Return of the beast

 

"Where is this?"

On an unusual night, scary lightning flashed through the clouds, and the sky was covered with dark clouds, as if it was about to rain heavily. Deep in the tunnel, a low roar echoed. Whose voice came from?

It was Chris, who was lost in this dark tunnel when time was about to run out, and he encountered an unimaginable change-he turned into a beast.

This is Planet A, a world that relies on time to live. People no longer consume through money, but use the time in the watch, and people work only to increase the time they have.

Everyone here has a watch, which records the remaining time of people. 

Once the time runs out, they will die immediately.

And Chris in the shadow of the tunnel, his body quietly changed, his muscles became stronger, his hair shone with silver luster in the moonlight, and his sharp claws were as sharp as a blade.

Chris's consciousness struggled between the instinct of the beast and the emotion of the human being. He felt an unprecedented power, as if he could tear apart all the obstacles in front of him.

 As his roar came out again, he finally rushed out of the tunnel. Everything in front of him was so familiar and strange. 

The moonlight sprinkled on the street, and the shadow stretched long behind him. The blood-red color was shocking in the dark night.

Chris's black hair fell to his eyebrows, and his scattered eyes were full of confusion. He moved forward with difficulty, holding his head with both hands, as if struggling to remember something.

He didn't seem to know that he had become a beast!

Suddenly, a lightning bolt struck the stone in front of him, and the stone cracked immediately.

He stared at the stone blankly, and suddenly seemed to remember something, and a glimmer of light lit up in his turbid eyes.

"I am Chris."

A name suddenly appeared in his mind, and he laughed, glad that he didn't die after the time ran out.

His name is Chris, an unemployed person who wastes time every day, which also makes his time pass faster and faster, accelerating his death.  That day he was out buying food alone. He felt a headache and then completely lost consciousness.

Now, he kept taking deep breaths. Maybe it was because he turned into a beast. His body was extremely heavy and he felt exhausted...

"Home! My home!..."

Before Chris encountered these things, home had always been his place. His tired body made him want to go home instinctively.

Suddenly, heavy rain fell like a bead curtain. He was startled and quickly quickened his pace. The rain hit his face, bringing a burst of cold pain.

In this strong sense of dampness, his heartbeat began to accelerate, his sharp fingertips gradually disappeared, and his muscles began to relax unconsciously. 

His body turned back to human, but his face still retained the characteristics of a beast: sharp fangs, deep eyes, and that indescribable wildness.

The rain invaded Chris's body with a biting cold, and he couldn't help trembling all over. A few minutes later, he finally came to the door of his memory.

There seemed to be someone near the house. 

Chris couldn't hear clearly. In a daze, it seemed that a woman was urging a man: "Hurry up, let's go to his place to have a look. There should be a lot of good things there!" 

Hearing the footsteps getting closer and closer, he turned his head and looked. The eyes of the man and woman who had just arrived at the door were immediately shocked by the scene in front of them. Chris collapsed on the ground and took a deep breath. 

"Uncle... Aunt..." "You... You..." The man's Adam's apple rolled, his mouth opened wide, his eyes wide, with a look of fear and horror.

With a bang, Chris fell to the ground before they could say anything else.

"Chris..." The woman forced herself to muster up the courage, spoke fearfully and touched Chris carefully, "Are you... Are you okay?" Chris seemed to have fainted and couldn't hear the woman's words at all. 

Looking at the creepy scene in front of them, the two men felt a chill on the back of their necks.  Their faces were pale, but they just stood there stiffly, not daring to move.

　

How did Chris become like this?

Chris's parents were gone, and he lived in the house left to him by his parents. His sister was studying in a boarding school and only came back once in a long time.

Uncle was Dad's younger brother, and they sometimes came to visit them after their parents passed away.

After a long time, the uncle and aunt turned their heads stiffly... and looked at each other.

"He... is back." The man said hoarsely, "How is this possible..."

"Isn't Chris dead? How could he be Chris!"

"And his head..."

The rain hit the window, the temperature was a little low but not as cold as their hearts. Facing the fear of the unknown, they panicked and worried.

　

The woman swallowed: "What about him?"

"Let's move him back home first."

They dragged Chris into the house together, and the unconscious Chris's head accidentally hit the shoe cabinet at the door.

The man was wearing a raincoat when he first arrived, and he was about to go out after putting Chris away. The woman immediately took the man's hand and asked, "Where are you going?"

"To the place where the bodies are buried!"

The woman looked at the "beast" on the ground that looked neither human nor animal: "I'll go with you." After all, being with the "beast" would bring greater fear.