Meat Family

Chapter 19

Out of control

I would be angry too

The entire building was engulfed in flames. It was burning fiercely.

For some, it might be a breathtaking sight, but for Brock, it was the nightmare he would never wake up from. Slowly, he sank to the ground, tears filling his eyes and dripping onto the floor. He could hear his sister, Sera, standing beside him, her sobs tearing his heart apart even more. He didn't need to look at her to know how devastated she was.

They had lost everything, and it was his fault.

If he hadn't made those foolish decisions, they might still be alive. Just a few hours ago, he had been talking cheerfully with his father, but now he was probably burning in the fire. And so was his beloved mother, who had always been there for him.

Sabine, who he might have been able to save if he had been quicker.

Sally, who now has to leave her twin sister alone.

The last photos of Chilly.

And the final memories of Hunter and his bloodline.

All because of him.

He was to blame.

It was all his fault.

IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT.

That voice... In that moment, he didn't want to push it away. He wanted it to stay. It felt like home.

He heard Cursed's voice close to his ear.

"Look at what you've done. You failure. You liar. It's all your fault because you're just too reckless and only think about yourself. You ambitious good-for-nothing.

Brock felt more tears rolling down his cheeks, but he didn't fight against Cursed; he lacked the strength to do so. He deserved it.

"But I can help you. I've helped you so many times before, and maybe we can cleanse your sins this way. It's quite simple. Let your hunger run free, and WE will show Ramón what a mistake he made."

Miguel heard loud music blaring in the square. They were celebrating. Celebrating the fact that they were about to kill an entire family.

Psychopaths.

Pure psychopaths.

He was surrounded by psychopaths.

Exhausted, he stood up from the ground. He had had enough.

"Miguel, where are you going?" he heard Mia's worried voice.

"I'm putting an end to this," Miguel declared firmly and stepped into the brightly lit square. He saw his father standing before the Estrella statue, looking satisfied, but his eyes were glowing red. This was not his father; something was not right.

"YOU ARE NOT RAMÓN!" he shouted across the square. The music stopped and the villagers backed away from him. He could feel his clothes sticking to him, sweat pouring from his exertion of having been throwing himself against the hatch for so long. His shoulder still ached.

"How did you..." he heard his father grumble, but Miguel cut him off.

"How could you come up with such a ridiculous idea! This is a family you're about to kill! Don't you see that?" He turned to the villagers. "You're rejoicing because you're killing people. People who are already in distress and living in fear because of their past."

"They're ancestors obeyed the wicked and ate humans!" Ramón shouted angrily.

"Just because they did, doesn't mean they do it too!"

"Didn't you see what the boy did to me? They are creatures, creatures of evil and—" But he stopped, his gaze wandering confusedly to the side. Miguel turned around and saw Brock entering the square.

The brown-haired boy wanted to ask if his mother was okay, but when he smelled the burnt stench on him and noticed that he was alone... and that Brock's eyes were swollen... was he too late? Had he lost his mother? Miguel lost his strength to speak.

But Brock walked with determined steps past him, heading towards Ramón.

"You monster survived the fire! I should have—" But his father didn't get any further, as Brock hit him so hard in the face that he was knocked against the Estrella statue. His staff flew into the air and landed on the ground. Miguel was shocked by Brock's sudden strength, and the villagers also turned away from him in panic, none daring to stop him.

"Why didn't I just devour you when I had the chance?" Brock said, his voice filled with so much regret that it was unlike him. He had always had a calm voice, but this... Miguel noticed that Brock had claws on his fingers and his teeth were unnaturally sharp. Memories of the first incident came flooding back; Brock had looked similar then, but this time he lacked the smirk.

The orange-haired boy grabbed Ramón by the collar and slammed him against the statue, which was already cracking, the fissures growing larger.

"Actually, you're too wrinkled for my taste, but what you've done to my family... I'm going to make you feel every bite. I'm going to make you feel every bone I break, and then I'll tear your limbs from you and devour them in front of you. You will feel every ounce of pain until I rip your heart from your chest." A hellish laughter erupted from Brock, and that unnatural grin reappeared on his face.

Brock planned to eat his father? Were the rumors about the family being cannibals true, or was it that strange curse his mother once told him about? But then he saw the cracks in the statue growing larger, and the statue was slowly leaning forward. Fear gripped Miguel, and he ran.

"WATCH OUT!!" he heard someone shout behind him. Who was interrupting his vengeance? Brock would tear apart anyone who stopped him. The emptiness gnawed at his stomach, but he saw everything with his own eyes, he was not in the room. He didn't understand how, but maybe Cursed was helping him. The urge to tear Ramón apart here and now surged within him. He had never wanted to see someone suffer so urgently; it was abnormal for him, but it would satisfy him. The old weak man trembled in his arms, and soon he would scream in pain, but he didn't get any further.

He heard a cracking sound and then a shadow over him. He looked up in confusion and saw the Estrella statue coming closer—before he could realize what was happening, everything went black.