Page 39 of Virgil's Demons

But what stared back at me… it wasn't her.

Those eyes, once full of warmth, love—hell, even that hint of sarcasm she always had—were gone. In their place were black, empty pools that saw nothing. The demon inside her twisted her face into something ugly and putrid, making a mockery of her beauty that made my gut churn.

The laughter that followed wasn't human. It was like someone scraping a jagged edge across my brain, and it echoed, making my head pound. The sound filled the room, filledme, and I couldn't shake it.

"You think you can save her?" the demon hissed, using her voice, twisting her lips into a cruel grin. "She's already mine, Virgil. You're wasting your breath."

A sick wave of nausea hit me. Hearing that thing usehervoice to mock me, ignited something primal in me. My throat tightened, panic clawing at me from the inside out.

"Shut the hell up!" I roared, desperation bleeding into my voice. My hands dug deeper, gripping her like she was already slipping away and I had to hold on.

I needed to reach her. I had to pull her out of whatever hell this demon had dragged her into.Had to.

But the air around us—it shifted, darkened. Like something was closing in, wrapping itself around us. Shadows flickered on the edges of my vision, moving, writhing. They weren't just shadows. They felt alive, thick, suffocating. It was like I was drowning, and no matter how much I fought to breathe, I couldn't. My words faltered.

The room blurred, everything turning to smoke and fog, the world twisting like some nightmarish funhouse. I couldn't see her, couldn'tsee anything.My chest tightened, my lungs burning as the pressure in the room grew, pushing against me until I thought my skull might crack open.

The power that hit me wasn't just ancient—it was crushing, overwhelming. It slammed into me like a freight train, knocking me off her and sending me crashing to the floor. The cold, unforgiving ground met me with a painful thud and the wind got knocked out of me in one sharp exhale. Pain shot up my spine making me groan through gritted teeth. I tried to get up, but everything spun. My body was useless, paralyzed by the force of it all.

I blinked, vision swimming, everything around me a distorted mess. The last thing I heard was that damn laughter,echoing inside my skull, deep and venomous. I wanted to scream, to fight, but there was nothing left in me.

Then… darkness.

When I came to, my whole body ached. The room was still spinning, my vision nothing but a blur of shapes and shadows. I tried to focus, to make sense of where I was. The air felt cold, too cold, like death had left its fingerprints on everything.

Then I saw her.

Barythaya.

She was standing over me, her face soft, her eyes no longer those bottomless pits of nothing. She looked like herself—calm, like everything was back to normal. But something felt wrong. Something crawled under my skin, an unease I couldn't shake.

Her movements… they were too controlled. Too measured. Like she was playing a role, moving through the motions of being Barythaya, but something else was underneath. Something darker.

"Barythaya?" My voice was hoarse, and fear gripped my throat tighter with every word. I pushed myself up, my limbs heavy, heart thudding painfully in my chest.

She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. God, it was subtle, just a flicker, but it was there. That uncertainty that she still wasn't whole.

"Virgil," she whispered, her voice cutting through the chaos still crashing around in my head. Her hand slid up to my cheek, cool and soft, grounding me, like she could silence the storm raging inside me with just a touch.

"It's me, baby. Talk to me."

I blinked, trying to clear the haze in my head but everything felt wrong, like I was stuck between a dream and reality. My body screamed at me to let go, but that nagging feeling told mesomething was off.

"Barythaya?" My voice cracked, her name barely making it out of my throat.

Her smile was soft, almost too calm in contrast to what had just ensued. The corners of her lips curled, that familiar look that always did something to me, a warmth creeping in where doubt still festered.

"I'm alright. You saved me, Virgil. I knew you wouldn't leave me," she said, her words soothing, like everything was somehow back to normal.

But it wasn't. I could feel it. And as I lay there, staring up at her, I could sense a tension in the air that wouldn't leave, something crawling under my skin.

I cradled her face in my hands, fingers gently tracing the outline of her jaw as I searched her eyes, desperate for answers. "Are you okay? What the hell happened ?"

My voice was low, shaky, my mind scrambling to make sense of everything that had gone down.

Her gaze met mine, steady, but… distant. "I don't know," she murmured, shaking her head slightly. "It all happened so fast. One moment I was trapped, the next… you were lying here. I was so scared something had happened to you."

I swallowed, my thumb brushing against her cheek, trying to draw her back to me, to anchor her in this moment. "You're sure? You're not hurt?" I scanned her face, her body, looking for any sign of pain, any indication that she was hiding something from me.She had to be hiding something—this didn't make sense.

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