Whatever the freak was talking about, he was motioning toward me! A dull sound rang in my ears. I knew what would happen next. Light seemed to gather around the winged man’s hand. It was bad enough having to put up with this fantasy stuff in my dreams, but out here in the waking world, too?!

The light bulged and stretched into the form of a spear, just like I knew it would. This was what had happened in the dream, and that definitely hadn’t ended well! This man was going to kill me! Before I could even finish thinking, the spear had pierced my stomach, and a strange sensation was welling up inside me.

Cough!

Blood spurted out my mouth, followed by a shrieking pain.

Damn, this hurts! I collapsed to my knees. My insides felt like they were burning. The horrible sensation was spreading throughout my body, and it was too much to bear. Even a word like agony didn’t do it justice.

I tried pulling the spear out, but the second I touched it, pain coursed through my hand. The weapon was hot, hot enough to leave my hand burned and scorched.

“Guh… Ugh…,” I moaned, tortured. It just hurt too much!

Given what that spear made of light had done to my hand, was it burning me inside, too? Just the thought seemed to intensify the pain. Was this what it felt like to be cooked from the inside out? Tears of anguish coursed down my cheeks.

Footsteps approached, one after another. Above me, the man was gathering light to form another spear.

“That must be painful. Light is poison to your kind, after all. The damage it inflicts isn’t something you can just shrug off. Here I was thinking that a middling spear would be enough to finish you, but you’re tougher than I thought. Let’s try again, then, shall we? But this time, how about I put a little more light into it? Prepare yourself.”

Volume 1 - Diablos of the Old School Building
Life.1 (I'm Done Being Human!)