The Cruel Side of Hearts [COMPLETED]

Chapter 2: First encounter with It

Okay so I promised and I will deliver on my promise. I don't like remembering these times, but I also am not about to back down on my word.

But first- Ethel Lovelace. 

In order to understand the appearance of It you need to understand it's connection with Ethel, and how they are related.

     Let's start hmm...approximately an eternity ago. That is when I met Ethel. Ethel, at first, seemed to be the most charming woman. Crystal blue eyes, golden hair that felt in a curtain down her back and a heavenly voice, as if she was a siren and I was a drunk sailor in the middle of the ocean. Her voice was her greatest pride. I remember she would sing her songs to her people, but the only one song that she wrote specifically for me is the one that haunts me the most.

She seemed to be perfect, charming and flirtatious in her own unique way. I did not fall for her right from the beginning, but when I did it was my greatest mistake. Or easier to say when I  didn't.

My relationship with Ethel could be categorised as a guilty pleasure, and eventually the creation of It. A sweet torture that haunts me, a poison seed and the birth of a creature. 

At first It was the personification of guilt. It was what I would see in the mirror. It was a nightmare that would come to me at night and whisper to me my failures.

"Oh here we have Hogan Crane...the fool, the villain...your cruelty has no bounds Hogan, to injure a woman who cared about you. She trusted you, and you stabbed her right in the heart. "

I remember those words. I remember I would avoid mirrors. I was afraid, afraid to turn my head and see this monster staring back at me. 

At first, I blamed It. At first I would tell myself "control yourself, be weary, be careful, keep It hidden, and it won't hurt anyone..."

At first It was easy to believe It  was an unwelcome guest. A slip of tongue, a feral thought...a simple thing that would go away if ignored for long enough.

Then It became anger. I guess it would have been easier to say that it begun as anger, or perhaps even lust, but this seems more appropriate here. Actually, before I continue, here are a few things that I found  It  likes.

1. Emotions.  Emotions are like a fine dinner for it. It's  favourite to consume were my confidence, and everything I liked about myself. But no, don't think that It is a greedy creature, as much as It loved to take, it returned double, triple, the amount of that. It absolutely adores fear, especially when it is related to causing others pain. 

2. Fear is what has allowed It to stay for as long as it had. It had built itself a comfortable little nest in my chest appearing every time I take a step wrong. Especially when it was regarding Ethel. Sometimes, it feels like Ethel has gifted me It simply to never allow me to forget what I have done.

Speaking of which, here is a final thing It likes:

3. Ethel. As a creature that thrives of of negative energy, It seems to adore Ethel. It, along with causing me emotional turmoil seems to be very protective of Ethel and always tries to take her side no matter how much pain she may have caused me. It has tried to make me forget that in the end, Ethel is just as guilty as I am, and that quite a few of my actions were in response to her provocation. 

If I'm being totally honest, It just kind of faded into existence and has remained there since then, but the way it happened in Omen was slightly more interesting.

     My first night in Omen I walked down an empty corridor made of jagged black marble. I had a single lit torch. As I walk down this hall all I could hear my steps echoing. I observed as my elongated shadow danced ominously on the walls.  At this point I didn't know what is to lie ahead, but I could feel the tension thicken up the air. As I approach the end of the hallway my heart began to pound in my chest and my hands began to sweat. I tried to control it. I closed my eyes and take a deep breath. When I opened them, I was standing in front of a towering brass door. 

Before I even had a chance to knock the door creaked open revealing...oh boy would you imagine, more dark hallways. At that point i kinda laughed to myself and continued, before a blinding light hit my eyes. It was so quick at first I was confused if it even was there, and I still don't know but something happened. After that "something" happened, a shape began to appear.

At first I thought it was my shadow, but then i noticed something shifting. The shadow grew, towering over me like a menace...it darkened. With every second i could feel my heart sinking as I watched it's face forming. First were its eyes, or what i thought to be it's eyes. At first the little flames appeared where the eyes were supposed to be but then the flames fed on each other and began travelling soon to cover its whole area of the head. 

Soon after another fire started, this time it was crimson in the shape of a beating heart. Straight from the heart i watched as the dripping blood began forming itself into swords, sharp ones, that seemed to be replacing the ribcage. Those swords penetrated the heart through and through, three of them set in a crossed formation. The one in the middle with the two on the side forming an "X". With every new sword added, the wounds began glowing and as the heart began beating faster and faster i could feel it's desperation as it attempted to pry itself from swords. 

The creature stepped closer, horns of white bone forming on its head, and chains on the hilts of the swords... I took a step back only to trip and have my back hit a wall. It stared at me with its slits for eyes and opened it's jaws, filled with rows upon rows of sharp wolflike teeth. From its ghost-like body I could see lines of gold forming, moving and shifting like maggots under it's skin. Upon a closer look i would discover that those were words. Terrible, terrible words.

The creature smiled at me, if you could call what I saw a smile. I stood up and held out my hand, hoping to push it away only to have my body push straight through it's chest and appear on the other side.

When I turned, it was gone.