CHAPTER 11

"Ah!" I gasped suddenly jolting from the dream I just had. I could have sworn I remembered every detail, but in an instant –bam— it vanished, just like that. Probably because the last time I probably had a dream was before the demon possessed me.

Oh! shit! The demon's still within me.

I'm starting to feel more like myself, which is probably why I forgot that the stupid demon is still in me.

"I can hear that," Zephyr's voice echoed in my head, and for the second time, it didn't hurt. Wow... Does that mean he then makes his voice on purpose just to hurt me?

Then something flickered in my mind. Yeah, I'd seen a man in my dream. I began to wrestle with the memory, struggling to bring it back into focus. Argh, why couldn't I just remember? I sat up abruptly frustration bubbling inside me.

"Go back to sleep, or I'll make you," Zephyr growled.

"You can't" I shot back more confidently than I thought I could. My heart raced as I pushed back against Zephyr's control, feeling the rush of adrenaline for the first time in what felt like forever. I wasn't even sure why I was arguing but it felt good –like a small victory.

Then, out of nowhere, something flickered in my mind.

"Wait... yes" I muttered to myself.

"I remember now." The dream came flooding back. There was a man with orange eyes. I am beginning to remember... Orange, fiery eyes that kind of sparkled. His hair was waist-length and glowy black—the smoothest kind. His nose was the perfect shape, his lips the freshest pink, his ears the most astonishing curve. His height was just perfect, and when he smiled, his teeth glowed.

Then I forgot what happened again.

Argh! Who was this man? What was he doing in my dream? I haven't dreamt in forever—why am I dreaming now? Or is this another one of Zephyr's tricks? This obviously one of Zephyr's tricks. I am not going to fall into one of his crazy traps.

Oh no! He probably heard me think weirdly about the weirdo he made appear in my dream.

"Arachna, sleep" Zephyr whispered. Oh hell no, he did not just whisper. The demon did not just whisper. The demon whose voice made my whole body weak due to how loud it was did not just whisper.

What the hell is happening to it? To him?

"Sleep, I said" his voice became scarier, but not so much louder.

"I'm trying to remember my dream! I missed having dreams; I have to remember it" I said out loud to him.

"Or is this one of your mischievous plans again? Just so you know, I am prepared for whatever you are planning."

"Wow" Zephyr replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm, but there was something else there, something heavier. It wasn't just sarcasm; it was laced with a strange heat, like he was genuinely amused, but in a way that felt... different.

The tone hit me harder than I expected, and I blinked, startled. That's when it struck me—where was the numbness? Where was the void that used to swallow everything? I hadn't felt anything like this in what seemed like forever. Not fear, not pain, not joy, not even anger. Nothing. But now? Now I could feel... something. Not fully, not in the way I used to before Zephyr took over, but flickers—faint echoes of what I once knew.

What's happening to me?

It was like parts of myself were coming back, but not completely. Just enough to remind me of what I'd lost. The laughter, pain, sadness, regret, anger, fear, joy—all of it. They weren't fully here, but they were creeping back in, like shadows on the edge of my mind.

"Don't worry, I'll free you" Zephyr said.

"You're leaving?" I asked with hope.

"Of course not" he scoffed.

"I'm stuck with you forever."

His words echoed, ringing in my head over and over again.

Stuck with me forever?

Hell no.

That couldn't be what Valtor meant by "stuck."

Zephyr couldn't be stuck in me.

He has to leave.

He has to.