The man stumbled forward on the hot concrete, feet clumsily treading on the sidewalk in a grossly uncoordinated fashion. The sun blared from a cloudless sky into his dark, lifeless eyes as his hands wrapped around his torso, clutching it as if in pain.
You won't die.
A guttural moan escaped his lips, though his voice didn't seem like it should belong to him. He tripped, barely regaining his walk as something dark began to trail behind him in black blotches staining white stone.
You won't die.
The few people outside on such a hot day were observing him, many wary and hesitant as they retreated to their homes or the adjacent sidewalks.
Something was wrong with him and they couldn't determine what.
You won't die.
The man's steps were becoming slower and more labored as gargled coughs began to rack his body, forcing him to double over until he finally stopped altogether and fell to one knee. Black fluid spattered the sidewalk as he retched. He didn't have the wherewithal to notice a dark, lithe figure decorated with white stripes approaching him from down the road like a wavering shadow.
You won't die.
He shook, near convulsing, discolored hands grabbing at the sidewalk desperately as something bulged in his mouth while metal cords spilled from his lips.
A familiar blue Ford Escort turned a corner a far distance ahead while the figure came closer and closer and the boy began to heave.
You won't die.
The boy's fingers ground into the concrete, coughing and hacking horribly until finally, a mass of metal wires and tubes was expelled from his stomach. A black fluid coated it and and the piece of sidewalk it fell upon, looking almost like tar on the white stone, spread about like a bloody crime scene.
The mass began to move after a moment, pulling itself onto the road, disappearing into a sewer drain while its host collapsed on the concrete with one arm sprawled out ahead of him.
The figure finally reached him, long, claw-like hands gently touching his clothes.
"Michael..." it breathed in a whisper. But the boy couldn't answer. The blue car screeched to a sudden halt just a few feet away.
You won't die.
His eyes slowly began to slip closed, the first instance of consciousness he'd experienced in an amount of time he couldn't name dimming with it- but not before two sapphire-blue orbs met his in a gaze he recognized.
"You... won't... die."