The Devil Wore My Name

V. GIVE IN TO ME

Before Elfric could ask what the hell he meant, he was gone. Leaving Elfric amidst the strong stink of blood, dirt, sweat, and four corpses. As he took another closer look at the scene, he fell to his knees.

Whatever strength he had regained since that God-forsaken day was now gone.

His mind was screaming in denial while his eyes disapproved. There was no one here other than him. But also, there was no way that he could just kill four men double his weight and get away with it.

But from what the red-headed man just said, he just did.

His sense of survival had awakened; he covered his head with the white hood that somehow remained spotless. All this blood coating almost every corner of the alley, yet he was standing there unsullied by it all, except for his bloody hands.

He dug them deep in his pockets as he dashed off into the half-empty street. He had to get away from here, as far away as he could.

From the way that they all dressed, they were nobles.

He cursed under his breath. If everything he saw and heard was real, then he just killed a noble, and there was no way he was going to get away with it.

And for some reason, he didn't remember any of it.

'You are welcome,'

Elfric's head jolted to look behind him, only to see bystanders living their normal lives.

'What the hell was that?' he cursed as he furrowed his brows under the hood of his sweater.

It seems that he wasn't only hearing one sentence but a bunch of them now.

'Congratulations, Elfric, you have officially lost your mind,' he thought as he increased his pace.

Whatever plans he had to go to school on time were now gone. All he cared about at this point was figuring out what the hell that man meant!

Whoever Orathan is, he should stay clear of Elfric.

'I'm him,'

"THEN YOU BETTER STAY THE FUCK AWAY!" Elfric yelled out, freaking out the people passing by. He brought himself unwanted attention as people took a good look at him. They started murmuring loud enough for him to hear.

"He looks young, but his hair is all white!"

"Did you see his eyes!"

He bit on his lower lip, clenching the strap of his bag – somehow it was still in place after everything that seemed to have happened when he was in dreamland.

'Soon…soon you are going to give in,'

~~~~

Elfric burst open the door to the classroom, gaining everyone's attention. He thanked the fact that his appearance to the whole class was now an old, boring story. The moment that he stepped foot inside the class, he took off his hood, and released a breath that was held in all through the way.

Before his eyes could even take in the people in the class, a loud voice called him. Christopher jumped on Elfric, pulling him under his armpits.

"Bro, shouldn't you be resting after…" Christopher stopped midway as he saw the way Elfric eyed him.

Right, the whole class was up and around. If this were to get out that they went clubbing late at night, and the club was set on fire on top of all of that. Christopher didn't want to even imagine how his end would be.

Chris released Elfric as he took a deep breath, brushing his brown locks off his face.

 "Anyway," he finally said. "Are you seriously okay?" he tilted his head to take a closer look at Rick.

 He figured that he was fine since he was up and about, and Rick wasn't exactly the type of person to force himself to go to school if he didn't feel like it.

Rick walked past Chris as he followed behind him, waiting eagerly for a reply. Elfric felt his head about to be smashed to pieces. Thank goodness the voice was quiet, giving him a few minutes of quality time.

"I'm fine, Chris," Elfric finally said his first words as he gestured tiredly for Chris to sit down. "You are making my headache worse. Sit down."

Chris blinked a couple of times before deciding to do as he was told and sat down on the desk that was right in front of Elfric by the window side.

"Chris, do you remember what happened exactly?" Elfric spoke out of thin air.

Chris turned halfway in his seat to rest his elbow on Elfric's desk as he processed the question. Chris didn't need to ask what he was talking about; it was clear that he meant that night at the nightclub.

"Honestly, I don't know, Rick," he confessed. "I left that basement thinking that you were right behind me. I walked back into the club to realize that you weren't there, but by that time, everything was on fire. I am that one who wants to know what the hell went on down there?"

'He didn't see anything. That means everything was normal up there to some extent.' Rick thought as he stared blankly.

"I-I don't know," Elfric lied – to some extent. He truly had no idea if that Shadow was true or if that voice was there, or who that red-headed guy was from this morning.

More importantly, if he really killed those men…

The thought brought chills all over his skin; he felt nauseated from the mere thought of it. Chris noticed that way he was gazing into the abyss, but before he could pull his friend out of his daze, the teacher was already in class. He gave him one last look before turning back to sit upright in his chair.

Elfric didn't even see his friend move or the teacher's movement.

"You monster…" the red-haired man told him, his words were on repeat in his head.

Rick had no memory; all he remembered was the strong smell of blood that still lingered on his skin. 

"Orathan," he mumbled under his breath; the teacher's loud voice swallowed his own.

The name sounded like something from the 17th century or something.

Was this Orathan the same shadow that he saw back there?

The question couldn't leave his mind, replaying the events over and over again.

Trying to remember the fragments of his memory that he lost, but in vain.

There was nothing in his head to remember, it was almost as if he ceased to exist during these small minutes…as if it wasn't him that was holding the reins, an empty vessel used by whatever was inside him.

'You have finally lost your mind, Rick,' he thought as he scoffed silently. He tried his best to concentrate in class and take his mind off these thoughts, but the attempt only worsened his pain.

'You are soon going to give in to my existence,'