Hellbound

IV. Burn it Down

           The moment my lids fluttered open,  I thought I was actually conscious and had escaped. I shot up from my curled, fetal position and began coughing. Something lingered in the back of my throat, it clogged my breathing way. A type of agony that could only come from swallowing lumps of acid. Yet, when I realized there was a grasp wrapped around my throat, if dragged me back down into the sheets. It was something that took all my strength as I struggled for freedom. My hands flew to my neck, fingers clawing at air and gripped nothing that gave away the experience of choking.

           Panic rose through my veins, and adrenaline kicked in as I struggled and gripped the sides of the bed, kicking off the sheets. Though, that didn't help. Tears struck in my eyes, and my lungs were on fire. The world was collapsing on me and I was left with nothing but to let myself fall. In my motel room, where the bedsheets matched the curtains floral pattern, the shadows had begun to close in on me as though hyenas would on their prey. The panic was nothing compared to my anger, I felt so alone, so vulnerable, so terrified. I thought I cried out for help, but if I had gripped the chance of breath it would've been a mere squeal. My surroundings began to spin, and just when I was about to fall into the pit when I was shaken awake. 

           My verified lids fluttered and the first thing I saw was Daniel shaking me and calling my name. I groaned and sat up, pushing him away, muttering and raising my voice,''Alright, alright! I'm awake! I'm fine.'' 

           Daniel's full brows narrowed and he frowned,''No you definitely aren't fine. You were just crying out for help a minute ago in your sleep! Tell me what happened.'' 

           He pardoned himself for a minute to grab a glass of water when I cleared my throat, all the while I reevaluated my dream. I drew my hands through my hair as I folded my legs over each other and sighed.

           Everything had appeared to be so endless. The laceration, the agony. My crying and screaming. All that blood, my blood. His smile, his horrifying smirk and that chuckle that shook me to the marrow. The moment where I had assumed I was awake I had caught something from the corner of my eye, in the shadows. I was certain that it could've been the demon, for I had heard a chuckle in my mind. But I could've hallucinated. Who knows? 

           Instinctively, I shrugged and Daniel stared hard at me when he settled down on his bum at the foot ot the bed, facing me. He handed me the glass of water which I dunked eagerly and set on the night stand when I finished it. Then we stared at each other. I knew what he was expecting. The whole story. But I wasn't up for the whole story. Not even a tiny bit of it. I didn't want to recite what he had done to me. It only infected my mind with possibilities of what he could do once he had me again. 

           So I wheezed, and just began to tell him what he needed to know, keeping my voice as even as possible.

           ''I was blind in my dream, and I was tortured twice, nearly dying every time, but then I woke up.'' 

           Daniel arched an eye brow and narrowed his eyes suspiciously at me, he knew exactly that I wasn't telling everything that happened. Well, how the hell was I supposed to explain the freaking shadow creature that saved me from another round of torture in my dream? 

           His lips parted as if he wanted to say something but I held up a hand and shook my head,''Don't pry. Please?''

           He pursed his lips into a frown that drew his brows even deeper over his eyes but then he nodded. Daniel stood up, clearly trembling with a certain emotion, yet I decided to ignore it and shooed him out to get breakfast while I got dressed.