Nightmares Within Me

Night 6

The creature came back much sooner than I hoped it would and when Ryder saw it he help me impossibly closer, trying to prevent it from taking me from him. When the creature tried to take me Ryder began to try and fight him, failing when the creature punctured him and made another hole, this time on the thigh of his good leg. I watched, again, as the skin sank and disappeared. I thought it had been bad back where I sat but being up close was by far worse. The smell that came along with it was like nothing I had come across. It was foul, worse than death and burnt your nose and throat as you breathed. It was not anything that could come from something normal, only reassuring me that we wouldn't make it out alive because even if we did these injuries would kill us in due time. I realized that he would just keep hurting Ryder if I didn't return so I turned in his arms and hugged him, one last time holding onto him like he was a lifeline. It was all I could do at this point.

" Even though you won't remember after this that I was here know that I love you. With everything I have left I love you,"I whispered and kissed his cheek before trying to stand and walk back. I was still shaky so the creature grabbed my arm and escorted me back to my chair, keeping his nails far from my skin.

" At least you're doing something decent now,"I ground out. The only response I got was a hiss, this time out loud and not in my head. It was now weird to not hear it in my head,

" Watch it, you do one thing to hurt her and you'll regret it," Ryder ground out from across the cell. I laughed little.

" Yes love, because you in you're crippled state will do so much," I joked. Ryder stuck out his tongue at my pointed joke but I got a semi-smile out of him before the barrier was replaced. Panic set in his mind and I looked at the creature.

" Let me say one more thing, please," it shook its head, " It's the least you can do, I've had to endure all of this. I at least want to tell him I'm here and I'm ok, at least grant me that,"I said. Its shoulder seemed to slump but it nodded.

" Hey love, I'm here. I'm ok," I said, he seemed to relax and he nodded his head. The creature disappeared and I was once again left in my chair. Ryder's eyes glossed over minutes later and I knew that he had lost his memory now. I cried. I cried because I knew that I would probably never get to hold him again or see him laugh, or anything beyond these walls and what they had to offer. It was a torture that I had to endure and that should have broken me already, that's probably what the creature expected. That I would break easily. It must not know that you can't break something that is already shattered. This, yes, is painful and horrible to watch and I hate it and it's killing me, but it isn't breaking me. I'm already broken. I was broken before I came in here and would be just as broken when I leave, but I'll leave peacefully at least. We all would.

I began counting again and watched as hours past and Ryder stared blankly at a wall. He seemed to do that a lot lately but who could blame him, they wasn't much else to do in this wicked place and I was about to fall asleep when i heard him mutter something. I had almost missed it had my ears not been listening to every noise in this small room.

" I love you too," he said. I hung my head. The creature had been gracious enough to leave at least that memory of me to him. I whispered it back knowing he couldn't hear me. I fell asleep and had a feeling somewhere in me that I was not going to wake up to anything good.

I was jolted awake by screaming. Pure, agonizing screaming. It was the most terrifying thing I had seen yet. I woke up and saw what was happening and had I ate anything in the recent day's everyone would know what it was right now. Ryder was still chained to wall except it had changed. Think Jesus nailed to a cross and that's what this looked like except chained to a wall. Is feet were barely touching the ground and the creature was poking his already gaping wounds, making them bigger. Ryder was screaming in pain and I sat and watched as more blood began gushing from his wounds, though it wasn't affecting him it was still not a sight I would wish for anyone to see. It didn't stop there. It ran its nails along the length of his legs, slicing them down to the bone but not leaving any of the residue that it would leave when it poked him. All the muscle and skin and what little fat there was now hung off his body. It did that to the entire whole of his leg, both sides, the front, and back of both legs. Ryder was screaming, his voice breaking at times and some points no sound even came out. That is the worst sight, to see him screaming in such agony and pain but no sound comes out because the pain is so immense. It was what finally got me. I began throwing up, only seeing blood come up. It was not normal, but I didn't care. I kept throwing up as the creature moved onto his other leg and did the same thing. Ryder, no longer able to hold himself up, was now using all the strength in his arms and core to stop from sagging. The creature seemed to notice and take note of it because it moved to his shoulders, slicing down to the bone on one and a light flesh wound on the other. One shoulder the whole bone was exposed and cut due to its nails and the other one had blood gushing and flowing uncontrollably from it. Despite the pain and wounds he still held himself up, to the best of his ability, and the creature growled. We both heard it. Ryder cringed a little and I began to fight my restraints again as I fought to get out and to him. The creature then decided to make it all worse. It started by smashing and shattering Ryder's knees, making him slack in pain but he recovered and held himself up again. The creature simply smiled a sick, sadistic smile and following that smile was a pop and snap. I looked up to see that one of Ryder's shoulder had been dislocated and the bone now sticking out of where it had been visible before, while the other one was in splinters. Either Ryder was in so much pain he didn't feel it or he had given up yelling at it because he didn't really seem to have a reaction. The creature then moved on to his abdomen. It began slashing apart his torso. It was left in hanging flaps of skin and placed that looked like they had been attacked by an ax or chainsaw. It was sickening and I threw up again, more blood coming out.

The creature decided that even that wasn't enough and broke a couple ribs, allowing me to see the exposed and broken bone through the slashes in his stomach, the blood now pooling around his feet and seeping to every corner of the room that it could. The blood at one point got to my chair and pooled around me and I looked down to only be met with my own reflection. My reflection in his blood. That reflection reminding me that this was my fault. That his blood was now on my hands and no one else's. It was enough to make the creature leave and as it did that sick sadistic smile turned on me. That night exhaustion hit me like a train, but I didn't sleep more than thirty minutes, those images and that smile haunting my every thought.