Pieces of the Past

*Ten years ago*

"Father, please help me, " Dan's mother spoke.

They were at the cathedral at Saint Simeon's. They were in the Father's room.

The father's brows furrowed.

"What's the matter, Jane?"

Dan's mother dabbed a kerchief at her wet eyes and turned almost hesitantly to her son by her side.

She looked back at the Father.

"It's my son, " She started.

The Father looked at the teenager—he was playing a video game on his phone, completely ignoring the conversation.

He looked back at the mother.

"What is the matter child?" The aged father asked.

"He's possessed, " the mother said quietly.

"I can hear you mom, " Dan spoke for the first time, raising his head, his hazel eyes standing out.

He stuffed his phone in his jacket.

"I'm hungry. Yeah, I think I'm gonna go get some snacks, " he made to leave.

"Son, it won't be long. Please sit, " the father urged.

Dan rolled his eyes and sat back down. He stuffed his hands in his jacket pocket.

He was bored out of his mind.

"I'm not your son, " he mumbled.

"Dan!" Her mother snapped.

"Do you see father? He's a rebellious child!"

Dan sighed and averted his eyes.

"He's possessed I tell you, "

"It's like multiple personalities live inside of him, " the mother ranted.

"He talks to himself a lot,"

The father's brows furrowed.

"Have you taken him to the hospital?" the father interrogated.

"I have, that was the first place I took him. They told me he was completely healthy, "

"I'm fine, mom, " Dan tried to say.

"How can you tell me you're fine when you tried to kill your own father?!"

√√√

'Dan?'

'Dan...?'

Dan opened his eyes groggily.

He was hearing voices.

"Lily?" he said quietly. The voice sounded vaguely like hers.

Everything was blurry, his glasses were missing.

'He's awake,'

He heard another voice say.

He turned to the side and squinted but he couldn't make out a single thing or person.

'Philip?'

'I'm right here,' he heard Lily's voice say, but Dan still couldn't see anyone.

Everything seemed to fade into black and all he heard was static.

Dan opened his eyes again.

He looked around.

He was lying in a hospital bed.

It looked like a regular ward-he even saw a balloon.

'What the...'

He sat up.

He looked around—he was alone.

Bright light invaded the room and it almost blinded him and then everywhere darkened.

Dan's heart raced.

'What is happening?'

'Where are Lily and Philip?'

Suddenly, he felt the air shift around him and right before his very eyes, the four cloaked personalities appeared.

The ones he'd seen before.

The ones he'd concluded had been only figments of his imagination.

But there they were, again, in his room.

'The fuck?'

He was already losing it.

The ones in white and purple stood by his left while the ones in red and black were by his right.

'Were the colours supposed to mean something or what?'

His heart raced.

Either way, something was definitely not right...with him.

He braced himself for what he was about to say.

"What am I doing here?" he managed to ask.

"You passed out." the one in black replied.

Dan vaguely remembered that.

'At the church?'

"Okay. What are you doing here? Is this even really happening?" he questioned quietly.

"We're always here Dan, with you." Peace replied.

"Bullshit." he bit out before he could stop himself.

"You need to calm the fuck down, " Anger spoke moving closer.

"Or, I will destroy you, " Anger said quietly.

Royalty held Anger back.

"Not the time or place, is it?" Royalty said lowly. Its voice raspy.

To Dan, they were the oddest of all possible combinations.

Anger, Royalty, Sin and Peace.

'Like how did they even correlate?'

'Why were they there with him?'

'What exactly were they? And why did he keep seeing them?'

He wondered if he would ever find out.

The one in purple cloak turned to Dan.

He still couldn't make out any of their faces. They were hidden inside their hoodies.

These things were tall—taller than the average human.

'But what were they?' 'And what do they want with him?'

"Do you know who or what you are Dan?" Royalty spoke quietly.

Dan looked up at it expecting to see at least a semblance of a face-he saw only darkness.

"I'm an orphan, I'm alone and I have no family, " he stated.

"Do you know what happened to your family?" Royalty continued.

"The plague took them, " Dan said easily.

"What plague?" It asked.

"The plague that killed hundreds of thousands of people here in New York and took my family with it, " Dan retorted exasperatedly.

"Is that so?"

Dan turned to Peace.

"What's this guy's deal?"

"Dan, you're the one who killed your family." Peace said.

'This again.'

"Your mother, your little sister, your-"

"Stop."

He'd heard it before, but he hadn't believed it. He didn't want to believe it.

"It's not true, " Dan said firmly.

"It is, " Royalty interjected.

"Then, why can't I remember?"

"You suffer from an illness, " Royalty stated.

"What illness?" Dan asked confused.

"It's what you humans call DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder), "

Dan's eyes widened.

"What are you talking about?" His voice came out unsure.

"I'm completely fine, " he interjected. He didn't quite completely believe his own words.

'What if everything he'd been told was true?'

"You're not. If you were, we wouldn't be here, "

"We'll show you, " Peace spoke.

A black screen showed up in front of them, seemingly out of nowhere.

The room darkened and unfamiliar images began to play on the screen.

He saw a little boy-a teenager, alone in his room furiously scribbling on his note.

Dan squinted.

The room looked oddly familiar though.

"Who's that?" He asked no one in particular.

"That is you, " Peace answered.

Dan's eyes widened and his eyes trained on the boy.

"If birds could fly, then I'd be one, " the boy said to himself scribbling away.

"There's nothing better than eating a Burrito on a Sunday, " the boy continued.

His voice became quiet.

"I need to be alone to attain an equilibrium, " he said all of a sudden looking up.

"Therefore, all obstacles must be eliminated, " he mumbled incoherently.

His younger self got out of bed and pulled out a knife from under his pillow.

Dan's eyes widened.

Younger Dan chuckled, crazed.

"Father has to go first, " he whispered.

He walked out of the room.

Seconds later, screams could be heard all over the house.

"Dan, " it was his mother's voice.

Dan recognised it.

"What have you done?!" She screamed in anguish.

The screen dissolved into nothing.

Dan was quiet for a while.

"Why did you show me that?"

"What are you saying? That I killed my own father?"

"That is not all. You've committed a number of abominations which you've made yourself forget, "

His brows furrowed, immensely confused and unsure.

"I don't think your mind is capable of grasping it even if we did tell you now "

He grabbed his hair and closed his eyes. He was panicking.

'What was happening? He didn't understand anything. He was scared.'

"Dan, "

He gasped softly, his eyes widening.

"Lily?" he whispered.

He wanted to get off the bed but the one in the black cloak stopped him.

"Wait, "

"Let me go. I have to get to her, " he said desperately.

He needed something that was real. This was too much. He had to get to her.

"The voice isn't real, it's all in your head, now stay put, " Sin said.

Peace came to his side, its face hidden behind the white hoodie.

"You have to let her go, " It spoke.

"If you don't, you'll end up killing her. You'll devour her and it'll all be your fault, "

He buried his face in his hands.

"What are you saying? That I'm not even allowed to be with her?"

"Why? I don't understand what's going on?!"

"You have to let her go or she will die, " Peace said again.

He didn't want to, he never wanted to.

"I don't know anything anymore, I'm so confused, " he said quietly to himself.

He raised his head and stared at the four of them.

"Did I really kill my family?" he whispered.

His mind was barely holding on by a thread.

They all nodded in unison.

"And you devoured their souls, " Peace said quietly.

His eyes widened by a few centimetres.

"You're not human Dan, "

He started hyperventilating.

"You're the devil's spawn."

√√√

Dan opened his eyes groggily. The sunlight got into his eyes. It looked like he was outside.

He felt grass underneath him.

His vision cleared a little and he found out he was staring at the bright blue sky.

"Dan!" he heard someone gasp by his side.

'Lily.'

"He's awake!"

Dan winced from her high-pitched voice.

Two pair of hands helped him sit up.

They felt masculine.

Dan groaned and rubbed the back of his head while adjusting his glasses.

His eyes widened when he discovered he was surrounded by people staring at him with worried eyes—Lily being one of them—and countless people he didn't recognise.

'They were still at the church.'

Lily helped him stand and he leaned on her for support.

He turned to her and was shocked to see her tear-streaked face.

'Had she been crying because of him?'

He wanted to wipe the tears away, he never wanted to see her cry. Ever.

"How long was I gone?" he asked quietly.

"Five minutes, " she answered softly.

To him, it'd felt like an eternity.

He looked at the people gathered around them, some holding bottled water.

He was touched at their concerned looks.

He untangled himself from Lily and went to the man who looked to be the Senior Pastor.

"Thank you, sir, " Dan shook his hand.

"Happy to have you back, son, " the aged minister said.

The minister was wearing a black shirt and pants and that thing he used to see Pastors wear around their collar.

Dan noticed the minister wince slightly in pain as their hands met.

"Are you alright? " Dan quickly removed his hand and took a step back, eyes wide.

"I'm alright, son, "

Dan saw the minister's eyes widen significantly as he looked into his eyes.

Dan nodded.

Someone he thought was an usher escorted him back to the church.

Dan turned to the rest of the people; two men and three adult women and thanked them for all their help.

"Have a safe trip home, " a man that seemed to be in his fifties said.

"I will, thank you, " Dan said quietly.

They all left and soon Dan and Lily were alone.

He turned to her and moved closer—he was a lot taller than her so she had to look up at him.

"Are you okay?" he said softly looking into her beautiful forest-green eyes.

She nodded, smiling a little at him.

His heart raced.

She was so beautiful, even with her tear-streaked cheeks.

He took out a kerchief from his back pocket and cleaned her cheeks softly.

His movement slowed when he saw her staring intently into his eyes.

It stopped completely and his eyes lowered to her full, pink lips.

His heart raced even more.

Without being able to stop it, Dan leaned down and kissed her.

He kissed her on the forehead instead-much to his own dismay.

But he didn't want to seem forward.

He leaned back and looked into her eyes.

"Be my girlfriend, Lily, " he whispered.

The smile that spread across her beautiful face was blinding.

She nodded her head and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Yes, I'll be your girlfriend, Dan," she said softly.

Dan wrapped his arms around her.

She felt warm against him and he relished in the feeling of being wanted by another person.

It was a beautiful feeling. One he wanted to explore to the fullest, one he never wanted to let go.

√√√

As Dan laid in bed that night, he couldn't help but be happy-something he hadn't felt in a long while.

It was nice.

He just got off the phone with Lily and he'd learnt a few things about her within that short time.

He learnt she loved snowboarding and table tennis.

He also found out she lived alone here in New York.

He'd asked her about her family, but she'd been pretty vague about them but he hadn't pushed her.

He knew, in due time, she would open up to him.

There was this lightness in his chest now whenever he thought of her.

It was a fuzzy feeling, something he'd never felt in his twenty-five years of living.

But why did he have this feeling deep inside of him that that happiness would be short-lived?

'You have to let her go,' he heard the haunting voice say.

'If you don't, you'll end up killing her. You'll devour her and it'll all be your fault,'

Dan still didn't know if he was crazy, if he really did suffer from a mental illness or if everything was actually real.

But he knew he didn't want to lose her.

Somehow, the thought of losing her was harder to bear than if him killing his entire family turned out to be true.

He closed his eyes, sighing.

'What was wrong with him,'

'How could he think that?'

But it was true.

He didn't want to lose Lily.

He'd do anything, anything at all to make her stay with him.

He needed her like he needed to breathe.

He wanted her like he'd never wanted anything else in his life.

'And she was his.'

A smile spread on his lips as he closed his eyes.

'She was his. . .,'

'. . .forever.'

...