chapter 4: The end

Ren stumbled over a root, steadying himself at the last second when his knees threatened to slam into the ground. His bare feet pounded with each pace, wounds in his soles burning with each thud onto rough, unbalanced earth. Cold night air slapped at him, sending shivering sweat clinging to his torn shirt down over cold flesh.

He'd run for an eternity, but no moonlight could break through thick coverings of trees, and he couldn't even estimate how far he'd gone. Breathing in jerky, shallow puffs, and with a blur in eyes, Ren collapsed at last, collapsing onto a tree trunk at its base. Bark brashed into his back—cold, rough—but he hardly noticed. Weak fingers scrabbled in earth, holding onto it for traction, and a shallow, agonized breath wheezed out of him with a shuddering pang in his chest.

The woods lay in a dead, unnatural quiet, punctuated only by a rustle in a distance and an owl's intermittent, muffled cry. He hurt to cry, but no tears existed any longer.

"I escaped. But now what?" Ren whispered, a hoarse whisper, under his breath. 

Thoughts whirled in a circle in his head. No escape plan, no provisions, no direction in which to go. The thrill of escape at the campsite paled in comparison with suffocating weight of uncertainty that took its place. "I don't know I'm going," Ren whispered, voice shaking with a mix of exhaustion and fright. "I don't even know I'll make it through tonight."

A soft, cool breeze touched at his face, and Ren let head fall onto tree, allowing himself sink into exhaustion, and with a shuddering weakness, into sleep,

But just when his breathing began to slow, a snap in a nearby limb startled him awake. His eyes flicked open, heart pounding in his chest, and he fought to listen.

A new crunch sounded through the black, louder yet. Ren's fingers flinched reflexively, scrabbling in the ground as he fought to sit up. His body protested in agony, but he willed himself to stay awake.

Something moved out there. And it moved in.

The trees seemed to draw its breath in, holding it in a frozen, taut circle. Even the wind died, and an unnatural quiet filled the air—until a grotesque shape pushed through undergrowth. Red eyes glowed with burning embers, its long claws wiggling with anticipation, its jaws spittle-frothing with jagged fangs. Its wet, gurgling snarl filled cool night air with a reek of decay.

"Oh, fabulous," Ren sneered, voice thick with malice. "Not enough getting beaten and almost killed for one evening, no, let's add a FUCKING MONSTER in the mix, why not? What's not to enjoy?" ren laughed.

The beast snarled, creeping closer. Ren's bare heels skittered over ground as he backed off, searching for something, anything, to use. Fear buzzed in his head, but a twisted grin crept onto his face.

"Look at you," he snarled, wheezing for breath. "All them fangs and claws. Do they really helpt." he was just trying to hide the fact he was pissing himself.

The creature's mouth twisted in a snarl, its eyes flashing with an unnatural glow. Ren laughed roughly, and the sound cut through tension. "Oh, don't enjoy that, then? Don't frighten me, I'm not afraid of you. You're just one more thing trying to kill me. And guess what?" His voice shuddered a little, but the grin stayed glued to his face. "Turns out I've killed in my life. Turns out I'm pretty damn good at it."

The creature attacked. Ren dove out of its path, its claws slicing through clothes and flesh over his ribs. He crashed onto the ground, rolling with agony spiking through his side. He clapped a hand over the wound—it was shallow, but it hurt like a devil.

"That's all you got?" Ren snarled, stumbling to stand. "I've been beaten by guards worse than that, and they weren't nearly as ugly."

The beast snarled, dropping low in preparation for its attack. Ren panted in rough, sharp breaths, but forced himself to laugh. "Think you're quick? Try growing up running from monsters twice your height, buddy. I've been running from monsters my whole life. You're just one more in a long line of failures."

The creature attacked again, and it moved with a little less hesitation, but Ren was ready for it. He sidled out of its path, using its bulk and its height to its disadvantage. The beast's claws shredded through the earth where Ren had been a moment before.

"Too slow," Ren taunted, circling the creature. His voice was almost mocking, but his eyes flared with anger. "For a creature that looks like death, you're not that scary." He spit at its feet, blood from his gash streaming down his rib cage. "I guess that's why you're out hunting slaves and not real prey. Can't even manage a starving boy."

The beast roared, charging again. Ren did not move out of its path this time. Instead, Ren moved towards it, closing distance at a pace the creature did not anticipate. It reared, claws extended, but Ren reached it first.

He plunged the sharp rock into its throat.

The beast emitted a guttural scream, flailing its long, spindly arms and stumbling backwards. Blood sprayed onto Ren's face, warm and metal-smelling, but Ren did not slow down. He knocked the beast to its knees, riding its chest with a rock in one fist, pounding at its throat over and over and over again.

"You think you can kill me?" Ren shouted, voice shattering. Tears streamed down his face, mixing with blood smudges on his cheeks. "After that motherfucker tried to rape me, FUCK NO?"

The beast struggled under him, its claws slicing at his side, tearing through flesh and blood and tissue. But Ren did not register the pain—not at first, not yet. All he could register was the burn of his anger boiling over, consuming him, and burning through the fear that had kept him living for so long. He wasn't fighting to survive; he was fighting to destroy this beast.

Ren straddled over its chest, the universe reeling with its body flailing under him. His hands clamped down over the rock, and with all of himself, he plunged it down into its mouth.

"Die!" he yelled, tears mixing with blood on his face. "Die, you fucking muppet! You're not taking me tonight."

The creature's body jerked in a spasm, its claws scrabbling at the ground one last time before it lay motionless. Its red eyes dimmed, becoming lifeless.

Ren sat, wheezing, his shaking arms trembling with exhaustion. His fingers throbbed, but he couldn't let go of the rock. His chest rose and fell with a shuddering breath, and he glared at bloodied horror under him.

He laughed with a bitter, mirthless sound. "I win," he whispered, voice hardly audible at all. The adrenalin that kept him moving drained out of him in one go, and he weakened and reeled, dizzy and disoriented. His eyes blurred, and he struggled to stand, but his legs failed him, and he collapsed onto his side.

The reek of blood filled the air, but Ren couldn't care less. His eyes drooped, and he let them fall shut, and exhaustion took over at last. "I win," he whispered softly, and then everything went black. The cold crept into Ren's bones, and he grew numb, frozen through and through. 

His breaths grew shallow, one less strong than the one preceding it, and blood dripped out of the wound in his side, wetting the earth under him.

His skin slowly started turning pale white, and his canines elongated.

 "So, that's it," he whispered, voice almost inaudible. "I win the battle and I still die. Talk about a fair game." Coughed, iron tang in his mouth

. "God, you're a real comedian. I hope you're having a laugh at my expense." The world grew darker in his eyes, and his fingers, bloodied, jerked feebly. "I lived through that camp. I escaped. I killed the beast. And this is my reward?" Coughed, a bitter laugh, and then a wet one, a spasm that took over and refused to stop.

Just then a big blue screen appeared infront of him

Vampire slane

Blood manipulation skill gained

1/1 skill slots filled

[1000 more influence points needed for another skill slot]

 The warmth crept through him, a spreading tide, and his fingers jerked, and then, in a spasm, arched off the ground, and arched, Ren's lifeless body lay motionless, but an unseen force pulled him towards a new beginning. Woods disintegrated into nothing, and in its aftermath, the dead boy who fought to survive lay scattered about. But in a new reality, Ren Castor began again.