Whatever drugs they administered to calm me worked too well. Still strapped to the bed, I lay in the isolation room and stared at the ceiling, wishing the room would stop spinning long enough to identify that weird mark on the wall by the door.

They’d actually stuck me in a padded room. Throughout my entire stay, I’d only been confined to the third floor, so I couldn’t be certain where I was.

He is coming. Our Master is coming. He will see the world burn for what they’ve done to you.

“The world didn’t do this to me,” I argued, my tongue barely cooperating enough to get the words out. “You did.” A sliver of drool dripped off the corner of my mouth and gravity pulled it to the mattress where it merged with the rest of the sodden mess underneath my head.

I’d lost track of how long they’d kept me floating in my own mind. Strangely enough, the sedative also managed to quiet the majority of chaos in my head.  I could still hear them, but they were muffled and only one or two came through at a time. I hadn’t heard from the angels since last night and I worried that something had happened to them.

Beloved…

A deep, masculine whisper surged through the barrier holding the other voices at bay, and I winced at the familiarity conveyed in that one, simple word. His tone caressed me from the inside out, chasing all remnants of chill the cold air had seeped into my bones.

My pets have told me how those humans dare treat you, I shall rain destruction upon them. I shall destroy them and bathe in their remains. I will shower you with their guts and you will revel in the glory you deserve.

“No,” I croaked in response. “You’re not really there. None of them are.” Tears welled in my eyes and for the first time in my life, I wanted to believe what the therapists and psychiatrists have been telling me. I needed it all to be a figment of my imagination. I desperately prayed to have schizophrenia; because the alternative was too much to contemplate and it was way too much to bear.

Don’t fight it. His voice slipped through again and my body shivered in response. Don’t fight me. And I wanted to scream at my physical self to stop reacting to him like one greets a long-lost lover. He wasn’t real, he wasn’t here and he was nothing to me. And yet, my body declared otherwise.

Like a rose unfolds it petals, revealing its innermost delicacy, my body preened under his command.

That’s it, my love. Let my power flow through you. Let my blood ignite your veins.

Under his crooning, my hands fisted of their own volition. One sharp tug and my wrists were freed from the bands that no human could break.
Liquid fire consumed me from the inside out. My back arched sharply and the straps crossing my chest snapped like a dried twig. I sat up, my lower body still shackled to the too-soft mattress and tilted my head from side to side; smiling when the pops, and crackles released long-held tension.

I’d never felt so at peace, so free and so powerful.

You can have more – you can have all you desire.

“Yes,” I agreed breathlessly and allowed a moan to escape my lips. Everything felt so good; all my inhibitions were gone, along with fear of being deemed crazy.

Not crazy, he argued. You’ve never been crazy. You are merely a caterpillar seeking a place to build your cocoon. Soon, your metamorphosis will be complete and you will soar like the beautiful butterfly you are.

Reaching down, I made quick work of the other straps, completely freeing my body.

“Now what?” I asked, still riding the adrenaline high. “What do I do now?”

Excruciating pain erupted inside my head; the blood in my brain sizzling like someone had taken a blow-torch to it. Reaching up, I grabbed my skull with both hands and doubled over, my knees hitting the floor as I collapsed on the dirty tile.

NOOOOOOOO! he wailed, his voice growing fainter and farther away. Once all that was left was a hollow echo, my wits reemerged and I felt so ashamed for allowing him to seduce me with merely his voice.

No, sweet child, do not punish yourself. Seduction is what he does best. Never allow him to have full control of you again, next time we may not be able to break the threads tethering him.

My angels – my saviors – were back. Wrapping my arms tightly around my middle, I pulled my knees to my chin and sobbed at the relief in my mind. I half expected my brain to ooze out through an ear or nostril, but when nothing of the sort happened, I made myself get off the floor and crawl onto the bed.

“What happened to Liz?” I asked at last.

You killed her, the angel stated nonchalantly and I, again, burst into tears.

Those three words forced me to consider that maybe I’d killed my parents after all.

A/N: Please don't forget to vote!