Chapter 30: The Possession Has Begun

Upon hearing this clever plan and the chain of trivial events, Elliot could not help but laugh from the bottom of his heart; rather, he exploded into laughter with a loud chuckle that shook the folds of his androgynous body. He pushed the wine cup again toward his lips to swallow a large alcoholic gulp that descended warmly down his throat, then lowered the cup from his lips while wiping the edge of his mouth:

"Truly.. this is extremely funny and crazy! I remember that when you broke the date and didn’t show up, she didn’t even bother to call you or check in!"

At that moment, Michael recalled the memories of that old incident, and continued smiling at Elliot while standing straight:

"Oh, back then she didn’t call me indeed; because I immediately put a complete block on both of their numbers! Later, I discovered that she had ordered massive dishes and truly expensive food and could not pay the bill, and then she called that person who paid me money to take revenge on her, and her relationship with him returned after she deluded him that she had invited him to dinner to reconcile with him.. and in the end, that foolish man paid the astronomical bill!"

Elliot nodded while drinking the last remaining drops of wine in his cup, passing them down his throat:

"How truly foolish and naive he is!"

The two friends nodded to each other in deep understanding. The two did not settle for a single cup at all; rather, they pulled the wine bottle and the dishes brought by the servants, and sat together at the wooden table exchanging conversation about the bygone memories that brought them together. They began digging up secrets and hidden things they had kept for long years.. they talked about everything, especially those embarrassing and trivial situations they went through in their past lives.

For a moment, the two felt as if they were not in the middle of this suffocating, hellish world they had crafted themselves, and were no longer in that harsh place where danger lurked in every corner; rather, it was as though they had built for themselves a safe parallel world to which their souls and minds could take refuge.

Gradually, however, with the passage of time, the two began to feel a growing heaviness invading their minds and bodies, and an overwhelming desire to succumb to sleep. The two tried to resist this numbing sensation; yet the mild state of drunkenness made the feeling of fatigue and exhaustion grow doubly and progressively.

The heaviness increased and increased with the succession of minutes, their minds forcibly compelling them to close their eyelids the longer time went on!

In those decisive moments, while their eyes were resisting complete closure and on the verge of collapsing into a deep sleep, Elliot—who had the idea of sleep and rest taking control over his entire entity—smiled and looked with dormant gazes toward his friend residing in the same condition:

"It seems the time for our possession has arrived, Michael.. In fact, there was one last thing I wanted to tell you, and I was hesitating to bring it up a short while ago.."

With a heavy head and a dilapidated body, Michael tried to focus his closing eyes toward Elliot, who was speaking these fluid words:

"What is this thing, Elliot..?"

Elliot did not speak; rather, he kept completely silent, and nothing was drawn on his face except a calm and silent smile carrying deep mystery, before whispering in an extremely faint voice:

"If we succeed.. and wake up tomorrow without problems.. I will tell you what this thing is.."

At that moment, Michael’s eyes were demanding to close severely and buzzing to give in. In the midst of this blurriness, he saw with his exhausted eyes the hybrid body of his friend tilt at a dangerous angle to the right, rolling off the chair to fall to the ground!

Michael rushed with an instinctive panic mechanism before his friend was harmed, grabbing Elliot’s body while fighting sleep fiercely and overcoming his heavy eyelids. He gathered all the remaining tiny strength he had to carry his friend with the hybrid form; but his depleted build did not assist him, so he dragged Elliot’s body in a continuous pull until they reached the edge of the bed. No sooner had he thrown Elliot onto the mattress than his strength collapsed completely, and he fell beside him on his back, succumbing to a coma!

In a completely black place.. deep with no beginning and no end.. Michael was able to open his eyes...but when he opened them, he found that everything surrounding him was pitch darkness and absolute obscurity! A state of fatal panic and a strange, terrifying feeling came over him; for he instinctively realized that he was seeing and looking, but he saw nothing except silent and absolute blackness!

Suddenly.. as if a bright light had burst out of nowhere!

Two circular openings opened directly in front of Michael’s frozen line of sight!

What raised severe terror and panic in his depths was that, through these two illuminated exits, he could clearly see the ceiling of the suite.. yes, it was the exact same ceiling of the suite that was the last thing his eyes witnessed before drowning into sleep!

Then the perspective moved suddenly without his will; as the body straightened into a sitting posture, and the visual scope became exposed to the entire corners of the room!

The matter was like a terrifying nightmare; to watch your movement and control your pupils while you are not the one moving this body nor the one issuing the orders!

Within the scope of this imposed perspective, Michael noticed that Elliot, whose head was resting on the edge of the bed, began raising his head as well in a strange, robotic harmony..

Suddenly.. from between Michael’s very own lips, a voice flowed that was not his voluntary voice, but rather a cold and strange tone speaking right before his eyes:

"Is this the feeling inside the body of sacrifice..?"

They had indeed been possessed!