“Help me hold him, will you?”Dinesh asked.“For all that’s holy, he’s strong.Sometimes I forget.”
I heard the words.I recognized the voices.Yet I had no agency.
Whatever I was doing, I couldn’t feel it, couldn’t see it, and couldn’t control it.
I let out a silent scream as the panic of being trapped in my own body, under some strange influence, suffused me.
“Rooster.Shh.Settle down.You cannot go anywhere like this.Leave the rope be.”
I’m not doing anything!I tried to yell.I’m not trying to untie myself!I can’t even see!
“What’s wrong with him, Captain?Why is he silent?”Squid asked, his voice unsteady.
“I don’t know.I fear something has taken hold of him.”
Yes, and I don’t know how to get free!I shouted in silence.Please help me!Help me!
“I don’t know what to do,” Dinesh muttered.“Please, God, tell me what to do!”
I’d never heard Dinesh sound so desperate or so afraid.
A serenity overcame me, and instead of fighting the sensation of being controlled by some other power, I surrendered.I became soft and quiet and still.
There was a sudden sensation—a snap like a bone being cracked, but without any pain.
I lay on my back in our bed and blinked up at Dinesh.I opened my mouth and a groan came out of my throat as I reached up to grab at his shirt with the hand that wasn’t tied to the post.
“Simon.Shh.It’s all right,” he said, his eyes wide, his forehead creased with concern.
He was wrong.It wasn’t the least bit all right.
Dinesh took my face between his hands.
“Rooster!Rooster, are you there?Can you hear me now?”
I nodded, gasping with relief.
“Aye.I’m here…now,” I said.“Please stay with me.Don’t leave me, Dinesh.”
“I will stay.I won’t leave you.Darling, are you all right?”
His voice hitched.He was white as a sheet.
I shook my head, clutching his arm with my free hand.
“The creature had me.Somehow the monster was…inside me.I couldn’t control my own…”
I looked beside me at my bound hand.The rope was half untied and frayed.If they hadn’t found me, I might have started wandering.
I sat up, my head aching and foggy.
“Help me.Help me, Dinesh,” I begged, agitated and frantic.
He enfolded me in his arms and held me to his chest.
“I’m so sorry.I’m here.I shouldn’t have left you.I won’t leave you.”
His strength surrounded me, even as I realized that he might not be able to save me.
