My fingers were burning.
Burning as if something were boiling beneath my skin.
I rushed to the bathroom in desperation and turned on the tap with trembling hands. I plunged them into the icy water, but the pain didn't fade.
Instead, it moved… shooting down into my feet.
"What is happening to me?!"
Then the red window appeared, suspended in front of me.
◈ Time Remaining: 00:00
[You have failed to meet the blood quota…]
[ACTIVATING AUTOMATIC CONSUMPTION PROTOCOL.]
"Wh–what…?"
CRACK.
The sound was horrific. Every single fingernail was ripped off at once.
"Aghhhh!"
Blood burst from my fingers, staining the sink red. A second wave of pain tore through me; something warm slid up from my feet.
I stared at my ruined hands, trembling.
"My nails… where are my nails?"
The bleeding wouldn't stop.
Neither would the red window.
It remained there. Silent. Waiting.
As if this were only the beginning of something far worse.