Greatest Fear

It seemed like months since I fought my brother but it\'s only been days. I was released two days after the battle, the docters congrulating themselves on a job well done. Of course there was no way I could tell them they hadn\'t even done anything.

As I stepped through the front doors of St. Mary\'s for the last time I tensed, afraid I was still dreaming. I smiled as I was allowed to pass into the bright sunlight and was greeted with the sound of birds.

I was finally free! Free of my brother. Free of St. Mary\'s... Free to live my life.

I carried the small bag that contained the few possessions I owned at my side, the roughness of the fabric a reminder of what it was like to feel. The sun on my back as I traveled south down the street to the small flat my parents had left me. The fridge was probably growing by now... I smiled for the first time since the day my parents died. I was going to be ok.

. . .

\"You know you didn\'t win...\" The voice whispered behind me.

I turned my head quickly to see... nothing...

\"Over here...!\" It was in front of me this time. There was a shadow but nothing more.

\"What\'s wrong, lil\' sis?\" I gasped. the voice was so close to my face.

\"Daemon?\" The word burned on my tougue. \"You\'re not real!\" I said a little more firmly.

\"You\'re right!\" Daemons voice was suddenly joined by his body. It was unwhole. I don\'t know how else to explain it. The skin of his face was crumbling off. His eyes were only wholes in his skull, and his hands were only bone.

He sat in a chair a few feet ahead of me.

\"I may not be real, but I\'m here, bitch! You\'re dreaming!\" He stood up and walked torwards me slowly as he said that. As he walked forward, his flesh slowly returned to his body, and his eyes became black orbs in their sockets.

His feet slid along the floor as he walked like a cruel imitation of life.

This couldn\'t be happening. Not again... I killed him! A scream erupted from some where in the room. I turned to see the cause. It was my mother... This couldn\'t be happening, not again... Deamon was nearly touching me now...

\"How do I get rid of you?!\" I yelled in fear and frustration.

\"Just... Wake up...\" my mother answered.

I looked at her in confusion and she smiled sadly at me. \"Wake up honey...\"

And I did.

. . .

Time passed slowly the next few days... It was only a dream, but it reminded me so much of the attacks on my mind. It was differant. It was, truly, just a dream.

I awoke in a daze. If only time could have stood still at that moment, life would have been fine. But, of course, it did not. In my hastiness to get out of bed, my foot caught in the bed clothes. My head hit the bed stand with a crack as I fell. A white light flashed before me and I was lost in a world of surrealism.

I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life. Soft green grass tickled the bottoms of my feet. White flowers covered with butterflies of every colour imaginable dancing about them. Everything seemed to glow with a light of its own. And there, beneath the comforting boughs of an oak, was my mother...

\"Mommy!\" the word brought warmth to her face as I ran toward her, arms outstretched. \"Mommy, I missed you so much!\" We stood there a long time just taking in the moment. A shadow passed over my mothers face.

\"I your brother has hurt you, and I know the terrors you have faced. You have won many battles, but I\'m afraid the war is not over. Although you killed your brother\'s body, his spirit still lingers on earth... you must destroy his spirit...\"

\"I don\'t know how to do that! I don\'t... understand...\" I tried to look down but my mother\'s hand on my cheek stopped me.

\"You\'ll know what to do when the time comes, but right now, you have to wake up...\"

Before I could do anything more, I woke up. I was still lying on the floor from when I fell off my bed. I rubbed a spot on the back of my head and stood up.

It was time to do something. No more feeling sorry for myself. No more letting my brother take over my life. If I couldn’t defeat him, then I would die trying. But first, I was going to get some ice for my head...

. . .

A single dream haunted my sleep. Words I now know by heart weave an image of destruction and hope.

*Love\'s wings turn to hate
Time has stopped and life soon will follow.
Death falls upon the land, his scythe takes the young.

Who will stop the madness now when all has gone for naught?
One pure heart has fought before...
She will fight again.*

The world was gone. My brother had won for a while. But I had beaten him before, and I\'d do it again.

With that, the words running through my head in a silent mantra, I took a breath and called my brother.

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Whew! I seem to have gotten a bit rusty over the months of not writing...