Love and Fear

Chapter 1

 He awoke with a start, gasping for air. He sat up, it was silent. He hated the silence. He glanced down at the bed. It was a mess, the blankets twisted and knotted from his movements. He would fix it later. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, the cold stone floor chased away the last remnants of sleep. He pushed himself off the bed standing quickly, the blood rushed to his head and he stumbled his vision going blurry for a second. He bent over holding his knees till the sensation passed before standing up again. He slowly made his way down the dark hallway connecting to his room. What he wanted was a bath and something to eat. He walked into a large dark room, there was some light from a single hole in the roof that illuminated a pool. Steam rose off it and hung heavily in the air. He dipped a foot in the water to test its temperature. It was perfect, sighing he stepped into the pool. Yes this was exactly what he needed. He waded through the pool to the deepest part and leaned against the wall. He was tired, even when he slept he was plagued by nightmares.

He looked down at his long sharp claws. They glinted in the light like obsidian. His long spined tail twitched in anger under the water. "What have I become?" he asked himself. He brought his hands up to his head, and ran them over it. His snout was bone, smooth and ivory in color. He felt his lip less mouth, those teeth long and sharp. They clasped together perfectly. He ran his hands farther, the bone ended before his eyes. Four of them. They were narrow and pearly white without pupils. The skin on his head was hard and stiff. It cut off sharply in strange angles. His body was lean but muscular and covered in tough dark grey skin. His tail had large scales on the bottom and seven spines that got smaller as they neared the tip. In the water his strong digitigrade legs supported him. They ended in a four toed foot, with each toe tipped with a sharp black claw. 

He sighed again and dipped his head under water, the warm, dark, abyss welcomed him. He kept himself there until his lungs began to ache and burn, begging for air. His muscles twitched and rippled in protest but he forced himself to remain under. He wanted it to end, he just wanted this eternal loop of suffering to end. His neck and shoulders spasmed, throwing his head out of the water. He exhaled with a snarl of rage. He was done with his bath. Disgust washed over him as he pulled himself from the pool. His body wouldn't let him, it never let him and he had tried so many different ways. He collapsed at the edge of the pool. Water dripped off his body and pooled beneath him. He didn't want to get up. "What have I become?'' he asked himself again. It was a question he asked often but never had an answer for. His stomach twisted and growled, reminding him of his hunger and pulling him out of his thoughts. He heaved himself up, he would eat. He smiled darkly, he had heard of the murder that had happened two days earlier. Yes he would find food there. For he knew not what he was but he knew who he was.

He was FEAR.