“
Happy Birthday!”
The cheer erupted around Illyana as she successfully blew out the candle crudely placed atop her plate of pancakes. As the jolly sound of
music played from the old radio on the kitchen shelf, she looked up cheerfully, giving her family a big toothy grin, before launching her arms up to embrace mother as she approached. She hugged back, planting a soft kiss on her forehead. The feeling tickled, and as such Illyana giggled loudly, her mother smiling in bemusement.
“Tuck in, Snowflake.” Mother gestured towards the food.
She obliged happily, initially forgetting her knife and fork until a stern look from Mother reminded her otherwise. These pancakes, Syrniki, was her favorite. Mother only made them for special occasions, which only made Illyana crave them more. Today was a special occasion though. That was why Father was here, instead of being busy working in the fields outside. He stood by the kitchen counter watching silently. He was trying to smile and enjoy himself, however, given the way he kept glancing towards the door and the impatient drumming of his fingers onto the counter, it was clear that he was keen to get out there. Her old brother Piotr, however, was the exact opposite. He seemed to relish on being free from work and coddled his little sister happily. Despite mirroring Father’s stature and standing at 6 ft. 6, Piotr was the kindest and most caring person she knew. He was her entire world. And now she got to be with him the entire day.
Today was her 6th birthday, and nothing could ruin it.
As if she had jinxed herself, as soon as those words crossed her mind, Illyana felt the hairs rise on the back her neck, as a strange chill ran through her body. Around her, her family continued to smile and laugh, however, for a moment Illyana felt disconnected from them. A flash of green from outside the window caught her attention, her gaze snapping towards it. A ragged mask of green and browns gazed back at her, a dark green hood covering his— No. There was no hood or anything of the sort, just a pair of jet-black horns atop a red devilish face. His brow furrowed as his eyes penetrated hers, his mouth forming into a crooked smile of pearly white daggers.
“
No! I don’t want you!” Fear flowed through Illyana as she called out, throwing her arms out in front of her.
She knocked her plate onto the floor in her frenzy, and as the sound of ceramic breaking met her ears, everything went black.
Now she was in her bedroom, tucked up in her bed, the covers up to her neck so that only her head could be seen. Now she was safe. Safe from the red man.
Piotr sat at the edge of her bed, a small book of fairy tales in his hands. He was extremely tired from his day of working on the farm, however here he stayed, his giant fingers delicately turning the pages of the book as he read aloud. She smiled as she listened to him read. Much like his general demeanor, his voice was much gentler than you'd expect. The characters of the story came allowed as he spoke, putting on various voices for each character. She loved when he did that.
"
Magik?"
A voice rang out around them, echoing around the room. Illyana jolted up from where she lay, moving back against the bed frame and bringing her knees up to her chest. Her breathing grew heavy as she watched the door handle turn from across the room.
"
Magik, is that you?"
The voice spoke again. This time it seemed different, with it seemingly shifting to a tone more cold and raspy as it went on. Illyana knew exactly who it was even before the shadowy figured crept into the room before them. She screamed loudly as the red-skinned man caught sight of them, who in retaliation seemed to stumble backward in confusion. In doing so, Belasco seemed to catch the sight of his bloody colored hands, and most bizarrely seemed to fall back even further in his confusion. However, that was the least of his problems as Piotr rose from the bed. At once his body began to shift, as sheet upon sheet of gleaming metal began to encapsulate his entire body until all that stood in the center of the room was a colossal man of metal.
"
What the fuc--"
Belasco could hardly finish as a silver fist implanted him right in the stomach. He arched forward in pain, clutching his stomach. The crunching sound that came after the punch indicated that a rib was broken, however, he didn't any more time to react before Piotr swung his second fist, this time to the side of the demon's head. As soon as the metal hit, something odd seemed to happen as Belasco was knocked to the floor. His body seemed to shift for a moment while mid-air. For a split second, it changed. Gone was the sinister sight of the being that haunted her dreams, and in its place, a man dressed in a suit of patches and rags. There was something familiar about the tattered man, however before Illyana could place it, his form shifted once more.
Belasco groaned from the floor, a metal foot pinning him down.
"
Magik... It's... It's me."
Illyana didn't want to listen to his lies.
"
Leave me alone!"
Now she was out in the fields with Piotr. While she ran about and placed in the sun, he moved about behind her, his body once again coated in metal as he heaved a plow over the fresh soil. Now she was safe. Now she was alone from the red man.
"
Magik!"
As if on queue his voice rang out across the field. She screamed in agony as she turned towards Belasco, who now was sprinting towards her across the field, his tattered green cloak billowing behind him.
Now she was in the kitchen again. She stood on a stall in front of the counter, helping Mother peel the potatoes for supper. Now she was safe.
Her eyes darted around the room as she worked. He was here somewhere. He was always here. Her peeling grew faster. Slice. Slice. Slice. Until. She squirmed in pain as the peeler struck her finger.
"
No, no, no..."
That was all she managed as she took in the sight of the bloody mess of potato peels before her. She moved about frantically, moving her hands over to the running tap of the sink, which began a mini waterfall of red once her fingers passed under it. Mother moved towards her, her hand dabbing at the wound with a clean cloth. However now as she watched, Illyana saw that the hand helping her wasn't Mothers, but was instead part of the very same suit of rags she had seen previously.
She screamed once more as she turned to look up at Belasco who towered above her. His face was the same; now matching the color of the bloody water, however, his body seemed different, now made up of tattered patches of greens and browns.
He didn't react this time to her scream, and simply grabbed hold of her arm as she reared back to run. All she wanted was to be away from here. For things to fade to black once more and for her to be somewhere else. Somewhere safe.
"
What do you want from me?!" She demanded through sobs.
He stayed silent. Taking his free hand, he moved it up towards his face, whether he simply grabbed at one of his horns. It seemed to squeeze into his hand as he gripped it, and with it, he pulled. She watched in horror as Belasco's face moved upwards, only to realized what it was. A mask. The man underneath smiled meekly as the mask came off, with him obviously trying to not appear threatening to the girl. He had shallow cheeks, with a 5 o'clock a shadow, all topped off by a mess of red hair, that seemed to have risen up with the mask slightly, causing it to stick out all over the place. The mask however now looked completely different than it had previously. It was no longer that of Belasco's face, but instead matched the rest of his suit.
"
My name's Rory Regan." He explained, trying to calm her down. Illyana just looked at him blankly, still on edge.
"
This is going to sound absolutely crazy, but we're friends. Well... Kinda. You know me as Ragman. And I'm sorry Magik, but this..." He gestured at the room around them. "
This is all a lie."
Before she could protest, he let moved his hand from her wrist where he had been holding her, and lunged at her face, placing his outstretched palm on her forehead. The sound of a million voices filled her head as the rags touched her, all of them crying out in pain. She attempted to cry out herself, however, no sound came. All she could do was watching as the world around them shifted. It didn't fade to black as it had done before. As it had done whenever she had cried out scared. Now it simply crumbled, returning to her head.
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