Somniphobia

Underneath the Skin

The forest was dark and cold, though it provided some shelter from the rain, a few heavy droplets fell through the leaves, echoing in the silence. A young man walked alone, despite the stories of hauntings and ghosts, he remained unafraid. The man believed not in such things a specters and spirits, though had he believed, maybe things would be different..
A Crack of a twig echoed in the distance though Zero paid it no mind, it was most likely an animal, nothing to be afraid of. He ignored the uneasy silence, unaware of the dangers it posed, thinking that everything was silent due to the rain. It wasn't a long walk home anyway. And he was sure there was nothing to be afraid of.
Another snap.
His every instinct on edge. "Don't be stupid there's no one there."' He said aloud, his voice cutting through the silence like a knife, the air suddenly feeling tense. He could no longer hear the rain, it felt as if time had stopped, or slowed, his fear overwhelming him despite nothing happening.
A deep breath.
He breathed in with a sigh of relief. "See nothing." He spoke to himself once more, a smile creeping across his face as he felt silly for even thinking anything was there.
A Whisper.
I wouldn't be so Sure.
Zero turned to his left quickly, searching for the source of the sound, his smile dropping
immediately, though he saw nothing. "Just my imagination."
Behind. You.
He whipped around eyes wide and round, expecting once again to see nothing, though he wished that could be a truth. A large mass of some kind, like a shadow, slowly moved closer.
He tried to move, to run, but he couldn't, he was simply stuck in place, watching as the form morphed into a fire, wisps of black smoke billowing from the top, black flames licking at the trees with a ravenous rage, in the center walked a morphing form of familiar faces, dripping wet yet still burning.
The shifting creature moved forward, reaching out a hand to him, touching his face almost gently, though the moment the hand made contact, the vision faded before him was a formless mass.
You're mine!
He swore the thing smiled as something pierced through his skin, crawling underneath, slowly moving beneath his skin and across his entire body, bringing with it unspeakable pain. He tried to pull the creature off, but he could not move, the sound of screaming ringing in his ears, it was only when his voice grew hoarse and painful that he realized the screams were his own. He stayed awake for most of it, feeling as if hours had passed, until the thing had completely dissipated, his body writhing in agony until the pain was too much, and he fainted, his vision going dark.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was already nightfall by the time Zero awoke, his body sore, blood staining his face, yet he felt no wounds. He felt dizzy and strangely heavy. He pulled himself up, covered
in mud and soaking wet, every inch of his body ached and groaned as he moved, the nightmare wasn't over, it was..
Inside.
It was inside of him, something was inside of him, he could feel it crawling under his skin. "Oh... oh God... what... what just happened... what's wrong with me... what happened to
me." He started to hyperventilate, his chest and lungs on fire from screaming until his throat was raw earlier. If not for that, he would have started to scream again. It was hard to breathe suddenly. He was panicking and couldn't calm down, bile raising in his throat. His face heating up, he felt nauseous. zero collapsed back to his knees, unable to keep the bile down. He vomited, cleaning out his system until all he could do was dry heave, falling sideways, feeling weak once more.
Why me?
He couldn't help but wonder to himself why this had happened to him. Was this some sort
of divine retribution? Had he done something to deserve this?
No.
He could have sworn he'd heard that same voice as before, the wearing static voice, filled to the brim with malice. Zero looked around him quickly, seeing Nothing. He must have imagined it, but to be safe, he waited a few more minutes to see if it would come again.
Silence.
He heard nothing, nothing except the pitter of rain on the leaves above. "It was nothing... but
it's right, it wasn't my fault, I was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time... but wait... what even happened?" He started to check over his body, tearing off his shirt and checking every inch of his skin. Everything looked normal, well for him at least, his body wasn't exactly normal, though it wasn't special either, just rare. Zero suffered from albinism, causing his body to lack pigment. Pale skin, red eyes, and white hair. Some found it disturbing or
creepy, some even calling him a demon. But zero didn't mind, though he was always more sensitive to the light, which could be annoying.
Nothing changed?
He let out a sigh of relief, looking up at the sky, it was so dark,and he should be getting home soon, not that he had anyone waiting for him, all of his family had moved on from this world, and he never found time to find a lover, he was always busy working or sleeping.
Pathetic.
He indeed lived a Pathetic life, no friends, no family, he was always too busy for all of that. Working a nine to five job, every day of the week except for Saturdays, in which he spent either running through the woods or hiking. He couldn't sit still for long, he never felt right, he needed to move, get up and do something. Anything. It's why he always walked to work. He needed to move.
That was right, he needed to get up and out of the forest, he couldn't just lay around here, he may not have anything waiting at home for him, but his warm dry house was better than this damp, cold forest. Pushing himself to his feet, he brushed off as much dirt and debris as he could, slowly he put on foot in front of the other, moving still hurt, he head still spun, making him dizzy and nauseous once more, but he brushed it off, not wanting to spend another minute in this godforsaken forest.
Left, right, left, right.
He put one foot in front of the other, walking carefully and trying not to look at the ground due to his head still spinning. Though that was a mistake on his part, if he had been watching where he was going, he might have seen the branch that would trip him up.
Crack.
He yelped as he went down, feeling his leg twist and the bone snap, tearing through his
skin. "Fuck!" He screamed out, tears rolling down his face, "fucking dammit! Fuck! Dammit!' He continued to scream obscenities as he pulled his broken ankle free. "Fuck!" He gritted his teeth, crying.
Now what?
What could he possibly do? He had no way to contact anyone, and had no idea how he was going to get out of here, as if to mock him, the rain started to pour harder, thundering down
through the cover of the trees, his temporary shelter now completely unreliable.
Why me?
He found those words echoing around his head again, putting him in a trance like state, or maybe that was just from the immense pain he was in, his world was fuzzy, he almost felt like he'd faint again.
How pathetic.
That voice, it sounded again, yet the source was nowhere in sight. "Where are you! What do you want" he yelled desperately at the sky, but no answer was given, though he swore he heard a faint laughter. "I'm not pathetic..." He looked at his leg, suddenly filled with adrenaline he grabbed a few sticks and ripped his shirt, wrapping up his leg tightly with the scrap of cloth, scrambling to find a big enough stick to support his weight. After about half an hour he managed to start limping at a slow pace, using the large stick to keep him up, though he had never broken a bone before and had no idea he wasn't supposed to put weight on it, he wasn't a doctor and had no medical knowledge, he was simply trying to survive.
Its under my skin.
He felt something squirm beneath his skin reminding him of what happened once more, causing him to toss the stick shaking and turning to look at his arm, where he'd felt the sensation, but the small motion had ceased, there was nothing to be seen.
Or is it just all in your head?
Once more that voice, which Zero was beginning to think wasn't actually his imagination, sounded once more. "Just shut up already! Stop it." He looked around for the makeshift walking stick he had tossed. Luckily it wasn't far and he was able to quickly retrieve it, continuing his slow journey, Luckily the end of the forest was near, and he'd soon make it back into town.
They can't help you.
This time he ignored the voice, walking out of the forest and into the outskirts of town, but he was still far from any doctors or help. So he continued to walk, and walk.
Just give it up.
Zero continued to ignore the voice, just walking mindlessly, he hadn't even noticed he'd made it into town yet, just mindlessly walking. There wasn't anyone awake at this hour, so he didn't bother knocking on any doors.
you won't make it.
He ignored the voice, but he knew it was right, he could already feel the adrenaline that had kept him going to this point wearing off, he felt his conscious slipping, but still pressed on, trying to get as far as he possibly could. Unfortunately, as far as he could, was only a few steps further, as he put his next foot down, his body gave, crumbling to the ground, his vision fading to black as he fainted for the second time today.
I tried to warn you

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Is this where it ends?

Zero was floating in a black void, nothing but darkness all around him, he felt nothing, just emptiness, unable to even move, his own thoughts even sounding monotone.
Welcome little rat, make yourself cozy, you'll be here awhile.
Shut up.
How rude, and after I was so polite as to greet you.
I don't want to hear it.
Are you going to be like this the entire time?
This is hell.
Wrong.
Then I am dead.
Wrong again.
Then what is this.
I dunno your conscious or something? I've only been here for a short time... it's kinda boring in here you know.
Are you the... the thing that possessed me?
Tried to.
There was nothing but silence for a few seconds.
I failed okay.
Then leave.
Easier said than done.
What a worthless ghost.
I'm not a ghost.
Demon.
Close, but not quite.
Then what are you.
I don't feel like telling.
Then who are you?
Irrelevant.
You're soulless.
Close enough.
Just leave already.
I cannot.
Why.
I do not know.
How do I get rid of you?
You could die.
Not an option.
Then you're out of options.
Am I trapped here forever...
No.
And how do you know?
You'll see soon.
There was a moments pause.
Times up.
Wha-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zero blinked awake, his blurred vision slowly starting to focus on a dirty white ceiling. His entire body still on fire, though his leg was numb."Oh he's awake!" A feminine voice said from somewhere close to Zero's left.
He looked over, blinking a few more times due to the harsh light from a window.
"Welcome back to the world of the living!" A female, most likely a doctor of some sort, quipped in a cheerful way. It was a joke made in poor taste, at least in Zero's opinion.
"W-where-" Zero tried to speak but his throat was so dry and hoarse that speaking was difficult.
"Don't worry, you're safe, here let's sit you up and get you something to drink, maybe some food too. You've been out for three days." She handed him a a glass of water, in which he slowly sipped.
"Wait, three days?" He nearly choked on his water.
"Yes. Three days, you were in pretty bad shape too, especially that ankle, poor thing." She almost sounded mocking in tone, pity dripping from every word. "Now then, care to explain what happened to you? Where you attacked?" She moved on, grabbing a clipboard and pen.
Zero shook his head a bit, his mind filled with fuzz, however his memories started flooding back. "Y-yes! I was! I was attacked in the forest!" He jumped up throwing his cup in his haste, causing it to crash into the medicine cabinet, shattering the glass, as well as a few medicine bottles.
"Sir! Please calm do-" the nurse started to say, but Zero cut her off.
"No! You don't understand! There was a monster! It turned into fire.... and then... and then... oh god... it's inside me... it crawled inside me! It's inside me, under my skin! You, you've gotta get it out."
"Sir, please calm down, there is no monster inside you." The nurse tried to calm him down once more, her expression practically screaming that he was insane.
"No! No! I'm not crazy! I'm not! It happened! It really did!" Zero shouted, drawing the attention of a few security guards who came to try and sort out the situation.
"We are going to need to detain him. He's lost his mind." One of the guards whispered.
"No! No Stay back! I'm telling you it's inside of me! You don't understand!" He started to panic, looking around and spotting the broken glass, he made a dive for it. "I... I... I'll prove it." He remembered what the thing inside him had told him.
I'd rather die than live with this thing inside me.
Before anyone could do anything, he dove the the shard into his chest, dragging it downward quickly, managing to split his chest clean open. However something unexpected happened, rather than blood, a static mist sprayed out of his chest.
Finally I'm fr- wait no! No stop! This wasn't supposed to happen. Why-
The shadowy creature was frozen in place, reducing to a fog before dissipating completely. However things didn't end there, as the ground would start to rumble, cracking as giant root like structures tore through the surface, impaling everything living, spreading across town, wreaking havoc.
Complete chaos.
Once everything had either fled or died, the roots retracted, slowly and gently wrapping themselves around Zero, who was no longer conscious, encasing him completely, before growing in size, forming into one, giant tree, that tore the building apart. Leaving the city dead and abandoned, for years to come.