"Carnivore! Carnivore! 
Won't you come digest me? 
Take away everything I am. 
Bring it to an end. 
Carnivore! Carnivore! 
Could you come and change me? 
Take away everything I am. 
Everything I am."

Xiumin ran.

Kris flew.

Chasing a girl.

The girl with the hat.

The tophat.

The red tophat.

It came out of nowhere.

None of them saw it coming.

They couldn't even react.

Yuri froze.

It was growling.

That thing.

It was growling.

IT was a monster.

Gray skin.

Stretched.

Shallow.

Ripped.

Oversized teeth.

Yellowing.

Decaying.

Black saliva dripping from it's maws.

Bones visible under the skin.

And above the skin.

Spikes of sharpened bone.

Protruding from the spine.

Tearing through the skin.

Ribs on the outside of the skin.

Threads of flesh laced around it.

Hunched over.

On all fours.

Human hand like paws.

Swollen black eyes.

A shredded tail.

Thrashing.

It was more human than beast.

Yet,

It was more beast than human.

It was something from a nightmare.

And it was growling.

Deep.

Guttural.

Raspy.

Eyes fixed on Yuri.

Yuri was frozen.

Terrified.

Fear.

Indescribable fear.

Taver stopped.

Something wasn't right.

There was too much noise.

The air buzzed with excitement.

Something was happening.

Something bad.

Kris and Xiumin couldn't sense it.

Couldn't sense it at all.

Kris barrelled right into Taver.

Knocking the two to the ground.

They looked at each other in surprise.

Kris was hurt.

Shoulder soaked in blood.

There was so much blood.

Taver stared at Kris.

Kris stared at Taver.

Xiumin caught up to Kris.

"Kris! What are you doing? We have to get to Lay! Why are you-"

He froze when he noticed Taver.

Taver stared at Xiumin.

He was carrying a girl.

She wasn't okay.

She was covered in cuts.

In blood.

There was so much blood.

Her shoulder area was bent wrong.

Broken.

Taver stared at the three of them.

Two of them stared back.

The last was unconscious.

Then Taver heard it.

Through the noise.

Through the chaos.

A scream.

Yuri's.

"Brother from another mother?"

"Sister from another mister."

Taver was up.

Running.

Kris watched him go.

Xiumin nudged him.

"We have to go."

Kris looked up at him.

Then to the girl he was holding.

"Isn't she getting heavy?"

Xiumin looked down at her.

Shaking his head.

"Nope. It's as if she weighs nothing."

Nothing.

Nothing at all.

Taver ran.

He ran like his life depended on it.

Like Yuri's life depended on it.

He was almost there.

Yuri screamed again.

It was louder now.

More screams.

A bone chilling snarl.

A shout.

Not Yuri.

A male.

Taver was so close.

He was so close.

He heard Yuri scream again.

Then the builing fell.

Taver was a block away.

He stopped dead.

Watching in horror.

Screams.

Of the people outside.

Of the people inside.

Of Yuri.

The building hit the ground.

Collapsing in on itself.

Taver heard it all.

Crashes.

Booms.

Cries.

Sickening crunches.

Screams were silenced.

But not all of them.

Taver couldn't hear Yuri.

He ran.

Tears welled in his eyes.

Heart slamming in his chest.

Legs growing heavier with every step.

He choked.

Running.

He finally reached it.

The rubble.

What was left of the building laid across the street.

It had crushed anything caught beneath it.

Broken bodies.

Broken souls.

Broken families.

Broken everything.

There was so much blood.

Dust and ash floated through the air.

Something had caught on fire.

It burned his throat.

Scorched his lungs.

Taver waited.

Listening.

Through the screams.

Through the cries.

Through the sirens.

Through the cracks.

Through the pain.

Through the agony.

Through the death.

Through the time.

Through everything.

But he couldn't hear Yuri.

Taver dropped to his knees.

Unmoving.

He stayed there.

He would never realize for how long.

The dust began to settle.

Coating Taver.

In his hair.

In his eyelashes.