Author's Note: And here is the rest of the-*swallows hard*-roach story. I hope you find some hope amid the darkness of this attack. Perhaps it will aid you just in case you should ever be caught in such dire circumstances! For the sake of your poor, traumatized writer, please be sure to leave me some feedback.
. . .
Of course the (now deceased) roach had friends who monitored Facebook, and while they were already plotting the writer's downfall, the mockery of their fallen comrade only made them all the more eager to ruin Thalion's existence. The next attack was plotted and put into action while Estel was still in shock from the first (and while the body of the dead roach still remained on the floor, none of the apartment's occupants having the guts to remove it, as sad as that is).
The first creature had been very big; there is no denying it. But it was like the Mr. T of cockroaches. The next one was more like the Fezzik or Goliath of cockroaches. The monster could have easily swallowed a cow whole, and it left Estel wondering afterwards how it had even gotten through the door to the apartment in the first place. It somehow hid behind the couch during the night and simply waited for Thalion to emerge in the morning, thinking thoughts of bloodshed and darkness.
When Estel did appear in the morning, she was she always is—sleep deprived. The sun wasn't even up, but she still had to hurry and get ready for class. However, her drooping eyelids made her already bad eyesight even worse, and so it was that she didn't notice anything amiss while she went into the kitchen to get her coffee. She even sat down beside the couch as she drank her caffeine, unaware that death was stalking directly behind her.
It was not until another of her roommates came into the area that Thalion was made aware of her peril. The writer's companion gasped, pointed to the wall just behind the couch, and let Estel know something was amiss with an exceedingly scary yet quiet statement.
"That is huge."
Thalion slowly turned around, following her roommate's gaze. When she saw it, she sprang from her seat, her heart threatening to go on strike, and backed away to the other side of the room, on the very verge of insanity as she thought about the fate she had just narrowly escaped. But then again, she hadn't escaped anything; the horror was still there.
Estel didn't say anything this time; no words could be formed in her now parched mouth. But fortunately her roommate still possessed the ability to speak, and she quickly went to find her older sister, one who had lived in this area long enough to have dealt with the likes of roaches before. This courageous soul took up the Raid of faith and went into action, shooting a stream of the blessed weapon at the horrible monster.
This roach proved far more strong and fierce than its fallen kin, and it was not seriously daunted as the Raid struck his body and made its form sizzle. The evil creature quickly and creepily crawled across the wall, around the corner, and above the blinds of the sliding balcony door. Still, Thalion's roommate fired her weapon, continuing to hit the fiend, but it refused to be stopped. In a horrific show of strength fed by unspeakable wickedness, the beast leapt at its attacker, flying through the air like a bullet.
Again, the providence of Eru saved the lives of the apartment's occupants. The blinds barred the roach's path, and it fell behind them to the carpet rather than latching onto its assailant's throat, which had no doubt been its intention. But even the fall was not enough to injure the creature. It zoomed across the carpet and leapt onto the coffee table, hoping to use the higher ground as a platform for counterattack. But the Raid was still streaming from the canister, and now it finally penetrated the beast's cloak of darkness and caused a searing pain to halt the roach's intentions.
Screams echoed through the air as the roach tried to make up its mind—finish the attack but be slain in the process or hide and live to fight another day. Despite its intense desire for revenge, it knew that the hopes of its species rested in its evil hands, and if it healed, it could try again with more chance of success. So in shame and anger, the beast jumped to the couch and then let its inner darkness encircle it, making it invisible to mortal eyes. The screams stopped and the room became eerily quiet. The sense of foreboding did not disappear with the roach.
Even as Estel writes this, the roach is still at large. At first, Thalion believed (whether from facts or hopes remains uncertain) that the fiend had crawled under the coach and there died of its wounds. But no one in the apartment was able to confirm this as none of them wanted the task of looking. By the time they did at last attempt to locate it, they found that it was truly gone. Estel thinks that it still lives somewhere in the deep, dark corners of the apartment, stalking her every move and waiting for the perfect moment to attack.
Though of course there may be other roach invasions in the future, their part in this chapter of the tale is almost ended. But there was one more blow dealt to Estel's already weak sanity, and this one perhaps the worst of all.
It happened that the writer was moving some plastic grocery bags from their place beside the wall and her desk, hoping to tidy up a little. Audience, please take note that this scene occurred in Thalion's room. Literally five feet from the bed where she sleeps. When the bags were removed, the most horrifying sight in history greeted the eyes of Estel. Nothing has ever shocked and frightened her so much, nor has anything ever made her more seriously contemplate jumping out of her two-story window. There, beside the wall, was a cockroach.
But this was no ordinary cockroach. It was not as large in size as the two former enemies, but had it been as big as a car, it would not have been worse. It was in the crouching position, just like a lion ready to spring. But it had the biggest roach-eyes anyone has ever seen, and they were staring not only into Estel's soul, but were actively sowing darkness and doubt into her being.
It was dead, and that only made it worse.
Though she is slightly ashamed to say it, Thalion was ready to cry and scream at the inhumaneness that was this creature. Not only was it in existence—already an insult to joy and goodness—but it was in her room. She would never sleep in peace again. Even worse than all this, it was now solely her responsibility to take care of it. She wondered if she would be able to do that at all without throwing up.
But although this is a story of great woe, it does have a glimmering star, for Estel learned that day a courage she had never shown before. Her limbs were shaking and her brow was beaded with sweat, but she took heart and departed from the room to get the Raid. Yes, the beast was dead, but since when did that stop roaches?
When she had retrieved the precious weapon, she stood several yards away and completely soaked the corpse, the wall, the carpet, and anything within the vicinity. She then sprayed all the walls in the room for good measure, as the weapon's canister did say it would make a shield against further attacks. When that was done, she got the broom and dustpan along with some plastic bags and did the most courageous thing that has probably ever occurred in the state of Florida.
Standing very far away, only holding the very top of the broom with the ends of her fingers, Estel scooted the bug into the open. Several times she suddenly jumped back in fear, dropping her tools and having to start again. But at last, she had moved the monster beside the dustpan. Then came the worst predicament of all: the body got stuck to the bristles of the broom.
On the verge of tears, Thalion shook the broom, never ceasing to pray for mercy. At long last, the body fell onto the dustpan, and Estel gave a sigh of relief. But now she had the even harder task of grabbing the dust pan's handle, which was only inches away from the roach itself. In a moment of such stress and terror that she can hardly recall it today, Estel took the pan and dumped its contents into the bag. She quickly tied this bag shut and then sealed it into another bag, taking the whole contraption of darkness to the kitchen trash. Then she went back to her room, put on about ten ounces of hand sanitizer, and waited a few hours for the shaking to stop.
But she trusted nothing after that; no closet, no pantry, and not even her bed. Her sanity was literally a tiny cockroach's length from the cliff's edge.
May all cockroaches be cast forever into the Void.
. . .
*Shudders* Well, that's the last of the roaches, at least for the time being. If for some reason I suddenly never update again, it's probably because the roaches came back and did drive me completely insane. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter! More installments should be on the way sometime soon.