The stench of burnt flesh and scorched wood still hung thick in the air, curling through the broken rafters like smoke trailing from a dying memory. Silence draped itself over the auditorium, heavy and absolute. Nothing stirred—no wind, no whispers. Only the hollow echo of stillness.
Its lifeless body lay twisted, rods still embedded deep into its side where blood oozed steadily, flooding the cracked floor beneath it. Its jaw hung open from the moment it took its final breath—if that's what it was.
A rat scurried nearby, nose twitching, drawn by the thick copper scent in the air. Tempted by the blood, it paused—perching itself on a cracked brick just out of reach. It waited, its beady eyes fixed on the corpse.
The body gave no sign of life.
Then, a twitch. Barely noticeable. The belly shifted. A ripple. A bulge.
The rat crept closer.
Its tiny claws tapped the stone as it reached the edge of the blood. One step into the puddle—and it screamed. Its entire body twitched violently, legs kicking, spine arching as steam burst from the corpse. The rat's fur blackened, its skin curling as it shrieked without breath, then crumpled into a twitching heap before lying still—smoking, dead.
Then came the sound.
A wet, sickening pop.
From the top of the corpse's belly, a tail burst through the flesh, lashing high into the air with a crack that echoed through the empty hall. The impact shattered stone. The skin split wide, and steaming white fluid poured out, pooling across the floor and boiling instantly—steam flooding the room in thick waves.
From within the torn cavity, limbs pushed free—elongated, twitching, clawed. Black veins pulsed beneath thin, tight skin. One claw gripped the edge of the torn flesh, then another—ripping it wider as the shape inside began to unfold.
It rose, slowly.
Steam rolled across the floor as the thing stepped free from its own discarded body. Its chest expanded with its first breath—sharp, deliberate. Shoulders moved with eerie control. It flexed its clawed hands, testing them. A long, low crack came from its spine as it stood fully upright, towering over the dead rat, the blood, the ruin.
Then—from the open doorway—yellow eyes glowed in the dark.
They lingered only for a second longer... before fading away into the shadows, retreating with a low, guttural growl that rattled through the air like a warning.
The creature turned.
Its head tilted toward the direction of the door—the direction they had fled.
It leaned forward... then let loose a screech, a piercing, bone-deep cry that shook dust from the rafters and echoed down the empty halls. A sound of rebirth. Of rage.
And then...
A pause.
It inhaled.
Chest rising. Jaw twitching.
Its lips quivered, stretching awkwardly into the shape of something it had never tried before.
A word.
Cracked. Childlike. Wrong.
"N…ko…si…"
The fog coiled around its feet.
It wasn't done.
Not yet.