Innova

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Raven's POV:

Nothing is moving. Aaron is just standing there with this horrified look on his face.

I'm not moving. I've already tried. I can't even move my eyes. I'm freaking out right now cause this is not normal. With Devian the impossible was just a very strange and unexpected surprise, but this is just no. Time doesn't just stop. Space and matter don't just stop. This is the very definition of impossible and I'm starting to freak out.

I try to whimper, or cry, or scream, or shout, but I still can't make a single noise. What is happening to me? This isn't funny.

I feel like crying. But I can't. All I can do is stare at a man I just met while my mind slowly goes insane. Is this my own personal hell or what? When will it end? Will it end?

The thought of being trapped in this moment for all eternity is paralyzingly.

Not for all eternity. Just til I die. Wait. What if I am dead?

NO.

I can't be dead. When could I have even died? Suddenly there is a searing pain on the tops of my hands. I can't look down. I try to scream, cry, anything, but I can't. I can't do anything. I am entirely at the mercy of whatever is pouring boiling hot water over my hands.

After hours of pain, the burning sensation on my hands feels like it's being wiped away. I would cry in relief, but I can't move.

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I see a flash of movement. I will my eyes to turn and look at it, but I still can't move.

Over and over I see a small flash of movement. I can't tell what it is, or even if it's real or not. Just as I'm getting used to it, used to the fact that this must be my mind playing tricks on me, it finally move into my field of vision.

Well, not really, it's hiding behind Aaron. I will it to come out, silently pleading for it to help me. Something peeks out from behind Aaron.

No.

No, please no.

It creeps closer.

Oh God.

I am frantically trying to run, to take a step back, to scream, cause this thing is literally the stuff of nightmares. It creeps ever closer.

WHY?!?!?

Please, I mentally plead to it, please! What I am pleading for, even I don't know.

It stops about two steps away from me and stares me directly in my eyes, giving me full view of its nasty face.

It's mouth is a giant hole filled with razor teeth of varying thickness. It's nose is nonexistent and it has two antennae like things jutting out of its cheeks. On its forehead it has many eyes and as for its hair it has squirming worm-like things covering most of its head and neck except for the face. It is as dark as a bottomless pit and silent as a shadow.

An eternity passes.

Still it doesn't move.

What is happening? Why wont it move? WHAT DOES IT WANT?

If I wasn't sure before I am now. I am in Hell. That is the only logical explanation for this. I am in Hell. Where else could I be? Nothing else has ever made me this scared, this horrified, this afraid. I cant even think about anything else. This is all there is.

Suddenly the worm-like tentacles start elongating and wrapping around themselves. They form a long rope almost like a braid. In a flash the creature has closed the distance between us and has wrapped its snake-braid around my throat.

It starts strangling me.

I can feel my heart pumping harder and my lungs start burning. The trees lean in closer and I start panicking. This has always been my nightmare. Suffocating. I scream at myself to do something, anything, but nothing happens. The last bit of oxygen I had is gone. I feel as though the trees are pressing in on me, like the gruesome bystanders of my death. The creature somehow manages to come closer and says in many voices like a whisper, "Wake up."

It relieves the pressure on my throat and backs up a few steps but still keeps it's snake-braid resting around my neck. I try to take deep breaths but it's almost as if my body doesn't realize that it's been deprived of air. Even though all I want to do is gulp the air in as fast as I can my body takes slow, even, regulated breaths. It takes another eternity for my heart rate to go back to normal, but as soon as it does the creature starts strangling me again.

Over and over and over.

And when it's done it always says the same thing. "Wake up."

You have no idea how hard I tried to.

After a couple of eternities the scene in front of my eyes change. I'm staring at a ceiling. Aaron is gone, the trees are gone and I don't see the creature anywhere. But I can still feel it pressing against my throat. I sit up and cry body-wracking sobs as I claw at my throat.

It's still there. I can feel it pressing down on my neck, suffocating me, as it tells me again and again to wake up.

"I'm awake!" I scream, "Please, STOP!"

I sink to the floor, clutching my throat, trying to rip it off of me. I can't breathe.

I feel arms snake around my body picking me up and holding me tight. NO. I'm not going to let this happen again. I struggle against the creature, trying to escape.

"LET ME GO."

"Hey, hey, HEY. It's okay. It's okay. Everything's okay now. You're okay."

No, it's not. I struggle even harder.

"STOP. It's me, Devian. Just calm down, alright? You're okay now, you're awake."

I open my eyes and stare up at him. It really is him. Where did Aaron go? How did I get here?

"Is it gone?" I ask him, despising how weak I sound.

"Yeah, it's gone."

I start crying again. It's gone. I hug Devian. It's gone and I'm okay. Devian pats my back and shushes me, constantly telling me that it's okay. Slowly, the feeling of pressure on my throat fades away.

I'm safe.