I heard a hard knock at the door.

I slowly sat up in my bed, wrapped up tightly in blankets. It was the middle of the night. My head throbbed with pain. It felt like it was going to explode.

"Hello?" I called out, my head still spinning.

Another hard knock.

"Who's there?"

"It's Nightmare."

I swallowed hard and slowly walked to the front door, discarding my blankets as I went.

"One moment," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

I stood there shivering in the darkness. I couldn't gather the courage to open the door and face him. What was he doing here? What did he want?

Was he here to hurt me?

I could sense Nightmare standing out there with two other people. Death Smoke's aura was unmistakable. It clung to the surfaces it touched like dirty oil. The other aura radiated outwards in every direction like an enormous torch. It was Straylight, the man who called himself a fallen angel. The three people Ghost Wolf warned me about were standing right outside my door. Why didn't I run when I had the chance?

"Brother Rex, let me in. I have some supplies for you..." I heard Nightmare say.

I stared at the door in silence. Part of me wanted to let them in. Maybe I didn't want to believe they were here to kill me. Maybe I was too scared to do anything. The door handle rattled. Nightmare was trying to force his way in.

"Leave me alone," I said with a cracked voice. "It's dangerous to be around me right now."

The door handle rattled one last time. I heard a muffled voice, but couldn't make out the words. Someone on the other side of the door was getting angry. I could sense the three of them as clear as day. They were moving around the front of the safehouse now, examining the door, looking at the windows, looking for a way in.

"Little Rex, let us in... cough. We're... here to help you...." said Death Smoke with a dry croak. "We're g-going to help you... Let us in, little guy..."

His voice was so messed up now I could barely understand him. He sounded like an old man on his deathbed, struggling to breathe. I heard Straylight snarling something incomprehensible as he paced around outside the door. Nightmare stood quietly in place like a ghostly shadow.

A wave of fear washed over me. I started gathering psychic energy into my fingers. I could barely resist the urge to obliterate the three men standing outside my door. My hands glowed with intense purple light. I could feel more and more power welling up inside me with every passing moment. 

The entire room started to creak ominously as it slowly shifted from side to side. The ceiling sagged down and cracks ran down the walls as the floor itself started to split. Just by gathering my strength, I was creating something similar to an earthquake.

There was a loud crashing noise. Straylight broke the front door to pieces with a vicious stomp and charged inside, frantic to stop me before I reached my full power. I wouldn't let him near me. I wouldn't die here. I'd kill him. I'd blow him to bits!

I opened my left hand and released a burst of psychic energy. The muscular blonde man was hurled across the room. His body smacked against the wall and fell with a thump to the floor. He was injured, but that wasn't going to be enough to keep him down for good. I opened my right hand, unleashing the same explosive power I used to wipe the Devil Chains from existence.

There was a blinding flash of purple light followed by a shockwave that reduced the safehouse to rubble. I protected myself from the falling debris with a dome-shaped psychic barrier. Straylight's aura was snuffed out in an instant.

A cloud of thick dust poured from the wreckage, engulfing my barrier in a gray haze. Nightmare and Death Smoke were closing in on me. I could feel them. They were close by, lurking around the edges of the destruction. I heard a horrible, raspy cough coming from my right side. I turned and swept my hand in a wide arc, firing a black beam of energy that burned through the screen of floating dust. The coughing fit morphed into a deep and monstrous moan.

The dust settled. I could see Death Smoke now. He was hunched over and grabbing his chest. His skinny body was caked in gray dust. He was making a repulsive frog-like croaking noise with every breath he took.

Death Smoke coughed a thick glob of black waste onto the ground and lifted his head to look at me. He stared at me with an overwhelming sadness. Tears welled up in his dead and dull green eyes. He blinked back the tears and tried to smile at me.

"Please," he wheezed, "Don't... cough... kill me... Brother. Rrrggh... cough."

Death Smoke made a strange gurgling noise as he spat out another wet black glob. He plodded forward slowly, moving like a crippled old man.

"Poor Straylight... he didn't... cough... even know what hit him. Ha... ha... haaaaa..."

Death Smoke came closer. I gathered energy in my fingers and pointed my right hand towards him threateningly, but he didn't stop. He continued to gurgle and lurch forward until he was within an arm's reach of me. He seemed so pitiful. I couldn't hurt Death Smoke. He knew I could never hurt him. He wasn’t afraid of me at all. Groaning softly, he put his bony hand on my shoulder and whispered in my ear.

"I wish it didn't have to happen this way, Little Rex... cough."

Death Smoke raised his hand to my cheek and stroked it gently.

"This won't hurt much... ggghhhh... and when it's done, you'll be a new man. Trust me. You'll be much happier... when this is all over. Close your eyes."

Death Smoke opened his palm, revealing a black, oily liquid that smelled like rotten milk. I shut my eyes as tight as I could and clenched my teeth. His fingers touched my forehead, burning my skin.

'Filth Spray.'

Death Smoke shot a stream of hot liquid out of his fingers, drenching me from head to toe. It stank worse than anything I had ever smelled before in my life. I gagged at the stench and my eyes watered profusely. The dark liquid started to eat away at my body within seconds. My skin started to bubble and blister all over.

The noise that came out of me was something between a shriek and scream. I fell to the ground and writhed in pain. My voice went hoarse from all of the yelling. I scratched and clawed at my face, desperately trying to get the hot liquid out of my eyes. I tore at my hair with my dirty fingernails. I bit chunks out of my tongue in the throes of agony.

The dark liquid was poisonous. The pain burned its way through my skin all the way down to my bones and the inside of my chest. I gave up trying to scream. I gurgled and croaked and wheezed in pain. It didn't feel hot anymore. My body, soaked in liquid waste, was cooling down quickly.

Death Smoke watched me in silence until I went still. He shot one last stream of filth at my face. The greasy liquid ran down my cheeks and dripped off of me like rain. I choked and sputtered. It hurt to breathe.

"Cough... rrrrgghh... Nightmare... Let's get out of here... haaa... It's over."
"Is he still alive?"
"Ggghh... Y-yeah. He's alive... look carefully. Cough. He's shivering. We're going to take him... to his mother's house. He's not one of us anymore. There you go.... cough. Slowly. Be gentle with him."