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Ari- Part 1

I've been told once before that if I ever let the beast inside me consume me, I would never be able to claw my way to the surface again. I'd be nothing but a monster killing everything in sight. However, this thought that came out of Jeb's mouth was false. How did I know this? Well I didn't honestly. But Jeb had made many false assumptions throughout the year and in my half-alive state I figured this might be one of those. Never had I ever so blindly stepped into a plan without thinking it over at least three times.

Now I did. I had to. It seemed at the time to be my only choice. I had to get out of here, and in my human mind, I was too weak to stand up. But I had thought maybe, just maybe, I would have enough energy to morph into the demon stirring inside.

And so I finally stopped fighting with my other half. I finally accepted that I was not human, I was not the average guy, I was never going to be normal no matter how deep I shoved my monsters down.

The transformation was excruciating. I felt every joint pop, every muscle clench, every claw elongate. The pain was all too much for me to handle, and I ended up biting a hole through my lip with my sharpened teeth. It's kind of funny how on commercials they always talk about being a new you, and how amazing it is to change, but for me, it was the total opposite. I didn't want a new me, I didn't want to change. I just wanted to be Ari, the boy with a broken family who loves his sister to death and has a soulmate who will never love him back. Maybe not the best life, but it was easy to slip into a routine and get used to it.

And now? Now I had stepped out of comfort zone, like halfway across the galaxy out. I would never think of myself as Ari, the boy again. I wasn't a boy, or a man, or even just a guy for that matter. I was beast. A vicious creature created to destroy happiness. And boy did I look to the part. With my enhanced vision I could see my reflection through a camera lense in the corner of the room.

I had a muzzle now, with teeth poking out at all angles over my bottom jaw. Black fur engulfed me and my eyes were darker than normal, as black as Fang's. Sharp claws protruded from my paws, ready to slice someone- anyone to ribbons in mere seconds.

The little resolve I was still holding onto began to fade away. No longer could I control my actions, or my thoughts. I was completely consumed by the beast inside of me.

The door was nothing more the broken metal scattered across the floor, the bodies around me nothing more then annoying flies buzzing around- scratch that, laying around. They were all dead. I had killed every last eraser that had gone after me, and what was worse? I couldn't even remember any of it. Not until the one hit me good in the head with the butt of his gun. It was like that blow was enough to knock the human back into me.

I was still an eraser, but at least I was in control as I walked down the corridors. "Hey look! It's the escaped prisoner!" I heard a voice shout. Something tugged at my gut, a vicious yank demanding control. However, I couldn't let the monster take over again. I would not kill anymore. Although, it was tempting considering I now felt the wight of all the blows I had been given when killing those nine erasers, and could taste blood in my mouth from that smack to the side of my head.

Another harsh tug to my gut and once again I was falling back under the spell of the damned. I couldn't hold onto myself any longer. Maybe Jeb was right, maybe once I was consumed I would never be able to find a way out.

More death, more destruction, more pain. This is what I woke up to. I was still an eraser unfortunately, but I was in control once more. And this time I decided to take full control, letting the unbearable pain of morphing sink in as I turned back into regular human Ari. Now I was fully in control. No longer would I be at risk of turning into a demon. Hopefully.

I looked around taking in the dead bodies around me. Thirteen. How many people had I killed just today? It was official, I was terrified of the eraser inside of me. However, I threw my fear away and got to business. I needed to get to Lupo and get out of here, then contact Nudge and find Fang, Max, and Iggy. My feet splashed in the pool of blood as I walked down the hallway, checking each guy for a loaded gun. Mst were empty, but when I looked at the tenth guy I found a loaded one, along with some extra bullets and a knife.

I slipped the gun into the waistband of my jeans, and sheathed the knife at my side before taking off down the halls. I sprinted in three different directions, making random turns as I looked for the Experimentation Rooms.

After what seemed like ages of turning corners only to find the exact same hallway I had just come from in front of me, I found the ER hallway. A lot of me finding it had to do with hearing Max's voice. I heard her yell 'Fang' at the top of her lungs and immediately ran off in that direction. It took five turns (plus one wrong one) to find the ER hallway, but when I finally did, I saw Max, Iggy, Tanner, and Fang.

Never have I been so happy to see the guy that knocked up my sister. And I could guarantee I'd never be happy to see him again. I walked into the doorway just in time to hear Max say;

"Lupo's across the hall and Ari is-"

"Right here," I cut her off, smirking brightly as she spun around to see me.

"Ari!" A bit of concern for me looking like hell flashed through my eyes, but it disappeared as she ran up and hugged me tight. I instantly wrapped my arms around her, grinning as the sight of my baby sister. I was so glad to see her alive and well I could have cried. She was my sunshine and she was okay and that was all that mattered for this moment.

"Hey little sis, how's it going?" I looked at her with that smile on my face knowing instantly everything was going to be okay. Max had that effect on me somehow. She was one of the few people I hardly ever panicked around. If not for her I would have had many more mental breakdowns than I already have.

"Great," Max lied easily, and for a moment I thought I could believe her, however, the slight frown that formed on her lips was enough to give her all away. Something was very wrong, and I would be finding out very soon too. "Now let's go get Lupo and get out of here."

"I second that!" Iggy spoke up, making his way across the hall already. I rolled my eyes at him, then got a horrible thought in my head. He was going to murder me once he found out what happened behind closed doors.

We all walked across the hall and to my surprise, max and Iggy took a step back as if to let somebody break the door down. And in seconds Tanner did just that. I blinked, thinking about how thick and heavy the metal must be. The only person I'd ever known to break through anything as difficult as a strong metal door was... Omega.

With that thought in my head my guard was suddenly up. I forced myself not to go into panic attack mode, but had a hard time even looking at the guy without seeing Omega. It was so obvious, the build, the features. They were either related or some freaky fraternal clones. Wearily, I shrugged the thought off for now. After all, he was helping us so far. I took a deep breath and began barking out orders like the leader I was bred to be.

"Tanner, Max, Fang, take any and all whitecoats out along with erasers, Iggy and I will get Lupo," I spoke right before we all barged in. To my surprise there were only five scientist and two erasers. Less than originally thought. Lupo was lying on a cold metal table, eyes half-lidded. There was bloodstains on her clothes and all over the metal table, and she had a wicked cut on her arm and a deep gash on her stomach that made me shiver. She also had a swollen jaw and bruises on her wrists and ankles, which meant she had gone out kicking and screaming, just like anybody would. For a moment that feeling of wanting to cry came back. This was my fault, I wasn't sure why yet, but it was.

I began sprinting over to her, fully devoted to protecting her. I wouldn't fail again. I couldn't. However, when I got close enough to undo her chains Iggy shoved me out of the way. "I got her," He hissed at me, sounding ticked off for some unknown reason. Could he possibly already know? No, he couldn't. He would have killed me by now if he did. Maybe he was still angry at me for making out with Lupo a gazillion years ago. Man, that guy could hold a grudge longer than his life.

I was about to tell him to stop being such an ass, when I felt two furry hands wrap around my neck. An eraser slowly dragged me to my feet, holding me up off the ground and forcing me to look at him. For a moment, I thought I saw Iggy out of the corner or my eye, coming to my rescue. But alas, he was hastily trying and failing to remove the straps that held Lupo captive.

I scowled at the eraser and kicked him as hard as I could in his crotch. He instantly fell, leaving me to rub my neck and take back the few breaths he had stolen from me. Then I proceeded to strike hard and fast at a pressure point on his neck, knocking the guy out cold.

Somewhere in the distance, my advanced hearing picked up on high-pitched sirens that only the ears of an eraser could hear, and the clicking of guns being loaded. We didn't have much time before the enemy overwhelmed us. I ran over to the table Lupo was tied down to, and watched Iggy tug on the restraints in amusement for a moment.

Then, with some extraordinary strength I didn't know I had, I yanked the straps away from Lupo's wrists and ankles fast a furious, gingerly pulling her into my arms. "Guys we need to get out of here!" I barked already heading towards the doorway, not bothering to look back and see Iggy's dropped jaw of shock. Immediately they all followed me, even Iggy who seemed to be recovering from that blow to his ego. Except Max who had to get in one final roundhouse kick because well, she's Max.

While we were sprinting towards freedom, with Max leading the way, Iggy caught up to me, holding his arms out. "Give me Lupo, now." he ordered, to which I rolled my eyes. Were his jealousy issues really this bad?

"No way man, she isn't some football to hand off, she's a half-conscious woman." I growled, daring Iggy to challenge me. He looked like he was about ready to bust my head open, but Fang stopped him.

"Chill out bro, you're still her knight in shining armor, Ari's just the noble steed that takes you everywhere," He patted Iggy's head and caught up with Max to talk about God knows what.

Fang's comment hurt a little, but I tried not to show it, even went as far as agreeing with him. Although I didn't. I wasn't the horse that carried the supplies- or if I was I didn't want to be. I wanted to be the Knight, I wanted to swoop in and kiss Lupo and have her fall in love with me, and then maybe my life wouldn't be so bad anymore, maybe I could even settle down...

The thoughts vanished from my mind as Lupo slurred a word that sounded Like Iggy's name. Instantly, the over-protective boyfriend looked to his girlfriend and once again she slurred his name, a little clearer now, and something that also sounded like sorry. Maybe it was just the drugs, or maybe she knew Iggy was here, and was trying to apologize for sleeping with me. Maybe she already regretted it. Of course she was regretting it. She got stuck with me. I wasn't even a second choice. I was a tool. Someone to make Iggy understand he wasn't paying attention to her, and then, someone to use for reproduction with her.

I was a tool- no, I am a tool. I'll always be a tool. I'm not sure how I came to this realisation, or even how I comprehended how true it was, but I didn't have any more time to think about it because just when I thought the exit was in view, somebody behind me managed to trip me.

Lupo flew through the air before Iggy managed to catch here, and I went down hard.

Hello readers, hope you liked this chapter. Can you believe this story is already 35 chapters in and not even halfway finished?

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VR