X X I X - [ C H R I S T I A N A ]

feels like it's about to explode.

I let out a blood-curdling scream as I hold my head together. It may not be literally falling apart, but it sure as hell feels like it. And as much as I want to keep up the tough-girl act, this final level simply drives me over the edge and screaming my head off in attempt to ease the pain seems inevitable.

I feel Daemon's callous hands holding both my arms and shaking me, panicked but mostly confused on what's happening.

"Feia?" He asks, worry clouding his features. "Feia, what is it? Why are you screaming?"

I want to tell him that there's this pressure that's building up inside my head, but the only sound that comes out of my lips is a long shriek that does not seem to be ending anytime soon.

"Feia? Feia!" Daemon tries again, more frantically this time. He shakes me all the more violently, as if that's supposed to actually make me snap out of whatever trance or... I am currently in.

The pain suddenly stops, however, and I gasp as I feel something entering my head.

Daemon disappears before me, and there doesn't seem to be anything at all. I am all alone in a dark and endless void, and the intense pain I had previously felt no longer exists—in fact, nothing seems to exist here at all except for me, myself and I.

I stay silent, not exactly knowing what to do next.

"Daemon?" I call out, hoping he'd maybe appear somehow like he usually would. There is no response whatsoever, though, except for the distant sound of thumping ringing in my ears.

I'm not able to register it at first, but when I do, my breath hitches and I am suddenly reminded of what Daemon had told me when I first met Lilith.

"."

To be honest, I don't actually know what my nightmare is. Yes, I'd been afraid of quite a few of the silly things out there such as inchworms and whatnot, but I wouldn't exactly call them my nightmare. But looking around me, seeing and hearing nothing but silence, I finally realize what my nightmare is: the deafening silence.

Quite frankly, I've never expected my greatest nightmare to be this. I know that I've never exactly liked complete silence all that much, but I didn't think that it would be my nightmare either. But then again, I'd never exactly been in a place where there are literally no voices at all, so I can't actually say—until now, that is.

The thumping sound quickens the more anxious I get, confirming my suspicions from before—I am currently listening to my own heart beating.

Doing some breathing exercises in an attempt to calm myself down, the pounding sound that's ringing in my ears slow down the more I relax myself. Aside from the sound of my heart, everything else is completely silent. As I listen more closely, however, I can actually hear the faint sound of blood rushing through my body, and just thinking about it makes me cringe somehow.

I remember this one place that I've read about in a book once. There's this room at Orfield Laboratories where you won't be able to hear a single thing. It may be oxymoronic, but they say that the silence is so loud, it may cause you to hallucinate; even the longest a person's stayed inside the room was 45 minutes.

Oh, if only they knew that I might just be beating the world record right now.

I press the palms of my hands against my ears, trying to will away the quietness that is driving me mad. I don't know just what's making me snap, but boy is it working.

"STOP!" I scream, but there is no response. Tears start to involuntarily fall down my cheeks, and every time I move my hand to wipe them away, the quietness just keeps getting worse and worse.

I shout a couple more times, pleading in hopes that it would finally stop. I thrash my head from side to side as I do so, making me feel even dizzier than before, and in the end I simply close my eyes, succumbing to the deafening silence.

"Feia! Wake up! Listen to me!"

I feel my body shaking, though it's not exactly my action—it's Daemon's. My eyelids flutter open immediately, and the surprise that goes through me the moment my eyes land on his makes me deflate.

Daemon sighs in relief, knowing that I'm back, and holds me as I sob uncontrollably—I want to stop, but it's so hard for me to do so.

"It's alright, Feia. You're fine. You're alright." He cooes, rubbing my back soothingly. Daemon then pulls away so that he can see my face, and I hold it to really make sure that he is real.

Suddenly, I feel Daemon's face turn taut as I hold it in my hands, and when I look into his eyes, I feel the sensation of getting sucked in—just like how it was in the previous level.

Oh, God. Not again.

I open my eyes, and Daemon's father is sitting on what looks like his throne back at the palace. His eyes are cold as ice, definitely not how he looked like when I met him.

"Daemon," He starts quietly, staring intensely at me.

I look around, confused. I am most definitely not Daemon, then why  would he be talking to ?

I try to tell him that I'm not him, but an invisible force appears to be acting on me.

"Y-yes?" I stutter, but the voice that comes out isn't even mine—it's Daemon's.

I reluctantly look down, afraid that I will just piss Draven off, and see that I am topless, tan and's got abs that can possible grate cheese.

Shit, am I daemon? Did I somehow manage to stand in his place when I looked into his eyes?

"You have disappointed me, son." Draven says in a low voice, sending chills down my spine. "Why can't you just do as you are told?"

"But I do as I was told!" I——argues, furrowing his eyebrows.

" you talk back to me." He hisses, glaring at me. I gulp while Daemon keeps quiet, obviously used to his father's wrath; hell, this may not even be anything compared to what Daemon's seen. "You sure did, but it wasn't good enough."

I sense Daemon deflating as soon as those words left Draven's lips. For some reason, I can feel how upset he is, and that's not even empathy talking—I literally feel what he does, as if I'm him and my own dad is currently scolding me.

? ?

"You are a Lucifer, Daemon. It is a job of yours to live up to our name. Being next in line, it is your duty to give nothing but the best for your people. If you don't, Daemon, I'm afraid that I must find another demon to rule over Hell after I'm gone."

Daemon stays silent, afraid to make things worse. He doesn't even dare to make eye contact, let alone open up his mouth to talk back to him the way he did—and possibly regret it after.

"Do you understand, Daemon?" Draven asks, raising an eyebrow. "And look at me when you are spoken to, boy. I've taught you better than this."

Though reluctant, Daemon does as he is told and mutters, "Yes, father."

"Good," His father nods in approval and points at the door behind us. "Now leave."

As he should, Daemon obliges and retreats back to his own room like a child being sent to their room by their parents. The moment the door shuts behind him, though, he lets out a frustrated scream and punches the wall to his right and creates a hole that allows you to peep at the room beside his.

"FUCK!" He curses, a little stinging feeling on my (technically his) fist. He sits on his bed and holds his head in his hands and mutters, "Goddamn it, Daemon, can't you do anything right?!"

, I want to tell him, but the words can't seem to come out of my mouth. I figured that Daemon doesn't even need me to actually voice anything out to hear me, though, so I reiterate the words in my head. When I see that it has no effect, however, I try to shout at him instead.

"Daemon, listen to me! This isn't real! All this is nothing but an illusion!" I will him to wake up. "!"

At once he gasps, and we are back to where we were before. Not in the throne room, no—back in the final circle.

He scrambles away from me, as if my touch stings. Once he's realized that it's only me, though, he lets out an exasperated breath and comes closer to me.

"Daemon..." I start, searching for his eyes. "That... That was your nightmare? Being reprimanded by your father?"

"No," He breathes after a while, still a bit overwhelmed. He then pauses again before finally looking up at me, fear still present in his eyes.

"It's not being able to live up to his expectations."