Broadwire

16: Freedom: Dakota & Jasmine

Dakota

I relived the nightmare too many times too count. It's always the same. Trenton, Jasmine, Sarah, and I sitting around the ouija board I knew so well. I didn't have control over my body, but I could just watch, as if it were a movie. Fear still filled me every time I was dragged into the woods. Into darkness, blackness as far as the eye could see. It was clear that humans hadn't made contact in a long time. Then, it restarted. Oddly, the scariest part was never shown. Just the beginning. I still could remember being pulled past the point of no return. Faintly, I could still hear Trenton's footsteps, no where near fast enough to catch up to what was pulling me. It fell like miles and miles before I had stopped. It was abrupt though, I just stopped moving and hit the ground. I heard a snap, my leg and cried out in pain. No one came to my rescue though. I recognized the area well. It was a path that looked like the ones I used to play on when I was a kid, the ones by my old house. They were endless here though. Every time I walked through the trees to where my house should have been, I was back on the trail. Everyday, food and water would appear. That was my life for seventeen years. I only knew that because of the rock I found. I could count days by drawing tally marks in the trees. I tried to use it to slit my wrists, I couldn't take the nothingness any longer. My skin wouldn't open though. I tried to not eat, but when I slept, the food would be missing as if I slept ate in the night.

I watched the memory again, and felt the pain in my chest from the fear I was put through. After watching it this time though, my eyes, started to blacken. Was I dying? Was I being freed from this hell? A different image appeared in my vision though. A dark row of people including: Jasmine, her family, and a few police officers. And in the back, Trenton's parents. I saw Jasmine starting to wobble, and she fell backwards, just like I had done.

"Dakota?" she asked, still confused because of the situation.

"Yea, it's me. Have you been watching a memory?" I asked, assuming we were facing the same punishment. I assumed it was for using the ouija board. I knew it had something to do with that monster that I had seen for that brief few seconds before Jasmine had- and I remembered what she had.

"You shot me?" I asked, feeling my shoulder and skull, which both felt ordinary enough. Not like they had been shot.

"That wasn't me. It was Emeril. It's had control over me for a while. I'm so sorry, we're both dead I think," she said, and I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. I was feeling sadness, but could only express tranquility. I didn't know why though. I was looking at Jasmine and what sounded like a gust of wind exploded from the high roof. I spun around to see a giant monster with an elongated face. Something that looked suspiciously like blood dripped from his hands.

"Emeril?" Jasmine asked, using the same name that she used when talking about her possession.

"This is the possessor? You're a demon I guess," I said to the monster with a smiling face. Creepily though. It sent a chill through my spine.

"Yes, that would be me. I'm Emeril. You'll know abou-" but he stopped as if he realized something he had previously forgotten, "Well, you'll see something," Emeril said, laughing.

"Why are you laughing?" I asked, but he just shook his head, still laughing.

"Are you ready to leave this hell?" It asked, and I just stared at it.

"Did you put us here?" but Emeril was gone, leaving two small keys. I walked over to one of them and touched one of the keys and I was gone and in a forest. Trenton was standing in front of me, with Brie crying behind him. I hadn't seen Brie in a long time, but it was definitely her. And I understood why she was crying. I saw the dead, distorted body of who I assumed to be her husband. Maybe even Cayden, I didn't know if they were still together though. The body of a small kid too, maybe a nine year old, who I presumed to be her child. Sarah's body was also there, her insides now on the outside. Trenton was standing, Sarah's blood on his hands where he had tried to comfort her through her death. Hopefully he hadn't killed her himself. He saw me and the tears started to poor.

"Dakota?" he said through tears, he fell to his knees and I walked up to him. Jasmine appeared behind me, out of thin air.

"Yea, it's me," I told him, but he only started crying louder.

"Jasmine! Dakota! No! You can't-" he started to say, but I started disappearing. So did Jasmine. "No! Not you too! Please!" he yelled. Before I knew it, I was starting to completely disappear. Jasmine following suit.

"What's happening?" we both said. Then we were gone.

Jasmine

I murdered my family over and over again. It wasn't really me, just like when I originally did it. I was watching now, feeling everything I did. The skin of my mother always harder to tear through. My dad's brains blowing all over Lily. And Lily, she was crying on the ground, curled up into a ball. Her skin was always so soft. I would drive it through her small temple and the memory would restart with me leaving Brie's house. I used to be sad, or whatever I could while I was watching this, but now I just watched. It must have been a month or so into it when my vision started going black. It felt like I was yanked out of the memory. I fell back and I was in a dark corridor. I turned and saw who I thought to be Dakota.

"Dakota?" I asked him, quite sure I already knew the answer to my question.

"Yea, it's me. Have you been watching a memory?" he asked me. We must have both been put under the same curse or spell. I turned back around and recognized the other people. It was my family. The ones I had been forced to kill. I felt sad, but could only show being calm. Not by my choice, but as if I was still being slightly controlled.

"You shot me?" he asked, and I remembered what Emeril had done. It technically wasn't even me who shot him in the head, but it was me who shot his shoulder. He grabbed his shoulder and skull to just feel them.

"That wasn't me. It was Emeril. It's had control over me for a while. I'm so sorry, we're both dead I think," I said, and he just looked at me with a tranquil expression. I looked up at a noise we both heard, and immediately recognized Emeril.

"Emeril?" I asked, trying to sound mad, but with the state of calmness I was in, it just sounded like I was confused.

"This is the possessor? You're a demon I guess," Dakota asked, and I realized that he didn't know not to call Emeril a gender. I saw the look on E's face, as if wanting to be called one just so Dakota could die a painful death. I was praying to every religious figure I could think of. Then to the universe. I couldn't watch Dakota die again.

"Yes, that would be me. I'm Emeril. You'll know abou- Well, you'll see something," E said, laughing with mischief.

"Why are you laughing?" Dakota asked, but he didn't reply with anything but the shake of a head.

"Are you ready to leave this hell?" E asked, knowing are answer couldn't have been no.

"Did you put us here?" Dakota asked, but Emeril was already gone, and on the ground he left two keys. Dakota touched one of the keys and he was gone.

"What the hell?" I asked to no one in particular. I went to grab the other and remembered my family. The ones I had slaughtered against my will. I turned to look at them one last time before I was free. I noticed Trenton's parents were here too. Had I killed them too? I pushed the thought to the back of my head. It was too terrible to even consider. I touched the key and saw Dakota and Trenton in front of me. Brie behind Trenton, crying.

"Yea, it's me," Dakota said to a question Trenton asked that I hadn't heard. He was now crying harder than he was than we I showed up.

"Jasmine! Dakota! No! You can't-" and with that, Dakota and I started to disappear. "No! Not you too! Please!" he screamed, but we were fading fast.

"What's happening?" Dakota and I both said, but before we knew it, we weren't there anymore.