AN: Happy quarantine days! Here's the start of something I've had in mind for a long time.
Here's your warnings for the story:
lots of gore, like lots
torture at some point probably
cannibalism
language?
fight scenes eventually
blood blood blood
lots of death

Will Solace was the basic college kid, or so he thought. The lack of parents kind of changed that picture. But he was a freshman, and he had some friends, and Burger King was his favorite burger around. His life was almost peaceful for some time, that is, without the fear of all the ghoul attacks around.

Ghouls. They looked like regular humans if they wanted to. But they couldn't eat burgers, or salads, or anything like that. They ate flesh, preyed on humans, they did it to survive but were hunted by the CCG. Like said, if they wanted, they looked just like you and me. Impossible to spot. But their eyes could turn red, and the organs known as styx spread from their bodies in different specialized weapons.

Some ate a lot. One was nicknamed Gourmet, while the other was Binge Eater. Sometimes twenty bodies found at once from a single ghoul, entire workplaces slaughtered.

It was a fear for everyone. But it was their everyday life.

"Will, earth to Will!" Cecil waved his hand in front of Will's face. "You still there?"

Will snapped back from his daydream and back into the coffee shop where he and Cecil had met up. It was cozy, small, barely any costumers. It was his get-away. "Sorry, just thinking."

Cecil Markowitz was also a freshman at NYU, with brown hair and mischievous green eyes. He had gotten into criminal trouble more times than Will could count, but he always found his way out. Theft, public disturbances. He was a real piece of work, but he was Will's best friend.

"So, are you going to point him out?" Cecil asked.

Will felt his ears heat up. "Who?"

"You know who I mean." Cecil leaned forward. "So, where's your special guy friend?" His eyes widened as he saw the nearest waiter. "Is that him?"

Will glanced over at who Cecil thought would catch his attention. Will couldn't remember his name, but that waiter was working every time Will came in to 'Big House' coffee. Dark hair, even darker eyes, pale skin, long eyelashes for a guy. Younger than them. His cheekbones did give Will a hot stomach.

"No, that's not him," Will hissed. "Now, can you keep your voice down-"

"Excuse me!" Cecil waved the boy over. "Can I have a caramel latte? And...Will, what would you want?"

Will blinked. "I still have a full cup."

Cecil turned back to the waiter. "Then just a caramel latte. And can I ask your name?"

The boy blinked. "Nico...di Angelo..."

Cecil stood up. "Nico, are you single?"

Nico blinked again before scowling, mumbling "I don't get paid enough for this" under his breath before walking away, throwing his notebook at the other waiter.

"Cecil!" Will pulled him back into his seat. "What are you doing? If I get kicked out of this place, I'll never see him again. There's nowhere else-" He froze, his eyes on the door and the young man that walked through.

Will hadn't learned his name yet, either, but he was probably around nineteen also. Brown hair, cut short. Green eyes a little cold but perfect. Hot. Handsome. Will felt his face heat up.

"Him?" Cecil's eyes had followed him also. "Give it up, Will. You're hopeless."

Will turned to him. "Dude."

"What? He's way out of your league." Cecil dug around in his pocket before throwing some money on Will's book. "That's for my stuff. I'm going to get going."

"What? Why?" Will asked.

"Homework. And I can't watch your hopeless face stare at him for too much longer." Cecil got up and headed for the door, stopping for a minute to look at Nico's form behind the counter. "Bye, Nico!"

Nico scowled as Cecil left the coffee shop but didn't reply, instead going back to the coffee he was making.

Will pushed the money to the side before picking up his book, flipping through the pages until he found the bookmark. He had read it twice before, but it never got old.

It was only five minutes before he let his eyes wander back over to the "out of his league" man. He had also opened a book, the front cover visible to Will's blue eyes. The same cover he held in his own hands.

Will grinned. Maybe some people were meant to be.

"His name's Bryce Lawerence," Will said into the phone. "We're going to Barnes and Noble tomorrow."

Cecil let his bike slide to a stop as he saw the all too familiar police lines ahead. "A bookstore date? I'm not sure how well that will go, Will."

"But he likes the same author that I do," Will stressed. "Luke Castellan."

"Yeah, I know him," Cecil sighed. "You say his name about every day. Well, I guess if that's what he likes... Good luck."

"Yeah, thanks. And stay safe," Will warned. He could hear the sirens over the phone as Cecil paddled past them. "Attacks are getting closer."

Will sat across from Bryce in a Burger King, having already finished his own burger and had moved on to his fries. They had been talking, it had been fun, he may actually manage to get a boyfriend.

"Are you going to eat?" Will finally asked, his eyes on the one bite missing from Bryce's burger.

Bryce gave him an embarrassed smile. "I'm actually on a diet, believe it or not. Doc wants me to lose some pounds."

Will glanced over his perfect body. Maybe he was blinded by what he thought was love. "Really?"

Bryce nodded. "I'm going to run to the bathroom. I'll be right back?"

Will watched him walk off before looking back to his own food. Not everyone had a great image of themselves, he had seen it before. Maybe he could find a way to make Bryce see how perfect he was.

It was later that night when they stepped out of the bookstore, Will's smile still as bright as ever. "I...I'll see you some other time?"

Bryce nodded before his face took on a more worried tone.

"What is it?" Will asked.

Bryce sighed. "Those attacks are getting so close. The one last night was only a block away. It just...makes me nervous, walking those streets alone."

"Oh..." Will gave him another smile. "I'll walk you home, no worries. And I can pick you up next time."

Bryce's face broke out in relief. "Really? You don't mind?"

Will shook his head. "Nope, no worries. Come on, show me the way."

They walked together through the city, talking about random things that came to mind. Will explained Cecil, how they had been friends since childhood, then about his own family, how his dad died before he could remember, how his mom died when he was sixteen, how he had been on his own ever since.

"I've only ever told this to Cecil," Will thought out loud. The streetlights lit their path up, along with only a few other stragglers. Will was too busy on Bryce to notice Nico di Angelo walk by.

They came to a split. Bryce pointed down the darker path, his bag of books held close to his chest. "This way."

Will followed him. They were more outside the city, an overpass above them.

"Will," Bryce stopped walking. "I wanted to say... I noticed, you watching me at Big House."

Will blushed. "You...you did?"

Bryce nodded before taking another step toward him, his breath hot against his neck. Will was hot head to toe.

"And I...I was watching you," Bryce whispered.

For two seconds, Will's life had risen to an all-time high. Two seconds.

Then he felt the bite. Saw the long styx growing out of Bryce's back. Smelled his own blood.

"Amazing!" Bryce stepped back, Will's blood covering his face. His eyes were red, were amused at his trapped prey. "You taste amazing!"

Will's breathing was too fast. Panic and fear ran through his veins. This can't be happening this can't be happening this can't-

Instincts finally kicked in, and he turned around and ran the other way. He made it only ten feet before he felt something wrap around his ankle and pull him back.

"Now, now, no going far." Bryce's styx were sprouting from the bottom of his back, red and thick and looking like some form of tentacles. Two of them. One wrapped around Will's ankle, holding him upside down in front of Bryce's face.

Oh god oh god oh god-

Bryce threw him into the nearest wall, and all Will was aware of was the crunching sound and the pain. Maybe this was a dream. He had been having so many nightmares, so many...

There was too much pain. He couldn't write it off.

"Wiiilll," Bryce called. "Don't be dead yet. We've just started playing."

Will couldn't move even though his instincts were screaming at him. How far had he thrown him? How had he gotten on the outside of that overpass...?

"There you are!" Bryce picked him up again and held him out, seeming to be inspecting him. "Perfect. Has anyone ever told you you're perfect, Will?"

He was going to die. He accepted it more quickly than he ever would have thought. This was death. He'd be seeing soon enough what religion was real.

His eyes rolled up and saw the streetlights from the overpass, the large crane working on it, the figure. An angel? He was losing too much blood. He wasn't even sure if he still had a shoulder after that bite he took.

A snap. Blackness.

Will dreamed he was floating deep in an ocean, its dark waves eerily calm. But he could smell blood, his blood. He could still feel the pain.

What had happened? He couldn't quite remember.

The water was thick, but it a peaceful way. He half felt like he was laying on a bed, beneath the waves, watching them go by and trying to figure out why it hurt so badly. Why he was naked.

Suddenly Bryce was swimming up beside him, also naked. But Will didn't swoon over that boy like he once did. He tried his hardest to swim away, to escape, to never see that boy again because oh god he tried to eat me.

Get away get away get away

Bryce caught up to him in the dark waters and pulled his body closer to his. Blood. It was in the water all around them. God, did it smell like blood.

Then the waves disappeared, and his vision went dark.

Will blinked his eyes open as his consciousness finally came back. His shoulder was numb as well as his stomach, and his head was pounding along to his heartbeat. It smelled like the hospital the day his mom died.

"Mr. Solace, how are you feeling?" A doctor was leaning over him, shining a light into his eyes, taking his vitals and other things Will didn't care enough to pay attention to. Pain. He was alive.

"Bryce...?"

The doctor paused. "I'm so sorry, Will. But your friend didn't make it."

Friend, yeah right. Will had never thought he'd be so relieved to hear someone was dead.

"What happened?" Will croaked. He looked around, saw the hospital room around him. "What...what..."

The doctor pulled a chair up and sat in it. "I'm Dr. Rollington, but you can call me Apollo. I'm your lead doctor during your stay here. A crane from a construction site fell off an overpass and onto you and your friend. He was pronounced dead on arrival. But you had less damage. Some of your organs were crushed, so I transplanted your friend's liver and lungs into you. It was the only way you were going to survive, and we couldn't find any of his family to ask permission. There are quite a few negative critics and paperwork."

Will blinked. "My shoulder...do I have a shoulder? He ate it..."

Apollo laughed. "That ghoul that attacked you two did get a pretty good bite out of you. But we patched you up and you should be as good as new in a couple of weeks."

Will groaned softly before sitting up. "I'm hungry..."

"That's a good sign." Apollo got up and gave his good shoulder a soft pat. "Have a nurse page me if you need anything. They'll bring some food in soon."

Will laid in silence once he was gone, his eyes still on the ceiling above him. He lived. He had fucking survived a ghoul attack.

Bryce Lawrence. He hadn't liked him. He had just wanted to eat him.

It made him sick.

The nurse eventually brought in a tray of food. It didn't look very appealing, but what hospital food did? He waited until the nurse was gone before bringing a spoonful of the potatoes to his mouth, his eyes widening at the severe, horrid, bitter taste of them. He threw up. Hard.

Maybe his tastebuds were off from the meds.

Will was in the hospital for the next week. Every time he went to eat, the taste made him physically throw up. The doctors thought it was something off mentally, maybe from the trauma. Bottom line- they didn't look into it and sent him home.

It was too long of a walk back to his apartment despite the nice weather outside. His stomach was growling and the incision sites ached. He never should have laid eyes on Bryce Lawrence.

Getting to his apartment was so much of a relief he almost cried. He was finally home, to his own bed, his own books, his own food. Damn, he hadn't been this hungry in who knows how long.

He walked in to find that Cecil had left a bag and note sitting by the door. How he had gotten in? Well, Will stopped questioning his lock-picking skills a long time ago. Will immediately recognized the Burger King bag and barely registered the note as he carried it to the couch.

Heard you were getting out today. Hurry back to campus, life's boring without you. I got your favorite as a welcome home gift. ~Cecil

Will grabbed the Whopper out of the bag and ripped it open. So hungry...

The taste sent him running to the bathroom to throw up.

He tried it a second time, just in case, and it held the same outcome as before. Then he tried the fries, then the chicken nuggets, and they all tasted as bitter and horrible as the hospital food had.

"What the fuck..." Will whimpered to himself, curled up on his bedroom floor, the lights all out except for the flickering TV. "What the fuck is wrong with me?"

The TV was the only other sound in the apartment. As he laid there wondering what in hell to do, he started to unconsciously tune in to the talk show.

"A ghoul doesn't have any need to eat this much," a man was saying. "in this short amount of time in the first place. One dead body will allow them to survive for a month or two."

"Can't ghouls be satisfied by eating the same food as humans do?" the interviewer asked.

It must have been about the Binge Eater. Things were always about the Binge Eater.

"No, ghouls are only able to derive their nutrition from people," the man answered. "Not to mention that their tongues work differently than ours do. When they eat human food, it tastes incredibly awful to them."

Will's heart seemed to freeze. Bryce...his organs...Bryce's organs in his body... The food, the food...starvation...

Will sprinted for the kitchen and tried anything he could. The pack of cookies on the counter, the ice cream in the freezer, the ranch and ketchup and even an old tomato in the back of the fridge. Everything came back up. Everything tasted worse than he could even imagine. He had never thrown up so many times in one day.

"This can't be real...this can't be real..." Will laid on the kitchen floor, surrounded by vomit and food, stomach growling and heart pounding. "This can't be real."

He wasn't sure how long he laid there like that, disbelieving, trying to come up with some other excuse. But he wasn't stupid.

After some time, his phone's ringtone cut through the kitchen. He let it stop before listening to the voicemail, keeping his head against the cold kitchen floor.

"Hey, Will, it's me. That author you like, Luke or whatever, he's doing a book signing down the street if you're interested. Get better, okay?"

Will felt guilty as hell for ignoring Cecil, but what was he supposed to tell him? How could he say anything if he wasn't even going to admit it to himself?

Will dragged himself to his feet after some time. Maybe the book signing would clear his mind. Maybe he was just imagining things. He just needed to get out, take a walk.

He needed it to work. He needed this nightmare to be over.

Will grabbed a hoodie and threw it on before making his way to the Barnes and Noble. Everyone he passed smelled like heaven. His stomach was growling.

So hungry.

He felt like he'd never be full again.

By the time he got to the bookstore, a sign plastered on the window read that the book signing was over. Typical. Even now that he was dead, Bryce's effects on him were ruining his life.

Reality hit him like a freight train. He took Bryce on a date, a date, and it had gone damn good... Then Bryce Lawrence tried to fucking eat him.

Will felt shivers going down his back. He never thought he'd cross a ghoul like that. But here he was, ghoul organs inside him, his tastebuds-

Will slapped himself, his eyes wide. No. Fucking no.

He threw his hood up and started his walk back home. He was starving. Everyone he passed...they smelled so good. The woman and her kids, the group of teenagers, the old couple holding hands... He could feel his mouth water, his stomach was growling too loud.

Eat. Bryce's voice seemed to come from nowhere. Eat them.

Will sprinted the rest of the way home.

"No, no, no..." He sprinted to his bathroom, needed to make sure what he was feeling wasn't real. This couldn't be happening.

He stopped in front of his mirror and lost all hope he had before. His right eye was red, it was a ghoul's, it was Bryce's. It was red.

Ghouls couldn't be hurt with just blades, they couldn't be... Will sprinted for the kitchen, grabbed a steak knife, held his shirt up and brought the knife down on his stomach.

It broke against his skin.

Will sunk to his knees in the still filthy kitchen, felt every last bit of hope drain out of him. This wasn't right...it couldn't be right...

He was so hungry.