The Day Everything Changed (2)

The pop Aurik felt coming from his elbow was already enough to make him cry out but the pain of having teeth sink into his flesh was far worse.

"Aaargh! What the hell are you doing you bastard!" Aurik shouted, causing his voice to echo through the narrow alleyway.

The man who now had his teeth deeply embedded into Aurik's arm didn't react in the slightest to his victims words and instead sunk his teeth even deeper, like his life depended on it.

As the seconds passed the man let out grunts of satisfaction, like he had just tasted the most delicious food he had ever eaten in his entire life. Aurik didn't know much about the wilderness but he couldn't help but compare this man to a wild beast that had been starved for weeks. 

He tried to wriggle free from the man's grasp several times but his arms were locked in place so rigidly that he couldn't move them even an inch if he wanted to. The sound of liquid hitting the ground attracted Aurik's attention and as he witnessed the blood pouring from his arm he couldn't help but feel a sense of helplessness wash over him.

Why did this have to happen to him of all people? Wasn't his life bad enough as it is? He had spent years struggling to survive in an unforgiving world, working a job that he hated, surrounded by people that he loathed, all so he could live till the next day for no particular reason other than the desire not to die.

A desire that quickly turned into anger the moment he realized that his life was being stolen away from him by a stranger in the middle of the night. That anger exploded within his heart to the point where all he wanted was to attack the man in front of him, in any way that he could.

His arms were pinned down so he could not throw a punch, he could try to kick the man but his awkward posture wouldn't result in anything harder than a love tap.

'Fine then! If I can't fight normally then I'll just copy you!' Aurik shouted in his mind as he opened his mouth wide and leaned forward.

Like an animal that had been cornered, Aurik was willing to do just about anything to get out of this situation and that included injuring himself. His own movements caused the pressure on his already injured elbow to increase and the pain intensified accordingly. It felt as though a hundred bolts of lightning were directly striking his bones, trying to turn them into dust.

Despite the pain that he felt, Aurik's body was pumped with adrenaline and so he continued his attack without hesitation. His wide open jaw wrapped around a large part of his attackers neck as he clamped down as hard as possible.

The taste of blood filled his mouth and the feeling of tearing through flesh was transmitted through his teeth. Once he was sure that he had broken through the skin, Aurik pulled his head back as hard as he could and felt only minor resistance as a large chunk of flesh was ripped from his attackers neck.

The man attached to Aurik's arm felt the teeth sinking into his neck and the satisfied grunts he had been making for almost a minute suddenly stopped as his eyes shot open with surprise.

The moment Aurik pulled his head back the man released the arm he had been sucking on and jumped backwards, slamming into the alley wall. He dropped down to one knee and brought a hand up to his neck to hold onto the injured area as he wheezed and coughed up blood.

Aurik felt a cool sensation wash over his body the moment his attacker released him and he felt strangely calm for a moment, as though his body could feel something that his mind hadn't noticed.

This moment of calm didn't last long, maybe two seconds at most. Aurik looked at his attacker, kneeling on the ground and struggling to breathe, and he knew he had done more damage than he thought he could and decided than now was the time to escape.

He immediately dashed passed the man, sticking to the wall furthest from him, and hurriedly exited the alleyway before bolting down the street. He ran at full speed, not caring about the rain that assaulted his face or the pain in his arm as he turned down several streets one after the other.

His frantic run came to an end when he reached the front door to his home, a small apartment on the bottom floor of a much larger building. He unlocked the door and rushed inside, quickly closing the door behind him and immediately locking it.

He stared at the door, as though he expected a giant monster to burst through the now seemingly flimsy wood at any moment. But nothing happened. Several seconds passed and the adrenaline that had been pumping through his veins slowly started to wear off as a sudden bout of fatigue started to take rest within his body.

He stumbled into his small apartment and flopped down onto the bed while looking up at the ceiling and breathing heavily. The pain from his right arm started to worsen with each passing second, another effect of the adrenaline wearing off.

He wanted to lift his arm and look at the bite wound on his forearm but the pain in his elbow was so great that he couldn't bring himself to do so. 

'Shit... I can't exactly afford it but I have no choice. I need to go to the hospital.' Aurik decided after thinking for a few minutes.

He quickly stood up, trying to ignore the pain he felt, and walked towards the door. Unfortunately, after only taking a single step, the fatigue that had built up in his body finally overwhelmed him.

Without even realizing it, Aurik collapsed to the floor and immediately fell asleep, just half a meter from his front door. He didn't know it in that moment but the fact that he wasn't able to make it to the hospital was the greatest stroke of luck he had ever experienced in his life and it was something he would be thankful about for many years to come.