Demons

Chapter Four: Angela

"Astrid." I take a careful step backwards with my hands up in the air: a sign of surrender. "Are you okay?" I obviously know she's not, but I just want to know how she feels.

Her head tilts to one side, just like a dog. "Of course I'm okay. In fact, I feel even better than normal. I feel," she takes a deep breath and looks down at her hands. She looks horrifying, like she's losing complete control of everything... Like she's losing control of herself. Her eyes grow darker, becoming more and more like an empty void as time passes by. Black fire burns brighter in her eyes. She finally looks back up at me, and says, "I feel strong. Like I could finally do what I want." She smiles evilly and turns her back to me, staring at her shaking hands. "I can finally do what I want," she whispers to herself.

I step back again, terrified of Astrid. I don't know what's wrong with her, I just know I need to do something. "Astrid. Ummm. Hey girly." I step back, and she takes a step forward. Astrid holds her hand out and a ball of fire appears in it. "Oh..." I say, dumbfounded. She turns and comes closer and closer, holding out the ball of fire, grinning. "See? I'm going to do what I want." She closes her eyes, taking a deep breath, and spins in a circle, smiling and tossing the fireball up and catching it. Suddenly she stops, her back to me. She jumps around, grinning crazily. "Whoops!" she says. "Wrong way." Astrid suddenly bursts into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, and she's staring me in the face the entire time. She can't stop, even doubling over while she continues. Suddenly she stands up, frowning, her eyes still pitch black, the darkness somehow oozing into her entire face. Her complexion has paled, and she looks like a monster. "What do I need you for? Nothing. Absolutely nothing," Astrid says. She holds up her hand again, the fireball still in it. She steps close to me, getting right in my face. I press up against the wall, squeezing my eyes shut and turning my face away. Astrid grabs my cheeks with her free hand, forcing me to turn towards her, to look in her face. She's as pale as the moon, and the inky blackness has slithered its way into her hair, turning it pitch black. Her lips are bloodred. I want to shut my eyes- I don't even know how they opened- but I can't. She grins. "It's hard, isn't it? Closing your eyes?" she asks. She turns all of a sudden, her back to me. "Go," says Astrid. "I have no use for you. Yet."

I freeze, not sure what I should do. Astrid whirls around, her expression murderous. "GO!" she screams. I bolt for the exit. I run and run and run until I collapse, face first on the ground. I feel groggy and disoriented. I slowly move my head behind me. I see Astrid staring down at me, a fireball burning in her hand. She bares her sharp teeth. A deep growl resonates from her throat. "I said: GO!" Astrid holds her trembling hand out as if to help me up. An unknown force lifts me off the ground. My neck goes straight into her hand, and she starts to squeeze. If I had ever imagined being strangled, it wasn't anything like this. The scenery around us starts to spin, until a wind is keeping us in the eye of Astrid's personal storm. Wind whips my hair around and tries to pull me away from Astrid. I look into my former best friend's face, and she smiles her sharp-toothed smile and says, "Maybe you'll understand this time. GO !"

I run, this time without falling. My legs might want to give out, but my mind has other ideas. I run along the street, desperately just wanting to get home. Just wanting to get away from Astrid. To get away from my best friend...