Built From Ash - Sequel to Burned Out

Chapter 14: Control

Skeppy felt like his head was going to explode. His heart was pounding out of his chest. Though he knew he was alone in his dark room, he felt a presence with him, like somebody lingering just out of the corner of his eye.

His clothes were soaked with sweat as he threw his blankets off of him and onto the floor. They had felt like they were strangling him. A frustrated screech echoed through Skeppy’s mind. He shuddered and hurried to turn on his light. A quick glance at the clock told him that it was already midnight.

He peeked out the door and down the hallway; all of the lights were off. So much for Sapnap giving him some company. Though on second thought, Skeppy didn’t want the demon knowing that Sapnap was as involved with everything as he was. The demon probably assumed that Sapnap was grieving on his own. The only time he’d seen Skeppy and Sapnap together was in the airport, he had no way to know that they were working through their losses together, and Skeppy wanted to keep it that way. If anyone did end up getting possessed, he’d want it to be himself. It might’ve been selfish, but he didn’t want to go through that a second time.

But, he didn’t want Sapnap to go through it again either. Skeppy was filled with steely determination. They were going to stop this demon, before it could do any more harm to the world. It had caused enough suffering already. A plan began to form in his mind.

At 8 o’clock, Sapnap finally woke up. The feeling of someone lurking just outside of Skeppy’s vision had faded some time throughout the morning, and Skeppy could barely keep his eyes open as he waited for Sapnap to come out of his room. When he did, Skeppy guided him to the kitchen and placed a steaming cup of coffee in his hands.

Sapnap looked at him suspiciously. “What’s going on?” he said, still half-asleep.

“Just drink the coffee, you need to pay attention to this.”

Sapnap sipped the drink, saying nothing. When he was done, Skeppy told him about the dream.

“And you’re absolutely sure this wasn’t just a dream?” asked Sapnap.

“Honestly, I’m not sure about anything anymore,” replied Skeppy, “but I know that we can’t take chances with this.”

Sapnap nodded. “So how do we stop this demon?”

Skeppy smiled grimly. “I’m afraid it’s not easy.”

“As long as it works.”

“Now this requires something very dangerous on my part; I have to go to sleep. That means my body will be completely vulnerable to possession. I need you to watch over my body and promise you won’t let that thing take over. If you see anything unusual, you need to wake me up immediately.” Skeppy looked at Sapnap for confirmation.

“Okay, I’ll do that.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” Skeppy nodded to acknowledge him.

“What I have to do is something a bit more complicated. I have to take control of my dreams. If I can show this demon that I’m the one in power, it will trap it in my dreamspace. Once it’s trapped, I should be able to conjure something that will basically kill it.” Skeppy fell silent.

“Well what do you have to conjure?” asked Sapnap.

Skeppy grinned at him, “Anything I want.”

Skeppy’s mind raced as he tried to fall asleep. Though he had been up all night, trying to stay awake and barely succeeding, he was now so anxious that he couldn’t fall asleep. He could hear Sapnap sitting next to him, tapping his fingers lightly on his knee and breathing quietly.