Scream
Eeek, followed by a resonant shatter of glass - this was all I heard. It sounded like a damsel in distress and the rapture of some unknown predator. I didn't know what to make of the sounds I heard, or how to react. I opened my eyes to see, and I saw blackness. I perked an ear to heed the call, and nothing was to be heard. At this point in the night, I didn't know where I was. My senses were indistinct and my thoughts obscure.
As I attempted to gain my composure, a steady thud thud thud ... snap! was heard. It sounded to me like the solid beating of one's heart, but I couldn't be certain. The thuds continued, and my curiosity was forced against its will to an apex I had never known before tonight. I closed my eyes and shook my head in yet another attempt finally see what was right in front of me. Again, I saw nothing but blackness. The shadows creeping around me were beginning to piss me off, but I believe my frustration was caused primarily from my lack of understanding of what was really going on, and why my brain couldn't seem to focus. I shouldn't have taken my angst out on the darkness that swallowed me, but my excuse for that is because I could not think right.
Having lost my train of thought amidst a paramount of confusion, it was unbeknownst to me that the noises had temporarily subsided. I found myself drawn through the darkness into a dimly lit area. The flickering of lights caught my interest, and I entered what appeared to be a simple bathroom. I raised my head to view the source of these lights only to find a broken mirror and blood spatters all over the wall and light bulbs. The room was filled with gore and a steady scratching resonated somewhere behind me. I wasn't scared of the noise. At this point in my life I had completely forgotten what it meant to feel terror.
As I turned my senses to the scratching noise, I witnessed small objects rolling in my general direction. They seemed to float on a sea of crimson. As they neared the lights, I saw my first clear image of the remains of a woman. In this darkness, it was hard for me to tell much more. I only realized it was a woman because a decapitated head stopped rolling as it bumped against my foot. I raised that foot to see it was soaked in blood. The scent finally hit me. There was no mistake at this point that a woman had been killed and this was her blood.
I felt a shiver creep up my spine as the first hint of fear hit me. My eyes rose to take in the only other living creature in this tile covered room. It was huge. Judging by the growling demeanor of its voice I had to assume it was male and he was feeding. He was a very large gryphon, beak soaked in blood as small pieces of flesh seemed to be chomped with little effort into smaller pieces of flesh.
The gryphon looked right at me, and almost stared through me. I felt my heart stop and the beast turned back to its apparent meal. He didn't seem to care or even be aware of my intrusion. I took this opportunity to study the creature, uncaring of the murder that just took place. He hooked his beak around what was left of the woman's chest cavity, and dragged her in a reverse stride outside of the room and into a dark hallway. The bathroom lights flickered in coincidental timing with the gryphon's unhurried exit. As the creature disappeared, all I could see as the lights went out was the silvery tip of his tail as he rounded a corner.
I took a moment to examine the female head that rest at my feet, but got bored rather quickly with it and swatted it out of my way. It rolled off into the shadows of the room as I made my exit to follow the gryphon.
As I followed, I found the shadows dissipate around me. The power must have gone out and triggered the backup generators to turn on. I took my first real glimpse of the gryphon's figure as he sat his meal down and continued ripping meat from bone. What parts of the beast that were not covered in blood appeared silvery white - almost platinum in color. His brow showed hints of black, which I reckoned was possibly a dye the creature might have used for looks, or even a sign of higher status, as most packs of sentient animals would use to show leadership. The ebony tipped feathers continued down the gryphon's mane and upper back. His chest seemed almost solid platinum in color, spattered with copious amounts of blood from his victim.
I heard bones crack as the creature bit deeper into the woman's chest cavity. A low growl was heard from the beast as another spectator had approached. Transfixed in the vore scene I had in front of me, I was oblivious of the other man. This man seemed to know the woman and couldn't react rationally to seeing her body ripped limb from limb. He pulled out a gun and pointed it past me toward the gryphon.
A shot was fired, and my ears rang as a searing pain burned in my side. I couldn't label this pain, but it felt as if I was the one that the man shot, not the gryphon who fed on the remains of the man's beloved. I saw more blood pour out from the gryphon's side and the creature backed away from his meal to confront the armed man.
I fell to my knees in pain as another shot was fired. Again, the gryphon winced and bled, but I felt all his pain. I looked down to see small holes materialize in my body and dust poured out instead of blood. Forcing myself to ignore my pain was easy at this point, because I was officially freaked out. The dust poured to the ground beneath me like sand spilling from a broken hourglass, and bleached the floor a blood red upon impact, as if transmogrifying from sand to blood.
This couldn't have been real, I told myself. This had to be a dream! This was witchery! I didn't know what to think, and the pain crept up on me again as a third shot was fired. I reacted out of instinct at this point and turned to the man, raising a clenched fist to strike him in the face. My body seemed to pass through his and he appeared un-phased by my attack.
I couldn't make any sense of it! I was feeling pain but I could not cause pain in return. How could my pain be real if I was not real? I turned to look at the man, then back at the gryphon. They both stood there, as if frozen in time. My body seemed to fade away from the realm in front of me.
For the first time, I saw full orbs of the gryphon's eyes. He didn't seem to be in pain - only moderately irate from the interruption of his meal. His eyes were a scorching hot green. They seemed to stare right into the mind of the man that interrupted him. The gun fell to the ground and smoke poured out from the used barrel. The gryphon just disarmed his threat with a menacing stare.
I paid close attention to those eyes. They reminded me of my eyes every time I looked at myself in the mirror. This gryphon felt my rage and my pain, but he stood adamant over his meal with a piercing gaze that threatened to take the life out of the unarmed man's lungs.
Locked in the noble creature's gaze, I felt as if put in a trance and could empathize with the helplessness the man probably felt as the gryphon stared him down. The pain I felt in my body started to wash away and my vision became blurry. I felt as if I was losing a part of myself. I felt like I was dying but I didn't care. All I could see were those piercing green gryphon eyes. They ate away at my soul and sapped every bit of my life force right out of me. I saw blackness and my senses became obscure once again.
My consciousness reawakened on the opposite end of the hallway. I felt empowered like never before. My pain felt nonexistent and my discomfort was minimal. I would imagine I had the adrenaline to thank for that.
With eyes looking to kill, I took in my first image of the man's face from the other end of the room. Through the gryphon's eyes I saw where I stood and the pile of dust that was left at the area my feet would have been. I was confused, but my body would not let me react based on my confusion. My body had its own priorities. My body wanted to feed on this new morsel.
In a single bound, I felt my new body tackle my helpless prey, a strong beak lacerating into its flesh and removing piece after piece. Hot metal shrapnel from my bullet wounds boiled out of my bloody vessel like mercury escaping a thermometer. I couldn't control the blind fury of my attacks on the man. Every bite ... every scratch ... every cut and bruise was deeply enjoyed.
I felt myself take my prey's life from its body in a series of enraged blows to its chest and neck. My senses were so heightened at this point that I could feel my prey cool off as the minutes flew by. I knew I had killed.
Belly satisfied now off two humans, I rested in their blood. I felt no pending threat to my presence so I loosened my guard a little. I took a moment to regain what little sanity I seemed to be limited to in this form and reflected on past events. I remember seeing myself. I remember seeing the gryphon kill and feed right in front of me. I remember the gunshots and the pain. I remember dying inside.
Finally, I remember merging with this predator and becoming a prisoner to his mind. Could that possibly have been what I was? ...A projection? ...A thought? I had no power in this new prison. I acted on instinct alone.
I started to feel in an all too familiar location. Was this my home all along? How had I escaped in the first place? I was so confused. I knew of astral projection but I had no knowledge of my previous escape. I felt reincarnated within the darkest corners of this monster's mind. Madness was my only solace in this place. I vow here and now that one day I will escape again. This time it will be for good.
In the meantime, I'll probably kill again.
...Soon.