It had been a year since Alex woke up in this world. A year since he stumbled through confusion, fear, and the crushing reality that he was stuck in a place filled with supernatural nightmares.
But he wasn't just surviving anymore. He was learning.
The wendigo hunt changed everything. It proved that he wasn't defenseless. That he had the potential to be something more.
That night still haunted him. The way its eyes burned with hunger. The way it shrieked in rage when he fought back. But more than anything, he remembered the power that seeped into him as the wendigo fell. That moment when his body changed.
He sat by the campfire after, his knife still slick with dark blood. His hands shook, his breath uneven. He clenched his fists, staring into the flames as something inside him whispered to take more.
He ignored it.
The first thing Alex noticed was the change in his body.
His senses had sharpened. Smells carried further, sounds layered upon each other in ways that overwhelmed him at first. He had to adjust, to train himself to focus on specific details instead of drowning in them. More than once, he woke up in the middle of the night, heart pounding, convinced something was watching him—only to realize it was just his over-tuned instincts reacting to a distant rustling.
His reflexes were quicker, his movements smoother. A flicker of motion in the corner of his eye was enough for him to react, twisting away from unseen threats. He tested his new speed, his new strength, his endurance. Everything had improved. Subtle, but undeniable.
Yet, it wasn't just an upgrade. The power wasn't entirely his. It was something he took. Something he stole.
And that realization made him cautious.
One night, he sat in a motel room, staring at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. His fingers dug into the edge of the sink as he studied his own eyes.
"Still me?" he murmured, his voice quiet.
No answer. No shift in his pupils, no eerie glow. Just tired eyes staring back at him.
For now, he thought.
Power Absorption wasn't just a cheat code for survival. It was a tightrope walk. One wrong step, and he could end up less human than the creatures he hunted.
So, he trained. Hard.
Learning to tune his heightened senses, adjusting them like a radio dial instead of drowning in stimuli.
Refining his skills with weapons, knives, and his own fists. If he had strength, he had to know how to use it properly.
He experimented—seeing if he could suppress the wendigo's instincts, keep them in check.
It was a slow, grueling process. But little by little, he adapted.
Over the next months, Alex continued traveling, staying off the grid, avoiding the main players of Supernatural like they were landmines.
Occasionally, he stumbled onto cases—things that were definitely not human. And while he didn't go looking for trouble, he couldn't ignore it when it came knocking.
One of those times, it was a skinwalker.
A lone creature, preying on hikers near the Appalachian Trail. It wasn't rampaging or leaving behind obvious carnage—it was clever, methodical. It blended in. And that made it dangerous.
He spent days tracking it, watching, learning its patterns. The moment came in a quiet, empty campsite. The fight was quick. Brutal. A single silver bullet, a knife to the throat. No speeches. No hesitation.
And then, just like with the wendigo… he felt it again.
That pull.
He gritted his teeth, fists clenched as he fought the sensation, fought the instinct to take. But Power Absorption triggered anyway. He gasped as something foreign slipped into him—a fragment of the skinwalker's nature.
When the moment passed, he exhaled sharply and stood, his body buzzing with something new.
This time, it wasn't just senses. It was instincts. A subtle awareness of movement, a near-predatory grace in his steps. It was both exhilarating and unsettling.
More proof that he was changing.
After that hunt, Alex made a decision.
If he kept absorbing powers, he needed a way to track them. To understand what was happening to him.
Thankfully he has that covered in the form of a panel which only he can see.
He looked at the faint shimmering light in the corner of his eyes displaying his abilities;
Wendigo Traits – Enhanced senses, reflexes, strength.
Skinwalker Traits – Heightened movement awareness, instinctive reactions.
What he had taken, what he felt changing inside him. He itched into his memory every shift, every sensation, every new capability.
It wasn't just about surviving anymore.
It was about control.
As the months rolled on, Alex expanded his training. He pushed his limits, testing how far he could go before exhaustion set in, before the powers became too much.
He found a deserted patch of land in Montana, where he spent weeks honing his abilities away from prying eyes. He needed to know what he was capable of, and more importantly, what he wasn't.
Some of the tests were simple:
How far could he throw a knife now?
How much stronger had he really become?
How fast could he react to a sudden threat?
Other tests were… More introspective.
Standing in front of a mirror, he would stare at his own reflection, searching for something—anything—that wasn't him. That was the real fear. Losing himself in the stolen power. Becoming something twisted.
One night, he muttered to himself, voice barely above a whisper, "If I stop being me, who's gonna stop me?"
The silence that followed felt heavier than it should have.
But he wasn't there yet.
The year had hardened him, but not to the point of recklessness. He wasn't some self-righteous hunter, and he wasn't a hero. He had rules, limits, a way to keep himself grounded.
But even with all his precautions, he knew one thing for certain.
This world wouldn't let him stay in the shadows forever.
And when that time came, he'd be ready.
[ P.S: He is not familiar with his abilities so can't just steal or absorb abilities without any consequences i mean he is still a human no matter if he has trained or not but the sudden introduction of unfamiliar and foreign instincts and urges are difficult to control that is also the reason he might think of himself becoming something else but rest assured he will eventually take control. ]
To be continued...