Blood & Honour [Book Four of The City of Eternity Series] [✔]

4.29: Controlled

It started with a cold sweat creeping across my skin, a shiver down my spine that sank into my bones. My breath hitched as the venom coursed through my veins like shards of ice, chilling me from the inside out. My heart hammered against my ribs wildly and I stumbled forward, grabbing the edge of the storage unit in a futile attempt to stop myself from falling. My vision blurred, colours fading in out, brightening and dimming in and out of focus, everything seeming more distant, detached from the environment.

Then the pain struck, a merciless sledgehammer that shattered me from the inside. My bones felt like they were breaking - no, I was only half right, they were breaking. I gasped, barely able to draw in my air as every joint, every muscle, began to tear itself apart. My legs gave out beneath me, my body too heavy, too alien, and I collapsed to the ground, fingers clawing at nothing, curling inward like claws.

I opened my mouth to scream, but the sound that came out wasn't human. It was raw, primal, a guttural roar torn from a place deep within me, a place I didn't even know existed. My jaw ached, contorting unnaturally as new, sharper teeth forced their way through my gums, filling my mouth with the sharp, metallic taste of blood. My spine arched violently, every vertebra snapping and realigning with a sickening crack, shifting into a shape that no longer belonged to me.

The burn in my skin was unbearable as fur—thick, coarse, and black—began to sprout, pushing through every pore, spreading across my body like wildfire. I stared down at my hands, but they were no longer mine—thick, clawed, and covered in bristling fur. The transformation was relentless, ripping away my humanity piece by piece. The pain wasn't just physical; it tore through my mind, dragging me deeper into the abyss of the beast's consciousness.

Before I could even grasp the horror of what was happening, the pain surged, an all-encompassing wave of agony that left me thrashing on the cold floor. My body twisted and writhed uncontrollably, every nerve screaming, every muscle rebelling. It was like being torn apart and remade in real-time, each second an eternity of suffering as my body reshaped itself into something monstrous.

Through the haze of torment, I could feel the beast beginning to take hold, battering against the walls of my mind, trying to take control. For a fleeting moment, I tried to remember who I was, who I cared for, but it was slipping away, dissolving into the primal instincts the beast was shovelling into every corner of my body.

And then, just as the pain began to fade, my vision went black. My consciousness sank into the depths, swallowed by the overwhelming force that had taken hold. The beast was in control now. He was strong—stronger than I had ever been. He pushed us up from the ground, testing the raw strength coursing through our veins, revelling in the newfound power. I was buried, trapped beneath his will, just a flicker of resistance in the darkness. The monster had emerged, fully formed, and I was nothing more than a shadow of what I had been.

It didn't say anything. Didn't whisper greetings. It simply started to run, surging through the halls of Kanfesa, its claws scraped against the marble floors with each step, a monstrous force of pure rage and hunger, moving with terrifying speed and purpose. I never considered what it was like to be trapped inside. To be the eyes looking out. All of those people who were chained in that chair across from me. They were trapped with no control when they committed those atrocities. Now, I was in the same predicament, I wasn't in control—not anymore.