Page 17 of Haunted Mediation
“Okay, whatever you say?—”
“I am every person who has ever left you because you were no longer of use to them,” the voice said, and James’ hand twitched in his. “I am every failure that plays on a loop in your head.”
Leon ignored them as he led James to the door about four feet away from the person. Still, the person made no move to get up or come after them.
“Weird room,” Leon murmured to himself as he grabbed the door handle.
It didn’t budge.
James pressed in against his back, then quickly pulled away.
“Are you…” James said quietly, but the person interrupted.
“I told you, there’s no escaping,” they said. “How can you escape your own mind? You can try, of course. Clawing at the walls, ripping open old wounds until they bleed.”
They gestured at the walls around them, and Leon looked around and noticed there were, in fact, what looked like claw marks all over the walls.
“You have to face your fears, otherwise one day, they’re going to consume you,” the person said, nodding their head sagely.
“What the fuck does that mean?” Leon asked.
He turned around, and because of how they were holding hands, he ended up pushing James behind himself, backing him up against the door so Leon was facing the stranger.
Fine by him. Better he do it than James, who had gone eerily quiet. His grip was still firm in Leon’s, though, so he figured he must be doing okay.
“It is as I said,” the person said. “What are you most afraid of? The loss of love? The loss of status? Letting down someone important to you? What about a life filled with loneliness, one that ends much as it began? With you, screaming all alone?”
Well, shit. The guy at the front hadn’t been joking. This was some sort of psychological house of horrors.
“I start off small,” the person said, and they began to shift around, slowly standing up from what Leon hadn’t realized was a kneeling position. “A tiny moment of hesitation, or a doubt that creeps in.”
The person stood up to their full height, and Leon figured they had to be wearing stilts or something. They were easily seven feet tall, their robes billowing out around them.
“And before you have time to take your next breath. I. Am. Everywhere.”
The lights in the room began to flicker and slowly dimmed. The sound of the blood trickling down the wall, which had been soft and barely noticeable at first, picked up speed and intensity.
James didn’t just press up against him this time. He latched his fingers onto the back of Leon’s jacket and buried his face in the leather.
“I am the reason every one of your relationships fail,” they said, as the lights fell to a low twilight level. “I am the reason you feel so alone at night.”
Leon had to hand it to them. They had their horoscope bullshit down to a science. They had hit on almost every type of insecurity a person could have. If Leon had been younger, before he started getting therapy and really working on himself, he probably would have resonated more with what they were saying.
Sure, all of Leon’s relationships had failed thus far, and he was letting doubt win out more than he liked to admit in his relationship with James. However, based on how James was practically glued to his back, Leon hadn’t failed him. Failing would have meant ruining their friendship, which was one of the best things in Leon’s life right now. No, he hadn’t taken their relationship further, but he also hadn’t blown it up by pushing too hard, too fast, when his advances wouldn’t be welcome.
The tighter James held onto him, though, the more Leon thought that maybe, just maybe, his advances might be a little more welcome than he’d once thought.
“There’s no escaping,” the person said again, their voice growing louder, as if somehow being amplified around the room. “I will continue to grow, taking over every aspect of your life until you can’t see the light of day any longer. Until there’s nothing left to hang onto. Nothing left to live for.”
Okay, bro, trigger warning, why don’t ya?
“Leon,” James whispered, and Leon turned to look over his shoulder before quickly turning all the way around when he saw that James’ face was streaked with tears.
“James—”
“I think either they have the key, or it's hidden somewhere,” James said, staring very purposefully at Leon’s chest, refusing to meet his eyes.
“Do you need to safe word?” Leon asked, not giving a flying fuck about a key.
