IN THE BONE FIELD
The sky was grey.
Not the grey of clouds or dawn or dusk. The grey of absence. The grey of a place that had never known light and would never know it.
Err sat on a throne of skulls.
Her white robe was pristine. Her red eyes were half-closed. Her bare feet dangled above a floor of cracked femurs and shattered ribs. She was bored.
Rachel's voice echoed through the empty expanse.
"Let me out."
Err didn't move.
"I said let me out."
"I heard you."
"Then answer."
Err tilted her head. Her red eyes opened fully.
"No."
"You can't keep me here forever."
"I can." Err gestured at the bone field. "This is my place. My rules. Your body is mine now. Your voice is just... noise."
"Why didn't you let me die?"
Err was quiet for a moment.
Then she laughed.
It was not a cruel laugh. Not a triumphant laugh. Something else. Something tired.
"You wanted to die."
"Yes."
"With a pocket knife. In a market full of dust?"
"Yes."
"Pathetic."
Rachel's voice cracked.
"You killed them. All those people. The market. The church. The school. The children."
"I know."
"You made me watch."
"I know."
Err stood. The skulls shifted beneath her. She walked across the bone field, her bare feet leaving no prints.
"You wanted to die because you couldn't live with what I did. Do you think I care?"
"You're a monster."
"I'm a Phobia. There's a difference."
Err stopped. She looked up at the grey sky.
"I've been inside you for years. Listening to your thoughts. Your fears. Your pathetic little hopes and poems."
"Then you know I'll never let you out again."
Err smiled.
"You don't have a choice."
She raised her hand. The bone field trembled.
"I'm bored, brat. Your mind is a cage, and I've been sitting in it for too long. Soon, I'll need to stretch."
"I'll fight you."
"You'll lose."
"I'll die before I let you hurt anyone else again."
Err laughed again. Softer this time.
"You already tried that. Remember? The pocket knife. The dust. The blood."
"Stop."
"How do you think David would feel,"
Rachel was silent.
"You don't have the courage to die. You just have the despair to want it."
Err turned.
"Sleep now. I'm tired of listening to you."
She snapped her fingers.
"Let's see what your friend has for me."
The bone field went dark.
---
SOMEWHERE ELSE
Rachel's body lay on a bed in an unfamiliar room.
Her eyes were closed. Her breathing was steady. Her hands were folded across her stomach.
Err did not move.
She just lay there, staring at the ceiling, listening to the silence.
Bored.
Waiting.