A Monster Inside by Baron Blackwell

Author:Baron Blackwell [Blackwell, Baron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-04-02T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

Eyes lifeless, Erik stared up at the shadows pooled above him. His thoughts drifted in scattered fragments, slipping further and further from his grasp, and if not for the lumpy mattress beneath him, he would have been lost. The bed grounded him, centered him in the now.

What seemed like an eternity later, the splintered thought-shards coalesced. With them came his lost memories. Erik recalled, with vivid detail, being chased into a forest of white redwoods by a pack of dire wolves. More importantly, he remembered Dara, his first love, and the tragic history of their relationship. Now the fragmented memory of. . . . The sound of weeping pulled his attention from his past and onto the room’s other occupant. Hanna.

Which one do I love more? The thought slashed through Erik’s mind. Which one do I have to kill?

Hanna lay with her head resting on Erik’s chest, and though his heart no longer pumped blood, he could still sense her tears spill onto his skin. They ran down his stomach and pooled in his navel. “How much torment can one heart take?” she asked, sobbing.

Erik willed his heart to beat, but it refused. He snarled to himself and listened to Hanna while his body remained devoid of all outward signs of life.

“The world is cruel, it cares not for our pain,” she said. “And who can blame it? What wretched creatures we are, so frail and full of false fury. We’re all cursed, in love. In life. We’re just too stupid to see it.”

There was something in Hanna’s hand, something hard and cold pressing against his chest. Hanna straddled him, thumbing a vicious-looking knife. No, don’t do it! His consciousness shook, and he struck an invisible fist against an imaginary mountain. A mountain as real as any other, although it existed only within his mind. Hanna, don’t!

“This Age will be our last. When it ends, there will be nothing left but weeds.” She laughed. “The Fifth Age, the Age of Weeds.”

Erik reached deep within himself and struck out. The mountain quaked beneath his palms. He would not allow Hanna to take her own life. He would not!

She rested the tip of the dagger to her chest and closed her eyes.

A mental howl reverberated through Erik’s skull, and the imaginary mountain shattered. He gasped, and a burst of air swirled into his mouth, inflating his lungs, stretching his chest. His body convulsed, and saliva mingled with black and scarlet retched its way out of his throat, throwing Hanna off of him.

Taken aback, her eyelids snapped open. “Erik! Are you. . . .” She reached out a hand to touch him but stopped it half way.

Erik smiled up at her, and the Dark One’s words rattled through his mind. Kill the one you love the most and free yourself. Refuse, and you will remain here for all eternity.

“You’re alive! You’re alive.” Hanna threw herself at Erik and enfolded him in her arms.

None of this is real. Erik grunted from the tightness of Hanna’s embrace.

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