That unnerving voice filled the seemingly endless abyss, echoing into the depths and pulling at the edges of Erhen's very being.
"Welcome back, Erhen," the demon purred, its jagged grin widened while it stared hungrily at him. "Did you miss me already?" It laughed low in its throat, the sound made Erhen shiver with disgust at how pleased it sounded.
Erhen straightened, his eyes narrowing as he faced this ugly reflection of himself. "You seem to be under the impression that I need you," he replied, his voice steady and cold as he studied the thing carefully.
They were alike in every way, same features, same build. But Erhen's eyes burned with determination, the others were bottomless pits of darkness, and it was covered in chains that pulsed with red runes. And of course, that sickening smile with jagged Those chains seemed to keep the abomination from moving freely, but they gave off a feeling as if they were alive.
"Ahh, do you not?" the dark one countered, its voice matching Erhen's in tone but laced with malice. "You know, you shouldn't deny me, Erhen… if only you knew me, why, we could be the best of friends."
"I know exactly what you are!" Erhen's lip curled in disgust as his patience started to wane. "Demon!" He spat in its face.
"The demon chuckled, a low mocking sound. "How dramatic. Is that what you call me now? Demon… as if giving me a race gives you some power over me, mortal one. How quaint."
Erhen's hand went to strike the demon in front of him, but then a jet-black chain shot out from the abyss. It coiled around his wrist and arm like a Boa Constrictor until it twisted his arm behind him and upwards. "Ahhh!" Erhen cried out as the chain dug into his flesh. Erhen tried to jerk his arm free, but the chain twisted and the loud crack was heard. "AGGGHH!" His arm felt as if it had been broken in half! His arm now angled unnaturally upwards.
The demon leaned forward, making its own chains creak beneath the strain of holding it back. Their faces were just inches from one another. "Honestly, I'm hurt . I've been by your side all this time," the demon said, its voice dripping with sarcasm. Erhen's attention shifted from his arm to the demon in front of him. "You only started to notice me recently."
"I've always been here– waiting, watching. I am the shadow lurking beneath your surface. The rage you refuse to acknowledge, the desire for vengeance that eats away at you day after day. You can try to push me away, but I'll always be here," the demon sneered at Erhen before letting its grin grow wider.
Erhen snapped, his voice rising sharply, "Then why show yourself now? Why not just stay hidden in whatever corner of my mind you've been festering in?"
As if amused by the question, the demon tilted its head. "Because, dear Erhen, I no longer need to hide. But you already knew that, didn't you?" Before Erhen could respond, the demon's hand rose, its pale fingers reaching out to touch his cheek. The motion was slow and deliberate, but unnervingly gentle. 'How did it get free?!' Erhen began to panic.
The hand that was free was the same as Erhen's that was bound by the jet-black chains. "The line between us grows thinner." Slowly the blood red runes began to slither up the links like a snake. "Every step you take, every breath you make…" The sound coming from the lips of the demon sounded like it was in ecstasy.
"Every time you draw your blade, every life you've ever taken, each time you blame yourself." The voice reached an excited crescendo. "Each lie you tell yourself about honor and justice."
Erhen could feel the demon's words claw at his mind, "No! You're nothing but a parasite!" It hissed as if satisfied. Erhen shook his head and turned his gaze to the muck that wrapped around his legs. " I won't become you. I'll find the answers I need without you."
The demon let out a laugh that made the entire abyss shake. "Answers?" it said in a mocking tone. "Is that what you think you're searching for? Please, dear Erhen, tell me what will you do when you find the doctor?" The hand on his cheek slowly withdrew. "Will you calmly ask your questions, or will you let the monster take control?"
Erhen's breath hitched, he really hadn't thought it through, just thinking about confronting Hadram stirred emotions he tried to bury—anger, fear, the gnawing desire for vengeance. "You are just trying to cloud my mind…" Although Erhen tried to speak with strength it seemed some of it had lost some.
The demon then leaned closer and placed its forehead against his, its voice dropping to a whisper that pierced into his soul."You really think you can control this? How naive. The honest truth is that you've always been walking towards me since you were born. You opened the door for me Erhen, and now I intend to walk through! The real question is.. When the moment comes will you be a lesser monster, clinging to your fragile humanity? A middling one, driven only by vengeance? Or will you embrace what you truly are and become something greater?"
Erhen's free hand clenched into a fist, his body began to tremble under the weight of the demon's words as they bore down on him. "I'm not a monster," he said, though the conviction behind his words had disappeared.
The demon pulled its head back and a grin returned to its face, wider and more menaticing than before. "We shall see Erhen, just how long you can keep pretending." The abyss shuddered violently, as the chain around his arm yanked him up into the darkness of the abyss. Its final words lingered around him like a curse, a whisper of fate. "Until then, Erhen… I'll be right here, waiting."
—
Erhen awoke with a start, his chest heaving and his body drenched in sweat. The dull glow of gold picked through the shuttered window of his room. He sat up, and turned to sit with his feet on the floor, his head spinning and his arm hurting.
Lesser, middling, or greater.
Erhen didn't know why those specific words haunted him, circling in his mind like vultures, even now. He felt the weight of his own choices pressing down on him. The fear of what lay ahead growing stronger with each passing moment.
'I don't have a choice.' He had to keep moving, he had made a promise to them, Erhen rose from the bed, each move slow and deliberate. He walked to the basin to wash his face, the cold water shocking him further out of his sleep. His gaze lingered on his reflection in the cracker mirror, searching for any sign of the demon in his eyes.
"I won't become you," he said to himself, his voice trembling for a moment.
But even as he said the words, he couldn't shake the feeling that the demon was just lingering right there at the edge of his consciousness, laying in wait for the moment he would falter.
Even now in the waking word, Erhen could almost hear that hollow laughter. Shaking his head and splashing one last round of water on his face, Erhen started to get ready for a day of reconnaissance.