Chapter 180 Dying!!

Chapter 180: Chapter 180 Dying!!

Astrid stood directly in front of the bathroom mirror, splashing cold water onto his face.

His purple hair had fallen messily around his forehead, and he pushed it back before gathering it into a loose tie to keep it from getting in his way. He had been feeling uncomfortable for a while, and the strange sensation crawling beneath his skin was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

However, what worried him most was his reflection.

Something was changing.

Right in the middle of his forehead, a dark green vein had appeared beneath his skin. It looked unnatural, almost as though something had stained his flesh from the inside.

Astrid leaned closer to the mirror.

"What the hell is that?"

He raised his hand and carefully touched the area, hoping he was simply imagining things. Perhaps the lighting was playing tricks on him, or maybe his exhaustion from the previous battle was finally catching up with him.

After everything that had happened, he wouldn’t have been surprised if his body had developed a few strange reactions.

But this?

This was different.

He had already been through enough trauma to last several lifetimes. The last thing he needed was to discover that something abnormal was happening to his face.

As he continued examining the vein, a noise came from the sitting room.

Astrid paused.

He had left Miles there, and considering the man’s current condition, he couldn’t help wondering whether something had happened.

Sigh!

"Now what’s the problem?" he muttered.

He turned his head slightly toward the bathroom door, listening for another sound. When nothing followed, he looked back at the mirror.

That was when he noticed it.

The vein on his forehead moved.

Astrid froze.

For a moment, he couldn’t even breathe properly. His eyes widened as he stared at his reflection, trying to convince himself that he hadn’t just witnessed something moving beneath his skin.

"What in the world did I just see?"

He leaned closer, his gaze fixed on the dark green mark.

Nothing happened.

The vein remained motionless.

Astrid released a shaky breath of relief and pressed both hands against his head.

"Okay. Okay, calm down. You’re probably just exhausted."

He tried to reassure himself, but the words sounded unconvincing even to his own ears.

He had witnessed things during the apocalypse that would have driven an ordinary person insane. He had fought monsters, faced terrifying awakened humans, and used abilities he was still struggling to understand.

Yet none of those experiences had prepared him for the possibility that something might be growing inside his own body.

He squeezed his eyes shut briefly.

Perhaps he needed to rest.

Perhaps he was simply overthinking everything.

With that thought, Astrid began turning away from the mirror.

Then he felt it.

A movement.

This time, it came from his neck.

His entire body stiffened.

The sensation was unmistakable, something shifting beneath his skin as though a living creature were crawling through his flesh.

Astrid slowly raised his hand to his neck.

Before his fingers could reach the spot, the dark green veins on his forehead began moving again.

His expression collapsed.

"No!"

The word escaped him in a frightened whisper.

He stared at his reflection as the veins shifted beneath his skin, their movements becoming more pronounced. It looked as though something inside him was pushing against the barrier of his flesh, desperately attempting to break free.

His eyes bulged.

He stumbled backward, unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

"No, no, no! What’s happening to me?"

Panic consumed him.

He had to do something.

He had to find Miles.

"Miles!"

Astrid screamed his name like a madman.

His legs carried him backward, but he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going. His body struck the large mirror hanging behind him, making the entire structure shake violently.

For a split second, the mirror remained in place.

Then it tilted.

The glass came crashing down.

CRASH!

It shattered against the floor, sending sharp fragments scattering across the bathroom tiles.

Astrid barely noticed.

He was too busy trying to escape the nightmare unfolding before his eyes.

His gaze darted toward the door, searching desperately for a way out. But as he moved, dizziness washed over him, making the room spin.

His head throbbed.

He pressed a hand against his temple, struggling to remain upright.

Then something happened.

A memory surfaced.

It came so suddenly that Astrid stopped moving altogether.

He hadn’t known the memory existed. He couldn’t even remember experiencing it, yet the images were appearing in his mind with frightening clarity.

A cold, clinical room.

Metal equipment.

A figure with white hair standing beside a surgical table.

The man wore a calm expression as he examined something beyond Astrid’s field of vision.

Then a familiar voice spoke.

"That’s specimen number fifteen. He’s a failed experiment."

Astrid’s blood ran cold.

He recognized the man.

The white-haired scientist.

The same man responsible for the horrific experiments that had turned human beings into something monstrous.

The mad scientist.

Astrid stared into the distance as the memory continued.

"Although he began evolving and showed me exactly what I wanted, his body couldn’t withstand the changes. Soon, it will rebel against whatever was injected into it. The substance will consume him and eventually end his life."

The scientist’s voice was so calm that it made the words even more horrifying.

He spoke about someone’s impending death as though he were discussing an ordinary laboratory procedure.

Astrid’s body began trembling.

No.

He desperately hoped the scientist wasn’t talking about him.

It couldn’t be him.

There had to be another explanation.

But the memory continued unfolding, refusing to let him escape.

Another figure stood nearby, his face hidden behind a surgical mask.

"Should we tell him?" the masked man asked.

The scientist paused.

Then he shrugged.

"He’s nothing of importance. I would have said he had great potential and could have been useful, but that would only give him false hope."

He glanced toward the person lying on a moving stretcher.

"He’s nothing more than a ticking time bomb. Let him wither away."

The words struck Astrid like a physical blow.

The scientist didn’t sound concerned.

He wasn’t even interested in whether the person survived.

To him, the individual was merely a failed experiment that had outlived its usefulness.

The stretcher began moving.

Astrid could see the figure lying on it more clearly now. The person’s body was motionless, and his face remained partially obscured as the attendants wheeled him through the room.

Then the stretcher turned.

The face came into full view.

Astrid stopped breathing.

It was him.

The person on the stretcher was Astrid.

"AAAAHHHH!"

A terrified scream tore from his throat.

He staggered backward, his legs giving way beneath him. His body struck the sink before sliding to the floor, where he sat trembling, staring at nothing.

It was him.

The scientist had been talking about him.

He was specimen number fifteen.

A failed experiment.

And according to the memory, whatever had been injected into his body was going to consume him and eventually kill him.

"No..."

His voice broke.

"Why? Why me?"

Tears streamed down his cheeks as the realization settled over him.

He hadn’t asked for any of this.

He hadn’t volunteered to become someone’s laboratory subject. He hadn’t agreed to have his body altered or to become part of some twisted experiment.

Someone had taken his choices away from him.

They had used him, changed him, and then discarded him when his body failed to meet their expectations.

And now he was supposed to die because of it?

Astrid shook his head violently.

"This isn’t fair!"

His hands clenched against the floor.

He had already lost so much.

His parents were gone. His family was gone. The people he had once considered friends had disappeared from his life, leaving him with nothing but painful memories and the struggle to survive.

He had thought he was finally beginning to find something different.

Something worth holding on to.

The people at the mansion might not have considered him family yet, but things had been changing.

Kai Blackwood, despite his teasing and occasional childish behavior, had become someone Astrid genuinely cared about. He had left with Luna, but that didn’t mean their connection had disappeared.

And Miles...

Astrid swallowed hard.

Miles had been supportive in ways Astrid hadn’t expected. Even when they argued, the man had never made him feel as though he were nothing more than a burden.

For the first time in a long while, Astrid had begun to imagine what it might feel like to have a home again.

A place where he belonged.

A place where he could remain without constantly worrying that someone would abandon him.

But now, just when he was beginning to believe that his life might finally have some meaning, the universe had decided to take that possibility away from him.

Again.

He pressed both hands against his face, crying harder.

"I can’t do this anymore."

His voice was barely audible.

"I can’t. This is more than I can handle."

He didn’t want to die.

Not like this.

Not because some twisted scientist had decided that his life was no longer worth saving.

He didn’t even know what was inside his body, and that uncertainty was terrifying. Whatever had been injected into him might already be spreading through his system, silently preparing to destroy him from within.

He had no idea how much time he had left.

Perhaps the changes had already begun.

Perhaps the dark green veins were proof that the experiment was progressing toward its final stage.

Or perhaps his body was already losing the battle.

Astrid lifted his tear-streaked face toward the ceiling.

"Please..."

His voice trembled.

"I’m not ready to die."

He had never been particularly religious, and he wasn’t even sure who he was supposed to pray to. But at that moment, he was desperate enough to ask anyone who might be listening.

"I don’t know which god is out there, or whether anyone can hear me, but please let me live."

The plea escaped him before he could stop himself.

"Please. I don’t want to die."

He knew how selfish it sounded.

He knew there were people suffering all over the world, people who had lost everything just as he had.

But for once, he wanted to be selfish.

He wanted to live.

He wanted the chance to experience something beyond pain, fear, and endless survival.

He wanted to know what it felt like to have a family that stayed.

He wanted to believe that the people at the mansion could become that family.

He wanted to see Kai again.

He wanted to stand beside Miles without worrying that his own body might betray him at any moment.

Was that too much to ask?

Tears continued falling as he struggled to calm himself.

Then, without warning, a sharp pain erupted in his chest.

Astrid gasped.

His hands flew to his chest as the pain intensified, spreading through his body with such force that he couldn’t remain seated.

He fell sideways, groaning.

"Ahhh! Stop!"

It felt as though something were tearing through him from the inside.

His back arched, and his fingers clawed desperately at the floor as he tried to endure the unbearable sensation.

But the pain only grew worse.

His stomach twisted violently.

Before he could understand what was happening, Astrid began vomiting.

Blood splattered across the bathroom floor.

He coughed violently, struggling to breathe as more blood spilled from his mouth. His body shook with every painful convulsion, and he could barely lift his head.

Then something moved among the blood.

Astrid blinked through his tears.

A maggot.

It was alive, wriggling across the floor.

His stomach lurched.

Another thick, pale creature slid from the mess.

Then another.

Huge worms emerged as he continued vomiting, their bodies twisting against the bloodstained tiles.

Astrid stared at them in horror.

"No... no, get away from me!"

He tried to crawl backward, dragging himself away from the creatures.

His body was shaking so badly that he could barely coordinate his movements. Every breath hurt, and his chest continued to throb as though something were trying to tear its way out.

The worms didn’t remain still.

They moved toward him.

Their bodies grew larger as they wriggled across the floor, twisting and stretching as though they were responding to his presence.

Astrid’s eyes widened.

They were coming for him.

He tried to summon his powers.

Nothing happened.

He concentrated desperately, searching for the familiar sensation of energy gathering inside his body, but his strength was gone.

He couldn’t even produce a spark.

"Please..."

His voice broke.

He couldn’t fight them like this.

He couldn’t protect himself, and he certainly couldn’t allow those creatures to reach him.

He needed to get out.

Now.

Astrid forced himself onto his hands and knees, ignoring the pain that tore through his stomach. He crawled toward the bathroom door, desperately trying to escape the growing mass of worms behind him.

They continued wriggling toward him.

Some were becoming fatter, their bodies swelling as they moved. Others twisted around the scattered glass fragments, moving with a disturbing determination.

It was as though they wanted to return to him.

As though he were the place they belonged.

The thought made him want to scream.

He had to get away.

Somehow, Astrid managed to push himself upright. His legs trembled beneath him, and he nearly fell again, but he reached the door and grabbed the handle.

He pulled it open.

Then he slammed it shut behind him.

For a moment, he leaned against the door, gasping for breath.

His stomach still hurt terribly, and his entire body felt as though it had been dragged through a nightmare.

But he was outside the bathroom.

At least, for now, he was away from those things.

Astrid wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and staggered toward the staircase leading down to the sitting room.

He needed Miles.

He needed someone to help him understand what was happening.

He couldn’t handle this alone.

But when he reached the staircase and looked down, he saw something that made his entire body freeze.

The sitting room was a mess.

And Miles was in danger.

The sight of the enormous worms surrounding the couch struck Astrid with such force that his mind went completely blank.

He had been so consumed by his own terror that he hadn’t even realized what was happening downstairs.

Now he could see the danger clearly.

Miles was injured, too weak to defend himself properly, and surrounded by creatures that looked as though they had crawled straight out of a nightmare.

Astrid tried to move.

He wanted to call Miles’s name.

He wanted to rush downstairs and help him.

But his body refused to cooperate.

His vision blurred, and the strength he had been desperately clinging to finally abandoned him.

"Oh, dear..."

The words slipped from his lips.

Then Astrid collapsed.

His body tumbled down the stairs, each impact sending another wave of pain through his already battered frame.

Miles heard the heavy thud and immediately turned toward the sound.

His eyes widened.

Astrid was rolling down the staircase.

For a moment, Miles couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

"Astrid!"

He tried to move toward him, but the worms had already surrounded the couch, leaving him with almost no room to escape.

Astrid reached the bottom of the stairs and collapsed onto the floor, completely motionless.

Miles stared at him, his heart pounding.

He knew immediately that this was no longer just about his own injuries.

Something had happened to Astrid.

Something serious.

And if Miles didn’t act quickly, he might lose the only person who could help them both survive what was coming.

He looked at the worms crawling across the floor, then back at Astrid’s unconscious body.

He couldn’t fight them head-on in his current condition.

But there was one place in the mansion that might still give them a chance.

The panic room.

Miles’s expression hardened.

He had to get Astrid there.

Whatever it took.