Page 43 of Demonic Cage
“I’m weak, weak, weak…” I whisper to myself.
I’m alone.
I need to eat more.At least the food won’t leave me.
I try some mint leaves. My vision is already blurry. It doesn’t taste like it does back home. My stomach fills up. The feeling warms me, then everything becomes too hot, and I lurch forward.
Just leave me finally.
I vomit next to my bed.
Another wave of nausea comes. I splatter the floor, hitting one of the yellow gleaming eyes in the process. The creature gazes unwaveringly. I have a feeling that it’s not the only one witnessing my shame.
I bury my face in my hands. I finally feel better. When the room stops spinning, I open my eyes and get up. I clean myself and the room. When everything is tidy, I wash up and drink enough water to get rid of the unpleasant taste of vomit.
I go to the wardrobe and stare sharply at the eyes. They close, and I dress in a soft, white nightgown.
A gentle breeze touches my face, and I feel cold suddenly. The air shouldn’t move here…
My palms begin to sweat as I slowly turn around.
I heard something.
Tap.
My heart jumps into my throat, and I press against my nightgown. I take a step back towards the wardrobe, assessing the room. The eyes haven’t opened yet. The purplish-red lights provide dim illumination that doesn’t reach the space to the left of the bookshelf. I peer into it, my mouth drying up. The dark area is blurry, hiding the source of the sound from me. I can’t see anything. My chest pounds, my breath hitches.
Tap.
I clench my fists and stumble backwards into the wardrobe. Fear spreads in my stomach. I can’t blink. From the black corner, a patient, deep growling draws my panic to the surface.
No… Please, don’t…
The dark space is stirring as if the mist is coming to life, and a massive claw enters the red light. My airflow stops, my heart skips a beat. The gray claw extends across the swampy floor, its sharp scraping sending goosebumps up my back. The red lights then reveal a black hand, followed by the arm attached to it. I look into the black void. Two red dots glow sharply. They become larger.
A head joins the red eyes.
No…
The fog slowly reveals a demon, its growl almost forcing me to collapse. I freeze. I don’t know what to do. I have no weapon.
The demon snarls, its sharp teeth glowing in the darkness.
It takes a deep breath, inhaling my scent.
Then it lunges at me.
It screams like a beast, neither human nor animal, but like a hyena crossed with a zombie. I scream along with it, and in that moment, the eyes open. The yellow light floods the room, and the monster’s shape is more visible, three times my size. There’s nowhere to escape, and I fall onto the bed, hoping the bars will break and put a barrier between me and the monster, but it grabs my ankle and pulls me towards it.
The pain penetrates all the way up to my thigh as if my leg is being torn out of its socket, and I scream. I fall off the bed, my back hitting the ground. The monster buries me under itself, and I feel its spicy breath, like nocturnal death. Panic explodes in my chest, and I thrash and kick until the monster’s claws shred my clothes.
Then everything happens as quickly as it started.
The monster is suddenly dragged off me. His loud scream shakes my bones.
The demon’s head detaches, and I look up in shock.
Darya holds the dead demon’s body, black blood dripping from its claws onto the swampy ground.
