Lay upon the bed, coughing. Coughing so hard that it burst blood vessels. Agony was the only thing he could feel. He didn’t want to move, in fear of even more pain pulsating through out his body. Darren lay with his eyes closed and breathing deeply. “Its probably just food poisoning…” he thought to himself. His stomach churned. Another round of the sweats, tiny little droplets formed on his forehead. He rolled over on his bed to face the bucket once again. He glanced at this clock. It read nine-thirty in the morning. It had only been ten minutes since he last checked, although to Darren it felt like a life time. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine being with his girlfriend again. It had only been a week since she left to go on holiday, but he missed her terribly. Once again he could feel his stomach churn. He tried to fight the urge but he was fighting a loosing battle. With his curtains still drawn closed, tiny beams of light seeped into the room. They felt as if they were burning into his eyes.
Darren tried to focus himself onto one object, to see if that could stop the constant violent puking and swirling motion from within his head. He stared at his fish tank, watching the little, sparkling fish gracefully cruising around in the tank. He concentrated on the faint humming of the tank filter, as if it were a song, that the fish were dancing along to. Sweat started slowly dripping down the sides of his head once again. The faint humming got louder, almost causing a painful ringing effect in his ears. He wanted to look away, but something was stopping his. Something he couldn’t control. The fish slowed their speed, and there before Darren, things were moving, coming together to one centre point, Two small glowing points grew, either side of the centre point. A face. Darren swore he could see a face form within the darkness. But he couldn’t tell if it was human… The face drew closer.
The eyes staring into Darren’s. his heart pounding fiercely in his chest. He tried to raise his hand to see if he could reach out and touch it, but he couldn’t find the strength. The humming stopped. The face dissolved in to the dark. The shimmers of light bouncing off the fish scales was all to be seen. “it was a dream, must have been…” he told himself, over and over. He felt his heart rate descend to regularity. Pain still ripping through every inch of his body. Before he knew it he was face first ever the bucket once again. He relaxed every muscle he could and sunk into the matress. But peace was still another matter. Immense agony still made course, a slight whisper of the television sound made audible from the nest room. To take his mind off the pain, he tried, yet again to focus on something. A deep male voice echoed to darren, unfamiliar but he still tried to make it out. As he focused, the voice grew louder in his head. “Darren, its your time…” The voice told him. Darren unaware that it meant him, he kept listening. “darren, you can hear me… follow my voice” it continued, becoming clearer with every word. It was almost like the voice was just at his door. “does he mean me?” he questioned himself. “yes Darren…” the voice announced slowly.
Darren felt his heart skip a beat, a sharp stinging pain shot from his head “darren, just let me inside and we’ll become one..” the voice offered in a soothing, seducing tone, but Darren fought the pain. Darren believed there was only so much pain one person can withstand, and he had just pushed the barrier. It was as if somebody had split his head with an axe and filled his skull with a thousand wasps. “Darren, don’t fight the pain and let me in, trust me…” the toneless voice sent a chill down his spine . This made him scared, terrified for what will happen next. He didn’t want to back down, he pushed onward, fighting. “no, darren…” the voice echoed inside him. But somehow the pain was slowly, but surely going. The voice seem to get quieter, drifting away. He could hear foot steps coming along the hall, coming for him. He didn’t want to open his eyes. He kept them squeezed shut, as the steps got closer. The squeak of the handle grinded in his ears. A flood of light hit the room, “honey, are you okay?” the sweet, soothing voice questioned. The pain was gone, Darren had a sudden wave of relief. “yeah, I think” he managed to say. He sat up, and he felt fine again.. He fought the battle, and won.