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My vision wavered for a moment, waves of gray masking my sight before I saw his face. It was as though Markos was standing right in front of me, staring at me as though I was his possession.
“You were always meant to be mine. It’s your destiny, Warrior of Light.”
I stared up at him.
Was any of this real?
Beside me, Donna started shaking me. Markos disappeared, and the tall lanky redheaded bartender took his place.
“Kass, you okay? You were just like, ogling that bartender. You’re freaking him out. You’re not high or anything, right? I mean, those shots shouldn’t have hit you already,” she asked worriedly.
I shook my head, trying to shake the chilling feeling that Markos was watching my every move. Maybe I was losing my mind.
“No, I’m not on anything. I think I’m just tired,” I answered.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she pressed, looking pretty concerned.
The bartender had left us both at the corner of the bar. Since it was early, we were two of only a few patrons here. I stared at Donna, wondering if I could trust her and at first, I shook my head, but then I began to talk. I told her about Antonio and then what had happened with Markos. I told her that I had fucked him, but I left out all the embarrassing, shameful details. And then, I told her how I had woken up in New York with absolutely zero recollection of how I got here.
Her concerned look only grew stronger, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t, now that I had started. The words just fell out of me as I blurted out my story.
I told her that I was seeing him. Hearing him when I shouldn’t, and she began to look uneasy and more anxious than before.
“Kass, are you sure? I mean, nothing really adds up. And now you tell me you’re hearing his voice? Seeing him when he isn’t there?” she asked, and I saw her knuckles whiten as she leaned toward me. She was trying to hide it, but I was scaring her.
“I just need some sleep. My boss made me take tomorrow and the weekend off. Told me not to come back till Monday,” I replied, trying to fix the situation.
“Kass, I think I should get you home. Finley, put her on my tab and I’ll settle later,” Donna said, and the redheaded bartender nodded in agreement. He looked at me nervously and I could tell my earlier episode had freaked him out. He probably just wanted me out of his bar, no matter the cost. I mouthed an apology to him before Donna led me out and onto the street.
We walked about a block before she said anything more.
“Listen, Kass, I want you to get some sleep. If any more of this weird hallucination stuff happens tomorrow or over the weekend, I want you to call me. I’ve got a good therapist. Maybe you’ve got PTSD from one of your dangerous missions in the past or whatever and something about this Markos dude triggered it,” she goaded gently, and I shook my head.
“I’m fine. I just need some rest,” I replied eventually.
“Don’t do that, Kass. Let me help. I’m worried about you.”
She wasn’t going to stop until I allowed her to help me. I sighed, defeated.
“Okay, I’ll call you,” I eventually promised. Donna meant well, and I adored her for it, but whatever this was, it would go away. I was sure of it. My ordeal with Markos was just too fresh in my mind. Once more time passed, I’d be okay. I had to be.
She walked me to my door and led me inside. There was a bottle of wine on the counter and she pointed to it.
“Yours?”
I nodded.
She popped it open and poured two glasses for us. The two of us plopped on the couch and pulled up Netflix. After browsing for a bit, she chose a show about some college drama about revenge and untold amounts of sexual tension. I tuned it out eventually and lost myself in my thoughts. The more I tried not to think about Markos, the more I did.
I tried to pay attention on the two dumb blondes in the show vying for their professor’s attentions, but slowly, it became hard to focus. The edges of the television went hazy and the world dimmed into a shadow. I felt as though I was sucked into a dark bubble. I could barely hear anything, and I could hardly see. Eventually, the clouds parted, and I screeched when I saw what came next.
There was a cross on top of a platform. I watched, as someone that looked exactly like me was tied to it, so that my back was bared, my naked ass trembling. It was as though I was having an out of body experience and I couldn’t control anything about it.
Markos walked out of the shadows and I whimpered frantically. In his hand was a long, dangerous-looking bullwhip. I gulped, my uneasiness growing quickly uncontrollable.
He cracked it over my head and the sound was deafening. I screamed in terror. He turned back to the version of myself that was tied to the cross and swung the whip at her. A single angry red welt popped up across her ass and I screamed, feeling the pain as if he had hurt me instead. He did it again and again and I lost track of where the whip fell. On my ass, on the backs of my thighs and then, he raised the whip, aiming for my back.
“Fuck, Kass! What’s wrong with you!”
