Emory felt a sense of relief as soon as he laid eyes on his house. It was a five-story apartment complex, the building wasn't too pleasant to look at, the paintwork needed a renewal, some pipes had become rusty, and some windows were missing. The building had obviously seen better days.
Emory's mother always told him how the place was a dream place during its glory days, sold like hotcake, but the place soon became old news when new houses and new neighborhoods began developing, apparently, the owner had decided he'd rather invest in the new projects than maintain the complex.
Emory walked towards the elevator, thankful for not having to climb the stairs, he quickly took back his thanks as he read the sign pasted on the elevator doors "OUT OF SERVICE" printed in bold black ink.
"You must be f**king kidding me!" Emory yelled out in frustration
"Lower your voice, young man, I'm trying to make a call here" an old woman scolded Emory
"I'm sorry ma'am" He hadn't noticed her when he walked in, he was too tired and getting weaker still
"Kids nowadays, going around shouting and all" She took a puff of her pipe as she resumed her phone call
Mrs. Anderson is a nice woman but very complicated most times. According to rumors her son is some rich bigshot Doctor, but she refuses to leave the complex. No one knows why but the reason would probably boil down to a sentimental attachment to the apartment.
Emory looked up the seemingly endless flight of stairs, he was feeling very weak, whatever that book did to him was making him weak and tired.
"Stupid book"
He took the first step, dragging his weight on each step.
Finally, he reached the 5th floor, where he stayed, his house was labelled apartment 140. He reached for the flower pot in front of the door, checking for the key, he found it and made his way in.
He walked straight to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of cold water, he drank some and poured the rest on his head, he had grown very weak to the point he was barely walking, he was dizzy, running an abnormally high temperature, nauseous, sweating and his vision became blurry, he took a few puffs out of his inhaler but it did nothing to help his predicament. He closed the fridge and picked up a note left on the fridge, a note written by his mother telling him his dinner was in the fridge, but Emory couldn't read it, his vision was a mess.
He made his way to his room, dropped his bag on the floor, and immediately made his way to the bathroom, at this point, Emory was moving due to sheer will and instinct, all his senses were dulled to the extreme. He turned on the shower and stepped in with his clothes still on, his breaths were irregular and heavy, then suddenly he felt a sharp excruciating pain on his chest, then his spine, and then his torso, the pain soon spread everywhere, along with the sound of bone, muscle, and skin expanding, growing. His whole body was in a state of excruciating and mind-numbing pain.
He dropped to the floor and began squirming and lashing around, tears pouring out his eyes till it wasn't tears flowing out but some strange black fluid, his ears soon followed suit and all his orifices too began leaking the mysterious black liquid and soon the entire bathroom floor was covered in a mixture of black liquid and water.
Emory soon let out a scream that resonated throughout the entire building, and then everything went quiet and the next thing Emory could see was black. He passed out cold, motionless on the bathroom floor.
****
The sun rose slowly over the horizon, painting the sky with streaks of orange and pink, followed by the chicken's daily routine of crowing.
The door to Emory and his mother's apartment swung open as a middle-aged woman walked in, carrying a brown bag filled with groceries.
"Emory!!" she called out as she set the bag down on the dining table.
"How many times have I told you to make sure the door is locked before going to bed" She walked briskly to Emory's room and banged the door three successive times
"Open up right now young man"
Emory woke up to the banging sound coming from his room's door, he was soaked in blackwater.
"Open up right now before I break down this door Young man"
"I'm coming Mom," Emory said groggily.
He stood up slowly but put his head on the shower head.
"What the hell, who moved my shower?"
He walked out of his bathroom sluggishly, his wet clothes causing a trail of blackwater behind him, but he didn't care or rather, he didn't notice. Everything seemed smaller than usual to Emory, but he just brushed it off.
He was about to open his door before realizing he still had his wet uniform on, and even worse it was dyed almost black.
"Shit shit shit!!" Emory began frantically looking for something to cover himself with. He spotted a blanket and quickly wrapped himself with it, he opened his door slightly and peeked out of the open space.
"Hi mom, Good morning" Emory flashed the woman, his mother an awkward smile. His mother Mirianne was a woman in her early forties, and between her age and the stress her job had been putting on her, she still looked good, her hair was still as black as night and her skin remained smooth and lustrous. She was a beauty that age had no hold over.
She sized up Emory suspiciously, trying to peek behind the door while examining him.
"Are you standing on something? why are you wrapped in a blanket? Why didn't you eat the food I left out for you?, Are you sick? Why are you dripping wet?" She bombarded him with questions
"Easy with the questions Mom"
"Answer me, young man," she said with a stern face and folded arms
"Okay okay. No, I am not standing on anything, I am naked hence the blanket, I wasn't hungry, I just got out of the shower"
"Hmmm…"
"Satisfied?, now if you'd leave me be I'd like to get ready for school dearest mother," Emory said with a hint of sarcasm
"I am not satisfied. Why did you leave the front door wide open, how many times have I warned you about this door"
"I'm sorry, it won't happen again" Emory replied
"It better not, I don't have time for all this, I have to freshen up, I got an extra shift this morning"
"But you just got back Mom," Emory said worriedly, he never liked the fact that his mother had to work herself to the bone to take care of them both and even liked himself less for being a burden to her. He felt since his father, who died in a plane crash was no longer around it was up to him to step in and be the man of the house.
"I know I know but we need this," she said tiredly
"But mom-"
"Don't worry about me, just go to school and keep doing what you're doing" She gave him a kiss on the cheek as she headed to her room.
"I really have to get a new job," Emory said firmly.
He closed his door and walked back to his bathroom.
"Now this….what exactly is this?" he propped up his hand to his waist as he stood over his mess of a bathroom
He pulled off his uniform and began cleaning the bathroom. The bathroom had a really pungent smell, probably the mysterious black liquid Emory thought to himself.
As he continued cleaning, Emory noticed the mirror, or rather what was reflected in it. Emory dropped his mop in shock, he rubbed his eyes and looked at the mirror again.
"What the hell?!"
Emory was shocked at the figure reflected in the mirror, his body had changed from what he was used to. He now looked a bit muscular and his skin looked less pale and noticeably clearer. He looked way healthier than what he was used to seeing whenever he looked at the mirror. He turned his back to inspect the rest of his body when he noticed something else.
He noticed that his back was engraved with a strange symbol, he took his phone and took a picture of his back using the mirror to get a clearer view of the strange symbol. Upon further inspection, the symbol appeared to be a cross inscribed in a circle surrounded by eight different smaller circles that had strange marks written on them. It looked like something straight from an occult book.
Emory should be panicking, after all, he had an obvious symbol plastered on his back, but he strangely felt calm and composed. He began to rearrange his thoughts, trying to recollect the events of the previous night but for some reason, he had a hole in his memory. He couldn't remember anything after he left Ignacio's place.