Tainted With Evil- Chapter 1: It's Only Physical

Elli is tormented by a dark force psychologically and physically. She struggles to fight it but she's slowly losing the battle, developing a thirst for violence and unnatural abilities.

This is the story of Elli…a young woman who is relentlessly tormented by a dark force, not only psychologically but physically as well. She suffers from terrible migraines, night terrors, she blacks out for days at a time with no memory of what happened. Every visit to the hospital ends the same; doctors can't figure out what's wrong with her. She's 'medically healthy'. But as her condition progressively worsens, she becomes a threat to everyone around her. She develops a thirst for violence and unnatural abilities as the dark force grows stronger. She fights but she is slowly losing the battle to preserve her sanity and her soul.

May 26, Sunday 11:35pm

Sitting on the couch in her small one-bedroom apartment, Elli LeVough works on her latest novel, her black painted finger tips typing away on the laptop. She wears a black tank top, black and grey plaid pajama shorts and black and grey knee high skull socks, exposing the tattoos on her arms, chest and thighs. Sounds of the light wind rustling the trees as rain pours outside can be heard. Stopping momentarily, she grabs the glass sitting on the small black coffee table. She takes a sip of the cranberry-apple juice and vodka.

Setting the glass back down, she taps on the keyboard in thought and cracks her knuckles. A flash of lightning catches her eye and she looks toward the open window. Inhaling deeply, she closes her laptop and trades it for her drink. She gets up and strolls to the window, listening to the sound of the rain hitting it. Lost in her thoughts, she brings a hand up to her face, touching her black spiderbite lip piercings. She breathes in the cool stormy night air, staring out into the dark street. She watches a man with a black umbrella walk down the street. She takes a sip of her drink and contemplates the next scene in her story. 

Finishing the rest of her drink, she walks into the kitchen. After rinsing the glass out, she sets it in the sink. She leans on the counter and squeezes her eyes shut, taking in a slow but deep breath. She begins to massage her temples due to an oncoming headache. She takes the used glass and fills it halfway with cold water. 

As she heads toward the bathroom, the pain slowly expands to her neck. She stretches it and a crack can be heard. She turns on the light and sets the glass on the counter. She opens the medicine cabinet above the sink to grab the bottle of Ibuprofen. After popping a pill, she puts the bottle back into the cabinet and sips the water. She takes one more sip then pours the rest of the water down the sink. She sets the glass down on the counter and closes the cabinet, then stares at her reflection in the mirror. A strange feeling comes over her and she narrows her eyes at her reflection. 

Attempting to ignore the sensation, she prepares for bed, putting her silky shoulder-length black hair into a ponytail. She begins to brush her teeth. She exits the bathroom, turning off the light, and enters her bedroom. She snuggles under the covers, closing her eyes in an effort to rest her pain away.

May 27, Monday, 9:57am

Elli is slowly awakened by her phone buzzing. She grabs it and looks at the screen.

“Hello?"

(HEY) 

"Hey Darren." Elli says after yawning.

(GET YOUR LAZY A*S UP. WE'RE DOING LUNCH)

"Haha alright. Keep your panties on."

(WHO SAID I WAS WEARING ANY?) 

"Well alrighty then Captain Commando."

(DAMN RIGHT) 

"So where we going?"

(YOU PICK THIS TIME)

"Hmm...how about some Coney Island?"

(Excellent choice. 11 O'CLOCK?)

"Sounds good, I’ll meet you there."

After hanging up the phone and setting it back on the nightstand, Elli stretches then wipes her eyes. After laying there for a few extra moments, she gets up and prepares to get dressed.

11:02am

Darren takes a sip of his water right before Elli walks into the restaurant. He flags her down, giving away his location. He’s sitting in one of the booths on left side by the window. 

“Hey, honey.” He greets her and she sits down.

“Hey, how are you?” Elli asks as she sets her black studded bag down beside her.

“I'm alright. You?" Darren says.

"F****n peachy." Elli responds as she grabs the glass of water already waiting for her.

I see you got some new ink.” He points out the tattoo on her chest; two revolvers on opposite ends of a black skull with blue flaming eyes in the middle, a bed of blood red roses behind the skull and a tribal marking that stretches downward in between her breasts.

“Yeah. Just got it finished a couple weeks ago.” Elli says as she glances down at herself, pulling down the neckline of her black graphic slash tee, showing Darren the tattoo.

“I’m loving the details on the revolvers.”

“He did a beautiful job. The tat I’m designing now is gonna be a side piece of a bleeding heart with an evil serpent wrapped around it.” Elli uses her hands to explain, the spine bracelet on her right wrist jingling.

“That sounds bad a*s.”

"I know. I'm already excited about getting it."

At this time, the waitress approaches their table.

“Can I get you guys something else to drink?” 

“Can I get a strawberry milkshake?” Elli orders.

“I’ll have a coke and rum.”

"Sorry sir. We don't serve alcohol." The waitress responds.

"Then I'll have a coke and rum, minus the rum." Darren says with a touch of antagonism.

“Ok. I’ll be right back.” The waitress replies and walks off.

“So how’s your novel coming along?” Darren inquires as he picks up a menu and begins to look over it.

“Slowly but surely. I’ve only got about 70 pages typed out so far. I'm at the part where Darius and Lenora are spilling their guts on how they feel about each other. I would've been done with that scene already but these migraines I’ve been getting lately have been throwing me off.”

“Well, that’s no fun. Have you been taking anything for it?” Darren asks.

“Yeah, Ibuprofen. But it just dulls the pain. It doesn’t really get rid of it completely.” Elli says as she glances over her menu.

"S****y." Darren comments.

"I have a doctor's appointment in a couple weeks. Hopefully it's nothing too serious." Elli says.

"Yeah."

They look over the menus to decide what they want.

"Hmm." Darren voices.

"Ooh...this bacon cheeseburger looks delicious." Elli exclaims.

"Hell yeah." Darren adds as he looks on his menu what she talks about.

“Eew…loose burger? That sounds disgusting." Elli comments.

"It's actually really good." Darren adds.

"Yeah, you seem like the type to like sloppy s**t." Elli teases without looking up.

"You would know, wouldn't you?" Darren shoots back, glancing up at her.

"No...nor do I wanna know." Elli shakes her head slowly as she glances back.

Moments later, the waitress returns with their drinks.

“Here you go, guys. Are you ready to order or do you need more time?”

“I’ll have some chili cheese fries.” Elli orders.

“I think I'll take that double bacon cheeseburger.” 

“Alright. I’ll get started on those.” The waitress says and proceeds to walk away.

“So what you got planned for the day?” Elli asks as she and Darren both place the menus to the side.

Elli takes a sip of her milk shake.

“Uhh not too much really. I don’t work so probably gonna go get a tune up for my truck, pick up a few things from the store. Oh! I’m barbecuing on the 4^th. You should bring your a*s.”

“Well of course I'm coming. When have I ever passed up the opportunity for free food?"

"Yeah you are a fat a*s." Darren playfully insults as he sips his coke.

"Hey! I can't help that I have a fat kid living in my stomach." Elli explains.

"And in your apartment."

Elli gives Darren an irritated stare.

"Anyway...can you pick me up?” Taking another sip of her drink.

“Sure. I’ll have to do it before I start barbecuing.”

“That’s fine...So...What’s the E.T.A. on your latest webisode?” Elli asks.

“Ugh...never gonna happen."

"What? Why?" Elli asks, surprised.

“‘Cause God hates me. If he didn't, I'd be done already. I had a date to start shooting, had a crew gathered and everything. We were gonna start last Sunday...and that entire week it stormed. Like I said...God's hatred....really holding me back right now." Darren complains as he stares out the window and sipping on his drink again.

“Well that's sucks donkey balls...was looking forward to seeing what Pat does after getting his a*s beat at the bar. He’s a very unstable little man.” Elli says, disappointed.

"Yeah...Well since he did get his a*s handed to him, he was plotting to hand Dre his a*s...I mean literally, hand him a*s." Darren makes emphasis on the hands.

Elli giggles at his animated gestures.

The waitress returns to the table with their food.

“Here you go. Let me know if you guys need anything else.” She smiles and walks away.

“Speaking of unstable...how’s work going? Kill anyone yet?” Elli smirks as she grabs a fry.

“Only in my dreams. In fact, my subconscious mind unwound a beautiful tale of me methodically gouging out every single one of my coworkers eyeballs with a soup spoon. And you know what? It was wonderful.” Darren says wistfully as if reliving the dream.

"You should quit if really you hate it so much." She takes another sip of her drink.

"Sometimes suffering serves the destiny." He takes a bite of his burger.

"Your misery." Elli shrugs.

"How’s life at the Den of Sin?” Darren inquires.

“Not too bad. People have weird taste sometimes, especially the older women.”

“Hey, everyone’s a freak. Some just fly their flag higher than others. All depends on your degree of shame.”

“Yeah that's true. This one lady came up to me the other day with a couple of toys and asked me which butt plug I would recommend. I'm not one to really judge, but I've never been into anal so I'm indifferent. So I just told her the bigger the better." Popping another fry into her mouth. 

Her wittiness causes Darren to laugh, which in turn, causes Elli to do the same.

"Do you believe in demonic possession?" Darren asks after taking another sip of his drink.

Elli takes a long sip of her shake and raises an eyebrow.

"Uhh..not really. I mean I think the idea is cool...but let's be honest...sentient spirits? Inhabiting someone's soul? Fairy tale s**t." She eats a fry.

"I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss that. I read an article about this woman named Elizabeth Bathory...dated several centuries ago. She committed unspeakable acts. Until the day she died, she swore that she was innocent and had no control over it." Darren says before taking another bite of his burger.

"Yeah right. Everyone commits ‘unspeakable acts’ they have ‘no control over.’ We see that in this century." Elli says, using quotation fingers.

"No no. This is different. This woman was a descendant of nobles...an aristocrat. But as a child she suffered from fits and uncontrollable rages. As she grew older, she practiced witchcraft and carried a parchment. She secluded herself in her castle and forced her servants to capture young female virgins."

Elli's ears perks up and she tilts her head in curiosity as she eats her fries.

"She would brutally torture and deflower them herself, then bathe in their blood. The rumor was that it made her skin more youthful. Some of the girls she had kidnapped were bound and stabbed, some were beaten until their entire bodies turned black as your eye makeup. She never expressed regret, but still insisted that she wasn't the one to blame. She had claimed an external force was controlling her the whole time, leaving her no other option but to commit these sick crimes." Darren says then takes another bite of his burger.

"Ok so basically...she was a psychopath." Elli concludes.

"It seemed so." Darren says as Elli nods, sipping on her drink.

"Why are you telling me this again?"

"Just thought it was a compelling read. Not to mention that it illustrates humanity doesn't need an excuse to be sick."

"Indeed. Some people mistreat or torture others simply because they like it...but part of them knows it's wrong so they try to suppress it or, like Ms. Bathory, blame it on the devil."

Elli eats another fry and Darren takes a sip of his drink.

"So how are the fries?' Darren asks. "I see they were a little heavy handed on the cheese." He takes another bite of his burger.

"Mmm...cheese. I f****n' love cheese." Elli comments as she eats another fry.

They finish their meal together and the waitress brings them the bill.

"Hope you guys enjoyed your meal. Have a good day." She says as she sits the piece of paper down and walks away.

"Here, I'll pay the bill. You tip the ugly server. She's probably got about 10 little hellions running around at home." Darren says as he pulls his debit card out of his wallet. He gets up to go pay the bill.

Elli laughs as she pulls three $1 bills out from the wallet in her bag. She places it on the table.

They walk out of the restaurant. 

“Thanks for lunch.” Elli says.

“Whatever.”

"Bye a*****e." Elli smiles sweetly at his sarcastic a*****e personality.

"Yeah yeah. F**k off. I'm sick of looking at your a*s."

Elli laughs. They head their separate ways.

As Elli walks back to her apartment, she passes by a homeless man sitting down on the sidewalk with a cardboard sign. She glances at the sign as she walks by; it reads "HOMELESS. PLEASE HELP. GOD BLESS."

Elli continues to walk by but her heart tells her to do something. She wouldn't want people to pass her by if she was in the same situation. She bites her lip as she slows down to a stop about 10 feet away from him. Staring off towards the ground in thought, she sighs. Digging through her purse, she grab her wallet and pulls out a five dollar bill. She turns around and hands the man the money. 

"Thank you, young lady. God bless."

Elli nods with a half smile and turns around to continue walking.

Taking the city bus home, Elli sits toward the back with her headphones in. She listens to music from her phone as she stares out of the window, seemingly troubled by her thoughts. 

After arriving home, she tosses her bag on the floor, then plops down onto the couch. She grabs the remote control and turns on the TV, then grabs the Xbox controller and turns on the console with it. She props her right leg on the coffee table and gears up to kill some zombies in Left 4 Dead. 

4pm

The alarm goes off on Elli’s phone. She grabs it and turns off the alarm. She gets up to shut the Xbox console off, then turns on her music on the radio. One of her favorite bands, Halestorm, is the first artist to play. She dances her way to the bathroom, stripping her clothes and leaving them in a trail on the floor.

After getting ready for work, Elli takes the Woodward bus to her job; Den of Sin. Her work uniform consists of a short sleeve white blouse with a black under bust corset, black pants and flat shoes with skull buckles. On her neck is a simple black leather choker. She wears black digital watch on her left wrist and a double buckle leather cuff bracelet on her right. Multiple silver rings decorate her fingers.

Sitting towards the middle of the bus, she has her headphones in her ears as she listens to music from her phone. She gnaws on her lip piercings as she stares out of the window, glancing up at each person who gets on or off the bus.

Receiving a text message, she looks down at her phone to check it. Darren has sent her the middle finger emoji. Elli can’t help but chuckle. She sends back the heart and poop emojis.

5:42pm.

The bus stops at W. McNichols Rd and Elli gets off to walk the remaining block to her job. Walking through the small parking lot, she passes by her co-worker, Jason, a tall, young white guy, getting out of his car.

“What’s up Elli.” He greets her as he closes the car door to his silver 4-door Ford Focus.

His uniform is similar to Elli’s, wearing a black vest over his white button up. The sleeves are rolled up to his lanky forearms. He wears a thin silver chain around his neck, a black suede cuff bracelet on his left wrist, one silver ring on his left hand and two on his right. His brown hair is slicked back.

Elli turns to greet him by placing the back of her hand under her chin and wiggling her fingers at him.

Jason goes to open the door for Elli, towering over her 5’10 frame with his 6’3.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” He says while entering the building behind her.

The manager, Mark, is standing at the desk ringing up a couple of customers. He’s a slender but built white guy with short black hair. He hands the man the bagged items and sends them on their way.

“Have a sinful night.” Mark says to the customers.

“Elli. Jason. How’s it goin’ guys?” Mark greets his employees with a smile.

His uniform is a black polo and dress pants. He wears a silver analog watch on left wrist and a single silver band on his ring finger.

“Greetings Master.” Elli and Jason respond in unison.

The two workers head to the back where the employee room is and prepare to begin their shift.

10:18pm

At work, Elli is sweeping the floor in the 4 stalls in the back. When she finishes, she works her way out to the display area, straightening up the shelves. She goes to dump the trash into a nearby trash bin.

"Excuse me. Umm..Where's the edible underwear?" A male customer asks.

"Right over there by the lubrication." Elli points out, then goes back to her duties.

"Thanks." The man says and walks to his destination.

"Hey Elli."  Jason calls from the the front desk.

Elli approaches him and leans on the broom.

"What would do if you saw a man f*****g a chicken? Would you watch curiously or call animal control?"

Elli stares at him dumbfounded, then nonchalantly pulls out her phone from her back pocket and holds it up.

“Youtube.” She whispers.

Jason bursts out laughing.

"Could you watch the desk while I go to the bathroom?"  

"Yeah, sure." Elli responds as she puts her phone back into her back pocket and goes behind the desk.

As Jason walks away, Elli glances around the store and takes a quick head count of how many customers there are; she counts 8.  

One female customer walks up to the cash register.

"You ready to check out?" Elli asks the woman. 

"Yes." The woman answers.

Elli rings up the lingerie set.

"$19.08." Elli gives the woman the total amount she owes, then bags the items.

The woman hands Elli a $20 bill.

"$0.92 is your change." Elli says as she hands the woman her money.

She puts the receipt in the bag and hands it to the woman.

"Have a sinful night." Elli says with a faint smirk.

Moments later, Jason returns and takes his place behind the counter.

"We should invent a multifunctional sex toy." Jason suggests.

"Yes! It should be able to vibrate, massage..." Elli says.

"It should be remote controlled, rechargeable, lasts for like 6 hours. The base should play music through bluetooth." Jason adds.

"Waterproof! Gotta be waterproof. And strap on!" Elli says enthusiastically.

"Wait! Voice activated!" Jason chimes in again.

"Genius!! And it shall be called…The Ultimate." Elli says enthusiastically.

Jason and Elli fist bump, then she goes to continue her cleaning, she passes through the adult games section. She finds a pop can lying around. She sighs in irritation and rolls her eyes.

"There's a thing called a trash can people." She says under her breath as she picks up the can. 

Elli goes to throw away the trash she's collected and occupies a spot behind one of the cash registers.

"You would think humans would be courteous enough to throw away their garbage." Elli says to Jason without looking at him.

"Yeah...but eventually you learn that most are not." Jason responds.

"I hate cleaning up after people. They act like it's so f*****g hard to find a trash can. It's like 'Hey. I’m a d********g and I enjoy making other people do s**t for me 'cause I'm a spoiled lazy f**k'."

"Apparently they were never taught to be self-sufficient." 

"I never understood why people enjoy making other people's lives so goddamn difficult."

"Nothing we can do about people like that. Just don't let it get to you." Jason responds while patting her on the back.

"I wouldn't let it get to me if people like that simply didn't exist. If I have to clean up after one more lazy fucktard, I'm gonna--"

Feeling the anger boiling from within her quickly, Jason is forced to resort to a fail safe technique he's discovered that will calm her down. He touches the back of her neck where the spine meets the skull and applies pressure. Her verbal aggression comes to a complete halt and her body tenses up. Unable to move, all she can do is twitch. She squeezes her eyes shut. After a few long moments, Jason removes his hand and Elli lets go of the breath she was holding. 

"You good?" Jason asks softly.

Elli takes a deep breath. She looks at him briefly and nods.

May 28, Tuesday, 2:46am

Back in her apartment after work, Elli sits at the easel she’s retrieved from the closet next to the hallway. Wearing a black tank top, cotton shorts and ankle socks, she works on her latest piece for her freelance job. She lets out the day's frustrations in her artwork, listening to another one of her favorite bands; A Day to Remember. She pauses momentarily and stares blankly at the easel as she begins to slouch. She falls into sort of a trance. Her hand twitches. After a few moments, her body trembles lightly. It appears as if she is trying to move but she's paralyzed. She is soon able to shake it off and continues to draw, but she is more aggressive. Her strokes have a touch of chaos to them.

She adds a few more touches to the sketch before she analyzes it. Setting her tools down, Elli rises from her stool and moves it to the side. She takes a step back and examines her work, taking in a deep breath and tilting her head to the right. The sketched outline of the piece appears to be a female with her back to the viewer holding a large dagger in her left hand. 

Elli is fast asleep on the couch. The TV is on and displays the home screen of her Xbox.

Darkness…it’s what surrounds her. Barely able to see her environment or hear anything but her own breath, she guides herself through the dark relying only on her instincts. An anxious feeling of the unknown overwhelms her.  After several nerve racking moments of absolutely nothing, she hears a faint noise. Stopping in her tracks, Elli’s heart pounds painfully loud as something lurks amongst the darkness. Trembling, her breath quickens. Fear has rendered her motionless. She hears a sudden but slow intake of breath behind her, and she holds hers. Even though she can’t really see, her feet turn her around slowly, and the being behind her releases its breath. A pair of vibrant bluish-green eyes lock onto hers. She can feel the heat from its breath on her face as she begins to breathe erratically. Suddenly a force hits her and she is knocked to the ground, unable to move as if pinned. Unbearable pain shoots through her entire body as if she’s being torn apart by a bear and a lion at the same time. She screams at the top of her lungs but it’s no use.

“This pain…it is only physical. You must suffer in order to adapt to your true instincts.”

Elli jolts awake sweating profusely. Sitting up fully on the couch, she trembles uncontrollably. Her body is in pain. Lifting her arms, she looks down at herself. There are scratches all along her body. She balls her trembling hands into fists.  Feeling the most pain on her right side, she lifts up her shirt carefully. She discovers a huge bite mark on her waist. Her eyes widen in horror.

Author's Note

Questions? Concerns? Comments? Complaints? Predictions? Grammatical errors? Anything?