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You knew the moment you walked into your new apartment the day of move-in, that something was wrong . You couldn’t place your finger on it, but something had changed from the week before, when you had been viewing the place for potential rent. There was a heaviness in the air, a charge of negative energy about the place. You had always been sensitive to the energies around you, both positive and negative, and the influxes of them around yourself, and this… this was the strongest influx of negative energy you had ever encountered in your life -though you were only twenty-two. You turned to your apartment manager, who was watching you nervously. “What’s going on with the apartment?” You asked. He startled. “W-what do you m-mean?” he stuttered. You fixed him with a look . “What happened in the past seven days? The energies in this apartment are drastically different than they were last week,” you said sharply. The man wiped his brow and shook his head. “N-nothing happened!” He insisted. He started backing out of the apartment. “L-look, y-you’ve already signed the lease, you can’t back o-out now…” You narrowed your eyes at him. “Fine. Get out. I’ll cleanse the place myself,” you said dismissively. “I-I-I w-wouldn’t do that i-if I were you,” he warned, before scampering away. The door shut behind him with a thud. You rolled your eyes. “Sage, incense, and essential oils should do the trick…” you muttered to yourself. After unpacking a little, you headed out to the store and grabbed what you needed. You then proceeded to do a little cleansing ritual around the apartment. You felt the negative energy clearing as you did so, and felt satisfied with yourself. The ignorant manager didn’t know anything… if only you had known . You spent the rest of the day unpacking, and ignoring calls from your clingy ex-boyfriend. He was the reason you’d moved here after all. Eventually you turned off your phone. You’d been meaning to get a new phone number, but in the ruckus of the move, it kept slipping your mind. You eventually got tired of unpacking, and collapsed on the couch, staring at the useless TV. The cable company wasn’t coming until tomorrow to install the cable and internet. You eventually decided to go to bed, leaving your powered-down phone in the living room. You had strange dreams of a dark figure outlined in blue and purple light standing over you threateningly. You couldn’t pinpoint why, but you felt an instinctive deep fear of the figure. You got the sense it was laughing at you menacingly. Terror gripped your heart suddenly and then you were gasping, sitting up in bed. Sunlight was streaming in through your window. It was morning. The negative energy from the day before was back, but it seemed stronger than than before. You groaned. You would have to go to further lengths to get rid of the damn thing. It was something more than you’d realized. You unpacked the rest of your things before heading out once more on your quest. You came back, determined to get rid of what you were sure was a negative spirit or demon for sure this time. You had a cross in one hand, and holy water in the other, and a prayer in your head. You recited the prayer aloud as you walked through the apartment, beseeching Saint Michael to ward against evil spirits and to help in the battle against demonic entities while you slept. Later you would find out, he was laughing darkly the whole time at your attempts to get rid of him. Once you were done, you felt satisfied that the entity would be truly gone this time. How foolish you were … You went to sleep, again leaving your powered-down phone in the living room. Your ex had once again been calling you all day. He couldn’t get it through his head that you two were over . You really needed to change your number. That night, you had the dream about the dark entity again. This time, you could see the entity a little clearer. The dark outline of a chiseled face, a dark grin, dark clothes over a large torso, haunted your dreams. The fear that clung to the entity like a bad scent that wouldn’t go away clutched at your heart, making it jump in your chest. But something was breaking through the darkness. A voice. You felt the dream fading. The entity laughed, and you fell backward through the emptiness. Right before you felt you were going to hit the ground, you sat up in bed, gasping, looking around wildly for whatever had awoken you. “-on’t understand your command,” a faint voice was saying from the living room. You blinked. That was Siri. What the hell? How could she have heard you from all the way in the bedroom? Then you paused. You had left your phone off . Your ex had been calling you all day. Fear seized in your heart. You reached slowly under your mattress, feeling for the gun that you kept hidden under there for such emergencies. He was laughing at you. As if that could do anything to him . You crept out into the hallway, gun lowered but ready to shoot. You reached the main room, but no-one was there. No one was in the apartment at all, but you. And him . You reached out and picked up your phone. You noticed it was in camera mode. “What the fuck?” you muttered. You looked at the most recent photo, and a thrill of fear ran down your spine; you dropped your phone with a shrill scream. It was a photo of you sleeping, with the dark shadow of a man leaning over you. A shadow you recognized -from your dreams. You stared at the phone in disbelief, terror coursing through you. You had to leave. Before it was too late.
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You sped-walked to the bedroom, grabbing your keys from the bedside table, grabbing a jacket from the closet, and pulling on a pair of sneakers. You’d leave it all here; hire a moving company to come get it without you… no, you couldn’t trust that it wouldn’t hitch a ride on something of yours… You’d have to leave everything behind. You walked out into the living room, glanced at the phone in terror, and walked towards the front door. You made it halfway there before- a dark form of a man appeared in front of you. You screamed, startled and terrified. He was still mostly shadow, but his features were more clear than any of the dreams you’d had. He had impeccably-groomed silver hair, a crew cut and a light beard. He wore a grey blazer over a baby-blue button-up polo, black dress pants completing the casual business outfit. You swallowed. He could easily pass for human, and that scared you. If it weren’t for the piercing violet eyes, and the blurring blue-purple outline around him -and of course, that he was partially see-through, you would have thought there was a real person in the room with you! “Oh, but dear Syrian, I am a real person,” he purred. You startled. Could he… read your mind? Your emotions? Could he feel your fear…? He laughed. “All that, and more,” He said with dark promise, and you shuddered. “W-who a-are you?” you finally worked up the courage to ask. He slowly grinned, and you did not like that, not one bit. “Can’t you guess? ” he teased you. You stared at him, not wanting to play games with this entity. You wanted to get out . His eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second, and for a moment, fear seized your heart, thinking you had angered him, but then he laughed. “That’s funny… You think you can just… leave.” he said casually, looking away and flicking an imaginary piece of lint off of his blazer’s shoulder. Fear seized your heart again. What did he mean? He turned his head back to you, and now there was anger in his gaze. Suddenly he was directly in front of you, towering over you. “You are mine, do you understand?” he whispered to you. You shook your head, not knowing what you were denying, whether it was the fact that you were his or the whole situation or just you wishing he would just back away. Whatever it was, it angered him further, for he seized you by the throat, and didn’t that just terrify you, because a shadow shouldn’t be able to pick you up. He slammed you against your kitchen wall, and you felt dazed as his grip on your throat tightened. “You think you can defy me? You foolish , foolish human…” He paused, a dark look passing through his violet eyes. Then a terrifying grin spread across his face. “ I know just what to do with you…” He let go of you, and you slid down the wall, choking and gasping for breath. You shuddered, curling into a ball. “God, please help me,” you whispered. You had never been one much for church, but you’d been raised Christian, and you did believe in a God, you just weren’t sure about the whole ‘Christianity’ thing. He laughed. “ God isn’t going to save you, human. Not from me.” He knelt in front of you. You flinched back, fearful. “A nice change, but it won’t last. I know you humans well enough. You have to be… conditioned into good behavior,” the entity’s voice was full of amusement. “What do you wa-ant from me?” You asked, your voice cracking. “Your obedience, mostly. ” The entity shrugged. “ A little bit of worship goes a long way, but I suppose that’s a bit much to ask from someone who hates me…” “W-worship?!” I choked out. “W-what are you?!” He smirked. “A relic from ages long past. I am much, much older than the god you cried out to, if that will give you any indication.” I frowned. “B-but… didn’t he create the universe?” I asked. He rolled his eyes. “That’s what he claims , because he wants to claim all the glory for himself… he’s a relatively young god in the scheme of things, really. It’s because of him that many of us have faded or are fading. He’s got three damn major religions all worshiping him . He’s a cunning one, I’ll give him that much.” I gave a shuddering sigh. “I-if you w-want w-worshipers… t-then w-why scare the c-crap outta me? S-surely you’d… wanna… I-I don’t know… seduce me to your side or something?” The entity gave me a calculating look. Then he grinned. “ This is why. I don’t want some namby-pamby worshipers that are going to run away from my dark side. I’m not a nice god. I don’t do nice. I ask my followers to do some morally grey shit, and if they’re not tough enough to stand up to me at my darkest, they’re not gonna be worthy to serve me.” “But… doesn’t that also mean your followers will question your every move, if they’re so inclined?” Like I am? You thought. He smirked at you, and you paled. You forgot he could read your mind. “Indeed. But, like I said, if they can’t stand up to me, they don’t deserve to be called my followers… But you… you won’t be my follower. I know your sort. So let’s just dispense with the pleasantries, shall we?” You glared at him. “Yes, let’s ,” you spat. “So, if you don’t want me as your… follower, what do you want from me?” The entity grinned darkly at you. “Oh, nothing too upsetting, my dear Syrian… Just your everlasting soul…” You felt your mouth dry up and your fingers go numb. “M-my s-soul?!” you squeaked. “Y-you can’t h-have that!” His grin grew, and he cocked his head to the side. “Oh, Syrian, ” he crooned, reaching out to caress the side of your face. You flinched away, but he followed you. “ Whatever made you think you have a choice?” The room was darkening around you. You clutched your head, dizzy. “N-no!” You protested. “Husssh, you’ll only make it worse for yourself when you wake,” his voice seemed to be coming from far away. The room was spinning. Your eyes were slipping closed of their own accord, despite your efforts to keep them open. “Nooo…” was your last, whispered protest, before you slipped into the land of dreams.