I used to be quite content with living life as your classic schoolyard bully, you know, taking what I wanted and always being the strong one tormenting the weaker ones. I thought I was the perfect guy, don't You think so? But all that changed when I...
The heat in my body was unbearable, every muscle trembling as I collapsed to the floor. Sweat poured off me, soaking my clothes, my breath coming in short, ragged gasps. I felt like I was suffocating, the air in the room suddenly too thin, too hot. I clutched my chest, trying to force my lungs to work, to pull in just one more breath. But it was getting harder. So much harder.
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I forced myself onto my hands and knees, my arms shaking as I crawled towards the bathroom. Every inch of movement was torture, my body heavy and sluggish, like I was dragging a weight far too big for me. My feet stumbled over themselves as I stood, and I staggered toward the mirror, the fluorescent light above buzzing louder than it ever had before.
I gripped the edge of the sink, leaning heavily into the cool porcelain. My face, slick with sweat, stared back at me from the mirror. My chest heaved, my eyes wide with terror-until I saw it.
My skin... it was moving.
I blinked, thinking it was a trick of the light, but no. It was real. My skin writhed, rippling as if something beneath it was crawling, shifting, trying to break free. I stumbled back from the sink, but my reflection stayed the same. The movement under my skin grew faster, more violent.
My eyes locked onto the mirror again, and I saw it. My pupils shrank to pinpricks, the brown of my irises swallowed by a bright, glowing yellow. My breath caught in my throat. No... no, this can't be happening.
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Pain shot through my fingers, a sharp, burning sensation that made me cry out. I held up my hand, watching in horror as my nails began to split down the middle, blood pouring from the cracks. The pressure was unbearable, like my fingertips were about to explode. I screamed as the nails peeled away, tearing from my skin, and underneath them... claws. Black, sharp, lethal. They gleamed under the light, still slick with blood.
I stumbled backward, nearly tripping over myself as the same pain erupted in my feet. I looked down just in time to see the nails on my toes rip themselves apart, the flesh splitting open to reveal more of those same black claws. I screamed again, the sound raw and animalistic.
Then, my mouth started to ache.
I touched my lips, feeling something wet. My fingers came away bloody, and I knew instantly what was happening.
