The Affection Test.

Chapter 13

I opened my eyes to a dark room. The warm hospital blanket pressed against me softly and sustained a feeling of drowsiness. I sat up in my bed and scanned the room.
My head snapped in the direction of the bathroom door right in front of my bed. It opened slowly, the light of the bathroom caused the silhouette of the person inside to have no features whatsoever. I stayed quiet as he drew closer to my bed.
"Egon. I'm trying to sleep... you need to go to sleep too."

     The silhouette stepped closer- still not speaking. This time it got up next to the left side of my bed. My heart started to beat rapidly out of my chest and I felt like I had lost all feeling and control of my body. Felt myself lift off of the hospital bed. I locked in and focused on the silhouette. Upon closer inspection, it looked as if it had no features. If it was a person it would have the light from the bathroom shining off of its face. It was so dark it looked like it could swallow light with its presence. I turned over to look at Egon's bed- he was sleeping soundly on his back. I looked back over to the figure to see a twisted face right next to mine. It seemed to unhinge its jaw and expose rows of teeth and a long thin tongue. I felt everything around me slow down and I couldn't control even the smallest of movements my body could make.

     Everything went white-

   I woke up inside my bedroom of my creepy four-roomed apartment. In my bed. I was breathing heavily and sat up to feel a sharp pain in the back of my neck. I reached over to touch it and felt a warm liquid spread on my hand. I examined my hand to see blood smeared all over my hand.
     I looked back at my pillow and there was a big dark red spot where my head laid. Who knows what time it was. It could have been days or weeks. I completely lost track of time. So I decided to go outside and possibly go back to Headquarters to see if anyone was there. So I grabbed my coat and headed out the door, not wasting a moment of time.

When I got down to the station Ray and Winston were outside smoking cigarettes. Winston was the first to spot me, but Ray got to me before Winston could even get up. He ran up to me and slammed into me with a hug. I was so shocked in his actions but I couldn't help but imagine what kind of stress I must have caused him and everyone else. I hugged him back and his voice was shaking.

"... We were so worried about you. Where were you?!"
"I was at the hospital... and I just woke up in my apartment..."

I purposely left out the tiny detail of the evil demon that almost bit my head off. He put his hands on my cheeks and held my head and looked into my eyes. We both looked down at his white collared shirt and noticed a dark red smear on the sleeve. He looked back up at me and went behind me and moved my frizzy hair out of the way.

"Oh my God..."

He took my hand and dragged me inside. He looked back at me and his face was white and fear was written all over it. Winston looked terrified too. I was so confused I was just mumbling nonsense.

"Whatidya... howbliga... lestufidja.. WHAT IS GOING ON?!"
"We're going to run tests. Right now. We have no time to lose."

     We went into the lab and Ray sat me on a chair and started putting sticky things on my temples and all around my head. Winston looked up at me as he flicked a needle and held my arm.

"Hope you're not scared of needles."

    Before I could say anything he stuck it in my arm and drew my blood. He took the needle out, wrapped it up, took my other arm, and stuck in an IV.

"Nope. I'm not scared of 'em. But don't do that again without telling me when."
     "Well usually it's easier when you catch them without knowing... Or without telling. I don't like to fight with people when I have a needle."

     Ray came up to me and took my hand. He had even less color in his face and he just looked almost transparent.

     "Charlie... what happened at the hospital. Tell me everything. Every last detail."

Twenty minutes later.

     Both Ray and Winston were shocked. Winston shifted his stance and turned to Ray.
"Sounds like possession to me... what do you think, Ray?"

I got confused and worried. Possession?! Could it be the demon next to me? Is that why I woke up in my apartment?! I wanted answers and I wanted them now.

"Sounds to me like the demon that is attached to you is the same demon that attacked Egon. It must be attached to the apartment as well. The blood on the back of your neck just solidifies it, demons almost always enter a human body through the back of the neck to possess it. Or it needs you for something... but im not exactly sure what it was... One second I will be back."

Ray left the room and came back with a book that had strange markings on the top and underneath that a subtitle that read "Demons of this world" he flipped through the pages and stopped towards the back of the book. He turned the book in my direction and asked,

"Was that him?"

My stomach churned and my hands went clammy. Its long pointy tongue, the rows of razor sharp teeth, the lack of a nose... I looked at the top of the page and read the name out loud.

"Apep..."

I felt chills go up my spine...

Ray took the book back and read the description of the demon.

"Apep, the personification of Evil, in Egyptian mythology, he was often seen as a giant serpent, snake, or man- depending on who or how he wanted to possess. A powerful demon that hides in the night, and was said to always be successful in possessing someone to fulfill his need of a human soul, or if he
finds a soul powerful enough- try to control the living and have the dead walk among us."

I suddenly want to move out of my creepy four-roomed apartment.