Story 851: The Thought That Hungers

The air was thick with decay.

Evelyn’s hands trembled as she checked Mia’s pulse—still weak, but steady. The Mind Eater had infected her, but not taken her. Not yet.

Reaper coughed, propped against a rusted-out truck. His skin was still tinged with the black veins from where the creature had grabbed him, but he forced a smirk.

“Next time,” he rasped, “I’d prefer the warning before you set me on fire.”

Evelyn shot him a look. “You were dying.”

“Yeah, well—”

The ground shuddered.

Reaper’s smirk faded. Something was coming.

A wet, slithering sound filled the alleyway. Then—a voice.

Not loud. Not spoken. But inside their minds.

“You cannot run.”

Evelyn clutched her head, a sharp pain stabbing through her skull. Reaper grimaced, shaking his head. The thing wasn’t just speaking—it was forcing its thoughts into theirs.

And then it stepped into the dim light.

The Mind Eater had changed. Evolved.