Rize slowly got up from the floor where she had been lying, her stomach still cramping from hunger—but it was manageable. She moved over and opened her phone, searching for nearby grave sites. As she bit her fingernail in frustration, her anxiety grew.
The more she searched, the more worried she became.
News articles popped up: "Mutant Attacks Continue," "Avengers Clash with Unknown Threat," "Anger-Fueled Fighting Erupts in New York."
Her black eyes widened in realization, her mouth hanging open.
"I've been reincarnated... into Marvel—as a ghoul."
Rize's mind was spinning. Marvel. Ghouls. Me. What kind of messed up crossover fanfic have I fallen into? she thought, gripping the phone tighter.
She glanced at the ID again. Rize Kimihiro. Age 15. Midtown High.
"Midtown High... that's where Peter Parker goes." Her voice was barely a whisper, as if saying it out loud would make it all more real. "So not only am I in Marvel, I'm in Spider-Man's school."
She let out a dry, nervous laugh before flopping back onto the old mattress. Her stomach grumbled again, louder this time, reminding her of the harsh truth: she was a ghoul now. Human food made her sick. The only thing she could digest... was human flesh.
Rize turned her head to the cracked mirror across the room. Her reflection stared back, calm and pale, but her eyes were storming with panic and confusion.
"Damn it!" she shouted in anger as she threw her phone toward the cracked mirror in frustration. "Why? Why? Why me? What have I done to become like this?" she shouted at the mirror.
She didn't know how much time had passed as she looked at the mirror image of herself, but considering the growling noises from her stomach, it might have been a while. Her hunger had grown unbearable. She slowly moved from the floor, put on a black hoodie, black mask and made her way outside the flat. With one mission in mind: grave robbing.
The night air was chilling, the moon casting a pale glow across the dark sky. She moved swiftly, her steps fluid and relentless, like a shadow gliding through the silence. The scent of human beings lingered thick in the air, sharp and tantalizing, making her instincts scream.
Why resist? You could devour them. Yes, tear into their flesh.
Ah, stop, she thought, clenching her arms tightly around herself.
The voice in her mind slithered through her thoughts like a serpent, tempting her as she watched the oblivious people stroll past—completely unaware of the danger lurking so close.
It was getting harder and harder to resist the temptation—to eat them here and now. The hunger clawed at her insides, relentlessly. But a small part of her, growing fainter by the minute, whispered that giving in now would only create more problems.
She walked fast—faster—with her head down, hood up, and mask pulled tight around her face. Her hands trembled slightly as she casually checked her phone, double-checking the directions.
She had arrived at her destination. Scanning the area for any signs of people, she stepped through the creaky gates of the graveyard. The cold air hung heavy with silence. From the looks of the place, several graves had been freshly dug—unsurprising in a world like Marvel's, where alien invasions, mutant wars, and world-ending events seemed to happen every other week.
Nevertheless, she made her way toward a newer-looking grave, one that wasn't too close to the gate and looked like it had just been buried recently. She got to work.
Digging bare-handed in the dark was far harder than she'd imagined. Dirt crumbled under her fingernails, and the cold bit at her skin. God, how could I forget to bring a shovel? she cursed herself silently. If I'm going to be a grave robber now, I really need to start planning better.
The entire grave robbing took her thirty minutes.
Rize lay beside the grave, breathing heavily, her hands aching. Most of her body was covered in dirt, and her hunger had grown to an unimaginable level. Despite it all, a small smile tugged at her lips.
Next to all the freshly dug soil was a coffin.
The name etched into the headstone read: Maria Elizabeth Castle.
She opened the coffin with shaky hands, and inside lay a beautiful woman. Rize's eyes scanned the dates—born and died. It had only been three weeks since her death. That explained why the body inside hadn't decayed as much as she'd feared.
From what she remembered in biology class, it could take nearly ten years for a human body to fully decompose—give or take, depending on conditions.
Rize's stomach twisted. Her black eyes softened slightly.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
And then she opened her mouth and bit down
As the flesh and blood entered her mouth, something inside her shifted—she had become something far from human. She didn't stop. She couldn't. Bite after bite, she continued, lost in the primal hunger that drove her.
By the time she was done, there was nothing left but a blood-soaked red dress and shattered bones.
Rize stood there, staring at the site in silence.
A single tear slid down her cheek, cutting through the blood that coated her face—the blood of the woman she had just consumed.
Rize stumbled back, her hands trembling as she looked down at what she had done. Her breath was shaky, uneven.
"What the hell am I becoming?" she whispered, her voice cracking.
The guilt clawed at her chest—she had eaten a human being. A dead human being. But a human, at least.
Before she could spiral any further, a sharp click echoed through the night air, followed by a burst of bright light cutting through the darkness like a blade.
She froze.
Her heart began to race wildly as she ducked behind the coffin, pressing her back against the cold, dirt-covered wood. The beam of the flashlight swung erratically, scanning the graves.
Her eyes darted toward the cemetery gate.
A figure was walking in her direction, shrouded in shadows, their footsteps slow… deliberate.
Her pulse roared in her ears.
Rize yanked her hood over her blood-smeared face and ran—bare feet pounding the damp grass, lungs burning, heart slamming against her ribs.
Was it the cops? A superhero? Or… something worse?
She didn't know.
But she knew one thing:
She couldn't be caught. Not like this.
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any suggestions?