ChapterSeven
“Let’s begin. Death and dead.”
The burn in Reese’s shoulder swelled and he whimpered.
“You keep making those noises, and I might just have to fuck you first.”
Sweat soaked his clothes.
“Now pay attention, Doc.”
Weakness sucked the strength from his body, leaving his muscles trembling and his bones aching.
“You may think what you feel right now is death….”
But it was nothing compared to the flare of napalm eating through the scar on his shoulder.
“… it’s also the precipice of change. The moment the very energy that forms you, becomes something different.”
Cracking bones and grinding teeth echoed from Reese’s past.
“Death changes you… It alters who you are…”
A cool touch chased back the inferno boiling in Reese’s veins. “Just relax, Dr. Dante.”
“Just relax and let that feeling come over you….”
“You have a fever.”
“Kind of numb, kind of cold.”
“I know you’re scared. I know it’s difficult to trust me.”
“I know it’s probably difficult considering….”
The scent of spring rain and honeysuckle filled Reese’s lungs, and for a moment, there was an Asian woman with dark eyes standing in the fog with him.
A man with white hair and a dark beard speckled with grey stood behind her.
Just beyond both of them, hovering in the shadows, the monster.
“You’re starting to feel it, aren’t you? That moment when you know what’s coming. What’s inevitable.”
“No… no… no…” Reese tried to crawl backward, but the woman held him in place.
“Now concentrate, Dr. Dante. I know this is your first time, so it won’t be easy.”
“Please, please don’t do this….” Reese pushed at the hands holding him. Just hands, not claws, but he was still there.
“Pay attention to what’s happening inside you….”
The man disappeared and there was only the woman.
“Every piece of you is embracing death, and as death is embraced, you change.”
She shushed him and combed back his hair. With each touch, the nightmare receded. Reese fought the urge to close his eyes.
“It’s okay, sleep.”