Midale

Chapter Sixteen: Possession and Control

The blade hit my shoulder, just missing my chest. I shouted out in pain as my hand enclosed around the hilt of the dagger embedded in my shoulder blade. I knew better than to try to pull it out and staggered back. The excruciating pain shot through my body and hot tears found their way into my eyes. My knees finally buckled under me and I descended to the ground. My back hit the ground with a thud and I groaned in pain once again.

"You. Need. To. Run." The boy, who couldn't be much older than me, painfully let out. It was obvious to see his reluctance in every step he took towards me, but the situation was nowhere near making sense to me.

I tried to crawl away but every movement hurt, until I couldn't move back anymore and hit the hard bark of a tree.

He didn't stop.

He had no more weapons but his hands were more than enough to end my life which was already starting to seep out of me in the form of my blood, which slowly flowed out of my wound. Now I knew it was the right call to leave the dagger inside me. If I took it out, I would undoubtedly bleed to death before anyone could notice my absence. Finding me here was an even longer shot.

"You don't wanna do this." I stated the obvious which went to no avail as he continued on his way to me, now only a few inches away.

"I can't stop myself." He let out through gritted teeth. It was like it was someone else's body and someone else's mind. He had no control over his own body. How was that possible? And even if it was, then who was controlling him?

The questions flowed into my mind, while I tried to wreck it for a way out. Only I knew that there was none. I also knew that I couldn't be selfish. If he could hurt me then he could and would hurt everyone else on the camp. No one was safe. Not unless I could do something about it.

He stopped in front of me and then bent down to my level, both his hands outstretched and already reaching for my throat. In a swift motion, I yanked the dagger out of my shoulder.

It hurt like hell.

I didn't have time to cry over my agony and struck the dagger inside his arm, as hard as I could. It was his turn to cry out in shocked pain. My next move was to kick him away as my other hand rose to cover my now open wound.

His face contorted with a roller coaster of emotions but then settled on an unfamiliar snarl. It was safe to say that whatever little remained of the real person was taken over by the thing currently trying to gut me alive. He ripped the dagger out of his bleeding arm and I realized that I had not succeeded in making a very deep cute. Not deep enough to cause real damage.

The bloodied dagger was now forgotten on the similarly blood-stained patch of green grass beside him as he charged at me. Both of us hit the ground, him on top. He wasted no second in landing a hard blow to my face and then cupping them around my neck. My own hands came over his but they were no good. He squeezed the air out of my lungs and a fiery sensation rose up in my throat.

My feet thrashed under me but I could already feel the energy dying down as I lost the power to fight back. My head dropped back and my eyes began to shut as my body gave into the pain. And then the strangling hands were gone.

My eyes didn't open but I was conscious enough to feel the maniac still on me. His hands though, were elsewhere. In a matter of seconds he got off me. My brain was starting to drift away but a familiar voice kept me hanging.

I forced myself to open my eyes. There in front of me, was surely a familiar young boy dressed in the same red sweatshirt I had seen him in earlier that day. The thing that was unfamiliar about him was the expression he wore on his face.