Possessed

 

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Possessed

VAL DAY-SANCHEZ

Copyright © 2016 Val Day-Sanchez

All rights reserved.

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The Start

It didn't matter how much sleep she got. It didn't matter how many vegetables she ate. Nor was it of any consequence how many herbal remedies, cups of water, or miles she ran, every two weeks something over took her.

Her grandmother would call them her distractions. To Anise, they were much more than that. The pain that crushed her insides, the series of stabbing forces that targeted her brain and trickled down the backs of her eyes. Her skin which adopted a thin paper like quality exposing it to bruising and her muscles that felt as though they had been placed within a meat dehydrator. All of these were just the symptoms of her, “distractions.” When them they hit it meant that soon Anise would no longer be Anise, her body would be taken over, all signs of her were expelled with every painstaking symptom.

Anise sat on her favorite park bench, an older woman was feeding the pigeons not too far from her. She packed up the refuse her lunch had spawned. She had brought a collection of poems to read but found her mind was no longer interested, she sat the book down beside her and watched as the children, fresh from school, ran about the park. The sun beamed down on her and a slight breeze brushed by her and she began to feel as if it was the perfect weather and she was elated that she was able to enjoy it.

It was her abdomen that felt the first blow, the tightening of the skin and then the brute force of someone trying to remove her intestines through her spinal cavity. It caused her to double over. Her neck became locked in place as her bones began to crack, whatever this was, whoever it was, it was big. Larger than her and it was going to rip her apart in order to use her body. Cradling herself, Anise locked eyes with a small boy who was watching her plight. “Run.” She warned as loud as she could before falling unconscious.

When she awoke, it was dark. Her body ached from being occupied but it was nothing like the pain she experienced before. She pulled herself to her feet. The smell of sewage and blood engulfed her. Graffiti and concrete tubing surrounded her. She was in a tunnel, thewater tunnels south of the park. As she maneuvered through the darkness, the smell of blood only became more potent. Anise, although she wanted nothing more than to ignore it, forced herself to look for clues of what had taken over her. Nearing the end of the tunnel, she saw what she had wished she’d ignored.

It was the ripped remains of-- an animal? It was the edge of the tunnel, and she saw that it was only dusk. She’d only lost a few hours, at least she hoped. The light couldn’t penetrate too deep into the concrete structure and Anise's imagination gave way, filing in the gaps of information. She began to crouch next to the destroyed remains.

“You shouldn't be in there.” A voice warned and Anise looked up to see the older woman who had been feeding the pigeons earlier. Without saying anything Anise began to run.

She ran all the way home and began the ritual that always followed after acts like this. She showered and then carefully inspected her clothing. This outfit however didn’t require much inspection. They were in tattered, much like her skin had felt ripped open her garments reflected how large the demon had been. She threw them into the trashcan and sat at her computer.

She began to scroll through the local news, constantly refreshing her screen to be sure to catch word of any murders, mutilations, or missing persons. A splitting headache nearly knocked her off of chair.

“I’m sorry.” A small voice, a child’s voice filled the space that the pain had created.

She had never communicated with one of her body-takers. It wasn’t possible for them each to be present, only one or the other. “Only one of us can be present.” She explained, fighting through the pain.

“I’m the one it ate.”

“It ate you?”

“In the tunnel. And I was confused because you seemed so nice.”

A realization swept over Anise and she was horrified at the mere thought of it, “You’re the little boy from the park.”

“I ran as fast as I could but it wasn’t fast enough.”

“It ate you?” Anise couldn’t wrap her head around this disturbing truth.

This was new. She had lived with her distractions for as long as she could remember but what they did was usually within the realms of mischief. They would cause minor accidents or bouts of forgetfulness to whomever they were around but they had never taken a life.

“It’s only going to hurt more of us unless you close yourself.”

“What do you mean? I can’t control it, there’s just pain and then, whatever it is, appears and I go away.”

“You’re the gateway, it’s up to you to close it. I have to go.”

Anise felt the horrible pain in her head beginning to subsideand the presence of thelittle boy along with it.Was he right? Did she have the power to stop her distractions once and for all? How could she do it? Wasn’t she the gateway?

“I guess it depends if you believe you are bringing more good into the world than the demons can remove with their evil.”

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About the Author

Valerie Day-Sánchez enjoys reading and writing across genres, although young adult is her favorite at the moment. Threshold is her first attempt at Sci-Fi. Her other work consists of YA Fantasy Trilogy, Harlow Whittaker. She received both her B.A. and M.A. in Communication Studies from New Mexico State University. Her love of the desert Southwest keeps her close to home although she loves to travel, especially when she gets a chance to try the local cuisine. Playing with her two sons and the family’s Boston Terrier, Winston, are how she occupies her time when she’ not writing.

 

 

 

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