If you've read my other PSG fic 'The Hired Help' than you would know I mentioned another story idea I planned on doing. I didn't plan on doing it so soon but after starting chapter 2 of HH I just had an urge to start this and switch between the two update-wise. Hopefully you'll find the two to be equally enjoyable to read so it wouldn't be an issue. With that out of the way, on with the start of 'Blood Runs Cold'.
Whoever created the afterlife has a sick sense of humor. There were no pearly white gates that he was pretty sure he was suppose to be at. No flaming pit of despair and sin where he would suffer for all eternity, although that was a plus. He may not be very knowledgeable in all types of religion, but he was certain that suddenly waking up in a bustling city was not any belief system's view on life after death.
He wished he was as quick-witted to come up with that as soon as he opened his eyes, but instead when he looked out and saw the city's skyline, he freaked out and almost fell off the roof.
Whoever created the city-like afterlife is also an asshole for putting him so close to a roof's edge.
'Ju-Just c-calm down and go over what happened. Wouldn't want to freak out on top of a GOD DAMN SKYSCRAPER!' Great, he's jinxing himself in his own mind. He sat down against the door to the roof and pressed his head into his hands to try and not freak out.
Such an involuntary gesture shattered what little piece of mind he had left.
"Wh-wh-what the hell is this!" He jerked his hands away and stared at the now abnormal appendages. His hands weren't their normal colour or shape. What once was smooth, pale skin was now pitch black with red and yellow lines tracing down from his arms, branching out as if they were veins. What was once fingernails were now black like the rest of his hand, with a sharpened edge at the end of each finger, giving the appearance of claws. He felt an abnormal sense of fascination as he turned and flexed his new body parts this way and that, besides the razor sharpness of his nails, and the new paintjob, his arms were just like as they were before, they didn't feel any different or weighed any different. He clenched his right hand to try to get a better feel of it, but cursed as his new nails (he refused to call them claws) dug into his palm deep enough to draw blood.
It wouldn't have been too bad, only a little blood seemed to seep out until the wound sealed. The little blood that did seep out though, was not the normal red of copper rich blood of a human being, but a yellow that resembled the lines that ran down his arms. It slid along his hand and dripped past his leg, which had the same colour scheme as his arms. A quick search of the rest of his body showed similar results.
A chill ran down his spine, causing him to shiver and stand back up. He had to get out of there, had to find answers to the questions that plagued his mind. Where was he? What happened to him? What's happening to his body? These questions refused to go away.
He tried to open the door and enter the building, but it was locked. He cursed once more, he couldn't believe the day he was having. How did he end up trapped on this stupid roof? He walked back towards the roof edge, looking down on the passing cars below.
He cupped his mouth, careful not to have a repeat of before, and shouted down at the traffic. "HEY! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME? I'M TRAPPED UP HERE!"
He lowered his arms and peered down, hoping for some kind of reaction that someone heard him. Cars continued to drive by, either unaware or not caring about his plight.
He tried again and again, but it was the same each time. He sighed and slumped down, resting his back on the roof's edge. What a day. He slid down further, letting his head rest against the ground as he stared at the clouds lazily drifting in the sky. The sound of traffic was oddly soothing.
The sound of gunfire was not the best way to wake up in his mind. He awoke with a start and looked around, the streets were unusually empty, even if it was now night time. He turned to the sound of the commotion, and could only gape at the sight before him. Blocks away, what looked like a large blob of whatever he was made of was rampaging across the sound of sirens and repeated gunfire filled his ears, but it looked like it was doing nothing to the towering behemoth it looked down, with red lines that seemed to form it's eyes, onto what he guessed where the gunfire was coming from. He couldn't see what was happening over another building but the sound of gunfire ceased, leaving little to the imagination on what happened. He shivered and backed away from the edge, not wanting to be near such a monstrosity, what very well could be what he was now.
He ran to the doorway, trying the knob again. Still locked. He turned back to the beast and was disturbed to see more of the matter that it was made of whipping around it's form. His actions grew more frantic as he began pounding on the door with his fists, hoping to get someone's attention.
Rather than someone coming to his aid, the metal door bent and groaned from his panic, soon breaking off it's own hinges and crashing down the stairs behind it. He could only stare in shock at the now deformed metal lying inside. What the hell was he?
The sound of the giant blob's deep, guttural voice broke his train of thought. The beast's roars only fueled his panic as he dashed down the stairwell, planning to get to the closest exit and getting as far away as possible from the blob. Halfway down he encountered a slight problem, one of the floors was almost completely filled with random trash and boxes. He bit back a curse and ran back up to the above floor and slammed the door open. It must have been a pull one, cause it toppled over into the hallway behind it. He merely jumped over it and continued into the floor, hoping to find another stairwell or even an elevator down. Judging from how fancy everything was, he guessed he was in a hotel or something.
An elevator was only a left turn and another hallway down. He quickly punched the down button and waited impatiently for the elevator to arrive. The numbers on top slowly flashed one by one, soon lighting up on the floor he was on. The doors opened, only for him to come face to face with the first human being all day.
The women before him was fairly pretty, long black-hair, tan skin, wearing a simple pink t-shirt and jeans that gave full view of her well-developed curves underneath. If it was any other situation, he may have thought she was gorgeous
Instead, she took one look at him before she screamed in terror and pressed against the back of the elevator. It was disconnecting, he looked behind him to see what spooked her so badly, but found nothing. He turned back and raised his hands in a non-threatening manner, only for the sight of his claws to make him realize it was him she was frightened by.
He kept his hands up as he stept into the small interior before holding his arm out to stop the door from closing. The women didn't seem to get the hint, and continued to press herself into the opposite corner, trying to make herself as small and unnoticeable as possible.
"Go on," he told her, wishing she'd just leave and let him take the elevator. "I'm not going to hurt you, just get off and you won't see me again."
His words got the reaction he was looking for, and she bolted out of the elevator and disappeared down the hallway. He pressed the first floor button and breathed a sigh of relief as the doors shut. It scared him how he didn't know what he looked like exactly, yet it seemed to stick such fear into a grown women.
He got off on the first floor and ran out of the lobby he arrived in, trying not to care about the screams that followed.
One look around showed the street to be deserted, no pedestrians or cars were in sight. He ran to the street's end, hoping to see what was going on with the beast while he made his way down.
The beast was still in the same part of the city it was in before, still spreading it's body like some kind of living flood. It must have been huge if it spread itself out so much and still towered over most of the buildings.
A bright light shining in front of the monster stopped him in his tracks. It was nearly blinding in the darkness of night. It looked to stun the beast, but nothing else. He was about to turn away when a shot rang through the night, and the monster was now sporting a massive hole in it's head. As if that wasn't enough, cuts soon formed along the rest of it's body, making it fall into chunks before exploding into tiny pieces across the sky. 'What. The. Fuck was THAT?'
What should have brought him joy only plagued him with intense fear. If that's what kind of weaponry they have to combat the beast, would the same happen to him? He looked down on his own form, he glowed in the darkness, as if his veins were filled with lava. He certainly looked like a nightmarish creature, he would run away screaming too if he saw himself.
A church bell rang in the distance as he bolted away, not wanting to meet the same fate as the monster. He needed to find a place to hide, to lay low until he could think of how to get out of the situation he was in. He dashed into a nearby alley and fell against the wall, breathing heavily from his constant running. It was silent, he strained his ears for anything nearby but nothing was heard, it was dead quiet. He brought his knees up and wrapped his arms around them, resting his head as he stared at the brick wall across from him, mind running amok and doing little to help his mood.
"Well, well, if it isn't another ghost?" A low voice next to him snapped him awake, causing him to hurry to his feet and face whoever was talking. He would never have guessed the one to be a werewolf-like figure that shared his strange colours, was towering over him, far closer than he preferred.
"W-what the hell are you?" He backed up slowly, raising his hands to try and make the creature back off. "You're obviously sentient and not some mindless animal."
The werewolf only chuckled, a deep, menacing sound. "How rich, it's a baby ghost!" His chuckles were joined by a crackling behind him, as a small red-hooded creature was peering down at him on the wolf's shoulder.
It stopped it's laugh and looked at him with a menacing stare. "This is our turf new guy, find your own corner to control."
"Ghost? Turf? The fuck are you two talking about? WHAT THE HELL AM I?!" Hearing the two served only to confuse and annoy him, they knew what he was while he was stumbling in the dark. He pointed one of his claws at the pair. "TELL ME!"
This only seemed to amuse them further, and reduced them to fits of mocking laughter once more. The wolf cut his chuckling short and glared at him. "Listen here new blood, don't go demanding shit from an alpha, else you wind up dead again. I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that as a courtesy to you not knowing the rules," The wolf growled at him again. "As for what you are? Well you're dead! Rised up as a ghost and here you are!"
I like the start of this more than Hired Help, it just seemed to flow easier and let me get it to almost double the length. As always, tell me what you liked and what you didn't! Won't get any better without your help! I'll hopefully have this or HH updated by next week, but gta is coming out… fuck.