I watched as my skin glowed with an unnatural purple hue. I knew my time was limited.

I gradually brought my fingers to my neck. I could feel my head pounding as I stroked the jagged scales in place of the familiar smoothness of human skin. The scaly texture sent uncomfortable jolts through my body.

I had changed. The exposure to the point of incident had finally caught up to me.

But don’t we ...

Tearing my eyes away from the lake's watery depths, I glanced at my trembling hands. The knowledge of the horrors lurking beneath the surface stole my breath—I was suffocating.

"Forgive me, Lord, for I have sinned."

Though I had long abandoned the church, the long-forgotten words still slipped from my lips—forgiveness. Such comforts felt distant. A stiff smile formed at the thought. How could I ...

I stand there in the solemn silence.

The thick, damp fog has become my air.

I feel my being, my very sense of existence, peeling away from me.

I am fading, and she is there - watching.

In my conception, she has no face.

All I know is her back, which has become a permanent fixture in my vision.

She is my shadow, yet I am her chains.

I limit her to this plane of existence.

I prevent her fro...

Sabine skirted around the edge of the forest. In her hand, she could feel the coolness of her bulky, metallic camera that was adorned with complex knobs and controls.

Keenly surveying her surroundings, the young girl took note of a few distinct flora nestled in the forest, their vibrant colors and crisp petals beckoning her closer.

The floral scents calmed her mind and made her quicken her pace....

Ash was greeted by dim lights and a long corridor. The pitch-black walls sucked in all the light from the entrance.

Her pacing was irregular as her attention was pulled in every direction by the acrylic skull depictions.

One painting showed a skull on a pedestal, elevated from the flush flora below.

Another a skull that appeared to be a deer or elk lying discarded on the floor of the ocean. Li...

Pressing her palms against the frosted glass, she looked down at the wreckage below.

Despite her brain pleading to look away, her gaze remained fixed on the crashed ATS-101.

ATS-101’s exposed wires and metal shards were like a soldier’s open wounds. The ship was bleeding.

“…Ana.”

The name escaped her lips.

Surely, a flying machine equipped with the most advanced tech in the modern age could ...

Opening the door to the basement of her new house, Ariya noted the staleness in the air and the mould eroding the corners of the room.

After a brief pause at the top of the basement stairs, Ariya made three taunt gesture summoning a small ball of light that hovered above her palm.

Sensing the cold presence that threatened to extinguish her light, she checked for the presence of remnant souls, n...

In the future, I hope to be truly content.

I hope I have enough to live within my means.

I hope I can still appreciate the mundane parts of life.

I hope I can form meaningful connections.

I hope I can find love.

I hope that I can keep on hoping.

• • •

In the past, I wished my future well.

I wished to maintain a sense of wonder a sense of awe.

I wished that life would always leave a w...

I am acutely aware of my mental abnormalities; recalling the past modifications made to my body and soul makes the source of these anomalies evident. I have lost the qualification to be a human being.

Regards,

Sonia Morel...

Crouching over a bucket, Tori sliced open the wrist on her left hand.

Biting her lip, she wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, watching as the fresh wound ceased bleeding and her skin stitched itself back together.

Her gaze fixed on the bucket, Tori's eyes lost focus. Finally, she could free herself from the torment her current life had imposed on her.

Her body had become foreign to her—a v...