The water trailing down my body turned pink when it fell from my hand. Eventually, after some serious scrubbing, my hand returned to its natural [S/C] color. My clothes were immediately left to soak in cold water to get rid of any droplets I might've missed.
Now, however, I feel much more relaxed. Though I had initially been worried that a lawyer might need to be involved, it turns out all I need is a demon who doesn't want me to get caught. I smile as I dry off, throwing on a t-shirt and some sweatpants. Grabbing my laptop, I sit on my bed, opening YouTube. Again, I choose not to watch Markiplier out of respect for Dark helping me out earlier.
Instead, I find a random series of Top 10 videos, almost immediately falling into what I like to call "The Top 10 Void". You know how when you're watching one Top 10 video, another one that interests you will pop up? That's typical when watching YouTube. However, another interesting one will appear... and another, and another. Then, there'll be a time when two interesting videos show. You'll pick one. When you finally reach what you think is the end, you'll remember that one video that you didn't click on. You regret not watching that video, and decide to find it. The moment you open that video, the cycle repeats itself.
Anyways, that's what I got stuck in for about an hour and a half. Finally, I decided to go to bed when I noticed that it was midnight. I go to the bathroom and do my nightly routine, then head to bed.
For a long time, I don't fall asleep. In fact, I hardly feel tired at all. But, inevitably, the relaxation and static position causes my body to fall half asleep, just unconscious enough to be called "sleeping".
After an indefinite amount of time, Dark enters my room, easily waking me up. I'm groggy, but fairly lucid. Still, I don't feel tired at all. When he appears, he walks to the side of my bed, standing over me ominously. I slowly turn onto my other side so that I'm facing him, looking up into his somber features darkened by the lightless room.
"Why are you here?" I question, in a hoarse voice. My throat had become dry with disuse. Rolling his eyes, a cup of water appears in his hand and he hands it too me.
"Please don't speak when you sound like that." I finish about half of the cup, then set it on the dresser beside my bed.
"It's like, super late, isn't it? What do you want?" I continue my asking.
"You're not actually tired, are you?" he responds, seeming mildly annoyed.
"I mean... not really, but you've kind of thrown my sleep schedule off."
"Yes... We'll assume that, for now. What I wanted," he quickly digresses, "is to take you somewhere."
"What? W-Why?" I sit up at this, forfeiting any attempt to sleep and staring at him in disbelief. "Where the hell do you want to take me at this hour?"
"I just have a few tests I need to run," Dark replies, putting his arms behind his back. I continue to look at him suspiciously. "I need a few questions answered."
"If you have a question, just ask–"
Before I can finish my sentence, he's already taken me to the cement room I've been in a few times before. I'm sitting near a wall. Looking around, I see Dark standing next to me while looking across the room.
"What the hell, Dark? I'm still in my pajamas!" I huff, rising to my feet.
In the center of the room is a single man. He's holding a knife and his eyes are closed. He faces toward me, but remains still besides the slow rise and fall of his chest. The weapon is extremely odd; a stunning silver blade formed into an organic shape coming to a spearhead at the point with black lining, encased at the bottom with an ornate obsidian handle bedazzled with shining onyx.
I can't seem to tear my eyes away, overwhelmed by its stunning beauty. An urge takes over – An inescapable urge to hold that knife in my hands, to feel its decorated handle in my palm, to glide the crisp edge across the throat of–
My own thoughts snap me back to reality, as I halt my homicidal train of murderous thought. I look back at Dark interrogatively, finding that he, too, had been gazing at me with curiosity while I had been stuck in my trance. I give a slight grimace, knowing that he had heard me. He gives a small laugh and I look away with embarrassment.
"What am I doing here?" I ask, still avoiding his gaze.
"You're here to do what I explained before: I need to test you."
"In what way?"
"That man," he continues, ignoring my question, "is perfectly average, and perfectly real. When he opens his eyes and sees you, he will suddenly be aware that you are trying to kill him. Obviously, he will defend himself. I want you to kill him."
"And why, dear Dark, would I do that?" I ask. "He's literally trying to defend himself from whom he thinks is a threat. He's just an average guy. Besides, I don't have a weapon."
"I know you are perfectly capable of getting that dagger from him." I swallow hard, trying not to look back at the object. "I had a feeling that it would intrigue you."
While speaking, Dark slowly makes his way behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders. His head lowers so that he speaks directly into my ears.
"I saw you looking at it," he whispers in a low tone, "and I know you want to hold it. Don't you want to grip that perfectly carved obsidian handle? Don't you want to feel the power of wielding it against another? This is your chance, [Y/N]."
A series of shivers race up and down my spine, and goosebumps appear. Some of the reaction is from the cold breath on my neck and curling into my ear, some is from the mere thought of handling such a magnificent blade. Without my consent, my eyes wander to the dagger in the man's hand again, feeling unbelievable rage at the thought of someone else using it. My mouth unintentionally forms into what is almost a snarl, and my fists clench lightly. Jaw tightening, I'm ready to kill for the dagger.
Dark laughs behind me and moves back, seeing that his pep talk had worked. I don't care if he got what he wanted. I want the dagger.
With a snap of the demon's fingers, the man's eyes likewise snap open. The moment his eyes lock onto mine, his grip on the dagger tightens and he takes a step back. What Dark said is true – the man thinks I want to kill him. Honestly, killing him doesn't sound too bad, right about now.
I lighten my expression, looking at him with a mixture of confusion, worry, and a hint of fear. I step toward him and give a nervous wave. Raising the pitch of my voice, I begin to speak:
"Hi! This might be an odd question but, um, could you please tell me where I am?" I laugh nervously. The man seems perplexed with my actions, scanning me with analytical eyes. He remains silent, so I speak again and take another step forward: "Sir? Can you hear me? Please tell me where I–"
"Take another step forward and I'll gut you like a fish, I swear to god!" he shouts, taking a step forward and holding the dagger in plain sight. My eyes widen as if I'm seeing the weapon for the first time, and I take a step back. I glance from his enraged face to the blade in a panicked state, breathing speed increasing.
"S-Sir? What are y-you doing? I just wanted to know where I am so I can get home." I raise my hands, showing that I mean him no harm.
He eyes me suspiciously, then reluctantly lowers his hand. "My apologies. I was informed that whoever was in this room would attack me."
"I wasn't," I tell him. "I just appeared here. I don't know why or how, but I'm here." I begin to shake, and the man moves forward carefully. I watch his movements closely but inconspicuously.
He's not easily fooled, I realize. He may have bought my ignorant act, but he's still wary, and I don't have time to convince him. I'll just have to catch him off guard.
I take a few steps back, as if in fear. In actuality, I'm tensing my legs to prepare to spring at him. I keep my expression open and confused. My back has met the wall, and I place my hands against them. The man continues to walk forward.
Just a little bit more...
The moment he's the proper distance away, I widen my eyes and look behind him. My left hand shakily points behind him as my mouth opens in horror. Gullibly, the man turns to see what I'm staring at. The instant his head turns away, I push off against the wall and into his chest with all my might, hitting his solar plexus. The man stumbles to the ground, hitting his head against the cement floor. I quickly wrench the dagger out of his hands and stab it into his chest, in the same place where I hit him. Soon after a river of blood begins to trail from his mouth, his breathing and heartbeat stop.
Dark laughs behind me, giving a slow applause. I turn to him. "What?"
"Wonderful acting. You should consider this as a profession," he congratulates.
I sigh and roll my eyes, standing and walking toward him. "Sure. Are we done?"
"Of course not," Dark says. "You can't expect me to be satisfied with one experiment."
This time, a woman appears in the room, eyes closed. The demon points to her and talks to me again: "Viktoria Thomsen. She's a single mother. Kill her."
I blink and turn to him. "What? No. Why would I do that? You're not even giving me motivation, this time."
"Those are your limits? You're much weaker than I expected," Dark sighs. A mixture of feelings swirl inside me at this. There's the obvious annoyance and frustration that comes with being called weak, but there's something else. I feel kind of... sad? Like I've done something wrong. My jaw clenches again. He's manipulating my feelings again, I scowl. I let out a breath that's almost a growl.
"...Fine," I relent.
The woman's – Viktoria's – eyes snap open with a snap of Dark's fingers, just like with the man. She looks at me with fear, eyeing the dagger, eyeing the man on the floor. I've become impatient with annoyance, and simply approach her menacingly.
Viktoria's eyes flit around the room to search for a weapon. I quickly pretend to lunge, then quickly change direction as she jumps out of the way. I wrap my arm around her torso and pull her back to me, shoving the dagger into her back. Viktoria screams, and I simply rip out the knife and stab it into another part of his torso. I let go of her body and let her fall next to the man.
A pang of guilt shoots through my chest as I return to Dark. He notices.
"You don't feel bad, do you?"
"You already know the answer to that question, so why bother asking?" I retort. Dark doesn't say anything, but looks at me knowingly. "Yes, I did feel guilty. She was a single mother."
"She was going to die someday," Dark shrugged. Taking a deep breath, I adopt his mentality, reminding myself that she was just gonna die someday, anyway. My guilt soon vanishes, replaced by apathy.
"Alright, who's next?"
The final person appears, and I can feel my stomach twist. It's the lean frame of a tall girl, with silken blonde hair flowing down to her waist. She's in what she usually wears; extremely short light jean shorts and a light pink crop top.
Dark doesn't even give me motivation for this one. He simply snaps his fingers and she looks at me with those shallow, blue-green eyes. Her thin pink lips form into an expression of surprise, bleached teeth shining as her mouth hangs agape. Two manicured hands wring each other with fear. I can feel my mouth twitching, trying to snarl.
"Mia Johansen," I manage through clenched teeth, forcing on a smile. "What a surprise... and an honor."
Mia's eyes focus on mine for the first time in months. I'd been avoiding her for a while. "Oh! You're here! Where are we?" She beams, completely forgetting my name. Then, she sees the dagger. "Wh-What's that for?"
"Protection," I lie smoothly. "I found it here and decided to pick it up to defend myself."
"You wouldn't mind defending your friend, too, right?" she coos, using her full "charm". It sickens me.
"Of course!" My smile widens as I walk toward her. "What are friends for? It's odd, though," I continue, maintaining the same cheery expression, "how you say we're friends now... now that you need something from me."
Her smile falters, then falls.
"You weren't too friendly before when you would try to ruin my reputation – unsuccessfully, might I add – at school. It didn't seem like you wanted to be close when you realized that I was comfortable as myself and didn't gawk at you. So why do you say that we're friends, now?"
Mia's expression turns to one of pure fear.
I love it.
Because of her shock, I'm easily able to stab the dagger into her stomach, twisting it roughly. She coughs a spray of red onto my shirt. She screams in pain, taking short, uneven breaths. I remove the dagger and she falls to the ground.
"See you in hell, gorgeous," I seethe, still grinning at her like a psycho.
I twirl the weapon in my hand, carefree. Mia had been the bully of many students at school, and used her looks to manipulate others to get what she wanted.
"Well done," Dark smiles. I shrug.
"I'm doing the world a favor by getting rid of her."
The rich, heavy scent of blood fills the room. Dark brings us back to my house, where it's still night. I feel mildly fatigued, but I'll probably stay awake for a while. I'm sitting at the foot of my bed, and the man stands in front of me, arms crossed. He stares at me intensely, analyzing. Though it's still weird having someone give me so much attention, but I've gotten used to his constant gaze. I sit still and look back at him curiously, waiting for him to voice whatever's on his mind.
"[Y/N]," he finally speaks up, black eyes fixated on my [E/C] ones, "do you want to know what I want from you?"
I hope you enjoyed this chapter of "I'm Here to Help You" as much as I enjoyed writing it. Comments and votes are super appreciated. Thanks for reading! ~Blue