220 Curse The Fiends

Karla heaved as she studied her transformed body. Silver fur covered her from head to toe. Her arms grew stronger, and her fingers longer. Sharp claws replaced her fingernails. She could protract them at will. They gleamed against the torchlight in the dome, threatening.

Her nose scrunched up. Smells came to her, sharper, different. The stench of blood was now replaced with a sweet, enticing aroma. Her fingers twitched at the scent, and her limbs trembled. She wanted to go on a killing rampage, to taste fresh blood and feast on it.

Her eyes saw things differently as well. New colors sprung to life, and the semi-darkness around the dome didn't bother her anymore.

Surgit stood before her, his body covered in dark fur. His bright crimson eyes studied her. Two fangs protruded from his muzzle.

"Are we doing this or what?" he asked in a raspy voice.

The Bloodletting beast recovered and stood, taller than the two newly transformed hunters. It clenched a gigantic fist and directed it at Karla. She quickly reacted and threw her arms forward, stopping the beast's punch right in its tracks.

'It doesn't even feel heavy,' she thought.

She grunted then tossed the beast's fist away, causing it to falter and lose balance. Then she rushed forward, her eyes trained on the beast's calf muscles.

She swung her claws and the beast's flesh tore open. Blood rushed out, causing Karla's heart to race. Her eyes widened, and her muscles twitched.

The beast howled and stomped its injured leg at Karla. She easily stepped aside then struck at it once more. It growled and looked at her, only to whine in pain and turn sharply to the other side.

Surgit had struck the beast's other leg. His wide arms were deeply plunged into its calf. He ripped the muscles with ease then buried his muzzle into them, devouring them in two bites.

Karla's heart pounded faster. She looked at the wounds she just inflicted. The fresh blood was inviting, begging to be consumed.

'Bless us with blood! Bless us with blood!' the voices in her head screamed, a cacophony that almost drove her mad.

Her arm twitched, and she slashed the beast's calf once more. She hit a vein and blood showered her. A few drops slithered through her fangs and into her mouth. Her eyes narrowed as the voices intensified.

'Blood! Blood! Blood!'

The words came with every heartbeat.

She licked her muzzle, then something changed in her. She no longer saw the dome and the threatening colossus before her. Only flesh and blood filled her field of vision. She took a step forward.

'Blood! Blood! Blood!' the voices screamed, in sync with her beating heart.

She plunged her fangs into the beast's flesh, and let the blood consume her. Hunger, unlike any she's ever experienced, overtook her. She needed to eat, to satiate her needs. She chomped on the meat, letting the blood wash over her.

The beast's howls and screams were but distant echoes she paid no heed to. Her hunger screamed louder anyway. So she chewed through flesh and bone and devoured to her heart's content.

When her vision finally reverted to its usual, she was standing in the same dome room, but the colossal beast was nowhere to be found. The voices stopped, and her hunger no longer yelled inside her.

She took a deep breath and collapsed on the floor.

"Nothing like a wholesome meal to finally earn some peace and quiet," a guttural voice said next to her.

She jumped up and her head snapped aside. She saw the dark-furred beast staring at her. Its crimson eyes had lost their bright light. The beast showed its teeth as soon its gaze crossed Karla's.

Her memories were a jumble for a little while, but they slowly came back to her. She looked at her hands and saw claws instead. Her arms were covered in silver fur, smeared all over in blood.

She shook from head to toe. "What have I done?" she asked in a faint voice.

The dark beast approached her. "You couldn't contain it anymore, the hunger, and the voices, they're not easy to control, are they?"

His fur started dissipating, and he slowly turned from a horrid beast to the man she knew as Surgit. His eyes landed on hers and he quickly averted his gaze.

"The toughest fights pull them out," he says in a low whisper.

She looked down, her body was slowly deflating, and the fur disappeared. Her human hands felt different, foreign. She could still taste the blood in her mouth, and it disgusted her.

She clenched her fists. "Did you know about this?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, frowning.

"I thought I was the only one struggling with this," he said.

"How long have you known?" she asked.

He shrugged. "It happened after you disappeared. I thought I was going insane, like all the people here."

Her frowns got deeper. "You think what we did was sane?"

"I didn't mean it like that," he said.

She crossed her arms. "Enlighten me then! How is devouring a foul beast like that sane?"

He frowned and started gagging, as tough he was about to throw up.

"Are you alright there?" she asked.

He coughed, and ejected something out of his mouth. He held with a trembling hand and let out a disgusted grunt.

"Come take a look at this," he said.

Karla jumped to her feet and joined him. He was holding a bloodshot eye.

She winced at the sight and gave him a sharp look. "Does this seem sane to you now, hunter?"

Her chest heaved up and down. She couldn't get over what she'd just done. The blood and flesh seemed too enticing a few moments ago. Thinking about it now filled her with shame, and anger.

"How did I ever end up in this mess?" she said in a low voice, her eyes fixated on her bloody hands.

Surgit shook her. "Hey! Don't let those thoughts take you, you hear?"

She glared at him. "What do you expect me to do? Act like it's all okay, just like you, huh?"

She pushed him away from her. "We're monsters, Surgit! We came here to start a new life! I never knew I'd be stepping in hell!"

He placed his hands on her shoulders, his disgusting bloody hands. She tried to shove them away but he held on, and looked her straight in the eyes.

"We're not complete beasts, not yet," he said.

"It's just a matter of time before we become what we ate," she said in a low whisper.

He shook her. "I never took you for a quitter!"

She clenched her fists. "I'm not!"

"Then snap out of it! We're not monsters. We're not hunting people in the streets, howling and screaming at the moon. We're here, looking for answers, for a way out!"

She nodded. She wanted to believe him, but all she heard were words of reassurance. The deeper they delved into these damp tombs, however, the more convinced she was of their impending doom.

"Have you given up on your humanity, Karla?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Never," she said through gritted teeth.

He let go of her and picked the bloodshot eye again. "Then look, really look," he said.

It was a grotesque diamond shaped organ. Putrid meat surrounded it, while the eye twitched, as tough still alive.

She gagged and looked away.

"Use your insight," Surgit urged.

She did as he said, and soon the whispers reached her.

**

Eye of a Blood-Drunk hunter: "The eye of a Blood-Drunk Hunter. Its pupil is collapsed and turned to mush, indicating the onset of the scourge of beasts.

A hunter who goes drunk with blood is said to be taken by the Nightmare, destined to wander forever, engaged in an endless hunt. It is a fate that no Hunter can escape."

**

She shuddered at the last words. "Never?" she echoed after the whispers.

"We can't give in to these urges anymore," Surgit said in a determined voice. "We have to find a way out of here, the sooner the better."

She nodded. She stared at the eye, her mind wandering. 'A fate that no Hunter can escape.'

The words shook her more than she could admit. She already felt trapped, and her transformation further accentuated her horrific thoughts. She looked at the dome, and the blood that was already coagulating on its floor.

The sight filled her with revulsion.

"I think it's best that we get out of here," she said. "Perhaps put a lid on dungeon exploring for a while."

Surgit nodded. "I have some business to tend to in Yharnam, some people to check on."

He looked at the eye in her hand. "We need to check what that can do too. If we can inspect something with Insight, then it has some use, we just haven't found out about it yet."

She nodded. "Can we leave now?"

They crossed a door at the opposite end of the dome's entrance and walked into a small chamber. A dream lantern and an obelisk waited.

Karla activated her insight and watched as the strange inscriptions slowly turned to whispers, in a tongue she could understand.

"The blood moon blurs the line between man and beast."

"Beware the nectar, and the unholy communion."

"Fire cleanses all."

"All hail the Cosmos, its curse unending."