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ASTER

“Do you love me?” Sabbath’s question whispered along my ear.

I nodded my head between intense and breathless kisses. “Yes.”

“I need to hear you say it.” His body tangled with mine as we rolled around on the basement floor. “Say it.” His words echoed through flashes and rippled memories. “Say it.”

My own distant repeated moans and gasps sounded within my ears while my mind floated through the darkness.

I felt as if I was stuck in a drug-fueled haze caught between a dream and a nightmare.

My mind couldn’t grasp onto a stable moment and instead looped through the distorted memories.

“I love you.” The whispered words fell from my bloodstained lips.

“I’d do anything for you.” The candles in the room flickered as their flames danced to the sound of rain. “Anything.”

Sabbath smiled. The storm and his laughter overlapped and morphed into a horrific orchestra of chaos as they echoed and slithered around me like a snake.

“Good. Now, would you bleed for me?” I watched as he raised a large knife to my flesh.

Flashes of that moment flickered, and the knife went from being perfectly clean to somehow covered with blood.

I began to panic as I noticed just how much blood there was.

It not only covered and stained the blade, but it dripped down Sabbath’s hand and face and covered his body.

It looked as though he had bathed in it.

“What’s wrong?” He tilted his head and smiled as his teeth clashed with the deep red of the blood.

“You said you’d bleed for me.” Bright lightning struck again and again, blinding me, and I had to shield my eyes from it. “You said anything .”

No. Not this again! Not again! Make it stop. Please! Wake up!

Sabbath peeled back my hands and grabbed my face as he forced me to look up at him.

Fire danced behind him, and I watched as it reflected in his black eyes and devoured the basement.

“Anything!” He spoke in a distorted and almost demonic voice.

“You said you loved me! That you would be mine, forever !” His nails dug into my skin.

He forced my mouth open and a nasty black liquid poured from his into mine.

I gagged and choked on the bitterness. I tried to spit it out, but I nearly drowned in it.

I had no choice but to swallow the black liquid and pray it was over.

My stomach rejected it, and he released me while I vomited all over.

Tears rolled down my face as I looked around the basement.

It was engulfed in flames. And I knew exactly where I was.

“Why-why am I here? How?” My gaze shot up to him, and I glared at his gruesome smile.

“How did you find me?” My throat burned as I screamed at him.

The flames grew closer and roared as Sabbath once again laughed.

His neck then snapped in the most unnatural way, and he crouched down nice and close.

“Don’t you get it?” He leaned in and licked the tears from my stained cheek.

I tried to pull away, but Sabbath only squeezed my face tighter and dug his nails into my flesh.

“Let go of me!” My fingers clawed at his blood-soaked arm.

Sabbath’s smile branched to his ears. “Never.” He yanked my body close and glided the tip of his knife along my bare back. “You made a promise to me once. Not just any promise. A blood oath. You made the sacrifice. You swore to be mine. Forever .”

The fire crept closer. and my breathing became uncontrollable. “Please,” I begged through tears. “Wake up. Wake up!”

Sabbath slammed his head against mine, and his lips touched my ear as he sang in a low, whispered voice, “Ashes, ashes.” He continued as I cried.

“You can try to run from your past, but it will always catch up with you.” He then pressed the tip of his knife into my lower back.

I cried out at the piercing pain, but it seemed to only add to his amusement.

“Once you strike a match, you may extinguish the flame, but you can’t restore what has already been burned.

” Sabbath turned my face towards his and hovered his mouth over my lips.

“Go ahead. Wake up. You keep running as if you can escape me. But you can’t.

You’re mine , Rosie.” He kissed me roughly and bit my tongue.

I tried to pull away, but the fire began to consume us both.

Every part of my existence burst into flames as I felt my soul fall into the deepest, darkest pit of hell.

And then, Sabbath’s voice echoed through my mind.

“We all fall down.” A sharp pain pierced my heart as though something had wrapped its demonic hand around it and ripped it from my chest, leaving nothing but pain and fear.

A dark hole that would never be filled again.

A loud, death gripping gasp ruptured from my mouth, and my eyes shot open.

Sweat rolled down my face and my heart nearly jumped out of my throat.

My hands ran all over my face and body, and I exhaled a sigh of relief.

“It was just a dream,” I whispered to myself.

My hand rested across my heart, and I tried to calm down.

It was just a dream. No. A fucking nightmare. Fuck. But you’re okay. You’re safe. You’re safe. He’s not here. He can’t find you here. Just calm down. Take a deep breath. I inhaled and exhaled.

“You okay, hun?” My body jolted, and my head snapped to look at the older waitress standing there waiting to take my order. I’d almost forgotten where I was.

I scrambled to pick up the flimsy and cheap menu while my eyes scanned the text frantically. “Yes-sorry!” I couldn’t focus and just randomly picked a platter listed. “This. I’ll get this!” God, I really needed to chill the hell out.

Her red, penciled-in eyebrow lifted. “You sure?” she asked. I nodded. “Alright.” She then offered her hand out to me. I sat there and stared at her open palm, completely unsure of what to do. “Menu.” The woman snapped her fingers.

“Oh, right!” I hurried to hand her the menu. “Sorry.”

She hesitated and looked at me. “You sure you’re okay?”

I forced a smile and tried to ease her obvious discomfort.

“Yes, just dozed off for a minute. But I’m fine!

” The woman rolled her eyes and left me alone.

I waited for her to fully disappear into the kitchen before I exhaled and dropped the faux smile.

My body slumped forward, and my hands squeezed into fists across my thighs.

Why did that happen? How did that happen?

I haven’t dreamed about that night, or Sabbath, in so long.

Why now? I had to try to force myself to remain calm with deep breaths.

It’s okay. He’s not here, and you’re safe.

You’re safe. There’s no possible way he can find you all the way out here. It was just a nightmare. That’s all.

As I tried to inhale and straighten my back, something felt off.

There was a slight, sharp pain in my back right around the center of my spine.

“That’s odd,” I muttered to myself as I reached around and ran my fingertips along an old scar.

They traced the raised lines of the old triangle shaped wound that had three lines scratched through, a gruesome parting gift from a long time ago.

I touched the end point of the center line and jolted at the sudden and fresh pain.

“What the—” I glanced down at my finger and noticed the same black liquid from my nightmare on my fingertips.

What the fuck is this? And why is it coming out of my scar?

My eyes widened as I instantly felt sick.

I glanced down at my fingertips and noticed they were covered in a black liquid.

It was the same black liquid from my nightmare that had forced its way into my mouth.

I could still feel it wiggling around in my veins as if it had just happened, and that scared the hell out of me.

No. No, this can’t be. It’s impossible. Fuck!

I noticed the waitress exit the kitchen and quickly wiped the black substance on my sweats before clearing my eyes. No matter how distressed I was, I needed to remain composed. Last thing I needed was to cause any kind of disturbance and draw attention to myself.

The smell of a hot meal drifted nearer and crept down my nostrils.

It was so comforting, enough to ease and settle all my fears and anxiety for now.

“Anything else I can get for you, hun?” the waitress asked as she placed the plate of food in front of me.

The older woman’s thin eyebrow raised as her wrinkled eyes watched me closely.

It felt as if she was dissecting my entire existence, peeling back the layers of who I appeared to be, to expose who I really was.

It was something everyone did when they interacted with me. And it made me uncomfortable.

I cleared my throat and forced a fake smile. “Just coffee.”

Try to just act normal.

The woman stood there and popped the bright pink gum in her mouth. The smell of rank smoke busted from the gum as she mumbled something to herself and walked away. My posture instantly eased at her absence, and I exhaled with relief while I tried to ignore the sharp pain in my back.

Everything is fine. He can’t find you here, so just chill the hell out.