Cecilia woke up with a splitting headache and a burning fever. She refused to get out of bed, despite the smell of bacon wafting through the air vents. Before he left for work, her father set a tylenol or something on her nightstand. The teenager was only vaguely aware of this, however, as she kept fading in and out of reality. At some point, Brook and Amelia walked by her door, heading out to whatever it was they were doing today. As the morning went on, she started to hallucinate dirty, gaunt children staring at her. At first, it was only a little boy at the foot of her bed. Then it was him and a little girl, increasing until she was surrounded by six or seven creepy little kids.
Heavy footsteps began to travel down the hall. The children were suddenly frightened and hid under her bed, even though there shouldn't have been enough space for two of them let alone seven. Cecilia struggled to keep her eyes open so that she wouldn't be completely defenseless. The footsteps stopped just outside her door. Cecilia tensed herself for whatever was coming next. The door creaked open ever...so...slowly…
The sudden sound of glass shattering downstairs made her jump. Unfamiliar voices floated up to her, distinctly male but unintelligible. The door slammed shut suddenly. In a bout of strength, Cecilia heaved herself out of bed and stumbled to the door, grabbing the knob for stability. No matter what direction she turned it or how hard she pulled, the door would not budge. The voices grew closer, accompanied by the sounds of things breaking and being moved around.
Their tone changed suddenly; the men screamed and shouted things like "stay away" and "don't come any closer". Cecilia screamed and covered her ears as what sounded like gunshots reverberated throughout the house. Their shouts of fear became pained screams as god-knows-what happened to them. Cecilia scooted back until she was pressed against the frame of her bed. No matter how tightly she covered her ears, she could still hear the screaming.
In an instant, everything was quiet. Cecilia cautiously uncovered her ears and stood, any traces of illness gone. She tiptoed to her door and placed her hand on the knob. It turned, and the door swung open without any protest. Everything was silent, almost as if all of the sound had been sucked into a vacuum. Timidly, she peaked out into the corridor. A long streak of some dark red liquid ran along the hallway, stopping at her door frame. She stepped into the hall and closed the door. A huge black symbol had been burned into the white wood, oozing something that the teen didn't want to think about. She shivered; it was freezing cold.
Swallowing thickly, she padded down the hall. Fear welled up in her throat as she descended the stairs, not knowing what she would encounter.
Downstairs was where the real chaos was. Doors were torn off their hinges, the couch was broken in two, garbage and glass were scattered all over the floor. The worst part was the blood. Splattered on the walls. Dragged across the floor. Cecilia covered her mouth as she walked forward. A man lay in a pool of blood, some bright green substance mixing with the red. Numbness settled over her. She moved past the corpse, into the living room. There was the second man- well, body really. It was disfigured beyond recognition, pinned to the wall as if he was crucified. His stomach had been torn open, allowing the contents to spill down his legs and onto the floor; the still-warm pile of organs steamed in the icy air.
The symbol on her door was everywhere down here, burned into the floor, burned into the man's body, painted on the walls in blood. Cecilia looked down; she was standing in the middle of a giant reproduction of the symbol, drawn in blood and the same neon green liquid from earlier.
Someone placed their hands on her shoulders. Cecilia shook, closing her eyes and fighting back the urge to scream and cry. She turned around slowly, finding herself face-to-face with a broad, black-clad chest. Slowly, she looked up until she was staring Bughuul, the Child Eater, directly in the non-eyes. He tilted his head to one side and she mimicked him; he repeated the motion to the other side and she did the same. Her eyelids drooped. She couldn't break out of this trance- she was like a puppet. His puppet.
He grabbed her jaw with one hand and tangled the other in her hair. He tilted her head back and forced her mouth open. She closed her eyes. For a moment, he simply observed her. She was beautiful, totally under his control, and vulnerable. He was suddenly very, very hungry. He pressed his mouth against hers, for a moment simply enjoying her burning skin against his. Then, he opened his mouth. Her soul rose from her into him. He could feel himself growing stronger as she grew weaker. She whimpered weakly, grabbing his coat to stay standing.
He didn't want to take all of her, no, not just yet. This was a meal he wanted to drag out and savor for as long as he possibly could. He pulled away from her, letting the last drops of her soul slip back into her. He let go of her jaw and wrapped the arm around her waist as she fell back limply. Slowly, tenderly, he lowered her to the floor. The sound of police sirens echoed in the distance. Bughuul turned and walked deliberately out of the room.