part five:The desire that wasn't mine
1187 Words
EVELYN'S POV
Evelyn wakes up alone.
At first, she doesn't know where she is.
The last thing she remembers is being dragged into the room by darkness after Lucian separated her from the others.
She remembers the door closing.
She remembers the sound of the lock.
Then everything goes silent.
When she opens her eyes, she is no longer in Hell.
She is standing in her childhood bedroom.
The room looks exactly as she remembers it.
The same bed.
The same curtains.
The same little details she had forgotten over the years.
For a moment, Evelyn believes she has escaped.
Then she hears someone calling her name.
"Evelyn?"
She turns around.
Her mother is standing in the doorway.
Evelyn freezes.
"Mom?"
Her mother smiles.
"You're going to be late."
Evelyn's eyes fill with tears.
She runs to her mother and hugs her.
For a few seconds, everything feels real.
Safe.
Normal.
Then her mother slowly pulls away.
"Are you okay?"
Evelyn stares at her.
"Mom... it's me."
Her mother looks confused.
"I know."
But something in her expression feels wrong.
Evelyn ignores it.
She follows her downstairs.
The house is full of familiar voices.
Her father is in the living room.
Her friends are sitting around the dining table.
Nessa is laughing.
Scoba is arguing about basketball.
Daniel is complaining about his parents.
Justina is sitting quietly.
Evelyn stops at the bottom of the stairs.
They're all alive.
They're all together.
No one is in Hell.
No one is suffering.
No one is afraid.
Scoba looks up.
"Why are you staring at us like that?"
Evelyn smiles through her tears.
"I just missed you guys."
Nessa rolls her eyes.
"You saw us yesterday."
Evelyn freezes.
"Yesterday?"
Daniel looks at her strangely.
"Are you okay?"
She looks around the room.
Everyone is looking at her.
Everyone except Justina.
Justina is staring at her with a blank expression.
Evelyn walks over to her.
"Justina?"
Justina tilts her head.
"Yes?"
Evelyn's smile slowly disappears.
"It's me."
Justina stares at her.
"I know."
But she doesn't sound like she knows.
Evelyn steps back.
"Then why are you looking at me like that?"
Nobody answers.
Suddenly, the room becomes quiet.
The laughter disappears.
Evelyn looks around.
The room is still the same.
But something has changed.
Her friends are no longer looking at her.
They are looking past her.
Scoba whispers:
"Who is she?"
Evelyn's heart stops.
"What?"
Daniel turns to Nessa.
"Do you know her?"
Nessa shakes her head.
"No."
Evelyn begins to panic.
"What are you talking about? It's me! Evelyn!"
Her mother appears behind her.
Her face is emotionless.
"Evelyn?"
"Yes!"
Her mother studies her.
Then she says:
"I don't have a daughter named Evelyn."
Evelyn's world falls apart.
She runs outside.
The street is exactly as she remembers it.
But nobody recognizes her.
People walk past her.
Her neighbors ignore her.
She screams her own name.
Nobody turns around.
Then she sees her friends walking down the street.
They are laughing.
They are happy.
They are alive.
Evelyn runs after them.
"Wait!"
They don't stop.
"Guys!"
Still nothing.
She runs faster.
But no matter how fast she runs, they remain the same distance away.
Then she hears a voice.
"You can stay."
Evelyn stops.
A figure is standing at the end of the street.
She cannot see its face.
"Who are you?"
The figure answers:
"Someone who knows what you want."
Evelyn looks back at her friends.
"What I want is to go home."
The figure laughs softly.
"No."
Evelyn turns around.
"You want them safe."
The figure points toward her friends.
"You want them alive."
Evelyn's eyes fill with tears.
"You want to be loved."
Evelyn says nothing.
"But most of all," the figure continues, "you want to stop being the reason everyone gets hurt."
Evelyn whispers:
"I never wanted any of this."
"I know."
"I never wanted to summon him."
"I know."
"I never wanted my friends to suffer."
"I know."
The figure steps closer.
"Then stay."
Evelyn shakes her head.
"Stay where?"
"Here."
The figure gestures toward the street.
"Your friends are alive here. Your family is alive. No one is trapped in Hell."
Evelyn looks at her friends.
For the first time since entering Hell, she sees them happy.
Really happy.
She wants to believe it.
Then the figure says:
"You can bring them back."
Evelyn looks at it.
"How?"
"You only have to leave Hell behind."
Evelyn's expression changes.
"What does that mean?"
"You cannot return."
Evelyn looks toward her friends.
The figure continues:
"You can stay here. You can forget Hell. You can forget Lucian. You can forget the pain."
Evelyn whispers:
"And my friends?"
"They will be here."
"All of them?"
"All of them."
Evelyn takes a step forward.
For a moment, she wants to say yes.
Then she hears a voice behind her.
"Don't."
Evelyn turns.
Lucian is standing in the middle of the street.
Evelyn's face hardens.
"You."
Lucian looks at the figure.
"Don't listen to it."
The figure laughs.
Evelyn looks between them.
"Which one of you is lying?"
Lucian doesn't answer.
The figure smiles.
"Ask him what he wants from you."
Evelyn looks at Lucian.
"What do you want from me?"
Lucian's expression changes.
"Evelyn-"
"What do you want from me?"
He steps closer.
"Your blood."
The world becomes silent.
Evelyn stares at him.
The figure smiles.
"You see?"
Lucian looks angry.
"That's not the whole truth."
"Then tell her the whole truth."
Lucian remains silent.
And that silence frightens Evelyn more than anything.
The figure whispers:
"He doesn't want to save you."
Lucian suddenly shouts:
"Evelyn, run!"
The street begins to c***k.
The houses begin to bend.
Her friends stop walking.
Their faces slowly turn toward her.
But their faces are no longer their faces.
Nessa's smile stretches too wide.
Scoba's eyes are empty.
Daniel's face becomes pale.
Justina's skin begins to c***k.
Evelyn screams:
"What are you?"
The figure finally reveals itself.
But its face keeps changing.
Sometimes it looks like Lucian.
Sometimes it looks like Evelyn.
Sometimes it has no face at all.
Then it says:
"I am the thing that has been waiting for you."
Evelyn turns toward Lucian.
"Who is that?"
Lucian's face is filled with something Evelyn has never seen before.
Fear.
He says:
"Run."
And this time, Evelyn does.
But she doesn't run toward the door.
She runs deeper into the illusion.
Because the voice behind her is no longer speaking to her.
It is speaking through her.
"Evelyn."
She stops.
The voice sounds like her own.
"You still don't understand."
She turns around.
There are now two Lucians.
One is standing in front of her.
The other is standing behind her.
Both are staring at her.
Both say the same thing.
"Don't trust him."
Evelyn realizes the room is no longer showing her a desire.
It is testing her.
And somewhere deep inside the illusion, she understands one terrifying thing:
The room was never created by Lucian.
It had been waiting for her.
And whatever was inside it...
Had been waiting for a very long time.
TO BE CONTINUED...
- Writer
