Not being able to focus on finding ERIS with the Hive Mind screaming in my head, I switched to Thermal Vision, the messy red glow of the Infected Vision wearing away and replaced with a calm consistent blue. I scanned my surroundings intensely, not leaving one area un-double-checked for any sign of heat. At first, I saw nothing other than the cool deserted streets of New York, and the slightly warm Biomass vines wrapped around the non-functioning power lines, connecting one side of the street to the other, giving the place a greenhouse feel and creating a wondrous array of shadows. Nothing seemed to catch my interest. Then I saw it. As my eyes traveled over a series of parked cars, most rusted or smashed in the time of the panic and riots, I caught sight of a warm object, a face, peering out of the closed window of a small minivan. I immediately knew that it was ERIS, the face was feminine and looked young. How I could tell this, I'm still not sure, perhaps someone I consumed had such knowledge of facial structure, even through mildly unclear vision. It was staring at me, motionlessly staring at me from afar. I too stared at it, wondering what exactly to do, what action to take, deciding if it was really worthy of my time or not. I did need to go see Dana, to make sure she was alright, but here was the being I was searching for, tilting its head and smiling slightly at me through the gloom of the car's window, oddly smiling. What was more important?

I switched to my normal vision, to try and see it's face in more detail. But alas, I could not; the darkness of the vehicle it hid in shadowed this diffident character's face, concealing it from me. All but the eyes, those glowing yellow cat eyes, same as the last time I saw them with my own cold blue ones, just as haunting. And same as last time, I could not stop looking at them, those slit orbs of golden yellow and deep space black that seemed to hold so much in them. So much time, pain, loss, knowledge, wisdom, all I saw in these young looking eyes who's age was now unclear to me. What was even more unclear was how I could know all this by just a look at them. It was like some spell captivated me when I stared at those eyes.

Suddenly, with a sudden blink, they were gone, and I snapped back to reality, as horrible as it was. For a moment, I questioned if I had really seen what I had seen, or if it had been an illusion brought on by using the Hive Mind for too long, but I quit doubting myself, it had been real. I switched back to my Thermal Vision, to locate the face, and was slightly surprised but mainly shocked when I saw that it had vanished. ERIS must have hid from view, probably hiding from sight at the bottom of the minivan. Was it afraid? I remembered the first night I saw those eyes it possessed and the shock I had seen in them when it saw my face, a look of fear. It was afraid, afraid of me. I smiled a most wicked smile and my Muscle Mass formed, giving me a stronger appearance. It had the right to be afraid of me. It was a menace, and it needed to die. I couldn't let a dangerous beast run rampant through the city, my city, destroying everything that it looked at with those demon eyes, and even though I hated to agree with the Infected, they were right, this 'Monster-beast' as they called it had to go. What if it should happen upon Ragland's Morgue? My fear for Dana's safety fuelled my rage and desire to destroy this creature.

Running at the car with such speed that the world blurred, I jumped into the air, appreciating the feeling of being airborne for that split second, and landed on the hood, leaving a huge dent. With my strength induced Muscle Mass, I proceeded to rip open the car like a can of sardines, the sound of metal being ripped apart and breaking glass echoed through the streets. Finally open, I formed my Hammerfist in the blink of an eye and peered into the minivan's interior, ready to pummel the cowardly being into a pulp. But my eyes saw no creature of any kind, no demon with unearthly eyes that haunted my thoughts. All there was in the car was a dead mouse or small rat that looked like it had been dead for a while, infected vines that had crept in through the ventilation system covered it's decaying body, digesting it slowly. There was also a big hole in the bottom of the car, as if it had been ripped open big enough for something to crawl through. I cursed under my breath, ERIS must have escaped, my Thermal Vision confirmed that it had created this; warm handprints that were still visible on the rubbery interior lead through it. I looked up and around but saw nothing, nothing! Rage bubbled up inside me like a storm. "WHERE ARE YOU?!" I yelled to the sky, to ERIS, the coward, the scaredy-cat. Why wouldn't it face me?! Why wouldn't it just accept it's fate and let me kill it?!

The pitter-patter of shoeless feet caught my attention, and I turned just in time to see the tail end of a figure disappear into an alleyway off to my left. I gave chase after it, using my Thermal Vision to follow the trail of footprints through the dark alleyway. I ran as fast as I could go, but I could not catch up to the fleeing creature, which's footsteps were growing fainter and fainter. Man, this thing was fast, surprisingly fast, faster then me even. Perhaps ERIS was a force to be reckoned with, giving me all the more reason to consume it and gain more power. As the sound of running feet ahead of me became totally inaudible over my panting breath, I knew I was losing my target. After a couple forks and some wide turns in this labyrinth design of an alley, I came skidding to a halt in a dead end filled with some old trashcans, the old fashion silver kind, and the front half of a totaled sports car propped up against the wall, the tall dark dead end wall that seemed to utter the story of my life gave no further path to follow. The heat signature I had been chasing seemed to end here, stopping in the middle of this enclosure, as if it had vanished into thin air. I looked around desperately, but there was no sign of the elusive being ERIS, no warm hint to where it could have gone, just the fading impression of strange feet at the foot of mine. I heard not a sound; it was as quiet as a tomb in this alley.

I switched back to normal vision since Thermal Vision was hurting my eyes, and thought hard at what to do. What could I do? ERIS was long gone now, and probably hiding in a place I would never find it. I had no means of catching and killing this… whatever it was. There was no background on this menace I could go on for information, no way of knowing what it would or could do, what it wanted to do, what it's purpose in this world was… Stewing over what had crossed my thoughts, I couldn't help but smile and shake my head. I was dumb, what was I thinking? Here I was, blindly following the scent of an unknown beast like a rat in a maze that contained both cheese and cat. From what I had seen, I was probably following the trail to my doom, as good as it sounded, as this ERIS Monster-beast could surly do away with me in an instant, especially with the impression I'd made. But why hadn't it?

There was a strange hissing noise that sounded like a pipe giving off steam coming from above, but I was too angry to focus on it, I disregarded it. My rage seeped through every fiber of my being, till the color red washed over my eyes. Never in my life, besides using Infected Vision, did I see red then in that moment of pure untold hatred. I was angry with Blackwatch for their uselessness, at myself for letting ERIS get away, and that demon for making my life hell.

"ERIS!" I yelled to it if it was nearby, still in ear shot, my voice echoing in the small area, "Come on out and face me! You coward!" I don't remember a time in my tortuous life that I had yelled so loudly, not even when I was chasing after that bastard Tagart in his escape vehicle. That suicidal moron, he should have know that I would show no mercy, that nothing could protect him from me, the Blacklight Virus. ERIS would soon face the same fate, as I had in my mind. Oh, yes, ERIS was going to die, I was going to destroy that beast till there was nothing left. Then there would only be one, one being of power, one being that ruled the city alone, me! The place where I deserved to be, on top, alone forever, sounds sad, but if no one dares lift a finger to stop me, it will be truly worth it.

Suddenly, something fell from the darkness above, like a hailstone. It bounced off the totaled car with a loud rupturing clag, causing it to set off the car's alarm before the object rolled to a stop at my feet. It was a spray paint can, of purple paint, which I could tell had been used recently because I could smell the fresh paint smell that hung heavily in the air and made me feel slightly lightheaded. Where had this come from? I then remembered hearing the hissing sound, which I realized was the sound a spray paint can makes. Why hadn't I realized this before? I thought with resentment. Slowly, cautiously, I looked up to where it had fallen from, sort of fearing what I was going to see. I expected to see ERIS up above, ready to pounce, but I didn't. Instead I saw something that changed everything I thought I knew about the creature. In the flashing light of the car's alarm high beams, words of purple wet paint shined out from the grey concrete walls.

I am friend, not foe.

Wait to find the clue so we can officially meet.

I can't wait to see you Alex.

As I am called here,

ERIS.

•••