Stranger Spirits

BERSERKER [Chapter Eight Part Two]

I opened my eyes and stretched out. My hands lightly traced the ground when I noticed that I wasn't in our tent. The floor that my body was rested upon was made of stone; and now that I notice it, there were chains around my wrists. "Wait, what?!" I whirled around to see that I was in a dungeon. I put my hands out to see that they were connected by a chain. I followed along the chain to see that it ended at a wall.

"What's going on?"

I heard a rustling and then a voice to my left. "Vaughn, you're up!" I turned to see that Atticus was in the dungeon as well and chained up too.

I rushed towards him hugging him. "What's going on Atticus? Why are we in here?"

"I don't know, I only remember waking up in here. I don't know where we are or why we're here."

"Maybe it's because of those guards that-" We both suddenly fell silent as we heard footsteps coming towards us. Turning to the front of the cell I saw the figure that I kept encountering in those bizarre dreams.

"Atticus, that's-"

The figure stopped and faced the two of us from the other side of the cell bars. "Hello, Vaughn." A chill ran down my spine as I noticed that their voice was indistinguishable. It was as if a moment after they spoke I'd forget the sounds that were made.

"Come towards me." They stretched out their gloved hand beyond the gap of the bars, beckoning me. It almost felt like I was under a spell but I couldn't stop myself from standing and walking towards them. I grunted and sweat as I struggled against their will.

"Good little pet." Their hand brushed some hair away from my face. "Do you see that young man behind you?" I turned my head towards Atticus and nodded. "Do you have feelings towards him?"

"Yes," I muttered, face flushed. Why did I agree aloud? I turned back towards the hooded figure to see their eyes looking exceptionally bright. I still couldn't see their actual eyes. All I could distinguish were yellow flashes of light reflecting on me.

"Why that won't do. A monster like you shouldn't be having those kinds of feelings." A cackle came forth from them as they traced one of their gloved fingers along my nose in an almost endearing manner. "You should be punished as a good pet should be." The figure withdrew their hand from me. "So I'm going to twist every fiber of emotion that you have towards him and I will make you slaughter him. Maybe that will teach a lesson to not defy me."

"No." My body began to shake and I fell to the ground. My breathing became ragged and my vision temporarily became blurry as my nails suddenly began to grow longer and sharper into claws. The hair on my arms began to grow dense all over too.

I looked up to see that Atticus had backed into a corner away from me. "Atticus, what's wro-" I couldn't even finish the sentence from the pain that I began to feel. I felt my jaw expanding as rows of teeth began to grow in my mouth. The searing pain of the sharp teeth cutting through my gums was almost too much to bear.

"BERSERKER! BERSERKER! BERSERKER! BERSERKER! BERSERKER!" The hooded figure kept on chanting and before I knew it I had Atticus pinned down onto the floor.

"Please, Vaughn, don't do this. You can fight this! I-" Not even hesitating I dove my head down onto his neck and clamped with all of my might. His flesh felt so good and smooth against my lips and they began to get wet as I thrashed about my head creating multiple gashes long his neck and upper body. The phrase berserker kept ringing in my head and the only sound I heard beside Atticus' screams were of the hooded figure laughing.