Tales Of The Lost Cities

Demons Inside

She was drowning. The pressure built upon her as she sunk deeper and deeper, until she couldn't bear it for any longer.

He was lost. He fell deeper and deeper into the darkness as the hate pressed in around him. Monster. He was a monster, a creature of the shadows that shouldn't be allowed to exist.

They told her to control it, keep it inside her. They didn't understand that she couldn't. She tried, she really did, but it built up inside her and exploded out at the wrong moment, when she least expected it.

They called him an abomination, and he had started to believe they were right. 'Monster' he heard someone whisper in his ear, whether it was another one of them or his own imagination, he didn't know.

She'd tried telling them that she couldn't, but yet they still tried to control her, pen her in. Pressure. Pressure. Pressure. Keep it in, don't let it out. You need to control it.

The voices surrounded him. He couldn't stand it. "Dangerous, weak, uncontrollable, beast" He was dangerous. He hurt everyone around him. He fell deeper, letting the shadows welcome him, caressing him as he embraced their darkness. They let him in, even parting for him, respecting him as the others had never done.

"Don't let it out, keep it in control, be strong" All of it, building up above her, pushing her down into the never ending ocean. She didn't fight, she allowed the waves to push her down, let the current carry her away.

He relaxed. He was safe here, in the dark, alone. He stopped fighting, and let the darkness surround him, become him. He was one with the shadows, part of them, just as they were a part of him.

The water flowed around her, and she relaxed into it, letting herself flow free with the tide. The sea was her home, and here she was, one with the water.

"Welcome home" The shadows whispered to him. He felt their coolness wrap around him, welcoming him. "You're here now. You don't need the others." Didn't need the others, he didn't need her... his sister. He needed her.

The soft melodies of the waves caressed her, surrounding her with their soft songs. "Stay with us, leave them behind" Oh, she wanted to stay so badly, to stay in this peaceful world with the waves lapping around her. "Leave him, stay here." Leave him... her brother! Where was he! She needed him!

He pushed the shadows away, sending their suffocating darkness out of his heart. He needed to get to her, he needed to see her, help her, protect her.

She pushed upwards, cutting through the water as she broke through the waves. She had to reach him, find him, take care of him, make sure he was okay.

"You're safe!" He cried out as the darkness cleared around him.

"Don't worry about me." She whispered, dripping wet as she emerged from the water.

"Don't leave me again." He told her.

"Of course not." She said sweetly, brushing his cheek with her finger.

"I love you Linh." He muttered as she pulled him into an embrace a thousand times better than the shadows.

"I love you too, Tam." She replied, and the sound of his gentle voice was better than any melody the sea could sing her.