O Death ⇉ Paul Lahote

eleven

Weeks flew by and Heidi and Ereshkigal only seemed to grow stronger together, every time Heidi fed, she could feel her strength only growing and the bond she had with Ereshkigal soon took over everything. She became more and more isolated from Paul and the others, choosing to walk alone through the vast woods or sit in her room and read.

One dark and stormy night, Heidi felt the hunger inside her become unbearable. Forcing her window open, Heidi was instantly drenched from the relentless wind and rain pounding on the ground outside. It reminded her of the last night at home all those months ago, which seemed more like a forever ago.

Under Ereshkigal's guidance, Heidi walked through the woods towards her prey, uncaring of the freezing rain pounding down on her skin.

Back at the house, Embry awoke to a cold breeze blowing onto his arm and a sinking feeling inside his chest. Opening Heid's door to check up on her, his heart dropped when he saw the open window. Fearing she may have run away, he vaulted out the window and sprinted into the rain after her.

It didn't take long for him to find Heidi – kneeling over something he couldn't quite make out. Cautiously making his way over, he called out to her. "Heidi?"

Heidi's head snapped in Embry's direction, letting out an animalistic screech as she looked at him, her jaw growing unnaturally wide, so wide he was afraid her jaw might snap. Blood covered her face and body, her mouth becoming a bloodied mess of flesh and bone.

Embry knew in that moment that whatever was in front of him was not Heidi, not even human, what in front of him was a monster.

Slowly, Embry took a few steps backwards, his eyes still fixed on Heidi's feasting form – still looking at him as she ate, shovelling flesh into her mouth as if her life depended upon it. A few moments later, Embry couldn't handle the horror any longer and turned and sprinted back towards the house, not once looking back.

Embry didn't stop running until he reached the house, screaming as loudly as he could over the thunder and lightning for everyone to wake up as he ran back inside. Within moments, everyone was awake, and the lights were on, with everyone gathered in the living room.

Still breathless from running, Embry started speaking. "It's Heidi."

"What about her?" Paul asked.

Remembering what he had seen, he knew he could never put into words the horror he had just witnessed, but he knew his brothers already knew. "T-there's something wrong with her... I saw something in her... it's not Heidi."

Little did they know that Heidi was already back inside, stripping off her clothes and washing off the blood and dirt off her in the sink. Ereshkigal was beside her, gently playing with her hair. "You have to kill them all, Heidi. They know too much."

Heidi shook her head, turning to look at Ereshkigal. "I don't want to hurt Paul. I can't hurt him."

Ereshkigal sighed, rolling her eyes as her hand dropped from her hair. "You're weak... I had so much hope in you, but it turns out you're just as weak and pathetic as the others."

Tears began to form in Heidi's eyes as she left the bathroom to put on clean clothes, leaving her dirty clothes in the bathroom. She didn't want to kill anymore, she just wanted to be free from her curse and live a normal life but Ereshkigal wouldn't let her.

Turning to face the goddess, Heidi finally snapped. "I can't live like this!"

"In that case, I'm sorry, Heidi but I have no choice," Ereshkigal raised her hand, her eyes glowing a bright green. "Your purpose to me has expired."

Heidi slowly started to move back, her tears pricking her eyes as she shook her head. "No please no, please don't do this."

"You know if you don't fight it, this will be over a lot quicker."

Heidi fell to her knees in front of Ereshkigal, her eyes closing as tears fell freely down her cheeks. "Just kill me already."

Ereshkigal hesitated, her head cocking to one side. "Now, Heidi, what good will you do me if you're dead?"

Heidi frowned, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. "You don't want me... you just want my body. That's what you wanted all along."

Ereshkigal smirked, grabbing Heidi's neck and pulling her up to her height. "Well done, little one. Took you long enough to figure it out. Your body isn't big enough for the both of us, however."

Heidi's eyes widened as she tried to scream but nothing came out as her eyes turned black as Ereshkigal slowly started to dissolve into Heidi. Ereshkigal vanished as the door burst open, and Heidi's body collapsed to the floor.

Note

Dun dun duuuuuunnn. So now that Ereshkigal is properly in charge of Heidi's body, should I keep referring to her as Heidi or Ereshkigal? I don't want you guys to get confused.