Ryder whined, “Ughssss—”


    His right eye was itching restlessly, so much that he wanted to gouge it out. He placed his palm over the carpet, groggily pulling himself up, when his hand slipped.


    Trrr! He heard a sound, as he sleepily opened his eyes.


    His vision was weird. The left side of his was bright and cheery, like the usual sunny day in the woodlands. But his right view was pitch black, brimming with colorful apparitions. Like colourful shadows, wriggling in the dark.


    His brain halted, and he pushed back. His eyebrows tilting up, and the heavy eyelids trudging upwards to open the eyes.


    He closed his eyes and shook his head, but the view of his right eye didn''t change. He turned to the left, and looked outside the window — the day was bright and cheery. But half his vision, saw it like a purple ball, twitching in the middle of the darkest night.


    His eyebrows rose up, as he instinctively pushed his hand on the floor with force. Unexpectedly, the same Trrr! Sounded, and he got pushed much farther.


    From over the carpet, he had pushed himself straight to the wall, almost from one end of the room to the other.


    His back crashed on the wall, and it shook.


    “Aahssss–” He grumbled, as he rubbed the back of his head, and looked towards the torn carpet.


    His lips parted, and for a jiffy his breath stopped. He put his hand on the floor, to stand up as he heard a Clank.


    He swiftly looked to his palm, and his eyebrows scrunched. His fingers had purple nails, fashionably coming out of his fingers, clanking with the floor.


    “Wohsss–” He said, as he jumped, weirdly flying from a relaxed sitting, to a stand.


    He looked up, and ran his eyes all around the room. Half his view was red, green shapes dancing in pitch black.


    He brandished his fingers before him, and they had, purple and sharp, diamond nails.


    His brain overrode, as he slapped his forehead, slowly dragging it to brush his hair. Then, the wriggling itchiness of his eye, poked under his eye socket, as he clenched his teeth, and rushed to the bathroom.


    His breath was staggering, and his eyes weren’t blinking… open, and fierce. The weird, constant itchiness in his eyes and the presence of nails he could feel over his fingers. The constant weird black view, to which he had to adjust to… It was all messing with his brain.


    He grabbed the metal knob, and clenched on it. The door opened, as he pushed, but the handle crunched along with his hand.


    His body stopped, noticing it, but then he just flared his nose and pulled at the handle, his muscles surging on his arm. The handle snapped, and broke, as he flung it back.


    He entered the door, and looked at the mirror. And all the pain faded into silence.


    His body paused, only a long, and slow gulp forming at his neck.


    His right eye wasn''t having a white sclera. But only stark black, over which there was a gleaming, purple iris.


    Ryder didn’t know how he didn’t feel it, but the right- half of his cheek was ripped to his ear. And it was flashing, long, white, conical teeth. They started savagely from the red flesh, and their pointy edges were interlocking over each other.


    His eyes forgot to blink, as his finger touched his face, feeling the cold texture of the teeth, and the warm breath escaping them.


    The half of the lips, which were left, slightly curled up. He watched, as he let the purplish, diamond nail clank with the teeth.


    “Hsss–” He hissed, as he stuck out his tongue to speak which was half, slithering like a snake, and half rolling like a human’s.


    His half-lips curled up further, as he said, “Ohsss… It’ss… beau–s-tifulss..”


    His lips were now curling into a grin he couldn’t control.


    A chuckle broke out of him, as he weirdly hissed them out. They were slowly revving up into laughter.


    Soon, he was swinging uncontrollably from the laughter. He leaned into the sink to control himself, only to catch a glimpse of his face, and laugh further.


    A smell of vivid sourness, as if rotten oranges, sneakily pervaded the bathroom, but he couldn’t stop laughing.


    Playfully scrunching his nose, he said, “Itsss… sstinksss.” As he pinched his nose close.


    His smile suddenly paused, as a chill ran down his spine. It wasn’t human sense, but he could sense it.


    He could feel it… the heavy, purple energy, shimmering just behind him. The source of the stench.


    It had pounced on him.


    Ryder jumped to the side, and turned back. A gigantic figure had interlocked his oversized palms. Projecting the strike from the top of his head, it was jumping down at Ryder. But Ryder had moved out, so his hands demolished the basin into dust and rubble.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Crouching at the ground, it slowly turned its thick neck towards Ryder. A wide grin flashed on its face.


    Despite its bulky size, and shoulders almost as wide as a truck, it punched swiftly at Ryder.


    Ryder twitched, as his heart rate spiked. The punch was fast, but he was faster. He quickly countered the punch with his own.


    Their punches collided, and the way Ryder’s punch couldn’t even fully stretch. Ryder’s eyes dilated.


    It’s punch bulldozed through him, jerking his hand back, meeting his chest. His heart stopped for a moment, and his bones cracked. A cough escaping from him.


    That punch catapulted Ryder back to the corner of the bathroom walls, and the wall cracked open. His head poking out of the hotel building.


    Ryder didn’t relax, as he squirmed and pushed his leg, wanting to push himself completely out of the wall. But before him, the truck kicked him in the abs from inside.


    For a moment, Ryder blacked out from it, as he was ragdolled out of the hotel building — straight down the road.


    Just before colliding, Ryder opened his eyes, and shielded his face, holding his forearms. From the force, he slid and rolled down the concrete road. He dug his nails in the road, but he couldn’t stop himself from falling into the woodland beside it.


    The truck grinned as it jumped down the road, breaking the wall, following behind Ryder.


    In the forest, Ryder had stabilized himself midway, digging his nails in the muddy incline. He looked up, standing straight. He scrunched his nose, as loaded his nails.


    Somehow, the pain was healing much better than he thought.


    The truck came down jumping, as it cracked the tree midway, from the momentum. The tree headed straight down at Ryder.


    Ryder, his eyes not blinking, dodged the tree. The monster behind the tree chuckled, as he said, “You guys are always fun to eat.”


    It stretched its shoulder back, turning his torso, projecting a punch at him. It came crashing down, towards Ryder.


    Ryder was barely faster. He dodged to the right.


    Like he had planned, his left-hand, went straight for gouging his eye. The truck realized he couldn’t dodge it. Its eyes widened as he reflexively jerked, but the nails tore through its eye.


    “Aah!” It shouted, “You fuck–”


    It went for a quick slap with its large palm at Ryder.


    Ryder couldn''t dodge it. He blocked it with his right-hand, tucked to his side, but the force was too much. He flung away.


    The monster’s breath was ragged, and its palm resting over his eye, twitching.


    “Fuck,” It mumbled as he watched Ryder, counter the momentum, by digging its nails on the ground — standing up again.


    “Does this thing not feel pain? Don’t tell me…” Its heart palpitated, mouth gasping for breath.


    “Is this one of the mutated ones?”


    The beat of his life, quickened like anything, watching Ryder, stand straight again. Looking at him, casually swinging his arms.


    As Ryder began to run towards him, Truck lost it.


    It faced the other side and just thumped on the ground, dashing his way out.


    It didn’t look back. It didn’t stop, and just thumped its way out.


    Behind him, Ryder, stopped when it started to thump his way out.


    What the fuck? He commented, internally.


    Ryder swung his body around, in all joints and it felt completely fine.


    But then he heard the police siren, on the road above him.


    Police?... Oh fuck?... Everything I was doing was real. The damage… and Rachel. The thoughts raced inside him.


    He gave the road above a quiet look. Slowly, his heart started to pump faster. It wasn’t visible from here, but police would soon be down here.


    Ryder paused for a second, as he looked to the other side. Inside the forest, away from the hotel. And he didn’t think twice.


    He picked up the pace, and dashed. The power coursing through him.


    He leapt on a tree, halfway, as he dug his nails, and anchored them inside the trunk. As he swung, and pushed, chipping the wood away, leaping up at the tree.


    He dug another nail, and leapt further, reaching the top, as he landed onto a tender branch.


    It recoiled and pushed him up.


    For a moment, he could watch the forest of trees, pervading throughout.


    He came, blitzing down, as he brandished his fingers, and dug into whatever tree he could, to slow down the moment.


    The landing was harsh, but he rolled down, carrying the momentum. He dug at the mud, and pushed more, dashing his way, inside the forest.