The Shapeshifter | Deleted Chapters

49

Maniacal laughter echoed across the killers camp like a warning siren screaming out about danger. But that wouldn't be any new news. There were two types of killers: the misguided, and the batshit.

Max was part of the former. For all his life, he had been abused by his parents. His disfigurement was seen as nothing but a laughing stock to them. As a man with supernatural strength and endurance, it made him seem more like a beast than anything.

He rarely ever left his farm outside of trials. But on this certain day, he had been chasing that damn Wendigo pest out of his fields. He had been on his way to returning when the new guy seemed to randomly bother him.

It started with simply an interest in his strength. Then it turned into bullying of his appearance. It made Max feel like he was back as a kid, being abused by his father. It sent him into a rage.

"I'll cut you to bits." Eric ran his tongue along his teeth, eager to fight the other man. Max held his bludgeon so tight that his knuckles went pale. Never had someone looked at him like this. Sure, this man was making fun of him. But clearly it was just to get a rise out of him. He wanted to fight. Nobody ever wanted to fight him.

Around them were a lot of interested faces. Freddy, Ji-Woon, Herman, Anna, Frank and Julie. They all just stood and watched, not even attempting to step in.

A sword appeared in Eric's hand, and with one swing he managed to slash across Max's grotesque face, knocking him back into reality. The brute roared out in pain, blood flowing down his head and curling his anger.

He swung his bludgeon down, only to have Eric dodge with ease and slam his fist into his head. In any normal circumstance, a punch would barely even affect Max. But as black energy wisped away from Eric's hand, the impact was so much stronger than any normal punch that it sent Max off of his feet and flying through the dirt a few feet away.

"You have no drive to kill other than anger. Where is your bloodlust?" Eric cracked his neck side to side. He was enjoying this camp much more than the one with all those petty little survivors. He blinked his slitted eyes open and closed a few times, sighing in relief as he watched Max get back up.

"That's the spirit." He dashed forward again as Max sprinted at him. Eric dropped the weapon in his hand and reeled back a fist, seeing Max do the same. They came mere inches from striking when a hand gripped each of their wrists and held them in stasis.

Eric hummed in confusion, looking up into the red demon mask of Kazan who had returned at just the right time. He was glaring daggers at Eric for sparking a fight. With Max no less.

"What is going on here?" He questioned. His head turned to Max, who was garbling a mess of words to the man. It sounded like complete gibberish, but Kazan seemed to understand the basics of Max being disturbed by Eric and tricked into fighting.

"Wow. What the fuck did I just walk in on..." A second voice echoed from the trees. (Y/N) entered with a blank stare towards them. He left for a few days and suddenly everything had gone to shit.

"Oh, it's you." Eric rolled his eyes. He tugged his arm out of Kazan's hold. The man released Max, ushering him away with an apology for the inconvenience. Max just grumbled as he stormed away.

"Eric, I know this isn't you." (Y/N) sighed, approaching him

"You know this isn't me? We only just met." Eric replied with an almost amused scoff. Well, he couldn't argue with that. He meant it much more literally since Eric told him about his 'condition'.

"How long have you been here?" (Y/N) eventually asked, scratching his head with a groan.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I've been here a few hours. After I got taken away from your little survivor camp, I eventually got put into a trial again." Eric huffed, a little irritated that he was even telling him about this.