Willow was wandering through a dark, misty place. She felt confused and at a loss. The last thing she remembered was seeing Morphin. Seeing the look of horror and fear on his eyes as her entire body throbbed in pain. Now there was no pain. There was nothing. No light. No sound. No smell. The dispossession was horrifying.
"Morphin?" she called, trying to get her composure.
From the darkness, a demonic voice of a woman said. "He's not here, Willow."
"Who's there?"
"Don't fear me, Willow. I'm just you."
Willow flinched when the woman materializes in front of her. Her eyes widened in terror for she is the most terrifying creature she had ever seen. Her eyes were crimson red, her hair's white, and her skin was ashen gray.
Yet, it wasn't her horrible appearance that scares her the most. But the fact that aside from the difference on the eyes eyes, the hair, and skin, the monster looks exactly like her.
No, it was her.
But at the same time, she's not.
"Who are you?"
"I told you, I'm you. Or should I say I say who you will be."
"What do you mean?"
And then she heard Morphin's paining voice, muttering her name over and over again, pleading her to come back, to return to his arms.
"Willow!" she heard Morphin scream.
"You mush hurry, Willow," the Monster said. "Your time is running out."
"I don't understand."
"You're dying," she said. "Your soul is fading from the world of the living."
"What?" Willow said in bewilderment. "Why? How?"
"Morphin killed you."
"No!" she said in denial. "I don't believe you! He will never do that!"
"Maybe not intentionally. But whatever the reason is, you're still dying. And if you do nothing about it, you can kiss Morphin goodbye."
"No!" She doesn't want that to happen. She must be with him. She must stay with him. She still has a lot of things to say to him, moments and memories that she wants to build with him. She can't die! "I don't want to die!"
The Monster smiled wickedly, "Well, that's up to you."
"Tell me what I should do. Tell how I could stay."
"You must embrace me." She extended her left hand to her. "You must become me."
Willow looked at her from head to toe, both in feaR and disgust. She's a complete embodiment of a fiend. Messy white hair, ash colored complexion, sharp claws, and deadly teeth. And the eyes, they are completely beyond humans and even of a beast. They are eyes of a demon, of a being capable of killing thousands without remorse.
The eyes of an ultimate predator.
There's no trace of humanity residing on her. Just coldness, bloodlust, and death.
"You must become the very being that you feared," she continued. "A monster, a vampire, a murderer, a predator...a Berserker."
Willow's unease magnified. Morphin once said that even among the vampires, a Berserker is considered as a very dangerous entity. Feared by many even among their own kind. And in order to stay, she must become that being that even Morphin feared.
"Make you choice now. Time is running out."
Willow gained comprehension of what the Monster mean upon realizing that she's starting to fade. From her feet going up, she's disappearing.
"Me or that?"
Willow panted. "Can I really stay with him if I do this?"
The Monster nodded. "Yes, and more. All you have to do is accept me."
"I will do everything for Morphin," she said and took her hand. And the moment their skins touched, the Monster disintegrated into a black smoke and entered her body through her mouth, choking her.
Willow couldn't breath as the strong pressure forced into her. The agony was excruciating. It feels like she's being drowned over and over again.
Blinking her eyes, the next thing she knew, she was in Morphin's arms again. He sat on the ground, holding her to him as he rocked her. "I'm gonna join you soon, love," he whispered to her. "There's no point living without you."
Those heartfelt words choked her, but what stunned her more was the wetness of his cheeks. He was crying. For her.
Slowly lifting her hand, she brushed her fingers against his jaw. He pulled back with a startled gasp. "Willow?"
She nodded with a smile. God knows how happy she is to see him along with the fact that she can stay with him forever.
But alongside with the delights that are exploding on her heart are the unexplainable hunger and thirst that are tormenting her throat, an unbelievable ferocity that lengthened her incisors.
Suddenly, everything around her becomes hazy, her thoughts dimmed, completely governed by her animalistic instinct and need for death.
Morphin sucked his breath in sharply as Willow's sunk her fangs on his neck, but greater than that, he was more surprised on how good being bitten felt.
For half a millennium, he had always been the predator, the biter. He'd never experience being bitten in return. And now, he realized what he had been missing for it feels so damn good, and when she pulled away and gazed at him, her eyes matched his. That deep bloody crimson red that marked his monstrosity was so beautiful on her.
But her eyes are no longer serene, innocent. They are feral, crazed.
Berserk.
NO!
With a growl, Willow pushed him away and disappeared from his sight. Morphin could not see her but can feel and hear her movements which are heading towards the forest ahead.
Morphin cursed. There's no doubt about it. What he saw in her eyes had already given him more than enough explanation. As her Creator, Willow didn't just inherit his strength and his abilities but as well as his Berserker nature and it triggers immediately upon her transition.
But what makes things worse is that as a newly transcended vampire, she's still in the adjustments state on her new nature as a blood drinker. She's confused and could not think of anything other than to quench the pain of bloodlust.
And a newly transcended Berserker is the worst of the worst of combination of a vampire.
He tried to follow her by Teleporting but failed. His body feels so numb from the entire night of frenzy, not to mention that Willow had also stolen a lot of blood from him. So he had no other choice but to follow her by foot, which is also a bit of problem because of his wounds.
Limping through the trees of the forest, he found a lot of dead animals on the way. Elks, boars, rabbits, and all of them are drained to death and ripped into pieces. As he advanced further, the pile of them never stopped. If anything, the count magnified, along with a more violent way of killing them.
Morphin looked up. The sun is getting higher and higher by minutes, but thanks to the foggy nature of the place, the illumination of the rays of the sun is not that bright as it supposed to be. But still, time is not on his side. He must find Willow fast before that huge ball of fire gets rampant enough in the sky to toast them both.
Following the blood path that Willow left behind, it leads him into a road where he finally managed to catch up with her.
In the middle of the asphalt path, he found Willow lying unconscious. Morphin tried to get to her side as fast as possible, but his weakened body is delaying him.
And then he heard the sound of engines and squeaked of tires moving nearer. Gazing ahead at the distant part of the road, a bus is moving fast towards Willow.
Morphin panicked and attempted to Teleport once more to save her but still failed in doing so. He tried to move fast enough to move her away from the path of the vehicle that will soon crush her. But it was already too late. The bus is too close now to Willow.
The trembling on Lex's knees intensified as they drove nearer to their destination.
A few hours from now, they'll be playing for the Inter-High School American Football Championship game, something that their Football Club had dreamed for three years already.
In this game, all of their dreams, practices, hardworks, and tears that they invested into the game they love are finally coming into fruitage.
Glancing through his teammates, the firm atmosphere is so widespread around them. The usually noisy and enthusiastic Football Club members are now quiet and all carrying serious demeanors, gathering strength and courage for they are about play the biggest game of their Football life.
Pulling out his wallet, he looked at the picture of his girlfriend, Lisa. Earlier before they boarded to the bus, she gave him a handmade bead necklace that she made which will serve as his lucky charm for their game.
God knows how much he loved this woman. She's everything to him. The childhood friend that gives him the first spark of puppy love and sweetness of the first kiss, the best friend who had always been at his side for the good times and the bad, and the lover that showers his life with love and belongingness.
With her, he feels whole, he feels complete.
And this game, he dedicates it all for her and for their future.
The grand prize of this league is a Full College Scholarship for all the members of the winning team.
Being born as one of the less fortunate, Lex's parents cannot afford to send him College. Which means no Degree, no Diploma, no good job, no good salary, no bright future.
But if they grab this, all of those will change. If they win the championship, he can go to College and can build a bright future for him, his family and for Lisa. And for that, he will give everything in the line for this game, the game that will dictate his and his loved ones future.
"I love you, Lisa," he said, holding the necklace that she made for him.
But Lex's thoughts were disrupted when the driver suddenly hit the brake that pushed all of them forward due to the unexpected inertia.
"Hey Old Man, what's wrong with you!?" Ricky, their Team Captain and Quarterback complained furiously as soon as he recovered.
The club other members snarled their own complains especially those that got themselves hurt.
