The Shadows

13| Falter

Madilyn makes her way out of the forest and begins to slow down as she sees Damien burst through the front doors of their home.

"Damien!" She yells out to him as he quickly approaches her.

"Aryah..." She says out of breath. He switches his gaze from the forest to her. "Where is she!?" He spits out. His demeanor is different, not himself. His eyes have completely clouded over into a dark abyss. Madilyn notices this and hesitates before taking a step back. "Damien...?" She whispers. "Are you.. alright? You.. you're eyes..." He twitches at her observation, obviously irritating him further. "Where. Is. She?" His voice deep, raspy and demonic.

Her voice begins to stutter, taking in a deep choppy breath. "O-okay I can talk you out of this. D-damien you've lost your control. You... you can pull yourself out." She nods her head as she feels the need to create distance between them. "Please, just focus."

"I don't think it's a good idea if I tell you where Aryah is when you're in this state." She says, continuing to walk backwards, her hands up in defence. This sentence is what makes him snap. No one could tell him to stay away from her and no one ever will.

Closing the gap between Madilyn and himself in not even a second, whipping his hand up to her neck, squeezing. She gasps and wraps her hands around his wrist, scratching at his arm to let her go. He was stone, unable to move him. A black aura surrounds him as he tightens his grip further, choking her. "Dami...en" She manages to squeek out. She grabs onto his hand, attempting to pry him off of her. He was too powerful for her. She was created by him, after all.

Gasping for air, she looks down; His veins, turning black, she watches as the blackness flows through his arm. She squirms at the site and panic further spreads through her body. He had not taken his eyes off of hers, he hadn't even blinked, he was too far in. It continues to flow up his hand and through his fingertips. She winces and scrunches her eyes tight as she screams out but no sound follows. The pain was too much, unlike she's ever felt before. Unbearable. The desperation to get away from him subsides as the only thing that fills her mind is the immense pain. Darkness flows through her, now spreading throughout her veins; slowly taking over. Her eyes roll to the back of her head as it fills her.

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I run so fast through the forest, I trip over my feet every so often but it doesn't change my pace. The beating of my heart fills my head as all I can focus on is getting back. I am well aware of how Damien is with me by now. I can only imagine what he is feeling in this moment. I can hear Cain's heavy breathing right behind me. I'm pretty sure he can run faster than I can, but he doesn't want to leave me on my own.

We finally make our way to the edge of the forest, the light blinding as we erupt through. My vision clears as my eyes adjust to the light. My body solidifies as a chill runs up my spine. I stand there dumbfounded, my mouth gaped open and my eyes wide, Cain soon follows.

"What the fuck!?" Cain's voice stentorian, loud and clear. We both stand there, making an attempt to possibly fathom the scene in front of us. Madilyn lay limp in his grasp, her mouth oozing a thick black liquid from the corner of her mouth as her head rests as far back as it can go. "Damien what are you doing!?" Cain says in shock. Damien, still focused on Madilyn, doesn't move. I'm not sure he even noticed we were there. He's still hurting her. My mind goes into a frenzy as Madilyn begins to convulse. "Damien, enough!" I scream at him. He flinches when he hears my voice. He lightens his grip and Madilyn takes a small breath, a puff of black mist escapes her lips. He lets go of her completely, resulting in her dropping to the ground unconscious. Cain charges towards her, shoving Damien out of the way. Damien stands there looking down at Madilyn, still in his own world. Cain kneels down, checking her pulse. "What the fuck have you done!?" He breathes heavily.