Eryx
Everyone thinks power is something you take. They never stop to wonder what happens when it’s given.
Power changes hands quietly. It roots. It reshapes. It demands.
Power is also why I’m standing beneath this tree, thinking that if I were ever going to jump from a bridge, today would be the day.
The only thing stopping me is this—I’ve finally found the person I’ve been hunting for ten years.
The woman who killed my father. The woman who smiled at him, served him tea, and then stole his life when he was too weak to fight back. After months of following whispers, hunting shadows that scattered the moment I drew close, I’ve located her.
Which house is it?the voice inside me asks.
That one,I reply silently, nodding at a small, brown brick cottage.
Which one?
The one on the left.
The red one?
I sigh.The red one is on the right.
Oh, you meanyourleft.
We have the same left.
I don’t think that’s right.
This is why I often contemplate jumping off a bridge.
Use the power now,it whispers, the voice like a caress.Destroy. Make her pay for what she did to him. Make her suffer like he did. Twist her bones and crush her tendons.
Wait. I think you mean that the other way around,I silently tell it.It makes more sense to crush bones than to twist them, and tendons pop.
Whatever,it snaps.You know what I meant. Do it. Cast our power and get our revenge. We’ve waited ten years for this moment. Do I have to remind you what those ten years have been like?
No, it doesn’t. My jaw tightens thinking of all the sleepless nights, all the worry that has flooded my body day in and out.
But now the time has come.
And for some reason, my stomach twists at the thought.
The damn Nightmare picks up on it.You’re nervous, aren’t you?
No, I’m not.
Yes, you are. I can smell the fear in your blood.
I roll my eyes.
Don’t roll your eyes,it says. Its next words bounce inside my head like it’s circling me as if I’m the prey.We’ve waited forever to kill. To destroy. You’re ready. The power is strong in you. Unleash the nightmare or else we’ll be right back where we started—powerless, like when your father died and you couldn’t do anything.
A dull ache spreads across my chest, one that’s constant. One I’ve lived with as long as I’ve lived with this damn voice in my head.
Ten years,it hisses.
Ten years with you inside my head, constantly pushing me to destroy—unleash nightmares on anyone you feel like torturing.
