Mia's breath hitched as her body twitched violently. Her fingers contorted into unnatural angles, muscles spasming as if something inside her was trying to break free.
Evelyn and Reaper didn't move.
Not because they didn't want to.
Because Mia wasn't herself anymore.
The creature—the Mind Eater—stood still, observing. Its massive, grotesque form hunched as if waiting for its new puppet to make the first move. Its glistening brain pulsed with each breath, in sync with Mia's labored gasps.
Then Mia's lips moved.
But it wasn't her voice that came out.
"You fight… but you cannot resist."
Reaper raised his shotgun, hands steady despite the sweat rolling down his face. "Oh, I can resist just fine, freak."
Mia's head snapped toward him, her body lurching forward as if yanked by invisible strings. She shouldn't have been able to move like that. Her infected arm stretched unnaturally, bones popping, veins darkening.
The Mind Eater chuckled. A sound both guttural and alien.
Evelyn took a cautious step forward, gripping her knife. "Mia," she whispered, pleading. "Fight it."
For a moment—just a flicker—Mia's pupils shrunk. Her lips trembled. The infection curled hesitantly around her face, as if her mind was still in there, trapped beneath the parasite's grip.
But then the creature jerked its tongue.
Reaper barely dodged as her clawed hand sliced through the air, her nails elongating into jagged, bone-like talons. She landed with unnatural grace, her body twitching, adjusting, evolving.
Reaper pumped his shotgun and fired—point blank.
Mia's body flew backward, skidding across the rubble. Blood sprayed from the wound in her shoulder. But she didn't fall.
She didn't even scream.
She just stood back up.
And the Mind Eater laughed.
"You humans always hesitate," it whispered through Mia's cracked lips. "You hesitate, and that is why you die."
Then—the real horror.
Mia's wound—it sealed itself. The flesh stitched back together in mere seconds, black veins pulsating with unholy vigor.
Evelyn gritted her teeth. "This thing isn't just controlling her."
Reaper exhaled sharply. "It's using her to evolve."
Mia's head tilted. "Yes."
And then she vanished.
She reappeared in front of Reaper—too fast, too inhuman. Her claws sank into his side.
Reaper roared in pain, dropping to his knees. Blood gushed from the wound.
Mia leaned in, whispering against his ear. "Join us."
With a single motion, she plunged her knife deep into Mia's infected arm.
The reaction was instantaneous.
Mia **screamed—**not in laughter, but agony.
The Mind Eater recoiled.
And for the first time—it looked afraid.