The Hunger

Suggested listening: The Howling by Within Temptation

Part 8

~D is for Disgusting~

Matt ran, he didn't care where he was going, only that he was away from their apartment. He couldn't believe he'd done that to Mello. The further away he was the more his thoughts seemed less jumbled, less crazy, and more... more human.

There was something not right with himself, hadn't been for the past few days and he just couldn't pinpoint it. But it was inside him, changing him, forcing him to do those insane things...

His breaths ran short, gasping even, and he simply couldn't run any further. His chest hurt and his lungs burned forcefully for air that it simply couldn't get. Matt crumpled to his knees, fingers digging harshly into the concrete below him. An odd feeling welled up inside of him and before he could help it he retched the contents of his stomach onto the ground.

But just as quickly as the sick feeling had washed over him it was gone, leaving him feeling only minutely unsettled. It was probably from licking up all of that blood, he thought morosely to himself.

He stood somewhat shakily and leaned against the nearest wall as he got back his bearings. He needed a place to stay, that much he knew, at least for the night. He didn't want to go back to Mello just yet. They both needed some time to cool down. Most definitely Mello.

He had his wallet on him with the stolen credit cards, he had somehow in his haste thought to grab his wallet and cell phone, so he knew he could afford a hotel.

All he needed was to get to one.

He was too far away to get his car, but he also wasn't sure if he would be able to walk to the nearest one, wherever that was. Slightly annoyed at himself for his panic, which really had done nothing good for him, he fished around in his pockets until he found his phone.

Taxi it was.

He didn't have any cigarettes on him, upon inspection, and really craved one. But there was nothing close to him where he could buy some, hell Matt didn't even recognize the area he was in. He would have to wait, whether he liked it or not. Mainly not.

A soft buzzing knocked him from his thoughts and he looked to see One Missed Call. He hadn't even heard it ring...

He swallowed sharply as he knew only one person would be calling him. Mello. He didn't want to listen to the voice mail... but knew he should.

He was relieved, ever so slightly, that Mello hadn't sounded angry.

But Matt knew from experience that Mello's tone could be deceptive. But Mello wanted to meet in a public place, granted it was only a pool hall, but Mello couldn't afford to put even that much attention to himself when Kira knew his name.

Mello wanting to meet him in a public place...meant he wasn't going there to fight. But despite that, Matt was apprehensive. Mello could, on occasion be blinded by rage. And even the threat that Kira could get to him from that wouldn't sway him if he were in a rage.

Matt would give him some time to cool down, whether Mello sounded angry or not..

He shivered; the air wasn't all that bad at the moment, but damn he was starting to freeze. He hadn't noticed it during his run but now that his body had stopped itself from overheating it was going in the opposite direction.

He was relieved when the taxi got there and handed over whatever money was in his pocket and hoped it was enough to get him close to a hotel. As it turned out he was five dollars short of where he wanted to go. Cash wise, but the taxi driver couldn't accept anything else as the machine was broken.

Matt wasn't in the mood to argue and simply got out where the car stopped. He had begun to feel a bit nauseous in there anyway. He hoped it wasn't car sickness as he'd never had it before, but he supposed there was a first time for everything. And with the way his week had gone…

The people at the motel didn't so much as second glance at him when Matt handed over one of 'his' credit cards. He doubted the place even cared if it were stolen or not so long as they were paid.

But just because something really fucking strange was happening to him didn't mean Matt wanted to draw attention to himself, and possibly in turn to Mello, on the off chance something went wrong with the card. Kira was still out and about and Mello was still working on the case...

Matt all but slammed the door to the room shut upon his arrival and leaned against it, legs once again shaky and weak for no reason. His eyes slipped shut as he exhaled; now that his mind was clear he could only think of one thing to link it all back to, but no matter what angle he looked at he couldn't see how he could have contracted something from the bite as he'd gotten all the necessary shots.

Through his red fringe he peered at the bandaged appendage and hesitated before he started to remove the bandages. He couldn't remember when he had last cleaned it, sometime before he had started hiding in his room, before his moods began to change.

He was surprised at what lay underneath.

The bandages were covered in a yellow pus like substance, a sticky nasty looking fluid, but the wound itself was... healed. Scarred over from his self made sutures, but healed.

What the hell was going on?

He tried to think rationally about it, but nothing came to mind. Wounds that deep, that serious, just didn't heal that quickly or neatly all by themselves. Matt pushed himself away from the door and stumbled uneasily into the bathroom.

Turning on the tap he rinsed his arm, poking and prodding it to no avail. It was no hallucination, it was completely healed. He splashed water onto his face, scrubbing it into his skin with a sigh. What the fuck...

Matt wiped at his eyes as he looked at himself in the mirror. His hand froze and he prayed he was loosing it, just delusional with worry. It happened again and his heart lurched. His skin...

The skin on his chest was...moving... like something was crawling underneath. But he couldn't feel it. He backed away until he hit the wall, eyes wide.

That nervous sickly feeling began to creep back around his insides until he realized he had started breathing harshly. He couldn't stop it. It was as though everything had simply been put on pause since earlier, a temporary moratorium before the storm was unleashed.

He slid down the wall until he reached the floor and clutched at his stomach. His heart raced and thoughts once more became jumbled and frantic. Something was happening, something bad-

He slammed his head back against the wall at the agonizing pain that suddenly surged through him, like someone was pouring acid on his bones; a harsh burning feeling that was everywhere at once making his eyes blurry with unshed tears. He couldn't even scream as his throat had gone numb, closed up with his frantic breaths.

Elongated nails clawed at his flesh, scratching it, tearing it off, making him bleed everywhere only for it to heal and the processes repeat itself. Bones began to pop and lengthen, flesh being pulled taunt across the gangly arms and slightly larger rib cage.

His shoulders became broader, angular, and he choked down a scream as the bones in his face cracked and broke and lengthened little by little.

He threw his head back and howled.

-End part 8-

AN: ... XD. I'm going to get stabbed for this aren't I? Hehehehe. Just wait... XD It's not COMPLETELY what you think. I'm never normal so just wait…..