CHAPTER 20: APEX

The second her body hit the concrete wall, the beast lunged again, not even giving her time to recover.

Even with her heightened vision, the thing looked like a blur of black limbs and exposed bone. Its ribcage jutted out like armor, warped and expanded around a torso that seemed to be too small for the body. Its head was half canine, half something worse. Jagged teeth spiraling outward like a wolf’s skull flayed and stretched, its tongue split at the end and twitching like a parasite. Its shoulders were uneven, with one arm dragging like dead weight while the other flexed with unnatural strength.

It howled a deep sound that seemed to vibrate the very ground underneath its feet, and leaped at her again, trying to take advantage of its speed.

Seraphina’s body was still buried in a crater of shattered concrete, snow settling into her hair as she lay there still.

And then she moved.

Not slowly, not like a human would be forced to do.

In one fluid motion, she rose to her feet, her eyes glowing like the midnight sky as the creature inside of her absorbed the contact lens that she usually wore at all times. If the beast looked close enough, it would be able to see the very stars in the sky as they sparkled from the depths of her soul.

The skin along her arms peeled back, revealing a wash of gleaming violet muscle underneath, slick, alien, and too perfect to be decaying. Her veins ran a much deeper purple color, almost black, as the creature inside of her pulsed slowly to the surface fully.

Finally.

Her fingers twitched as her bones cracked. Then the claws came out.

Sharp, black talons burst from beneath her fingernails, curved like obsidian sickles and twice as deadly. Each one could easily pierce through metal, let alone the flesh of the monster in front of her. Her teeth elongated in slow pulses, shark-like and glistening, rows upon rows of perfect slicing tools meant for tearing flesh from bone.

Her skin lost its flush, fading to an iridescent purplish-blue that shimmered under the moonlight like an oil slick on snow. Every unnecessary ounce of fat and softness melted away, leaving her lean and lethal. Her limbs stretched longer, her posture shifting just slightly... enough to make her seem wrong to the human eye.

She wasn’t human; not anymore, at least. In fact, the only thing that remained of her old self was the glowing white hair that floated around her like a cape.

The beast roared again and charged.

She smiled at his challenge, her muscles rippling in delight as she waited for the beast’s next attack.

It slammed into her, its jaws snapping at her throat, but she twisted mid-air and drove her claws deep into its side. Ribs cracked under her grip, as cartilage peeled back, and hot black blood sprayed across the snow.

The thing screamed in outrage, but she still didn’t let it go.

She flipped them mid-roll, slamming the beast’s body down hard enough to crater the ground. The air around them exploded in a mist of snow and debris.

It thrashed, trying to sink its own claws into her in retaliation. It bit into her shoulder with its elongated snout, it clawed down her arms that were pinning it to the ground, surrounding the two of them in as much purple blood as black.

But despite everything it did, Seraphina didn’t retreat.

Instead, she tore into the beast herself.

With surgical precision, she shifted so that she managed to sink her claws into its right arm and ripped the limb clean from the socket. Bone crunched as nerves tore apart. Flesh split under her claws like wet paper. The beast’s scream turned to a gurgle, thick and sloshing as it tried to push itself upright with only one arm.

But it didn’t get the chance.

Seraphina brought her knees up between her arms, kicking out so that she was driving her heel into its face with enough force to snap its jaw sideways. It hung loose, swinging like a gate as the beast scrambled backward, panic now creeping in. Its eyes, small and deep-set, glowed yellow in the moonlight.

It was starting to understand an important point. It wasn’t the apex predator here.

She was.

The creature lunged again, dragging itself like a wounded bear, trying to get behind her. It moved faster than something that broken should have, but it didn’t matter how fast it thought it was, it wasn’t as fast as her.

Spinning around, she ducked under its swing. Then she buried her talons in its gut and dragged them upward.

Intestines spilled out, steaming in the cold December air. A forked tongue lashed at her shoulder, trying to distract or disorient her, but Seraphina bit down with a snarl and ripped it off with her teeth.

She spat the tongue into the snow, and both she and the beast watched it as it continued to struggle for a moment before finally remaining still.

The beast reeled back, shrieking from pure desperation.

Then it did something she didn’t expect. It tried to run.

She watched it scramble toward the lake, dragging its ruined body through snow and slush, leaving a trail of black blood on the pure white ground. One of its legs were broken, one arm completely gone, its jaw barely hanging on. It should’ve died already.

But it was afraid.

Terrified.

It knew it couldn’t win.

And she... was thrilled.

She took her time walking after it, knowing that it wasn’t going to escape unless she wanted it to. Each step was slow and deliberate as steam rose from her body like a ghost. She could’ve killed it instantly. But dominance required more than victory.

It required fear to leave a lasting impression.

She followed it all the way to the edge of the ice, where it collapsed, trying to crawl into the water. Its reflection warped on the frozen surface—twisted bone, exposed organs, the last whimpering breath of a monster once meant to be unstoppable.

She tilted her head, crouching beside it.

Their eyes met, but she didn’t speak. She didn’t need to.

With one final gesture, she slammed her claws into its back and snapped its spine. Not clean. Not quick. Just final blow to put the beast out of its misery.

But it didn’t die.

Not fully.

Because whatever Hydra had put into this one—whatever cocktail of apex predator DNA and viral mutation they used—it had made sure death wouldn’t come easy.

The creature kept twitching, its stump of a tongue trying to move as if it was trying to form words. Frustrated that it wasn’t getting its point across. It took a deep breath and rolled into the water, disappearing from sight.

Seraphina didn’t chase; there was no point. She stood at the shore, the moon painting her bare skin in silver and purple.

She wasn’t cold.

She wasn’t tired.

She wasn’t afraid.

And she definitely wasn’t human.

Not anymore.