THE DEMON IN ME

STRUGGLE FROM WITHIN

The night pressed heavily on Arden's chest as he lay awake, staring at the cracked ceiling of their small hut. The echoes of villagers' whispers clung to him like a curse: "Monster… cursed… dangerous."

But those weren't the only voices.

"Why resist me, vessel?" The demon's voice slithered into his thoughts, smooth and venomous. "I can give you strength beyond their comprehension. Power to silence their doubts, to make them kneel."

Arden gritted his teeth, clutching the edge of his blanket until his knuckles whitened. "I don't need you."

A laugh rolled through his mind, chilling and endless. "You needed me when the shadow came. You will need me again. You cannot fight the darkness without becoming it."

Arden shot up from his bed, breathing heavily. His palms trembled, heat burning just beneath his skin. He pressed them against his thighs, willing the strange energy to stay hidden.

"No. I am not you."

The demon's tone shifted, darker now, pressing harder against his will. "We are the same. Your anger, your fear, every wound they carve into you, I feel it too. Let me in, and we will crush them all."

Visions slammed into Arden's mind: villagers bowing in terror, flames devouring the houses, Maya screaming his name as shadows consumed her. He staggered, clutching his head.

"STOP!" His voice cracked in the silence of the hut.

The demon hissed with delight, sensing the cracks in Arden's resistance. His body shuddered, a cold sweat running down his back. He dropped to his knees, trembling.

But then, he remembered his mother's hands, gentle as they pressed against his cheek when he was younger. He remembered Leina's laugh, Fira's stubborn grin. Maya's voice, steady and loyal.

"No," Arden whispered, forcing himself upright. "I'll protect them… even from you."

The demon recoiled, silent for the first time. The heaviness in Arden's chest eased, though only slightly. He knew this was no victory.

Arden's breathing was ragged, his chest heaving as though he'd run for miles. His hut was silent, but inside his head, it was anything but.

"You deny me, yet you tremble with rage. You ache for strength. Let me show you what it feels like to stop being prey."

The demon's words dripped into his veins like poison, each syllable igniting sparks of heat beneath his skin. His eyes burned, and when he caught his reflection in the polished bronze plate beside his bed, his heart clenched. For the briefest moment, his irises glowed crimson, swirling with shadow.

"No," he whispered, clutching the plate until it nearly cracked. "I won't become your puppet."

The demon laughed in a low, rolling sound that echoed in his skull, drowning out his thoughts. "You already are. Every time your anger rises, I breathe through you. Every time you fight, I move your hand. The more you resist, the deeper I root."

Arden stumbled to his feet, swaying as the room seemed to tilt. He pressed both palms against the wooden wall as if to steady himself, but the wood began to splinter beneath his touch. His strength was no longer his own, it pulsed unnaturally, threatening to burst free.

He bit down on his lip until he tasted blood. The demon purred at the taste. "See? Even your body craves me."

Arden squeezed his eyes shut, trying to shut out the voice. His thoughts turned to Maya's laughter, his sisters' small hands tugging at his arm, his mother's quiet humming as she cooked. Those memories were like ropes, holding him to the world he wanted to protect.

But the demon yanked at those ropes, twisting them cruelly. Suddenly, the images in his mind warped Maya screaming in terror, his sisters cowering in a corner, his mother's humming breaking into sobs as shadows wrapped around her throat.

Arden dropped to his knees, his fists pounding against the floor. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

For a heartbeat, the demon fell silent. Then a whisper slid back in, softer this time, almost tender. "I'm not in your head, Arden. I am your head. You can't fight for what you are."

The words chilled him more than the fire ever did. He pressed his forehead against the cold floor, trembling.

The laughter in his mind grew louder, echoing until it was no longer a voice but a roar, distant, ancient, and unstoppable.

Arden's chest heaved. His fingers dug into the floorboards as something inside him clawed upward, desperate to escape. A black haze coiled around his arms, seeping from his skin like smoke. His body wasn't his anymore it moved on its own, trembling, twitching, then straightening with unnatural grace.

His head tilted back, and when he opened his mouth, the words weren't his.

"Finally."

The demon's voice thundered through his lips, deeper and darker than anything Arden had ever heard. His eyes burned red, his veins bulging with black lines that crept up his neck. His body surged with strength, so much strength he could barely contain it. He turned, and with a careless sweep of his hand, the small table in the hut splintered apart, wood flying across the room.

Terror struck him like lightning. He wasn't in control anymore.

"This is freedom," the demon growled through his mouth. "This is power. You are nothing without me."

Arden's mind thrashed, trapped in a cage of shadow, watching his own body move as though it belonged to someone else. He screamed, but only inside his head.

Then, Maya's voice cut through the chaos. Not her real voice, but the memory of it: "You're not alone, Arden. No matter what happens, you're still you."

The words struck like a blade of light. Arden latched onto it, fighting back with everything he had. He thought of his mother's hands, his sisters' laughter, Cyril's teasing grin. Each memory pushed against the darkness, burning into the demon's grip.

"No!" Arden's own voice finally tore out of his throat, raw and desperate. "I am not yours!"

With a violent shudder, he slammed himself back into control. The red glow in his eyes flickered, dimmed, then vanished. The smoke hissed as it retreated, curling back beneath his skin like a snake denied its prey.

Arden collapsed to the floor, gasping, drenched in sweat. His muscles ached as though he'd been beaten, his heart pounding so hard he thought it might tear through his chest.

The demon's laughter lingered faintly, but was weaker now. "You can fight me, boy. But every time you do, you'll break a little more. One day… you won't get back up."

Arden clenched his fists, trembling. "Then I'll keep fighting. As long as I breathe, you'll never win."

The hut was silent again, but Arden knew silence meant nothing. The war inside him had only just begun.