[Addie]

Something about the rubble sparked something inside my brain.

I don't know what it is, or what it means, or what possibly caused my brain to click, but something about the burnt-down house of my best friend brought back something from that night. I'd thought maybe going to her house for a sleepover was just a very vivid dream, based on the fact that I'd woken up in my own bed. But I remembered so clearly the flames of that bright red candle as it was lit before my eyes before I just... blacked out.

It was too real to not be real.

There wasn't anything left of what was inside her house that remained in the rubble, so I just decided to go somewhere else. It wasn't too helpful, anyway. Just hurt to look at. I wanted to go somewhere to be alone, so I just wandered until I arrived at my house again. I should probably be outside, but I really just wanted to lock myself inside for a while. So I did.

I sat at the desk in my room, laying my head on it with a sigh. My hand tugged at the frayed twine that held the white and black crystal around my neck, and I pulled it into my vision to look at it. I turned the milky white crystal in my fingers, my eyes following the splashes of black, a smattering of tiny dots like dark stars splayed across a white, semi-translucent sky. It was beautiful, really - I'd observed it before, but now it had so much more meaning to it. It was the last thing my best friend since elementary school gave to me before she died. That's not quite something to take lightly.

"Why bother with this depressing train of thought?"

I was jolted out of my sad trance, my heart skipping a beat in surprise as my eyes darted around the room. I couldn't tell where the voice had come from, but I definitely hadn't been the one talking.

"Hello?" I called into my room.

"There's nothing you can do, really, about her. She's dead. The dead don't come back."

"Who's there?" I stood up, pushing my chair back to its place under my desk. There was no one I could see in the room, but the voice was definitely coming from somewhere in here.

"You know as well as I do that it wasn't a fire that killed Grace."

"What? Who are you?!" The voice crept into my head through my ears from every dark corner of my room, from between the spruce wood planks of the walls and from the darkness that lurked in unlit corners.

"Someone did it. You did it."

"W-what are you talking about?" I faltered a bit, now a bit scared of the mysterious shadow voice that was accusing me of murder. "I didn't do anything! Who are you?!"

"A name is but a label, and I have many labels. What's important is what I tell you now."

"I'm not listening to you until you tell me your name at least!" I called into the empty room, my heartbeat quickening. My palms were sweating. I tried wiping them on my pants, but more replaced it just as quick.

"My preference? Inferno. That is my name."

"O-okay, then... Inferno..." My voice shook a little. "W-what do you mean... I killed her?"

"I guess you wouldn't remember, huh?" Inferno seemed to chuckle. I felt cold inside, a disconcerting chill running down my spine. "You killed her there. Remember the candle? That's when it happened. You killed her, strangled her in cold blood. I'm sure your brain just cut it out to spare you the trauma."

"Y-you're lying," I accused the disembodied voice, still looking for where Inferno must be hiding. She was nowhere as far as I could tell.

"You innocent child. I'm not with you there. I am inside of you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I'd rather not have spooky people that talk to me slithering around my insides.

Inferno laughed. "Not like that, you idiot. I'm inside of your head."

That makes more sense. I guess she can read my thoughts, then? Wonderful. Good luck there, you might need it, my thoughts aren't the most sane.

She didn't argue with this. Or acknowledge it. "Like I said. You're a murderer. And what would your friends say if they knew you killed her?"

I froze. I didn't really think about that when she'd accused me of killing Grace.

"They see you as someone to go to for help. For support. A trustworthy, kind, innocent friend." Inferno chuckled. "It's always the ones you least expect, isn't it?

"All that would change. They couldn't have a murderer on the loose, now, could they? No
matter how kind, how accepting, how honest you are, all they'd see in you would be the psychopathic monster that killed their friend. A girl who murdered her best friend with no provocation, no motive. What would they do?"

I was silent.

"They'd lock you away. Call the authorities and lock you in a little prison until you're taken by them from here. They'd never wanna look at your face again, never want to be with you ever again. That's not ideal, now, is it?"

I slowly shook my head from side to side. That would not be ideal - as much of an introvert I am, I don't think I could live without my friends' trust and friendship. And I really would like to keep murder off my records. Considering it's illegal. And that I definitely didn't murder anyone.

"So we need to take care of them," Inferno said. "Before they find out about u- you."

"What do you mean...?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you? K-i-l-l. Dispose of. Slaughter. Fell. Destroy. Disembowel-"

"Okay! I get it!" I stopped her before she could get too into that list. "Look. I don't know who you are, Inferno, but I did not kill Grace. And I'm not killing anyone. What are you, even, a demon from hell?"

"I, personally, don't believe in Hell, but sure, you could put it that way."

"I... thought demons came from Hell?"

"You thought wrong. But despite how stupid your species can be, that's not the point. You did kill that girl."

"I did not."

"Think again."

A black streak shot by my face, causing my limbs to lock up. Shakily I looked the direction the black thing had gone, only to see a slimy, black tentacle that had darted across my field of vision and planted itself deep into the stuffed gut of an axolotl plushie I had on my nightstand. The fuzzy pink fabric slowly sank in saturation from light cotton candy pink to the same inky black as its tiny round eyes.

The tentacle, shockingly, came from my own back. After a moment three more came out as well, slinking out from my back like snakes breaking free from the prison of my flesh. A cold drop of something fell down my cheek, like a tear. I went to wipe it away with my hand, only to find it covered in black as well, tipped with menacing-looking claws. They shook a little as I stared at them, wide eyed as more "tears" fell from my eyes. They were not tears at all - they were also inky black, and I couldn't control them whether I was crying or not. My balance felt off as well. I thought it'd be because of the tentacles, but I guessed wrong - what I thought was a tentacle curling around my feet was actually a furry tail of a maroon color, which swayed from side to side.

"What... The... Hell...?!"

That was all I could manage. My words stuck in my throat like glue, clogging up my airways as I tried to breathe, breathing faster, faster, faster...

"You're... you're lying, I know you are, you're doing this, you killed her! It was you, wasn't it?!"

"I wouldn't go around accusing me." Inferno seemed almost nonchalant about the situation. "I have... much more power over you than you think."

My arm went numb, a staticky, pins and needles feeling striking it from the bone as it lifted on its own to my neck. The claws on my fingertips grazed my neck, the cold, sharp tips just barely making contact with my skin. I froze, trying to move it away. But it was... entirely uncontrolled by me. I couldn't move anything, even when I tried. The only thing I found still in my own possession was my face, which didn't do me much good besides my desperate attempt to look at my hand (a quite useless fact in this situation).

"You listen to me, Addie," Inferno hissed. "You do as I say. Exactly as I say. And I won't tell them what happened."

"Y-you're the one that killed her!"

"Tesiae yean," she snapped those foreign words to me, slapping me with my other hand.

I blinked, processing it for a moment. "...Ow."

"You will do as I say, and I won't tell. But if you don't... I will tell them everything. And you will be powerless to stop me."

The claws of my own hand seemed to be begging, longing to dig into my neck, slash it open and let me bleed out on the ground. I kind of wanted it to, in that moment. Save me from making this awful decision. But my thanatophobia kicked in, and quickly ruled out that option. So much for an easy escape and a sick as hell tombstone - "Here lies Addie, killed by a demon to protect her friends from being killed by said demon." Or would that be out of self preservation, to keep Inferno from telling everyone that I did (did NOT) kill Grace? I liked the first option better.

"Well? What will it be?"

I didn't like either option, but I'd rather preserve my friendships while they last and not fess up to a murder I didn't do because of a demon.

"...fine. I'll do what you ask."

I couldn't see Inferno, but I could feel her smiling somehow. "Excellent."

My hand went limp as I could suddenly control it again. The tentacles and tail retracted into my back like it was nothing, and all the black goop disappeared. My hands were normal again. That's good, at least. I looked at them, turning them over and relishing in the fact that my body was suddenly mine again.

"One step out of line... and you'll regret it."

"Okay," I said.

Finally, the demon went silent.

I sat down on my bed, processing the past five minutes of my life. My hand rubbed my forehead, my eyes staring off into space as I caught my breath and got over what just happened. It's not every day a demon walks into your head, accuses you of murder, and blackmails you into becoming her servant. And I'm quite thankful for that. Though while the opportunity is a rare one, I really would rather have my best friend back than a demonic puppeteer with her claws at my throat.

Hell, what am I gonna do..? This is not good, not good at all.

How do I do an exorcism? Those exist, right? Or do I just drink holy water? I don't know how demons work, really, everyone just says "ooooh, demon bad, evil spirit, do not be tempted." I do see where they're coming from, now, considering my new... acquaintance.

"I can hear you, by the way. You're very loud."

Oops. "...sorry."

-

1947 words

Gasp
Inferno :0