Evil Reincarnated

Nightmares

Mazavir POV

I awake, covered in sweat again. "Another nightmare?" Vayle asks, sitting up beside me. I sigh in relief. I wasn't in Hell and Vexel wasn't torturing me. I had this nightmare over and over, but I still had to make sure it wasn't reality. He still terrifies me even though I see the tortured arms clawing at his skin every night.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I lie, swinging my legs off the bed. I wipe the sweat off my face.

"You say that every time, Maz." She responds. I could hear the disappointment in her voice. "We should talk about this."

"I don't want to talk about it. I want it to go away." I sigh and stand up. I turn my back to Vayle. I didn't want to see the look on her face.

"You're exhausted. You can't sleep and you're barely eating. You're not okay." I stay silent, I couldn't deny what she was saying. My ribs could be seen beneath my skin. I couldn't sleep because of the nightmares and the thought of eating made me gag. I glance at her and her eyes meet mine. "We should see someone." She pauses. "I have another solution but I know you won't like it."

"I don't want to see anyone." I state, getting dressed. A few moments later, Vayle appears in front of me.

"You can't keep ignoring this." She puts her hands on her hips. "You have to face him."

"I don't want to face him." I state, crossing my arms in frustration. "He'll kill me even if I wanted to. That's made me realize I don't want to die."

"But you don't want to live like this either, plagued by nightmares and fantasies of him. He won't stop haunting you until you get over it." She sighs. "I don't want to keep seeing you like this every day."

"It's better then being dead. I don't want to see someone, they'll just say the same thing you're saying. There's no real cure for these nightmares. As you said, it's my own fear." I sigh.

"I never said it was your fear." She says and I freeze.

I think through the scrambled memories of the last few weeks. "He said that." I finally say. "In one of my nightmares... he was right."

"The monster?" She asks, walking over to the desk. She flips over a piece of paper and holds it up. It had a dark scribbled drawing of Vexel in his prime evil form. I look away, fear gripping me. Even though it was just a drawing, a drawing I did, any imagery of him still frightened me. It sent a cold shiver through my bones.

"No. He came to me... as a human." I state. "He said he didn't want to kill me. I think he was lying." I hear the rustle of the paper and I look at Vayle again. She had set the paper down. "He invaded my mind. I don't know what scares me more, the fact he's a demon or the fact he can... infect my mind like that. As much as I want to believe it was my brain finding new ways to torture me, I don't think that was it. He was there."

"How?" She asks, moving a chair to face me. She sits down and I lean against the bed.

"All of my nightmares are the same... he's torturing me in Hell. He doesn't talk... he only tortures me in various different ways. He always looks like a demon. The same twisting horns, tar like skin... tattered wings... tortured arms clawing at his skin." I shiver at the thought of it. "That time, he was human. He tried to talk to me. The Vexel we know, long dark hair, necromancer clothing. He looked normal, just as human as we are. I woke up when he reached towards me."

"What did he say to you?" Vayle asks.

I look at the ground. "He said he didn't want to kill me... he wanted to help me. He told me that it was my own fear manifesting these nightmares."