Our Love Is Tainted

Chapter 16: Split Personalities

It's the edge of night, and Tate is still in agonising pain, crying in absolute trauma. My mom and I assist each other in moving Tate into the basement where it's quiet and cool, without causing any further harm to him. But the weirdest part it all, Tate told us to take him in the depths of the basement, like he knew, that was the place to go. As we place him softly on the ground, he screams in agony, which makes me jump at first, but then I take him in my arms, placing his head in my lap.
"Help me- please," he cries violently, his body shaking. "It feels- like- there's something- TEARING FROM ME! FUCK!"
"Shhhh, Tate," I whisper. "Shhhhh, it's okay, it's okay. Just breathe, baby. Everything is going to be okay, you're going to get through this pain, and then, we're going to fix you."
I stare at his eyes; they're bloodshot and he's sweating excessively. I then stare at the markings on his skin, and, they're slowly fading, and the more I stare, the more faded it looks. I then focus on something more, exhilarating, and I listen to his heartbeat, and it beats faster than I've ever heard a heartbeat. Jesus Christ, Tate, what the fuck is happening to you?

I watch as Patrick and Nora enter the basement, they seem as worried as we do, especially Nora, it's Tate, Nora's baby. She stares at Tate, her eyes saying it all; she's both terrified and devastated by Tate's pain, you can tell she wishes he wasn't in pain.
"What can we do to help?" Patrick asks, sticking close to the basement stairs in obvious fear. "Towels? Anything?"
"No, I think we're oka-"
"YES!" I yell, interrupting my mother. "More wet towels, please Patrick, he needs them."
I observe his body once more, his skin, it's becoming a dark red colour, like he's experiencing burning all over his body. I touch his skin, feeling a burn on the finger, just like last time, but this time, my touch, makes him scream once more.
"No more! Please, no more!" Tate screams. "No more, Vi!"
"Fucking hell," my mother gasps. "He's burning up, he's burning up bad."
"He's in real pain, Violet. He's crying now," Nora states, crying also.
"I know, I know," I agree. "I don't know what's happening to him, but we need to do something about it."

This whole situation makes me wonder; why can ghosts feel pain? We're already dead, right? So we shouldn't be able to feel pain, but I guess there have been times where I've seen ghosts feel zero pain. I've been in situations where Tate has shown no pain, I watched him get stabbed by one of the men who tried to rape me, and yet, he showed no sign of feeling anything from it. But this pain is different, he's crying from it, god, I can't imagine the type of pain he's experiencing. Patrick arrives back into the basement, this time with a concerned looking Chad, and they hold dozens of wet towels.
"Is this enough?!" Patrick asks.
"Thank you, Patrick, you too Chad," I say, grabbing a wet towel and placing it on Tate's head, hearing him gasp from the relief.
I can hear him speaking, but it's not English, it's complete gibberish like he's hallucinating all over again. I feel him twitch in my grasp like he's dreaming, but he's not, he's probably, having a night-terror while being awake. I watch Nora as he sits down next to me, taking the wet towel off me for a moment.
"Talk to him while I cool his temperature, it may help calm him down more."
"Alright, Nora," I agree.

"Tate, if you can hear me," I say softly, trying my hardest to calm him. "I love you, okay. This won't change it, and I won't stop until you're better."
I watch as his eyes open and hear him gasp violently.
"Vi- I'm so sorry, I'm such a fuck-up beacon of stress-"
"No, you're not. It's okay, this is about making you better," I start.
"And you're going to be better," Nora finishes.
I hear him scream again, but this time louder, so loud, the lights begin to flicker violently on and off. In a sudden moment, everyone, including Chad and Patrick, is thrown away from Tate, to the other side of the basement. I fly across the room, hitting my head on one of the staircases, but with zero damage, that's when I stare up at Tate.

The lights flicker more and more, like rapid lightning strikes, like Zeus himself is punishing the Earth with his raging lightning bolt. I watch as Tate stands up in the darkness, tearing off his shirt and revealing the full extent of his markings. He begins to shake and scream like an absolute madman, his cynical laugh echoing through the entire basement.
"MAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!" he laughs cynically with a dark voice. "MAKE IT STOP! AHAHAHAHA!"
As the lights flicker more and more, he begins to shake more violently, and I watch as his tattoos fade one second, then grow darker another second. The process continues again and again until the lights suddenly turn off completely, and I hear another laugh, but this one doesn't seem like Tate's.
"Tate?" I ask.
"Are you there?" Nora asks me. "Tate?!'
The lights come back on, revealing the absolute indescribable, something I never thought I'd see in my entire existence. I stare at Tate, who lays on the ground, looking weakened and fatigued, but above all, there's someone above him, standing before Tate. Dark tattoos, an evil smile, and dark black clothes. He looks like Tate, but he's not, in fact, he's the exact opposite of the person I'm in love with. Taint, has somehow, dug his way out of Tate's personality, literally split out of it, and is now, a duplication of his evil spirit, the spirit involved with all of his crimes and murders. Taint stands before all of us, and that in itself, can't mean anything good for the inhabitants of this house.