I bolted awake, my heart thudding loudly in my chest. It felt like I just had a nightmare, one real enough I could still feel the fear deep inside me. I've had dreams like that before but nothing this bad. My body shook from it, which something that usually didn't happen unless I was mad, not scared. what made it even worse was the fact that I was trembling not only from the fear but also from a deep chill that seeped underneath the thick blanket i had over me.
sitting up slowly I tried to bring myself back together while my mind scrambled in a hundred different directions. part of me wanted to just get up and start running while another just wanted to curl back up underneath my blanket in an attempt to hide. I did neither, though, and instead reached down below the right side of my bed to grab a cup of water. After having anxiety for so long at this point it was mostly second nature for me to do this, the cool liquid giving me something to concentrate on for a moment.
Taking a long, deep drink I gulped it all down and set the empty batman glass back in it's spot, my hands still shaking bad enough it was almost as difficult to put it down as it was to pick it up. Closing my eyes I began to whisper to myself, telling myself I was just having another panic attack.
"It'll be okay Alex," I said, the words echoing in my head as i started rocking back and forth on my bed with my knees to my chest "You're just freaking yourself out. It'll be okay and you'll calm down soon." But instead of starting to get better it just got worse, my hands starting to shake almost violently. Immediately I grabbed my rectangular glasses from their case before standing up, the disorienting feeling I started having becoming more intense as time continued. As soon as I put the glasses on I bolted to the bathroom that was a quick right outside of my room, flicking on the lights on to examine myself in the mirror. I knew that I had to calm myself down soon or else I was going to seriously freak out, deciding to take a gamble to get my mind off things. So taking a deep, shaky breath I began to take in the details of myself.
I was a typical Caucasian male with a voice that wasn't particularly deep and stood about 5'6, a height that some people still looked down on me for (get it?) but as far as things go I wasn't bothered by how tall how I was. it was mostly superficial anyways, making it something that wasn't worth my time to dwell on. on my head rested short, brown hair that was just starting to grow out again after i'd cut it recently. I hated it getting long so I made sure to cut if often into a buzzcut, otherwise I would end up walking around with hair that covered half of my face. And that was just uncomfortable.
My body was particularly lean with muscle, having little to no fat on my entire body. I wasn't in shape like a hardworking athlete was but I also wasn't a pushover, having rode my bike to and from work for the past few months. while it was only about ten minutes there and ten minutes back it was better than nothing, letting me keep my body at least healthy enough I wasn't going to die from cardiac arrest or something.
My eyes were hazel colored and while I personally didn't know what to think of it i was told a few times my eyes were "pretty." The first time I was told this i was taken aback, just like when I was told my hair felt good, and that was weird enough as it is. I didn't know how to respond to either of those things and honestly i still didn't. But i guess that's what happens when you grew up hearing them repeatedly.
my face was almost as lean as my body but just a little more full, my nose relatively straight and matching the rest of my thin features. the only difference was that there was a slight curve to the right in the center where i'd broken it a few years ago, back when i was a child doing the stupid things a kid does. It made it awkward for my glasses but i chose to deal with it, knowing i would have to re-break it at this point to get it straight again. and that wasn't something i wanted to do just yet.
As I continued to look at myself, examining the small details on my body like the scars I've gotten over the years, I suddenly I felt the panic and fear I had inside of me increase. i felt myself go from panicking to full blown fear, the world around me seemingly out of balance for a moment while everything seemed to blank out from the spots i was seeing.
Closing my eyes I tried to take a deep breath to control myself but instead I gulped the air down, my body standing up rigidly while what felt like a hammer struck me in the head. Instead of collapsing in pain, though, I stayed immobile, completely paralyzed in an upright position while the adrenaline began to pump through my body. I could feel myself begin to struggle against what it was that held me still but still i didn't move, every single part of my body rigid.
For a minute after that I thought that maybe I was having a very vivid dream so I began to tell myself to wake up, the same way i always did since I was little. instead i felt a cold chill pass through my body as it began to move on its own, practically marching its way out of the bathroom. As my feet moved me through the apartments living room to the front door i understood this wasn't true. It felt too real to be a dream, everything happening too fast for me to react.
this made my heart beat in my chest faster, the anxiety i thought i'd just begun to get over coming back in a flash. the once steady beat began to thud in my chest as I threw the front door of my apartment open, a part of me glad neither my dad nor my brother were home at the time to see this. But when I saw what was in front of my door I began to wish even more that I wasn't there myself.
what could only be called a small, imp-like creature was crouched in front of me, licking the blood off what probably once a human. the body's face was ripped to shreds, what used to be their face now resembling a cats scratching post while a large puddle of blood lay around the body. The creature seemed to writhe in ecstasy with every lap of it's tongue, the look of pleasure evident in its gaunt face. It was so caught up in its adoration that when the door opened in front of me it didn't react for a moment, enjoying the feast that was lay before it. After the first step out the door i took, though, it recognized my presence and its attention immediately snapped towards me, its flat nose sniffing the air near me. Before I couldn't see it's details since it was engrossed in the corpse in front of me but now I could see every feature, the monsters disgusting face looking straight at me. my mind was already going in overdrive as it was so i knew i would never forget this things face, every feature etched into my memory.
It had rough, burnt-looking leathery skin that was stretched thin across its body. it's face was like that of a bats in some ways but with less sharp edges, the look of it all that more bestial considering its rottweiler-like size and blood-red eyes. I could see half of its long tongue sticking out as it moved towards me, everything about it seemingly more terrifying since it's claws and teeth were long and sharp enough to gut me while its rough tongue could lick my insides clean.
I could feel my breath pick up again as it began to smell me for the second time, its eyes completely locked on mine. As much as I wanted to watch the thing I knew that i shouldn't, my instincts screaming at me to just stay still and pretend as if this monster didn't exist. So as hard as it was I did just that, my face staring completely straight ahead as this creature that was barely more than 3 feet tall began to climb up my body, sniffing me with its ugly, flat nose.
I knew I was sweating profusely at this point, the fear beginning to kick in even worse as I tried to regain control of myself. The demons nose was laying right up against my neck at this point, its warm tongue sharing much the same spot in a disgusting combination i tried to ignore as best as I could. This lasted for about ten more seconds, the monster crawling over most of my body like an animal would before settling back down with the corpse that lay in front of me.
My body lurched forward suddenly, as if whatever it was that was previously controlling me started back up again. I still kept a blank face, though, as my legs stepped over the demon that fed below me, my mind still having not caught up completely with what was going on. The warm blood that seeped beneath my bare feet on the tile floor caused my mind to reel even more, my heart continuously thudding in my chest. the whole situation was surreal enough as it was but as I continued down the hallway that lead to the stairway I started to understand just how bad of a situation i was in.
not only was i incapable of controlling my body but I was also walking into something presumably worse than getting my face shredded like hamburger meat, the dead body i'd just seen being all the proof i'd need for that. why else would i have been let go while being under complete control of whatever it was that possessed me? something horrible was going on, and I was caught right in the middle of it, the worst part of it being I had no idea on what to do. i was helpless, something i'd never truly experienced until now.
the feeling was so foreign to me that at first i didn't know what it was, the cold, white snow beneath my bare feet snapping me out of the pure terror i was now beginning to feel. it had to have been below zero, my breath easily fogging the air in front of me while my body shook even more violently from the cold. I was wearing nothing but black basketball shorts, the chill penetrating me into my very core.
A blood red glow shone from behind another apartment building a few meters in front of me, the illumination coming from my left, in the direction of the police station. my feet didn't miss a step, instead trudging on in the same direction the abnormal light came from. The air stunk of something I'd never smelled before, the area thick with an acrid odor.
the snow around me was up to my ankles in most places, forcing me to stick my hands deep into it just to hop over the small ledge that separated the our parking lot from the other one. as my body trudged on through the thick substance i could feel myself begin to break down, my emotions pulling me down in a direction I shouldn't go. I would've shaken my head but i couldn't even do that, instead having to watch like you would a movie while i moved alongside the brown apartment, making my way towards the street. well, at least you could say that whatever was going on didn't try to force me through a wall. All thoughts began to disperse, though, as i took a right around the corner onto the snow-plowed streets and saw what it was that I was heading to. directly in front of the police station to my left, in the center of the street, lay a blood red pentagram of some sort that shined with an otherworldly glow without any snow to impede its shine. In a circle, directly on top of the shape was a group of people that lined up in a partially completed circle. all of them had blank expressions on their faces, as if they felt nothing at all or would on an insane amount of drugs. It was somehow different than the way someone looked when they faked it, like you would see on a film. You could tell there was literally nothing going inside of their brain, like something cut out that part of them.
inside of the pentagram stood...something I couldn't explain. It looked like it was human, in fact part of me completely believed it was human, but the rest of me knew the truth. as I got closer to the pentagram a sickly feeling began to overcome me that came from whatever it was that stood in the center. it felt like something was oozing out of it, the feeling akin to everything you would consider disgusting rolled up into one and then thrown at every one of your senses. This was where the smell originated from, a part of my mind remembering something I'd read about how demons from hell had the smell of sulphur that followed them around.
all of a sudden I wanted to puke everywhere but i held the bile back, trying not to draw attention to myself as much as I could while my feet took me to the edge of the pentagram, plopping down on my knees. Next to me was an old woman on my left that looked as blank as the rest of the group, everything about her completely still. on my right, though, was an extremely gaunt-faced man that looked nothing like the others. i could see his dark, shady eyes darting around, trying to take in all the sites that surrounded him like a predator caught in a trap.
when they landed on me I could see he recognized i was conscious, too, but instead of of acknowledging my existence his attention continued on elsewhere before I could react to him. before i could even register that had happened something made my head snap straight, staring forward at the thing that stood in the middle. It stood completely still, even more still than the zombie-like people that sat around me, as if it was waiting for something to happen. I took a few cold breaths while we all watched, the sound of my breathing loud in my ears while the my body began to shiver even more from the cold.
suddenly it began to move in my direction, heading towards me with a purpose while the glow of the red design illuminated its cloak. I could feel myself begin to panic even more but I shoved it away from my thoughts, trying to figure out a logical way around this before the panic set in again. while it got closer my breathing picked up slightly, the anxiety forcing its way in me while i wrestled for control of my thoughts. the thing moved fluidly in between me and the woman to my left, every fiber of my being screaming out in an attempt to appeal to some god that i hoped to be there. but there was none. as that thought crossed my mind i felt something warm splash across the left side of my face, part of it landing on the corner of my mouth. i knew what it was but it still took a moment for it to register in my head as the old woman's body slumped forward, limp as her life was drained through her neck and into the ground. The thick liquid followed the symbols design in the ground, each drop making the symbols light even brighter as it flowed towards the center. The of me that was already panicking began to fight its way into the forefront of my mind, my control wavering even more as the second body to my left slid forward onto the symbol.
as the thing began to systematically kill everyone around the symbol a flash of pain shot through me, my vision changing between what i was seeing before to something similar but completely different. each time the blood splash across the ground it happened, the world changing into a more decayed version, a large blood-red orb pulsating above the center of an eye. as my own eyes centered on the bizarre shape it looked at me, something inside of it knowing that i saw it, an understanding so deep i felt a cold chill go down my spine before the alternate reality disappeared again i clenched my eyes close, trying to ignore everything that was going on around me, rejecting the reality that was happening. but still it tormented me, the sound of a knife sliding across throats penetrating through my facade. i'd tried to ignore it but i couldn't at this point, every part of me beginning to break down into full-on panic mode. but i couldn't run, i could barely move, and all i knew was that monster was halfway towards killing me, blood beginning to gather beneath the ball of energy that i soon began to see without the pain that normally accompanied it, a sign of foreboding that i didn't want to accept or understand.
as the monster began to move its way even more around its sacrificial circle i quickly looked to my right, trying the last thing i could think of in that situation. but as i looked upon the face of the man i saw once before i knew this was impossible, his face of pure bliss at the death around him. his eyes glowed with a red that i couldn't describe, as if it was the most pure blood red you could see, even more pure than the symbol was and only if you saw it in the glint of sunlight.
while i stared at him in morbid awe he glanced at me, a blissful smile spreading across his face as a jagged dagger sliced his neck open. his blood coated the front of my face, my mind going into shock instantly. before i knew it i felt my short hair pulled backwards, bending my neck backwards to expose my throat to the sharp blade.
i stared up into the darkness that lay beneath the hood above me, unable to breath as death itself pressed up against my throat. while before i heard nothing but silence from the creature that stood above me i could now hear something that sound like chanting but it resembled nothing i'd ever heard before, the sounds echoed by a whisper that drove painful spikes through my brain. as the whispering intensified in my brain i felt something inside of me break, a single tear sliding down from my right eye. i couldn't explain how i felt in that moment, knowing that i was about to die. but as i felt the knife begin to slice across my throat i felt something rise up in me, the feeling akin to life itself, something that was always there but i couldn't sense before. i could feel every fiber of my being erupt with such an intensity i began to scream, my voice sounding much louder in my ears than it seemed in real life, everything around me distorting so much my attacker was flung off of me.
for a moment i could do nothing, a loud ringing in my head incapacitating me while my mind caught up with the world around. but as i shook my head i realized that wasn't going to happen, a being that could only be described as a demon beginning to rise up out of the center of the pentagram. its head was that of a goats and it had horns to match it, its body dark grey in color with short, black hair that covered some of its body. its muscles were as defined as a heavy lifting bodybuilders, every inch of the things body rippling with what could only be described as pure strength.
the lower half of the things body was just as naked (so it was a he?) and muscular, the only difference being that he resembled more of a humans body at this point. I tried my hardest to avoid it but i felt my eyes being pulled up to his own eyes, the latter completely blood red, matching the symbols hue that it rose out of. they glinted with malicious anger, something inherently evil living behind them. he knew me, somehow, and on a molecular level, i knew him. all in all the demonic creature stood about three stories tall, big enough to stomp my brains out with his toes.
I tried to get the catastrophe that was my mind together but as the behemoth grunted and took a step towards me i couldn't, everything about me still jumbled up from my scream. the monsters steps shook the earth as he slowly moved towards me, the world around me shuddering with each and every movement the thing took. i kept trying though, trying to force the thoughts in my head to actually formulate something that made sense. i just couldn't though, the demon now clenching its hands together hammerfist style above my head. energy was being gathered in his hand, a slight tint of red surrounding his entire body. but right when his hands began to swing down towards me i heard my own voice yell in my head, a force behind it that i hadn't felt before but yet was familiar.
MOVE, ALEX!
as the the monsters hands slammed down atop where i was i threw myself sideways, rolling out of the way while chunks of concrete were thrown around from the impact. immediately my mind assorted itself, the recoil from earlier stopping while an energy pulsated inside of me. I could feel it in me again, electrifying my senses to extreme levels. a part of me was still stunned by what happened but that side wasn't in control right now, my instincts roaring inside of my head.
without thinking about it i immediately turned and began to run down the street, my mind racing to find a way out of this situation. i knew i couldn't beat this thing, whatever it was. i was just a human, only capable of doing what humans could do...but something told me this wasn't entirely true anymore. i could feel that pulsating power within me, pushing my body to keep it moving. i was in full control of it and like a bottle of water i was drinking from it, draining it until it was nothing. and i knew what it was, some part of me knowing it before the thought even crossed my mind. something i'd only read about in books, envisioned in my dream, the one thing that i didn't think that was possible: magic.
or something like it, at least.
it was wishful thinking but either way i could feel it like a muscle inside of my body, ever slightly expanding as i used it but still having a limit. and i was coming closer to that limit as i began running down the snow littered street but it didn't matter. it was either run myself dry or give up and die. so i ran, starting to push myself beyond the speed i could normally go. And still the demon kept up with me, his every step shaking the ground. i pushed myself harder, trying to pick up speed but as i made it almost to the end of the first block, near the gas station, a small red car turned right around the corner in my direction.
I could see his face in sharp detail, the shock evident in his sleep deprived features at the scene in front of him. he immediately slammed to a halt and tried to go in reverse, looking behind himself so he wouldn't crash into something in the middle of his escape. i was just as surprised as him, my mind almost grinding to a halt while i tried to find an easy way out of this. but i couldn't come up with one, instead only left with just continuing to run forward while the well inside of me was dried. but at this point i somehow still pushed it further, draining everything from my body to effortlessly run over the car and roll onto the ground.
as soon as i stood up i darted left and took off straight towards the main street, a snow covered forest laying beyond it and the train tracks. it wasn't far to where the other side of the street was, only a few yards, but my instincts screamed at me again as i crossed the highway. as they did the sound of the demon roaring echoed in my ears, a vocalized yell of exertion being carried with it. I could only guess as to what to was being thrown but somehow, once again, i knew i had no choice but to react.
spinning around mid run i gathered up that dry well of energy from deep inside of me, the thing that i was sure was beginning to suck on my own life. it hurt as i did it, a part of me being ripped apart from what it was. but i didn't stop, time slightly slowing around me while i saw my target, the broken hunk of metal that was once a car a few feet from my face. nothing was alive inside of it, the demon having basically turned the vehicle into a ball of steel he threw at me.
but i didn't hesitate in gathering more energy, pouring as much as i could in that moment to the image i had pictured in my mind. bringing my hands in front of my chest i thrust outward, the ball of metal in front of me stopping mid-flight before flying back faster than it had originally come. it collided with the demons chest, knocking it backwards as i myself flew backwards from the rebound. i had no control of where i landed, hitting the ground hard enough i lost sight of what was going on, the world of white rolling around me as my consciousness faded in and out
after what seemed like years but was only seconds i blinked rapidly, trying to get myself to see straight, the fact that my glasses were now gone making that even harder. to my right was the edge of the forest i was heading for and to my left was the bottom of a small hill, the one i'd rolled so aggressively down before. every part of my body hurt but it was more than just the fall that did it, my insides churned like they were decaying inside. Moving over to my right i threw up, nothing but pure blood that was almost black coming out. my body shook like the worst withdrawals someone could have, random colors flashing in my vision as if i was on hallucinogens.
but as the ground began to shake again i knew that i couldn't catch a break, the demon undoubtedly beginning to chase me again. so i forced myself to stand up, not knowing exactly what it was at this point that kept me going. sure, before it was because i was going to die if i didn't do this. but i was going to die now anyways, so really, whats it for?
with a snort i turned towards the forest, walking into it as i thought about my family that i had back home. i may have had suspicions about that monster that followed me but honestly, who knows what it was? all i knew is that it wanted me. and if i was going to die, then i was damned sure going to die doing what i could. so i trudged on, forcing my broken body through the blurry, snow covered forest that surrounded me as my impending doom made its way to me.
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i could hear the sounds of trees crashing to the earth behind me, the demons giant body forcing its way after me with a rapid pace. i knew i couldn't keep going so instead i stopped, the energy in my body beginning to fade. still i held on though, making my body turn around to face the bull-faced monster as he let out a bestial roar, swinging at me with all his strength.
when he hit me i truly knew it was done, every bone in my body breaking and my inside basically turning to a jigsaw puzzle gone wrong. when i gained what you could passably call awareness i saw the demon in front of me, roaring triumphantly while a familiar figure stroked its thigh. as i saw the other demon it also saw me, its movements pausing as it turned its hooded face towards me. it reached out its arm towards me, dark tendrils of its magic reaching out from its sleeved hands.
but as they were about to touch me they suddenly sputtered out of existence, something i could even feel through the haze of death beginning to form around us. in a flash the figure waved their hands, disappearing out of existence with the monster that crushed my body. as it happened i couldn't help but wheeze out a laugh, some part of me feeling as if i'd won the battle today.
"Take that, asshole!" I said, coughing up blood when i'd finished the sentence. I had no idea what was coming but i accepted it, knowing i was dead either way. so as a ball of pure white coalesced in front of me i made my peace, keeping a grin on my face as the sphere absorbed me, everything around me fading into nothing.