The town became a graveyard as a swarm of mutated human-rat hybrids swarmed, leaving death in their wake.

  The size of tall men, over six feet tall, the rats were thin, but fast… some even still wearing the torn clothing from the time they were still human. Their beady black eyes appeared dead, and the sounds they made, like human screeching intermingled with rat chattering, were haunting.

  Before I knew it, I was hiding under a small ledge outside a nearby home. The wooden beams shielded me from sight, but I still clutched the dagger to my chest so hard my hand hurt.

  The tranquility of the once peaceful town shattered as the screams of the fallen rang out. The wererats engaged with the town defenders, but there were far too few. The creatures quickly overcame any opposition, swarming past and entering the homes.

  Women and children fled, but none could match the speed of the rats—their dagger-like claws cutting slices in the backs of those who tried and failed.

  One particularly large rat wrapped a tail around a young woman’s neck. Her child, clutching her hand, fell back, horror plain in those wide eyes. She was slowly strangled by that whip-like tail, and when she lay dead on the ground, it fell upon her body with a ravenous hunger, ripping flesh and guts which went flying through the air.

  Ganvil bellowed a roar nearby as he took a nasty rake to the side. Undaunted, he drove his sword through the creature’s mouth and out the back of its head, blood exploding from the exposed brain as it fell off the tip of his red-soaked blade.

  The boy still watched as his mother—or sister—was eaten. The creature had moved to the intestines, playfully devouring them like overstuffed sausage links.

  “Get over here!” Ganvil called, and, surprisingly, the boy listened, turning from his loved one, determined to survive.

  My breath caught in my throat at the carnage, and my hand shook as I searched for my cigs… They weren’t there.

  “Shit, shit, shit,” I muttered to myself, half for my survival and half for my addiction. I knew that if one of those creatures had a lit cigarette, I would fight them to the death for it.

  That’s it! It’s time to admit I have a problem.

  “Alright!” I screamed into the blood-carnage sky. “That’s what I was supposed to learn, right? Cigarettes are bad for you. Addiction is ugly. I get it now; I’ll buy the fucking patch. Please, God… whoever or whatever you are. Let me wake up!”

  As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt like an idiot as the enormous wererat, still feasting on the woman, heard my cowardly call. Its ripped ear rose at the sound of my voice—

  My stupid fucking voice.

  “Oh, fuck me,” I muttered as I noticed it sliding towards me. Leveling my knife forward, I forced myself to stand tall, but, even so, it stood a head taller than me.

  The wererat, still holding the limp body of the dead woman, flung her aside, blood and guts spilling out as the body struck the ground. Unburdened, sharp teeth bared, already gorged from the blood of the woman it had half-eaten, the creature charged me.

  This is it… Time to die.

  Dragon invaded my thoughts, shoving my doubts aside. “Nonsense, coward!” The creature roared in delight. “In your world, you’re weak! But here—here you have me. Together… We are strong!”

  Unexplainably, like having a bucket of water thrown on me, I felt a power awaken, and, like that, I knew:

  My life would never be the same.

  My body reacted on its own as I searched frantically for somewhere to hide or for something to distract my enemy. Deep down, I knew the truth: my idiocy had finally killed me.

  Ganvil called out for me, but I couldn’t identify where his voice had come. The creature was here now, its fur fluffed out to make itself look even larger than before. From this vantage, I could see the long, blade-like claws in full, horrifying glory. Blood caked them still, and I noticed a long piece of torn skin slide down another finger, falling to the ground with a splat.

  With little else to do, I raised my knife with a trembling hand, aiming it towards the wererat. It slowly circled me, as if it could sense danger, and was smart enough to appreciate it, waiting for the opportunity to strike cleanly into my warm flesh.

  We circled each other for a time, like two dancers at a middle school formal; awkwardly. Then, without warning, the creature lashed out with a slash, as if to test how I would react. Under the threat of the attack, time slowed around me. The creature’s muscles twitched, the shoulder swayed sideways, its eyes fixated. I could see the strike in its entirety and knew by instinct how to evade it.

  The attack passed harmlessly as I stepped back. Determined, the creature struck out again—another dodge. One more slash, and I dodged again, this time slicing the creature’s hand with the knife in retaliation. I felt the blade glancing off one of the creature’s nails, a clinging of metal ringing in the air. It scurried back a step, hissing at me.

  I smiled. I’m actually doing it. I’m—

  Time slowed again, but this time, I couldn’t perceive why. My body suddenly reacted on its own, as if I were a puppet controlled by strings. I ducked, and as I did, I saw, from my crouched position, the wererat’s tail streak by where my head had just been. A torrent of excitement flooded me as I knew…

  “I have Spidey-sense! Fucking Spider-Sense!”

  Dragon pushed against my mind. “Spidey… Sense?”

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  “Nevermind… It means that I can feel attacks coming. Is this you? Did you make me a fucking superhero?” I asked, but was more focused on keeping the wererat in full view. My trembling hands calmed and, for once, I welcomed the conflict as a means to test my new ability. Not waiting for an answer, I added, “What other powers do I have? Telekinesis? Super strength?”

  “No… this is not me,” Dragon replied, as if curious itself. “I merely awakened the power that already existed within you. As for super strength…”

  The wererat attacked again, cutting Dragon off. It rained blow after blow towards me, and I effortlessly dodged each, thrusting out with my knife after each, and landing a few clean cuts. The creature screeched at the pain as it flung its tail at me. I reached out to catch it—a mistake—the force was like being hit by a sledgehammer. It struck my midsection, throwing me to the ground, my body sliding a few feet, kicking the piss-laden dirt into the air.

  I gasped out, surprised that I was able to breathe at all.

  Sensing Dragon’s discontent, the creature said, “It appears you do not have ‘Super-strength’ at all. On the contrary, you appear weaker than most of the other humans here in raw physicality.”

  “Fuck you…” I replied as my breath came back to me. “And now you tell me.” Touching my side, I winced from the pain. I broke ribs—definitely broke some ribs.

  Shit…

  My senses triggered again, and the wererat lunged towards me, razor-like claws at the ready. I rolled sideways, narrowly avoiding the claws. My body moved on its own as I ducked, dodging the tail, picking up the knife as I did so.

  I could see the attacks easier now, my body becoming used to my sixth sense. The creature looked to be getting impatient with the fight, its eyes scurrying around to find easier targets. There was human intelligence behind those beady black eyes, so slight it was almost impossible to see, but the animal, in the end, was too strong and it forced the human that existed within to the passenger seat inside their own body.

  The wererat threw caution to the wind as it attacked me with all of its untapped rage. A frenzy of strikes—one swipe, then another. I dodged and twisted, letting its claws narrowly slide by me, not able to do much other than evade for my very life. As the creature slowed, I cut a few more deep gashes in its forearms as I danced around, eventually changing my knife hand as I spun, ramming the blade up into the wererat’s neck with a sickening snap!

  I let the knife go as the creature convulsively swiped at me one last time, but I was too slow; the very tip of the creature’s nail catching my right side. Painfully, the creature pulled, leaving a gash from which blood poured.

  The wererat seemed to smile at me, an eerily human smile as blood splattered from the open hole in its neck. Slowly, and not without pain, they fell to the ground. It writhed in the dirt before it managed to free the knife. Too late. Eventually, after sputtering on the ground for what felt like an eternity, the creature laid still, its only movement being the final twitches of its life flowing free.

  Breathing heavily, I said, “Holy shit—that was intense.” Looking at my bloody hands, they shook from adrenaline.

  “You did well enough,” Dragon replied, with more than a bit of disappointment in its booming voice. “You lack… purpose. Prose—and the body of a warrior. It seems I will have some time changing this helplessly weak body into something worthy of my presence.”

  “In the human world,” I replied, with a hint of annoyance, “we usually thank the person who helps us.”

  Dragon snorted derisively in response to my condemnation, and I shook my head to no one in particular.

  I was about to tell the Dragon to eat shit when Ganvil drew my attention, limping my way with a deterministic stare. He held his gashed side, and his red beard was now deeper red, thickened with blood. When he reached me, his face was full of unmasked awe. “I thought ye’ were a spoiled noble lookin’ to take a pick of our women, but…” Ganvil’s eyes trailed over the dead wererat. “The way ye’ fight. Incredible! If you don’t mind me sayin.”

  “Oh that,” I pointed to the dead creature. “It’s nothing. Barely broke a sweat.” As I lied, a stupid grin crossed my face.

  “Fantastic! Then you’ll help train us. Prepare us fer the next raid—”

  “Wait. What, I—”

  “There will be lots of work to do. Are ye’ listening son? You alright?”

  I stared at Ganvil, and his face appeared distorted. Wrong. “Yeah-I’m fine-just—” I felt my legs give out as I stumbled to the ground again.

  This really hasn’t been my day.

  The wererat's blood soaked my shirt—or was it my blood? I laid, staring at the black, dead eyes of my foe, and its dead face seemed to mock me.

  “You aren’t fine, son,” Ganvil said. “Come… let’s get ya’ some rest. It’s not everyday someone slays an Alpha.”

  “Just use silver,” I replied, holding my bloody side and forcing myself to sit. Each small movement was like another dagger in the flesh. “Everyone knows silver kills werewolves—I mean, wererats.”

  “Werewolves?” Ganvil said, shivering at the thought. “Let’s stick to just rats. But silver, eh… I’ll keep that in mind.”

  I felt Dragon’s contentment at Ganvil’s praise, and, as he led me to a nearby house, I asked the creature in my head, “Where did I get those powers? Do you know if I have any others? I wanna know if there is something else I can do.”

  “Let’s see…” Dragon replied, its consciousness flowing into mine. The pain was less than before as the information the creature searched for was less broad. They exited the depths of my mind after a time, my headache subsiding. “This is all I could find… %#$@&@^#%!@%”

  Information exploded in my head, and I felt dizzy, reaching for a nearby wooden rail to hold myself steady.

  “Are you alright?” I heard Ganvil ask, but he was far away now, a distant thing… an annoying gnat at the edge of my senses.

  I held the wooden rail with all my might as the world spun around me.

  Eventually, the earth became straight again, and I panted, “What the fuck was that?”

  “Your weak human mind cannot comprehend the transfer of information,” Dragon replied. “I will work on a way to… convey it to you.”

  “And how long will that take?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Great…”

  Ganvil took a step back, bringing his hand to his head, then his stomach, to his shoulder and then opposite… a cross. It was at this time I realized that I was talking out loud.

  “It’s alright, Ganvil,” I said, trying to find a way to explain my lunacy. “I’m tired—seeing things that aren’t there. Let me lie down.”

  “Right…” Ganvil replied, but still looked at me with fear in his eyes. “This way.” As he led me up the stairs, he stopped, turning with shock on his face. “It’s right up here… Hey, what’s happening? GET AWAY FROM THERE!”

  “I’m fine,” I replied, but heard no sound as I spoke. Blinking, I found I was no longer in that Castlevania wannabe town, but standing in a land of pure darkness.

  “What have we here?” Someone asked from somewhere out in the empty black.

  Somehow they sounded… familiar.