Role

Chapter 1

Yuno's legs pumped, hungrily trying to devour every foot between he and
safety.

"They gain!" A voice somewhere in the recesses of his mind shouted
insistently, "RUN!"

Yuno ran with everything he had, slipping in and"out of Arkham's alleys,
ducking under carts, fear propelling him onward and killing his fatigue with
the strength of mad panic. He risked a look over his shoulder. There! Just on
the edge of sight, shadowy figures raised bony fingers to point right at him.
Rasping for every breath, mouth dry with exhaustion he knew They would get
him.

Then, another voice in his head, "KILL THEM."

Yuno shook his head furiously, sweat matting his long hair to his forehead.
No, They are too strong. Flight was his only chance, and flee he did. Did
They know where he lived? He had to chance it, for if he did not run to his
hovel he would surely collapse in the street - and gods only knew what would
happen then. He ran down an alley only to double back and take another,
laying false trails, trying to shake Them off. At last he ducked in his
doorway.

The hovel was simple. A single room lit by a single candle, a cot for mother
and father, a pallet for his sister, Yuna. A pallet for him too, but none for
the others inside of him, no, not for them. He pressed his back against the
dirty slat wall, heart pounding in effort and fear, waiting to see if They
followed him.

They did.

The cloaked figure poured into the room an ethereal shadow. It radiated
menace. It passed Yuno, who was crouching low in the shadows, showing only
the back of its long cloak to him. He could not make out the Device, but he
knew the figure must have it in his hands.

"It's there. Oooooh it's there, yes," a voice within whispered frantically.

At all costs, Yuno could not let them use the Device on him. He could not
lose control, he would not let them have his thoughts and desires. He would
not give them his Will. He gathered his courage. The corner of his eye
twitched involuntarily. He thought to control it, but it just made his cheek
tick under it. He pulled the knife.

"Get cloooser. Cloooooser," another voice breathed in his head.

Just as he reached the figure it turned. It smiled a dreadful smile. "Hello,
Yuno, you sneaky boy. You don't scare me," it said in a hollow, other-worldly
snarl. Then, horrible recognition lighted in him. It was Yuna. His sister.
She was one of Them.