The Good, the Bad, and the Demonic (Feat. @Photoki

*Wanda could sense that this had been coming for a while now. It had been months since the last episode, a time where she was fine and was able to live and enjoy her life while in it was lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right time to strike, slowly weakening her, grinding down until she was using every bit of energy just to keep her from sinking into its murky claws.*

*When Donovan had left for work, she was in a semi-decent shape but she knew sooner or later she'd have another internal battle with Chthon. It was the one thing that terrified her above everything else: over losing family, over people dying, over her powers causing harm. Because those things she had control over. That control was what she always fought over with him, trying desperately not to lose what little bit she had left.*

*She had wanted to ask him to stay him, wanted to beg him to stay with her while she fought but this was always something that needed to face alone. She didn't bring it up to someone unless she needed them to know she needed space. This always kept her bedridden for days, the longest being a week.*

*After she had the house to herself--the kids with the babysitter because she had talked to her ahead of time about this--she worked like normal, hoping that if she ignored it, it would go away (it never did). She was walking into the bedroom with a basket of clean laundry when she felt the familiar tug from inside, causing her to gasp and stumble, leaning against the wall for support.*

*The basket fell from her hands as she collapsed to her knees. She buried her face in her hands, her body trembling and in a cold sweat. Her eyes glowed red as she could hear the laughing in her head, taunting her, challenging her to the fight.*

*She slowly raised her head, her vision blurry. She needed to reach the nightstand on her side of the bed. There, she could access a bracelet she had enchanted that made this easier. She attempted to crawl there before that became too much energy to waste and she ended up curling up into a tight ball.*

"L-leave me alone." *Her voice trembled as she managed to whisper out the single sentence hoarsely. She could feel her powers crawling down her arms, inching towards her fingers at Chthon's command. She fought to suppress them, to keep them back.*

*With how still and pale she was, someone who glanced at her might assume she was dead. And if she lost this fight, she might as well be.*