The Possession-Draft 1

Chapter 6

As the had smoke entered his body, Chim's world turned to an endless expanse of grey mist. The cold muck was gone, and he floated weightless in the fog. There was a sound like the heavy thrum of a massive heart beating, and a tiny flickering light appeared in the distance. He felt himself being tugged towards it, voices in the mist whispering his name, becoming louder the closer he got to the light. His vision shifted, everything becoming a blur, and he found himself standing at the end of a table. He looked up, seeing Dracul, Noc, Marc, and Iblis talking over something on the table. There was a familiar pair of boots peeking out from under a white sheet, and it was then he realized he was no longer in his body, and he looked down at himself, gasping in surprise. Quickly, he touched his shirt and then his hands moved to his face. Both felt normal, as they once were before the fiend took control. He seemed solid enough, but when he tried to touch the table, he stumbled and almost fell as his hand went straight through it.

Iblis suddenly raised his head, and looked directly at Chim. He took a step back, surprised the banshee could see him, "Can...can you hear me?"

Iblis's lips didn't move but Chim still heard his voice, "Yes. I don't think the others will be able to see you though. Well, except Shadow." Shadow manifested next to Iblis, appearing more humanoid but just as dark as ever, and gave Chim a friendly wave.

Chim furrowed his brow and looked at the obscured table, "What's happening now?"

"I am going to remove the parasite from your body. I had to put you and it to sleep in order to proceed."

"...Let me see..."

"Chim, your body has been terribly ravaged by this entity, do you really want to see?"

Chim swallowed hard, "I don't care...let me see."

Iblis sighed, and shifted his wings, giving space for Chimney to walk behind him. He couldn't hide the concern in his face however, even as he busied himself with a bowl of burning incense.

Chim circled around to the head of the table, the Goat hadn't examined himself in the mirror since the day he had locked them into the Eye Room, and Chim couldn't help but wonder what had changed since then.

"Oh my god..."

He was cold bones and pale grey skin, his pants creating a gap at his waist from the amount of weight he had lost. The stomach mouth was closed tight, skin pulled back so tight and puckered around the teeth that bleeding cracks had begun to form. His ribs formed shadows under the light of the chandelier. His arms were tendons and veins, his hands looked almost too large for them. His fingertips were gone, replaced with long bone claws that had left deep scrapes in the wood of the table. His eyes had sunken deep into his skull, his skin over his cheekbones dry and flaking. His lips were pulled over his rusted and bleeding teeth in a grimace. Two bruise-colored lumps were under the skin of his forehead, and parts of his hair had been replaced with coarse strands.

He stumbled back from the sight, turning his head away. He couldn't believe it, he wouldn't. It had to be a trick of the Goat's. But he turned his sight back onto the monstrosity on the table .He touched his own face once more as he looked upon the sunken cheeks of his ravaged body. He slunk back into the shadows, remaining quiet, but keeping his eyes on the table.

Shadow returned, wheeling behind it a tea tray laden with various bottles, cutting implements, bits of hose, bandages, jars, and other medicinal items from both the worlds of the mundane and the not so mundane. Along with these were a pile of clean white linens. Iblis delicately laid one over the stomach mouth, and began to carefully clean the skin above it.

His movements were far gentler now, even as he jabbed a needle into Chim's arm, connecting him to a glass bottle. Reddish fluid swirled within it, creating what looked like a small nebula. Dracul turned his head, "An IV? What is in it?"