Elfric was barely hanging on to whatever was left of his sanity. After the voice gave him a break on his way to school. It only came back worse than before. As if it were only having a power nap before resuming the nagging war on his brain cells.
'I'm you, and you are eventually going to be me,' it echoed in his head.
It felt weird seeing the world around you move smoothly as it has always been, while you are stuck in your head. The class was silent, as the teacher carried on doing his job.
Yet, in Rick's head, it was even louder than it had been in the club.
His head was held low, his pale blonde hair falling to his shoulder as he tried to keep his attention on the textbook that was wide open in front of him on the wrong page. The teacher's voice was muffled in his ears so that he couldn't make out a proper sentence.
'Look at yourself and you will see me,' it said.
'I'm the darkest part of your being.'
Elfric felt the adrenaline rush through him, the breath getting caught in his chest, despite not moving a muscle. Thunder roared in his head at the same time that he jolted to his feet, sending his chair to the floor, grabbing everyone's attention.
The teacher was dumbfounded, with her hands halting in midair, startled from the sudden commotion.
"I-Is there something wrong, Elfric?" she stuttered from the shock.
"Can I go to the bathroom?" Elfric asked, his voice raw.
"S-Sure," that was the only thing that she could say.
"You could've said that a little more…quietly." She added, but Elfric was already slamming the door behind him.
The class had their eyes fixed on the spot that Elfric just vanished through before the teacher cleared her throat loud enough to grab their attention back on her.
"Carrying on," she breathed out.
Christopher was still staring at the door, wondering what was going on. Ever since he came this morning, he has been so out of it. His bi-colored eyes were dazed as if they were looking into a world that others had no reach to.
"What the hell did you see down there, Rick?" Chris mumbled under his breath.
Elfric half ran to the bathroom before he got in and locked the whole thing, wanting to be alone with himself for a moment. He walked towards the nearest sink; his footsteps were harsh against the tiled floor. Supporting himself on both of his arms as they rested on both sides of the sink.
His eyes were fixed on his reflection in the mirror as he spoke the words.
"Here I'm…here I'm looking at myself! Now what the hell are you?" he yelled in a whisper, trying to control his anger.
The more he stared, the more he was hit with the realization that he was going crazy. He finally lost his mind. Here he was staring at a mirror, waiting to see something more than just his reflection. He snorted as he stumbled backward, feeling the strength abandon his knees.
'I'm here,'
He saw something move in the corner of his eyes. His head jolted upwards again to the mirror.
He felt the blood leave his body as he saw something other than his reflection.
He saw the darkness that approached him that night, looking right at him.
It had no features, was almost transparent, and he could see himself layered below the darkness of the silhouette.
"W-What are you?" Elfric breathed out, his heartbeat echoing in his ears. "Who the hell are you?"
It smiled.
He smiled. He thought that he was seeing himself hidden behind that dark form in the mirror, but as he looked closer... it wasn't him.
Elfric wasn't smirking. How could he in a time like this? He was staring at the darkest part of himself reflected right back at him. A side that he never knew existed within him.
"I'm you," it said.
"I'm Orathan."
"I'm the dark part you keep locked."
"The reflection you choose to ignore."
Elfric watched his reflection in the mirror speak the words that he didn't.
Elfric took a deep breath, trying to calm himself and succeeding to some extent.
He needed to know what the hell was going on with him!
"You still haven't answered…what are you?" he spoke every word with caution; his hands were fisted next to his thighs till his knuckles went white.
"I am the darkness of this world," Orathan stated. "I was called forth to give power to those who have darkness in them."
"Then you have clearly sought the wrong person!" Elfric almost yelled out as he kept his eyes fixed on the mirror, watching how Orathan's shoulder trembled as he giggled silently. The shadow was enjoying watching him in misery.
"Wrong," Orathan protested.
"In the basement, I saw darkness in you that I haven't seen in any of the others down there…with you, the ritual was complete."
"You completed the ritual, Elfric Woods."
Elfric leaned over the sink for support. "I haven't even taken part in that ritual!" he yelled out.
"I was there because I was curious for fuck's sake!" he slammed his fist on the sink. The collision sent his arm trembling to his shoulder.
"Just being there means that you wanted something, you seeked something" Orathan muttered. "Now what is it that you truly desire?"
The question fell harder than Elfric expected. What is it that he wanted?
'For my family to be happy. To live in a better place where my sister isn't scared of going out alone,' he thought. That's what he has always thought, what he has always worked for. But it was never to the extent of selling his soul to the devil.
He had no idea how to do that in the first place!
But now here he is locking himself in the school's bathroom while having a decent conversation with the devil, who took his form in the mirror.
"I want nothing from you," he finally said. "Now return to wherever the hell you came from." He narrowed his eyes at his reflection.
Orathan raised both eyebrows as he lowered the corners of his mouth in disapproval. "That doesn't seem to be the case," said Orathan.
"Me being here is proof enough that you want something so much that you offered yourself to me."
Elfric was in a daze. He was indeed furious, angry at the situation that he found himself in, but…there was something else. Anger that was subsiding in the darkest part of him was fueling him with hatred. Hatred towards something he couldn't grasp, or chose not to.
"I-I don't know," Elfric confessed. He couldn't tell what he wanted, or what was going on in his head that made the devil so interested in making his wish come true.
Orathan hummed. "Then I'll give you time to think it through," he stated. "Though that has never happened throughout my time. I will not serve a human who has no goal."
"I can't think with you always roaming around in my head like you own it," Elfric hissed through ground teeth.
"Then I shall leave you be for the time being," Orathan promised. "I needed you to give in to my existence."
"Wait…" Elfric interrupted as he was hit with the reminder of this morning. He couldn't believe that something like that slipped his mind.
"This morning was it you?"
Orathan was quiet.
"I couldn't allow my vessel to just die," he said through a smirk. "There is no need to thank me as it's part of our ought. Now I shall leave you to your mind…you will know how to get to me when you need me."
And with that, everything was back to normal. It felt like a heavy rock was lifted off his shoulder. Elfric lost all strength that was keeping him on his feet and slowly sank to the ground, trying to catch his breath.
Orathan was gone, along with the headache that had persisted since yesterday.
He replayed the conversation over and over in his head, before he could conclude, the vibration of his cellphone in his pocket grabbed him back to reality.
Seeing his sister's name displayed on the screen gave him some sort of comfort and worry at the same time. He picked up before the second ring.
"Hey, Joanna, shouldn't you be in class now?" he said as soon as he answered.
He helped himself to his feet once again, sparing one last glance at the mirror to make sure that *he* wasn't here…and he wasn't. Elfric sighed in relief as he awaited a reply from the other side.
"R-Rick…I-I'm kind of…" she stuttered, the static making her voice tremble more than it already is.
"I think I got myself in trouble."