Entropy

I| Chapter XVII: A Hell Roulette

Naomi

Bloodshed. Shambles. Coldness. A nightful day. Ella, Rick, Aelen, Dominique, father, and I have to stall and hold Ivelisse for hours. Her possession has progressed much more explosively after Aelen went after her. It feels like we are no longer in London, but in a cave's mouth with dark branches. Rick lies unconscious from blood loss after his arm got ripped out. Ella is crucified to the walls by the dark spikes. She was Ivelisse's raggedy toy. Her body is covered in welches, bruises, and crimson. She kept trying to do the rituals to keep the entities restrained, but they only laughed at her. A branch stifled her mouth that will love to pierce her throat if she says another word.

Dominique and father stand as far away as possible, trying to not get involved just yet. I am not saying they were lazy arses or cowards. I say they were prudent to not provoke the possessed Ivelisse. It's only Aelen and I fighting against many forces inside a poor girl's body. We are all beaten and battered. We are still fighting nevertheless. I can tell they are enjoying our suffering every moment of it.

Aelen speeds towards Ivelisse with the swords and shields I've fostered. Ivelisse's pupils dilate like crazy. She chuckles a bit before stabbing several dark branches into his poor body. He grunts in torment before the branches pull out. One of them circles his body before chucking him to the ground, with an aluminum amount of blood.

"Aelen!" I cry and run to him.

"Don't w-worry a-about m-me," he utters as he winces every time he inhales.

Every round of stabbing or beatdowns from Ivelisse has slowed down Aelen's regeneration.

"But you're wounded," I said out of extreme worry, "You're not hea- Gah!" A branch wraps around my body and lifts me up in the air. I give an angry shot to Ivelisse, who's amused.

"Now your friend is dying. It's your turn."

They kept up their word dearly. They did not hold back any tactics to make me want to die. Many branches stab into me, making insects enter my body, triggering pain. For the past several hours, I never felt pain. They ate me from the inside out. Everything went black for a second until I regained alertness. Terror drenches my entire body. Sleep paralysis is less hysterical than this. Ivelisse smirks with pure evil. The bugs kept doing the same thing over and over. This is much worse than the time I fought Markus; I couldn't feel a damn thing. They take their sweet time to make sure I feel every single one of it. The insects were crawling all over inside me; their venom awakened my pain.

I get slammed onto the ground over and over again with a rocket amount of force. My whole body gets obliterated again and again. They were cruel enough to slow down my death. I am not talking about them putting me in slow motion before I slam against the ground. Milliseconds after getting bashed to the ground, they slow the process of my organs and body rupturing, so I can see and feel. I don't know if it's them or me. The best friggin part was that I couldn't even let out a scream or plead for them to stop.

"Stop!" Dominique cries, begging for them to stop butchering my ass.

Her voice makes Ivelisse stop slamming me. She even drops me onto the ground. I lie on the ground enervated. I can't speak up and tell Dominique to stay back. She walks closer to me, closing in on Ivelisse's range of total destruction.

"I will hold them off for a bit, rest up," she whispers to me.

My hands scrape against the cave surface, trying to find the strength to push myself up. I fear feeling the same thing and dying so much. It has totally drained me.

"What are your intentions in this world?" Dominique asks the creatures inside of Ivelisse. They don't answer her. It looks like they don't know what to do. Well, one of them when it flashes her a warning and a malevolent look.