Dents

[+] Demon Days

((This chapter contains mature and potentially triggering material. Reader discretion is advised.))

Father Merrin.

That was the name on the card.

Father Merrin. Priest and exorcist. 1-800-666-GONE.
For all your spirit expelling needs.

I gazed at the cardstock for so long that I almost burnt a hole straight through it. The edges were worn and rounded. The area where it met my fingers was damp with sweat.

Russel added one final thought before I left his room for the evening.

"2D doesn't think he's possessed. For us to help him, he has to agree to go willingly."

I stared at the card.

The paper cranes hanging from the ceiling of my room swayed lazily back and forth. It was as if they were trying to garner enough momentum to rip free of the strings that tied them there. I lay on my back on the mattress, the sheets tangling around me like the tendrils of a hideous beast.

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in."

The door quietly creaked open, fluttering the cranes around aimlessly.

2D stood in front of me at the foot of the bed. I tucked the card beneath my pillow. I was waiting for the right time to broach the topic. I wasn't sure if it would ever come.

"Saoirse."

His posture was rigid. His tone was sharp, accusatory. I sat up, suddenly aware of the tension that followed him into the room. It clung to him like a toxic cloud.

"Saoirse, wha' did yew talk to Russel 'bout?"

A shockwave of fear travelled down my spine. The temperature of the room dropped dramatically.

2D wasn't himself.

"I was just wondering about some stuff, 'D. It's personal. Don't worry about it."

I didn't want to lie to him. It felt wrong.

"I fink yew're lyin' to me, Saoirse."

He crept onto the bed, crawling over me on his hands and knees. The way he positioned himself left me unable to move. My legs were pinned beneath his. My heartbeat pounded in my chest. I was powerless. I was reminded of how powerless I had always been.

"Why don't yew tell me wha' yew were really talkin' 'bout?"

His breath crept across my face. His jaw hung slack. His gaze roamed me like a predator sizing up his prey. The smoke in his clothes left a faint residue of nicotine in my skin. Even when his body was occupied by this presence, he had never tried to intimidate me before.

I was cowering. My blood ran cold. I was taken back to all of the other occasions where I was forced into submission, reliving them all as if they were happening concurrently. 

Russel explained that the spirit dwelling within 2D wanted to hide its existence from the band so that it could avoid being pushed out. In an effort to do that, it tried to behave as it thought 2D normally would. It was exceptionally bad at it, however.

Having failed to stay under the radar, it seemed that it had decided to drop the act entirely.

I wanted him off of me. I wanted to get away. My hands clenched onto the sheets. The knuckles of my fists turned white.

"Fine," I said, feigning bravery, "Then first, why don't you tell me who you really are?"

I squirmed beneath him, trying to wrestle my legs free from his.

He smiled at me. It was eerily close to the smile I had fallen so deeply in love with. With his teeth crooked and missing, his tongue dancing behind the gaps, his grin stretched halfway across his face, I nearly could have mistaken the thing inside of him for him. It terrified me.

"I'm 2D."

"We both know that's not true."

"I'm 2D," it repeated.

The statement came out like a recording. It spoke with the exact same inflection as it did previously. I watched it reassess, analyzing me with the eyes of the man I loved.

"You're not 2D. You're inside of him. Get out."

His onyx eyes shifted to a vivid, blinding white. His hands clasped around my throat.

The next thing I remember was waking up to Noodle screaming frantically in Japanese. 2D was lying against the brick wall of my room unconscious. He was upright, his lanky legs splayed haphazardly over the floor. His head hung limp.

Russel stood over him, gently shaking him once every so often. With a single finger, he pushed 2D's azure locks to the side. In the dark of his blackened eyes, he searched for something.

I tried to get up. I couldn't. If I attempted to force myself to my feet, I would certainly have collapsed. My hand trailed up to my neck. An aching sensation radiated from it.

"Hey," I choked out. My voice was hoarse.

"Hey, what happened?"

Noodle and Russel snapped their heads at me, their expressions bleak. It was obvious that neither of them wanted to be the one to explain the situation.

Relenting, Noodle sat on the bed and took my hand. Her gaze settled on a lamp that had fallen from my end table. It was shattered into dozens of ceramic shards. The fragments had become deeply embedded in the rug and the wide cracks of the floorboards.

"We heard a noise. It sounded like something had broken. We came to check on you and you would not answer. I let myself in. I was really only trying to ensure your safety, Saoirse-san."

I didn't understand. I urged her to continue.

"2D was on top of you. He looked like he was hurting you. I stopped him."

She sighed. I had never seen her look so defeated before.

"I did not mean to knock him out."

"It's fine, Noodle. He'll be fine," Russel assured her, "But how about you Saoirse? You okay?"

"I'm fine."

It was the second time I'd lied today.