…" I whispered.
Before she could finish she ran away. She let go and sprinted off, her screams chasing me.
Suddenly I felt like vomiting. My body grew horribly weak and my head spun. What was happening to me?
A family walked past. Suddenly my saliva began to flow uncontrollably. My stomach made strange noises, though I wasn't hungry. Every time I thought of my favorite food I felt nausea.
I must be just tired. I should go home. Nobody would care about my lateness anyway.
On the way I passed the same alley — the scene of the attack. Fragmented memories surfaced: sounds, screams, Sota's look...
Then I saw my brother Dion in front of me — the second brother of our family — carrying a sword and wearing the clan's traditional combat garments.
When he saw me he said coldly, "Why are you here? You must return home immediately."
I ignored him and kept walking; I was heading there anyway. I glanced at my reflection in a car window — my eyes had returned to their normal color.
Night fell and I still didn't understand what was happening or where Sota had gone.
Suddenly I heard a sound.
A woman's scream in the distance.
My hearing sharpened to an unnatural degree. The sound was very far, but I heard it as clearly as if it were next to me.
I ran toward it. It led me to an abandoned building on the edge of town. There I saw it: a hideous-looking monster trying to devour a woman.
"Run!" I shouted, hurling a stone at the beast.
The woman tried to flee, but the monster seized her and knocked her down. It was about to open its jaws and swallow her...
"No! I won't allow that!"
I charged forward with reckless bravery. Suddenly something shot out from my hand — not a weapon, not an energy, but black tendrils like octopus arms.
The arms struck with lightning speed and pierced the monster's head in an instant.
Blood was everywhere, splattering my face. I felt a strange heat in my eyes; I was certain they had turned crimson again.
I turned to the woman. "Are you okay?"
But she only saw the monster inside me. She screamed in terror, "Monster! Monster! Another monster!"
She fled wailing, leaving me standing in a blood pool, my hand still outstretched in shock.
Suddenly a hand sprang from the monster — again. This time it lunged at the fleeing woman.
It plunged into her head in a moment.
Her body collapsed on the ground beside the first monster.
The monster, pulling its hand from the woman's skull, began to laugh mockingly: "How dare you kill one of your own kind to save another? You traitor!" it continued. "You wretch!" it growled in a hoarse voice. "Do you think you beat me with one sneak attack? Dream on! It's impossible to defeat someone like me by the hands of a rat like you!"
Then it struck me with a fast kick — a blow like a hammer — hitting my chest and throwing me to the ground. I couldn't move, not only from the pain but from the shock of realizing I was no longer human. I was... a monster.
"You..." the beast said as it approached, its eyes examining my transformed body. "What lineage of monsters are you from? You seem strong... royal blood? I don't think so. Or maybe..."
"Noooo! I am not a monster!" I screamed, crying, my tears mixing with the blood on my face. "I am Kamino Suzuma!"
I broke free of my restraints with strength I didn't know I had. I gasped for air, and my eyes blazed red. "I'll kill you, bastard!"
The black octopus-arms shot out again, faster this time. The monster tried to dodge, but I managed to hook one arm around a concrete pillar and pulled myself toward it with incredible speed.
With a thrust, my hand — or what should have been my hand — plunged through its body. The pain was shocking, but this time it didn't feel like my pain.
The monster fell to the ground, this time for good. But my gaze no longer lingered on it.
I turned to the woman's body. My saliva began to flow ravenously, for no reason I could explain. I stepped toward her involuntarily, as if my body were in control. I drew closer to her neck, my breath quickening.
"No... nooo! I am Kamino Suzuma! I am not a monster! I won't do this!" I tried to fight the urge sweeping through me. "I'm just tired... yes, I'm just tired. I should sleep..."
"Why didn't you eat the woman?"
A calm voice cut through my inner scream. From the shadows emerged a man with silver hair and emerald-green eyes, sharp as gems. He walked confidently, as if crossing a ballroom rather than a battlefield.
"I mean, just eat and be done."
"What do you mean 'be done'?" I whispered, broken. "How do you eat someone... someone of my kind?"
The man looked at me with clear irritation. "Look at yourself!"
I looked at my reflection in the blood pool. Two crimson eyes shone in the dark, and multiple black arms spread from my back like phantoms. Blood covered everything.
"This... this is not me!" I put my hand to my face. "This is a monster! It must be an illusion!"
The old man sighed, though his eyes remained sharp. "Your condition looks serious. But I have a solution for your problem."
I looked at him skeptically; my arms were still grotesquely extended. "A solution? What solution?"
"Follow me, and I will give you a solution for this problem of yours."