Chapter 019 Hello Ego -1

Song Recommendation: Monsters by Ruelle

"AHHHHHH!!!" Delia's cries echoed off the hallow empty cellar walls surrounding her as tears continued to fall from her eyes

"STOP!!" She begged, trying to pull herself away — the barbwires wrapped around her skin tightened, increasing the tears on her body.

"AHH!!!" 

The snake-like barbwires moved on their own, tearing her flesh as she stared at the iron bars that imprisoned her.

"I beg you!" She whimpered, trying not to move. The thorns tore deeper. "AHH!"

"You can't escape me, Delia..." A dry whisper sounded from the wall, carrying a hint of mirth in its tone.

"You can't escape what you truly are..." The voice whispered as the wires gripped harder.

Delia sat there crying as new stream of blood ran down her wounded flesh. She sobs, trying to suck in the pain.

"DELIA!"

She snapped her head up, narrowing her eyes at the people behind the bars.

They were we friend; Eboh, Beatrice, Yusuf and Benjamin.

They were in the cell directly opposite her's, having their waist down buried in the concrete floor. 

They shouted, "DELIA! DELIA! DELIA, FIGHT IT!" 

A wire suddenly wrapped around her neck, piercing through her skin and sinking into her throat.

She screamed, letting out blood splatter through her mouth. She coughed, gasping.

"DELIA! DELIA, HOLD ON! DELIA!!" They cried out with worried expression, completely ignorant about their own plight but hers. She continued to cry as the wires tightening, causing her to groan.

Her friends kept screaming, gesticulating at her to fight it. Fight what? She was completely helpless.

She began to feel the energy drain from her body as a pool of her blood surrounded her.

Her eyes heaved weakness.

"DELIA!!!" They kept shouting.

Slowly, she then pulled her eyes open, lazily scanning their cell, as she felf her lungs beg for air.

She continued to whimper quietly till she heard echoes of footsteps from the left.

Turning to the left, a tall white man walked out of the corner. His right hand was in his pocket, while his left hand was held out, swinging something on his finger.

A single key.

Delia narrowed her eyes, struggling to observe him with her blurry vision. 

He was dressed in a white shirt with folded sleeves, black pants and shoes; all covered with blood.

He had raven disheveled hair and a long black phoenix tattoo running down his left arm. His head was faced down as he slowly walked to the center of the room to turn in Delia's direction.

Delia continued to stare, trying as much as possible to remain conscious whilst feeling the painful sensation worsening in each passing second.

The man continued to watch her as her eyelid weighed down. She looked at the man's lips to notice a sly grin.

Dragging her tired gaze up, she realised that the mysterious man's face was covered by an unnatural shadow cast; hiding his identity.

The man stepped forward to the bars of her cell. Her vision began to dim as the thorns dived in deeper. She hissed, trying to keep her eyes open. The man touched the door and slowly unlocked it.

Pushing the gate open, the man took a step in.

AHH!"

An iron stake drove through Delia's chest, shooting agonizing pain through her weakened body. Blood spilled out her mouth.

"AHHHHHH!!!"

"Ah!" Delia jumped off her pillow, grabbing her chest. She gasped, wiping the layer of sweat over her forehead.

Trying to lower the pace of her breaths, she turned to the side, picking up her Bible. She folded her legs to her chest, hugging the holy book on her chest.

She began to mumble her prayers.

Still shivering, she heard a crack sound from outside her window. She snapped her head to the side.

THUD!

Her Bible slipped and fell to the floor. Reaching down for the book, she heard a horsey voice from above.

"Feeeear", Quith hissed. Picking up her Bible, she looked up at her ceiling, sighting the dark swirling cloud.

She furrowed her brows.

Quith continued to creep over the ceiling, taking its sweet time to move from one end to another for pure entertainment.

"Smells good, doesn't it?" Delia frowned.

"Very good", it smiled.

"What do you want!?" She scowled. Quith didn't answer but continued to creep in a circle in his cloud form.

"You're slipping Delia. Slipping. You started to let your faith drop", it paused its movement. Delia tightened her grip on her.

"You forgot to pray today".

She sighed internally. She had preoccupied her mind with school and the day's event that she went to bed early, making the risky mistake of not saying her night prayers.

"You won't always be so strong, Delia", it began to swirl. "Sooner or later, you will become overconfident", he lowered himself to the wall.

"Too confident to hold up your faith and power. You will slowly start to... Fear", he crawled around on the wall.

Delia's expression finally loosened into a soft smile. She looked down at her Bible, placing her hand on it before shutting her eyes.

"Delia!" Quith called. She remained still not responding.

"Delia!" She didn't respond.

He groaned, darting itself at her "Deli--" Quith vanish into thin air.

She finally opened her eyes, letting out a sigh. She held her forehead on her palms, exhaling, "Don't let his words get to you, Delia", she encouraged herself.

Likewise, she rose her head, turning to the side to spot the folder from Dilen. "Why did I even carry you?" She picked it up, scanning it.

"Why?" She asked herself again. Her aim at first was to give him and walk away. But what exactly made her hand pick it up again?

"I'll just burn it tomorrow", she shrugged, tossing it to the floor.

• • •

Getting dressed for school, Delia picked up the books she spent most of her nights reading to shove them into her bag.

She looked in a mirror and picked up a hair brush.

"Pick it up..." A faint whisper ran in the air. She froze, slowly looking over her shoulder.

It wasn't Quith's voice — it didn't feel like him. Delia knew the presence of Quith and its other demons.

Looking back at the mirror, she began to brush her lowcut. "Pick it...", came once again. She snapped her head behind with a quizzical look.

She scanned her room from ceiling to floor, wondering what could be talking to her.

"Maybe for the first time it's actually my imagination", she hoped.

Finishing up, Delia then picked up her bag and walked to her door; a chill ran down her spine before she could step a foot out.

It was an unusual feeling. It wasn't something dark or unholy; Likewise, it was a completely different new feeling. Something she has never felt before.

She looked around her entire room, feeling a heavy weight on her heart that made her leaving uneasy.

When she tried to ignore it and walk out, it got stronger.

She shut her door in frustration, turning back to her room. "Okay, newbie, we die here!" She was being sarcastic.

She continued to look around her room, wondering what the whisper could possibly want her to pick up and why.

Still dragging her eyes around, her eyes accidentally fell on the floor below her bed. She spotted the folder and her brows knitted.

"No way", she mumbled, "You have to be joking...."