Page 159 of Lost in the Dark

My mind slowly blanks out to try and give my mind some reprieve. My eyes flutter closed, and a heaviness seeps into my marrow.Good. I need to sleep the rest of this day away.

My eyes reopen to the eating area again, but something is off. The world isn’t right. It wavers in my periphery as if the heat is trying to melt the scenery. The bowl of soup in front of me is half-eaten, and I’m hit withdéjà vu. Lifting my head, I see the newcomer stare at me with his hands behind his head.

He blows a kiss and I scowl.

He grins. “Laissez les bon temp rouler.”

This Cajun asshole is going to get his ass whooped if he continues to stare at me. There are no good times to be had here, doesn’t he know this by now? You can smell it in the air the moment you walk in—the smell ofhopelessness.

Maniacal laughter floats into the room and my head jerks to the side from the way it grates my nerves. The blackness of a void starts in one corner and quickly overtakes half of the room. The residents in the background fade away, and the only two people left in the scene are me and the Cajun. The temperature turns up, and perspiration breaks out on my skin.

Something crawls behind me, its claws latching onto my shoulder as a wet tongue wraps around my neck. It doesn’t squeeze like I expect it to, rather, it continues to lave at my sweat soothingly.

“Does he pique your interest?”

What kind of question is that?The only thing I want to do right now is punch the smirk right off his face.

The beast laughs behind the shell of my ear. Teeth nip at my lobe, and I flinch.

“Astar,”it coos.

“Get off me, Astar. You reek of memories best left forgotten.”

Maniacal laughter and chittering fill the space right before the weight on my shoulders lifts. I watch as the darkness jumps right into the newcomer’s body, his eyes glowing with a fire before being put out like embers in its wake.

The grin on his face becomes wider, a long, black tongue slithering out. He stands, and I feel myself take a step back in response.

“Benji, Benji, Benji. Don’t be like that. T-boy only wants to make a friend, now.” His voice sounds like the newcomer… butnot. There’s something evil, gravelly underneath.

“T-boy can stay out of my head. Astar, why are you messing around with him?”

“Benji a little jealous, is he?”

Am I? I mean, if I’m going to have a demon on my back, he best justbelong to me.I don’t share well with others.Especiallywith people I barely know.

“Astar. Return to me. Now.” The aggression is coming off me in waves, and I feel like my head is about to explode. I don’t like him playing with others, no, no. I need him back.Now.

The black tongue wags and my hand shoots out to grab it, pulling him toward me. His saliva drips down my arm but I couldn't care less, not at this moment. Snarling in his face, I give him my command one more time. “Astar. Return. To. Me.”

The darkness clouding T-boy vaporizes in the air and his body drops like a puppet with the strings cut. He spasms on the floor, and I watch with bored eyes as he finally stops.

Something weighs down my shoulder and I turn to walk away from the scene and into the fires that surround us.

It’s been a few days since that strange moment in my mind. Nightmares they may be, but I’ve come to find a strange comfort in them. Maybe it’s the control, where in reality, there is a lack of it in many ways.

Bah.This stupid game of life. They think they hold all the cards, all the pills. Little do they know that themindis a powerful thing.

“Benji, I’m going to need you to pay attention and not distract others, please.”

My eyes flick to the group leader, Mrs. Brown, who is staring at me. “My dear, I did nothing of the sort. All I did was sit here in my own little world.”

“Seems whatever you are mumbling under your breath is pulling others into your ‘little world’ as you call it. Please, have courtesy for those around you.”

A snicker breaks the tension, and my eyes zoom in on the Cajun. He lifts an eyebrow, and I stare at him in suspicion. He looks different when not covered in the smoke of demons.

Another laugh breaks in my mind and I laugh aloud with it. Astar is going to get me in trouble one of these days.

“You got something to say to me, T-boy?” I ask as I lean back in my chair. Something scratches on my shoulder, but I pay it no mind.

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