A Secret on Raven Block - Raven City Part Two

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The whispers were never-ending. They came from everywhere. They echoed ruthlessly. They wouldn't stop.

She clasped her hands over her ears as tears streamed down her face, praying that the sounds would stop soon. Every word uttered caused a sharp pain to pierce her head, making her feel as though her skull was being cracked in two.

"Kendall. . ." the voices whispered.

"Stop," she whimpered. "Please, stop."

"Kendall Selene Warnell," the voices whispered her full name. "You cannot escape."

She started running, hoping to outrun the terrifying voices but she was in a never-ending black space. The space stretched out before her and it wouldn't end. A desperate sob broke free from her lips as the voices seemed to grow even louder the farther she ran.

She couldn't escape them. She couldn't -

A figure suddenly appeared right in front of her and she skidded to a stop, nearly crashing into the person in front of her. The second she managed to stop, the figure reached out and roughly grasped her upper arms.

"Kendall Selene Warnell," the figure rasped.

Kendall cried out as she felt sharp fingernails dig painfully into her arms. "You're hurting me!"

"Look into my eyes," it demanded. "Look!"

Kendall looked into the figure's face for the first time and screamed and struggled to get free.

She saw raw, red skin stretched painfully over a long, canine face, where horns curled on top of its head, fangs protruding from its mouth and huge eyes that were glowing red. It was the textbook definition of a demon.

It was terrifying.

She desperately tried to get free but it was too strong. She looked down and saw that long talons grew from the demon's hands and we're digging deep into her skin, drawing blood.

"Let go!" she screamed and screamed even louder as the talons continued to dig deeper into her skin.

"You cannot escape!" it snarled and its talons sliced through her arms -

Kendall jackknifed in a bed, a scream in her throat, tears streaming down her face. She gasped for air as terror shot through her as her mind struggled to wake up and realize she was in her room. It took several minutes for her racing mind to calm down and realize that it was just another nightmare.

She took a deep breath and ran her hand through her sweat-soaked hair. Her whole body was covered in sweat and it felt like something was sitting on her chest.

She stood on wobbly legs and stumbled to the bathroom, where she splashed cold water in her face and braced her hands on the counter, breathing heavily, still trying to catch her breath.

She squeezed her eyes shut as more tears trickled down her face. She'd gone almost two weeks without having those terrible nightmares but this one was one of the worst she'd ever had. She could still feel her skin being pierced by that thing's talons and glanced down at her arms to make sure she hadn't been sliced up. Her fair skin was unmarked and no traces of that thing grabbing onto her but it still felt like her skin had been sliced open.

She rubbed her hands up and down her arms and shuddered. She had to tell Dr. Young about this and see what she thought.

She sighed and walked back to her bed. A glance at the clock told her it was two o'clock in the morning, way too early for her to get up. She needed to try to go back to sleep or else she'd be an absolute monster in the morning.

She lay in her bed and kept telling herself, it's not real, it's just a nightmare, it's not real, it's just a nightmare, over and over, praying that it would help erase the terror she was feeling.

She suddenly broke into sobs as she realized she wouldn't be able to get over what happened to her. She would spend the rest of her life tormented by the memories of what happened as that ghost took over her spirit and body. She didn't know how she was ever going to be able to move past this.

She laid there, crying her soul out until she finally drifted back to sleep.