The Possession-Draft 1

Chapter 4

Kira clasped her hands in front of her on the table. Between all of them she had managed to piece together all that had happened. The last thing she could remember was falling asleep on Chim's bed, only to be woken up by something...something else entirely. She couldn't explain it in a way that made sense, that it was Chim's body but everything was so wrong about him. She shivered and pulled the steaming cup of tea closer. She tried to bite back the tears that were forming, she knew Noc and Dracul didn't trust Chim, and they had never cared for him, but she knew in her heart of hearts that Chimney would never had hurt her by choice. Iblis seemed to be the one who understood the nature of her relationship with the demon, and she looked up at him, "What happens now?"

Iblis gave her a concerned look, and gently took her tiny hands in his, "You will have to spend some time with my people. You are one of us now, and a vessel of one of the Mothers of our race, you will have to learn to harness the new gifts she has given you, and it will give your mind time to heal. Coming back from death is a traumatizing event, especially in cases where the death is so highly emotionally volatile and...violent...", he sighed, "But it is not permanent. Just a little time away..."

"What about Chimney?"

"We will keep an eye out for him, and we will find out what is going on. You have my word Kira."

She sighed, looking around at the worried faces of those who cared for her, "Okay...I'll go..."

It had been almost an entire week, and he had never felt so exhausted. Several times he had fallen asleep, only to wake up huddled in the corner of the ceiling like a trapped insect within a web. He panicked, wishing this was part of a nightmare. He then wondered with fearful curiosity as to how how he'd get down again, only to hear the Goat's laughter as he felt himself go limp and plummet 10 feet to the ground.

Wakefulness had no respite, as he was assaulted with visions...memories not his own. Scenes of beings across the universe offering up their children in sacrifice to a dark and hungry god who was never satisfied. The screams of burning victims echoed in his mind and he was witness to the reaping of entire worlds and galaxies, the hunger never ceasing even with the devouring of millions. He witnessed horrors upon horrors, and at times the Goat would take him, only to contort his body in unnatural ways, making it clear that he saw Chim only as a plaything, a means to an end.

Chimney was on his cot, his arms crossed over his face. He was shaking, whimpering, trying to wake up from a deep sleep brought on by the parasite draining him with its ceaseless growth, feeding off of his anger, sadness, and fear.

He was trapped in a nightmare, the void beasts bursting from his surroundings to pin him to the cot. His heart was racing uncontrollably, feeling like it was about to burst, and he howled in pain as he felt something squeeze hard around it. His head was thrown back in agony as something stabbed out from under his ribs and chest, snapping bone and ripping muscle. He looked on in horror as a hand broke through his chest, reaching out and grabbing onto his throat even as he screamed. Another hand appeared out of his ravaged chest, followed by a horned head as the parasite within him pulled itself from his body. It pulled a blood-soaked membrane from its head, revealing an animalistic parody of his own face that grinned at him, "How does your fear taste Chimney?"

Chim woke up, screaming and clutching at his own chest. A burst of miasma escaping his lungs as he heaved, trying to get his heart to stop thundering. He rubbed his face. It had been several days already, and he was overwhelmed with exhaustion and hunger. 

A fell voice broke the silence, chuckling, "What's wrong Chimney? Had a bad dream?"

He recoiled for a moment as a sudden stench hit him. It was if he was standing in a vast battlefield in the pits of Hell. Full of charred corpses, rusted metal, rotted blood, fecal matter, and moldering garments. He reeled, clinging to a wall for support, and as he gagged he tasted blood in his mouth. He spat and was horrified to find teeth in the blood at his feet. He lifted a hand, feeling inside of his mouth, and cried out in surprise as he felt his fingers meet jagged edges where his own teeth once stood.