“Get out… Get out of my head!” she screamed, slamming her fists into her temples. She tried to rise back to her feet but fell right back down to the ground in that stinking alleyway.
“But you put me in here. Why would you want to get rid of me?” the voice said, surging louder and louder with each word. It was youthful, jovial, almost taunting in a way.
“No, no, no. Something’s very wrong. You’re not supposed to-” Her words were cut off as a violent torrent of memories unfamiliar to her ripped through her mind—flashes of a child’s life she’d never seen before. Another guttural yell escaped her lungs. It was all she could do not to pass out from the mental strain.
“Don’t worry, Keeper. I’ll be with you, now and always. Even when you’re all on your own out there, you won’t be alone in here with me.” Again, that artificially cheerful voice.
“By the Earthsoul, please… Let this end…” The Keeper’s prayer went unanswered, and the cacophony continued to swell. She gritted her teeth and clenched her eyes shut, hoping for a miracle to bring this agony to an end.
She let out one final yell before, to her immense appreciation, she was struck suddenly in the back of the head by what felt like a club of some kind. Then she fell, and everything went dark.