Crimson Awakening
That night, Marcus slipped quietly back into his house, his body aching from the brutal fight. His clothes were torn, his hands still trembling. He locked his bedroom door and then staggered towards the mirror.
At first, he only saw himself: sweaty, blood-streaked, exhausted. But then—he froze.
His eyes.
Not yellow, like before. Red. It glows faintly in the dark, like embers.
Marcus: (whispering) "…what the hell?"
A sudden, sharp, stabbing pain ripped through his chest. His muscles tensed, his knees buckled, and he grasped onto the sink so tightly that the porcelain cracked beneath his fingers. His reflection blurred; his skin steamed, the veins upon it burning like fire.
"GAHH—!"
His body shook and contorted wildly. He fell to the floor, clutching his stomach, the red of his eyes throbbing with every heartbeat, his vision dimming, and then, before he could make sense of it—everything went black.
The Morning After
Marcus awoke to sunlight cutting across his face. His sheets were drenched with sweat, his body sore but… different.
He stumbled toward the mirror again.
His reflection stopped him in his tracks. Features once soft were now more angular: his jaw more chiseled, his cheekbones higher, his frame lean but clear of taut muscle, his skin healthier, his posture straighter. His senses came alive-every outside sound, from birds chirping to cars driving by, was crystal clear.
And deep inside him-something else. A tether.
A strange, heavy connection, like an invisible chain linking him to someone else. He clenched his teeth.
Marcus: (to himself) "Logan…? Is that… you?"
He wasn't certain, but each time his heart thundered, he could feel a slight echo of another heartbeat.
The Hospital
Meanwhile, fluorescent lights flickered in the ER wing at St. Mary's Hospital. The female cop who got bitten by Logan lay in a bed, pale and feverish. Doctors whispered nervously outside her room.
Doctor 1: "Her wound closed… on its own. No stitches, no bleeding. Just sealed overnight."
Doctor 2: (uneasy) "That's not possible. Did you see her vitals? Heart rate keeps spiking—like she's running a marathon in her sleep."
Nurse: "What are we even supposed to report? Animal bite? What kind of animal heals its victims?"
Inside the room, the cop's fingers twitched. Her breathing deepened. Her eyelids fluttered. She whispered one word under her breath, voice rasping:
"…hungry…" The heart monitor spiked. Marcus stared into his bloodshot reflection in the mirror in his room, oblivious that he wasn't the only one changing.