Hunger

A man dressed in an all black suit with long black hair and a plague doctor mask was standing at the edge of my bed with his hands folded behind his back. "Let me give you a bit of advice, Ryu Takao..." The man disappeared and a whisper came from behind me "Don't trust the old man...take the girl and leave. Get enough money and head to the 20th ward in Tokyo. There you will find an ordinary coffee shop by the name 'Anteiku' and I advise you to speak to the old man in charge...I have business to attend to, so I'll catch you in Tokyo...!" Another breeze swept through the room, leaving the place completely silent.

A shudder ran through my spine as I thought about how easily the man could have killed me, and that made me more than a little paranoid...but why couldn't I trust the old man? He seemed nice enough, and what girl? There were so many questions and so little answers. I looked toward the door to the room and saw that it was still closed, and given that there were no windows in the small room I was in I thought that there was no possible way the strange man in black could've entered the room...

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and looked back to the mirror and noticed that my sclera were back to normal and the weird veins had faded away. I shrugged and slowly made my way back to the bed and rolled onto the soft mattress. I started to drift off into unconsciousness when another knock echoed through the room. I turned my head toward the door and saw a girl that looked to be the same age as me, if not older, with light blonde hair, crystal clear blue eyes, and looked like an absolute beauty, especially in the dark blue nightgown she had on.

Despite how fast my heart began to beat my face showed no emotion as the girl moved closer to the bed, asking "How are you feeling...? Tomorrow me and Grandpa were thinking about going to the store and grabbing some more food, so if you want anything specific just let us know, ok?" before turning back around and walking toward the door.

"W-Wait..!" I croaked out, my throat feeling like it was filled with sand. She turned her head with a small smile as she waited for me to continue. "Where...am I...?" I asked while taking deep breaths.

"You're currently in Albany, New York. Grandpa found you in the mountains down in Virginia during our visit to an old friend and then we took you back to our place...if that's all I'll be going to bed now, goodnight." With those final words she turned her head back around and walked out of the door. She spoke in such a cold voice that the smile she had on her face seemed more like a threat than anything else...

I released a tired sigh before falling asleep rather quickly. I woke to an alarm beeping on the dresser. I groaned before rubbing my eyes and yawning. I got up from the bed, noticing that it was surprisingly easy to stand and I even felt light on my feet, before shutting the alarm off and putting on a change of clothes that were left on the edge of the bed. I was wearing a tight fitting white t-shirt with black gym shorts. I tied my greasy hair back into a ponytail and opened the door, smelling a rather disgusting odor from downstairs. I walked down the stairs and was greeted by Nick.

"Ah, mornin lad! I see that yer feelin better after a good nights rest. Care to join us for breakfast?" Nick gestured for me to take a seat at the wooden table that took up most of the rather small kitchen. I pulled out a padded chair from the side of the table and took a seat, the girl from last night handing me a plate of fried eggs and bacon. I had to hold back the urge to gag as the terrible odor assaulted my nose.

"If you don't feel up to eatin then don't push yerself lad..." Nick said with a worried expression. I shook my head and picked up a piece of bacon, taking a small bite after a little bit of hesitation. I was immediately filled with the urge to puke as I coughed up the piece of bacon. Why the hell can't I eat...?

Was it because of something those people had done to me, or was it something else entirely? I swallowed the stomach acid rising in my throat and gulped down a cup of coffee that Nick had given me. I noticed an almost imperceptible smile flash across his face before he took the plate from the table and emptied its contents on his. I noticed that the girl had a small pout on her face as she silently ate her food while periodically sending a glare my way. Nick laughed before saying "Now now, Emily. He's been through a lot and his appetite is still recoverin, so don't let it get to ya!"

So her name is Emily, noted. I thought back to last night when that weird masked man told me not to trust Nick, something that seemed foolish even then. Why wouldn't I trust someone like this man? I couldn't help but let out a light chuckle, causing Emily to shoot me an icy glare. I brushed off the hateful look and began to talk to Nick about various things, including what Tokyo was like. Apparently, Nick had told me that he had found Emily in an alleyway in Tokyo during one of his numerous visits and he then took her in and adopted her, but the one thing that really caught my attention was something about 'Ghouls', things with inhuman abilities and a hunger for human flesh.

I asked him to tell me more and he said that there are four types of kagune, which are things made of Rc cells that Ghouls use to attack and or defend, Ukaku, Rinkaku, Bikaku, and Koukaku. Each type has their own unique strengths and weaknesses but, in very rare cases, a Ghoul can become a 'Chimera' during birth. A Chimera is a Ghoul with more than one type of Kagune and they can use multiple types of Kagune at once. I absorbed the information quickly and memorized it so I could later study up on the subject more. Nick and Emily went out to the store shortly after breakfast with Nick warning me not to go outside by myself, as Ghouls were present everywhere, not just Tokyo anymore...

I had found a room filled with books on the upper floor, with many of them pertaining to Ghouls and their anatomy, and began to read through them while waiting for Nick and Emily. After about two hours had passed they still hadn't come home and I began to get more than a little worried. I put the book I was reading down and walked downstairs. A slight noise that sounded like it came from below me caught my attention. I got curious and began to search around the house until I found a door handle peeking out from behind the fridge in the kitchen. I slid the fridge to the side and opened the door, an almost savory aroma wafting up from the dark stairs. The sound of chains moving slightly made me freeze in my tracks.

I took a deep breath and slowly walked down the steps before arriving at the bottom. A dim light in the far corner of the room was the only thing that I could see. I slowly walked in the direction of the light before a loud crackling made me duck my head on instinct, narrowly avoiding a sharp, sword-like object. I heard someone click their tongue as I turned around to see a large, pale-blue sword that crackled with electricity, and the wielded happened to by Old Man Nick...

"Heh, you actually manage to dodge that eh? Well, no matter. I'll start with you and then finish off that she-ghoul...you damn monsters have no right to live!" He began to swing at me wildly, a savage look in his eyes "You bastards are the reason why this world is so fucked up! Just die already! Die, die, die, die, die, die, die!" Nick swung at me with an overhead chop, but when I dodged he kicked me in the stomach and punched me in the jaw, sending me hurtling into a wall.

"Ahahahaha! I can finally get one step closer to getting revenge for my sweet Amelia! Die bastard!" Nick began to kick me in the ribs repeatedly, each kick making the burning sensation in my back get worse and worse. I felt a rib crack as I coughed up a healthy amount of blood. A primal hunger welled up inside of me as I looked at Nick's exposed arms. He went for a downward stab but I rolled out of the way and launched myself at him, biting down on his shoulder. The chunk of flesh that I had bit out tasted so good...so much better than that bacon or steak...

Nick roared in anger as he tried to break my back with his superior strength, but I felt my own strength returning with every small bite I took out of him, but I had also felt my rationality slipped with every bite. It felt like I was losing myself as I jumped off of Nick and began to dodge his strikes, the pain in my back growing almost unbearable. I knelt down to the floor and grit my teeth against the pain. Nick had a wild smile on his face as he swung his sword at me.

I rolled out of the way and kicked his shin causing him to tumble to the ground and lose his grip on the strange lightning sword. I felt like I couldn't resist after the first bite so I pounded on him once again and began to bite into the back of his neck, his screams echoing through the room. I heard a voice in my head that egged me on, begging for me to devour this foolish old man. I continued to devour his flesh even after he was dead; the pain in my back finally receding.

After I had my fill I stood up and my eyes immediately locked onto the sword that he had dropped, which now had the shape of a large metal suitcase. Memories of when I was abducted and had my family killed by a man who had the same suitcase filled my mind, filling me with rage. I snatched the suitcase up and thought that nothing would be better than killing those bastards who took my family with their own weapons.

A muffled cry from the back of the room snapped me out of my daze. I quickly walked over and saw Emily chained to the wall with a large gash on her stomach. I thought of ways to free her when my thumb swept over a small indention in the handle of the suitcase. I applied a tiny bit of force and the suitcase morphed into the pale-blue sword that Nick had used. I quickly cut the chains and caught Emily as she fell to the ground. She began to sob and try to crawl away from me. I was confused but I kept my wits and called out to her "Emily, do you know why Nick locked you down here and tried to kill me...?" She stopped crawling and looked back at me, fear evident in her eyes.

"B-Becasue y-y-you're a G-Ghoul..!" She stammered as she tried to get to the stairs. I sighed and grabbed her to prevent her from going off and reporting me or something like that as I tried to calm her down. "Look, Emily, I'm not gonna kill you...honestly I had just learned I was a Ghoul today, so I'd like it if you calmed down and thought about the situation...!"

From what Nick had said it sounded like Emily was a Ghoul as well, but she was able to eat normal food without puking, so it seemed like he had misjudged, or so I thought. Emily began to flail around and yell at me to let her go, but she froze when she caught sight of the mangled corpse of Nick. She began to tremble as she looked back at me, her eyes filled with tears as her left eye's sclera slowly turned black while her iris turned a blood red.