The man opened his mouth, and every single one of my hairs stood on end. I was finally about to discover the name of the one who had started this whole thing. Something that may help us.
To put a name to the evil.
But then my ears began to ring, muffling the words, and the vision started to fade. I tried to fight against it, pleading for the ridge to appear once more.
I needed that name!
Just a couple more seconds, that’s all I needed, and I would get at least one answer to all of the questions in my head. But the pull was too strong, and the wire mesh of the cell came back into focus abruptly.
I stepped back, still expecting Riley’s fingers against mine. But he was on the ground, knees and elbows bent as he rolled around the floor. He looked like a madman, and it was terrifying to watch. He was holding his head in his hands, his neck was strained, and his face was red as he gritted his teeth in what looked like pain. A scream slipped from his mouth, but he bit down on his lip, silencing it as quickly as it started.
“Riley!” I slammed my hand against the mesh. “Riley, what’s wrong? What’s happening?!” I shouted in panic.
“Time’s up, sacred one!” It screamed through whatever pain it was enduring, the name it called me catching me off guard. Its voice cruel and demonic.
But then another sound tried to push through. Something between a scream and a moan came out of him before he finally let go of his head. I swallowed hard as he slowly crawled toward me. His actions slow, desperate, and jarring. As if he was making his way through solid air, or as if something unseen was trying to push him back. Black fluid was pouring from the cuts around his eye again. But he was too dangerous for anybody to administer any aid to him.
“Riley!” I shouted again, knowing that he was trying to break through. Christ, but it looked excruciating. He reached out, his face bright red, the veins in his face, neck, and arms risen from his skin. Like roots trying to consume his body as the black blood pumped through him at an alarming speed.
I was forced to watch the pain and agony of him being consumed, and I couldn’t help him, just like I couldn’t help my reaction at seeing him this way.
“Aster! Aster, help!” I screamed, my head snapping to the entrance before quickly back to the sight of Riley being dragged back to his prison of flesh.
The door swung open with a bang, and the whole block shuddered around us as Aster rushed in. His imposing figure was by my side within seconds.
“What the fuck?!”
“Something’s happening to him!” I said, looking to Riley, who was still crawling toward me, moving the tiniest distance, continuing to fight against an unknown force. His breath, which he seemed to catch only every so often, was ragged, then silent, as he struggled. His eyes bulged as he tried again to reach out to me. I crouched down, trying to put my fingers between the mesh, desperate to reach him. To comfort him somehow and help him get through it, but Aster grabbed me by the arm, pulling me back to standing.
“No!” he growled, alarmed.
“But I can help him, I need to help…” I began, but Aster interrupted my panicked cries.
“No, Alex, you can’t help him. No one can… We are leaving.”
I pulled my arm from his tight grip and threw myself against the mesh, but Aster pulled me back again, and I flailed against him.
“Let me help him, Aster! Open the door!”
“We have to go, Alex. We can’t do anything for him!” Aster shouted over my cries as he pulled me toward the exit. In my weakness, I allowed him to put distance between us, until a feeling overcame me. Something inside that wouldn’t let me give up this chance. A feeling so great that it had me acting on instinct.
So, with my own war cry, I threw myself forward with all my strength, wrenching myself free from his meaty grip. It was something Aster was not expecting as I reared away from him before racing back to Riley’s cell. I could see his fingertips just through the lattice of metal where he had finally made it to the door. I skidded to the floor just in time to reach for him once more, and thankfully, it was just long enough to make contact.
Because I knew that the way Riley had crawled his way across the floor, there must have been a reason for his desperate actions. Just like the way his fingers were gripping onto the bars now, like they were acting as the anchor he needed to hold on to in this violent storm. A hurricane that would soon snatch him from me once more and keep him caught between worlds. Good versus evil, fighting for supremacy within his own body.
And this right here was his last win.
Because as soon as my fingers made contact with his, it was enough for his eyes to snap open, and staring back at me was my friend.
Back if only for a second longer.
A mere whisper of time that only I could hear for long enough for him to grant me a single name…
“Demetrios.”
Aster was behind me in an instant, but he didn’t pull me back this time. He was seeing what I was. Riley. Who was now completely still, the threat long gone after his mission was complete. His fingers slipped from me the moment after he whispered that single name.
His face was calm, no pain. His skin was no longer red from exertion but tanned like I remembered it. Apart from the overgrown hair, the black blood that leaked from his cuts, and the dark bruises on his face, he looked normal. Peaceful even.
