4 Joke's on you

You must really enjoy winning your stupid game Lily. Am I just a muse to you? Here you are, dragging me into this fuckery and now you're asking you to save you?Save you from what? I'm the one who needs saving!

The only one I have in this world is Zion, don't get me wrong he's super annoying but...he's better to have around than a nobody who's out to get me. 

I don't know why I keep giving into your evil ways, it'll surely be the death of me. I don't want to hurt you, I truly mean it but life is a matter of life and death. 

If I died, does that mean you get to live life carefree? While I wither away?

Hahaha. The joke's on you.

A devious sneer crept up on my face as my blonde hair fell over my face.

How could I have been so foolish? Now was not the time to lay around and make friends with Zion, for all I know he could be designed the way you wanted him to be, funny, annoying and most importantly...sly.

Ever since that day, I've been avoiding Zion.

We've kept our distance and he finally knows to leave me alone. The longer I stay away from him, I can't help but feel depressed. Am I supposed to hide away in this world with no one to turn to?

Lily's turning my world upside down and leaving me to clean up her mess. She's infuriating me. My logic is being mocked and I'm feeling uneasy walking around with the thought that none of these people are even real. But what if they are? It hurts to even think right now.

But I won't let you win. I can't. 

Zion couldn't take it anymore.

"Lily, please talk to me," he pleaded.

I ignored him and began to walk faster.

I'm sorry that I couldn't explain this to him. I'm sorry I can't explain to him the monster you are. And I'm sorry I created the monster myself.

The wind howls through the streets as I walk, my thoughts stabbing me over and over again.

A dark figure caught the corner of vision.

My instincts told me to run but I was tired of running. Just as the figure came close behind me, gullible enough to think I didn't notice them, I turned around just in time to headbutt them.

"S-sorry missy if I scared you but I heading to that supermarket right there," the old man grumbled, rubbing his forehead with a scowl.

My face reddened with embarrassment.

I scanned his face, his face jolted a memory that I couldn't quite understand. 

"Wait...Lily aren't you supposed to be dead?" the old man asked, his voice trembling.

It felt as though time slowed down a bit. He...he knew? I scoffed and grabbed his hand and I walked with him to the supermarket, my guilt got the best of me.

We were now in the supermarket, things sure were expensive nowadays. I stared at the shelves, the prices could have given the old man a hard attack.

"You know Lily?" I asked.

He sniffled, "She was my granddaughter."

My heart clenched. Lily was this old man's granddaughter and I slaughtered her...and here I was talking to him.

The old man gave me a weary look, his wrinkles making it challenging to see how he felt about his granddaughter's passing.

"That river must have affected her soul," He assumed, "No wonder everyone thinks you're Lily."

He shook his head with disgust and got quiet.

"Caleb."

He reached for a carton of milk but it felt as though he got pleasure by drinking my soul instead. My face turned pale. I didn't tell him my name.

"How do you know my name?"

The old man didn't answer me. He just looked at me and continued collecting groceries in the trolley. 

I reached for my pursue. 

"I'll buy whatever you need," I offered, a lump forming in my throat.

"If you say so," he replied.

I wish I wasn't a nice guy. I didn't even look at the total when I swiped my card. I spent over six hundred dollars on this old man's groceries.

"Thank you Caleb," He said, shaking my hand to thank me, "I'm Mr. Alfred, and about that curse...I suggest you stay away from overly nice people."

"What, why?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Because you've been in a coma for three days Caleb and the longer you stay here, the harder it is for you to escape."

My hands trembled as I gripped the plastic bags full of overpriced groceries. 

"You liar!" I shouted, "If I'm in a coma then what is this?"

"The day you pushed Lily into Bloodwater Creek the curse began to spread, first it started with you seeing her, then hearing her voice and-"

"Ok ok I get it!" I interrupted, "Could you help me? Please?"

Lily's began to hum happily.

"She's humming!" I cried.

"That's not her that's the entity that now possesses your mind!"

Tears flooded my eyes.

"A what?"

"An entity. A parasite feeding on you and Lily's desire for revenge. It calls itself an assistant that amplifies your anger and grief but before you know it, you're being devoured whole." 

"No this isn't happening! I just wanted her to be all mine!" I cried.

Mr. Alfred's grip tightened on the trolley.

"Your possessiveness is exactly why it's getting stronger! You want to possess someone but you're throwing a fit when something wishes to possess your mind!" 

My vision blurred to her screams and the splashing of Lily's body into the river. 

The humming grew louder.

"Make it stop!"

Mr. Alfred reached into his coat and pulled out a small mirror. "Look at yourself. What do you see?"

My fingers curled around the mirror hesitantly. The person staring back at me wasn't Lily anymore.

Wild, hollow eyes, pale skin that stretched too thin. My blonde hair was matted like insects were slithering around. My lips were chapped and my pupils were dilated like I haven't slept in days.

"See? The entity is slowly becoming apart of you."

The mirror flickered with an ancient language that I couldn't understand then the mirror shattered in my hands.

Shards of glass fell onto the floor. 

Suddenly, items fell one by one off the shelves followed by the flickering of lights and the customers had unnatural grins.

Mr. Alfred grabbed my wrist. 

"You need to find Lily and wake up!"

"But how!" I screamed.

Something yanked me by the back of my collar.

I could feel the hairs on my neck stand up.

Footsteps echoed through the aisles, I swallowed hard, my eyes darting nerviously. I could hear the wind outside but it was drowned out by the clatter of a can falling from the shelf, rolling across the floor. I stared at the empty spot where the can once sat, only for it to roll back into place as if nothing had happened.

Then, there was a smell. It wasn't a rotten scent but it smelled like soketuing decayed. Like something long past its expiration date. The rows of cold, lifeless food stood like tombstones.

"He's here," Mr. Alfred uttered.

"W-Who's here?"

A distorted creature moved between the shelves and tugged Mr. Alfred's selve. When Mr. Alfred saw it, he boaed his head as though he was surrending himself.

"Mr. Alfred no!"

I was too late.

It ripped him limp by limp with its huge claws. Chewing

That's when the supermarket started to become distorted and I started to fall into a pit of darkness. I could hear the entity's dark laugh, its presence suffocating. But then, through the havoc, one thought crossed my mind...what if I never woke up from this nightmare?

And in that moment I realized...the real question wasn't how to wake up. It was whether I ever wanted to wake up again.

As I'm falling down this dark pit, I can't help but wonder, was I always this selfish? Always thinking I deserved everything I wanted around me. I thought I was just protecting myself, but was I really just a scared little boy hiding behind my anger and frustration?

The first time I saw Lily I disliked her friends. I hated the fact she kissed that bastard instead of me. But does that even matter anymore? I can't fix what I did to her, because I'm not a peacemaker.

Maybe that's the entity layched onto me. Maybe it knew my weakness all along.