Living Hunger

Frederique didn't remember leaving her bed.

She didn't remember the moment she left her house or the cold pavement under her feet. But here she was... barefoot, freezing, and alone in the middle of the street under a flickering streetlamp.

The hunger was unbearable.

It gnawed at her insides like a living thing, twisting and coiling with every heartbeat. Worse than ever before, sharp and relentless, as if her entire body was hollow.

But something else was wrong.

The street felt too quiet. No cars. No voices. Not even the hum of distant city life. The only sound was her own ragged breathing.

And the whisper.

That faint, dreadful whisper at the back of her mind. A voice she couldn't quite hear, pressing against her thoughts like nails scraping just beneath her skin.

Hunger.

The air shifted.

Frederique flinched, heart hammering. She wasn't alone.

The shadows in the alley to her left seemed deeper than they should be, writhing at the edges of her vision. She squinted, trying to focus... trying to convince herself it was a trick of the light.

It wasn't.

A figure emerged from the darkness.

No, not a figure.

A shape.

It slithered forward, tall and wrong, its limbs just slightly too long, hunched beneath the flickering streetlamp. Bone-thin arms stretched out, fingers curling into claws as it dragged itself forward with unnatural jerks.

Its face... if it even had a face... was a pale, featureless void, broken only by a vertical slit where its mouth should be. And there, inside, were the teeth.

Rows of them.

Layer after layer of jagged fangs flexing, twisting like something alive, shifting as though tasting the air.

Frederique's breath caught in her throat.

The hunger screamed inside her.

" RUN. "

But her body wouldn't move. She felt frozen, paralyzed... not with fear, but something deeper. Some instinct she didn't understand locked her muscles.

It's not fear, she realized. It's the hunger.

The creature took another step forward.

That whisper returned, louder this time.

'" Feed. "

' No. '

" It's prey. Take it. "

"No," she whispered aloud, clutching her stomach, her nails digging into her skin hard enough to break it.

The thing in the alley tilted its head, the vertical slit in its face grinning wider.

It lunged.

Frederique's body reacted before she could think.

Her legs snapped into motion, faster than humanly possible. She spun, almost slipping on the cold pavement, but she didn't fall. The street blurred as she bolted down the block, heart hammering like a drum.

But the thing was faster.

She could feel it behind her... hear the scrape of claws on concrete, the inhuman rasp of its breath.

It was chasing her.

No... hunting her.

A voice rose inside her mind, not her own.

" Why are you running? You're stronger than it. "

Frederique grit her teeth, blinking tears from her eyes. She didn't want to be strong. She didn't want this.

The street twisted, leading into another alley.

Dead end.

' No, no, no... '

She skidded to a halt, whipping around just as the thing closed in.

It didn't slow.

It didn't hesitate.

It struck.

Frederique raised her hands in defense, expecting pain... expecting the end.

But something else happened.

Her arms changed.

There was a sharp crack, and her skin split... not from pain, but transformation. Her nails lengthened, curving into black, glassy claws. Her fingers locked, stiff with unnatural strength as she caught the creature's arms mid-strike.

It stopped.

The monster snarled... or tried to.

Its teeth ground together with a sickening crunch as it strained against her grip.

Frederique wasn't losing. She was pushing it back.

The hunger in her chest twisted.

The voice whispered again.

" This is what you are. Take it. FEED. "

Her grip tightened. She could feel the bones shifting beneath the thing's flesh, her claws digging into it...

And she almost did it.

Almost gave in to the void screaming inside her.

But then the creature's head snapped forward, jaws splitting wider... too wide... as it lunged for her throat.

Frederique flinched...

...and something lashed through the air with a sharp crack.

A wet, pale shape whipped past her face and wrapped around the creature's neck.

' A tentacle...? No, it wasn't. '

It was a tongue.

It yanked the monster backward with a violent, bone-cracking force.

Frederique staggered back, heart pounding, as the thing was ripped off its feet and slammed into the alley wall with unnatural strength.

The monster twisted, screeching... until the tongue tightened with a sickening snap.

The body fell limp.

*Silence.*

Frederique's ragged breathing echoed in the alley, her claws retracting slowly with a painful grinding sensation as her body returned to normal.

Someone was standing just beyond the streetlamp's glow.

A small figure.

Raven-black hair. Dark eyes watching her... calm, sharp, but too pale. His hoodie hung loosely on his thin frame, and his lips curled into a crooked smile.

His tongue slithered back into his mouth with a slick snap.

"That was close," he said, his voice soft.

Almost friendly. But not quite.

Frederique stared at the dead monster, then back at him, her chest heaving.

The hunger still burned.

"W-Who… what are you?" she whispered.

The boy tilted his head, eyes narrowing in curiosity.

"I could ask you the same thing."