She stared at her bloodstained hands as she backed away from his body.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, silent tears running down her cheek.
“I’m so sorry!”
The Voice
She stared at her bloodstained hands as she backed away from his body.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, silent tears running down her cheek.
“I’m so sorry!”
She kept weeping to herself, trying to make sense of what was happening. One moment, they had been talking. The next, everything was a blur and he fell to the ground. She dashed to his side and lifted him up, unsure of what to do. She clinged to him, begging for him to come back and not leave her. She wept over him. How could it have gone this way? She loved him! He was her everything, her world.
She laid him down and wiped her tears away, getting blood on her face. Suddenly, she noticed something shiny on the floor and turned around. She saw that there was a bloody knife right next to him. She let out a small whimper, examining his chest and staring at the small puncture wounds. She must have done this to him. After all, they were alone and he couldn’t have done it to himself. However, she didn’t remember grabbing the knife at all. Suddenly, she heard laughter, but it didn’t seem to be coming from anywhere around her… She looked around, trying to find the source of it, it slowly getting louder and louder. It felt like her ears would burst at any moment from how loud it was getting. Then she realized that the laughter was coming from inside her head.
“What a mess you’ve made… “
She screamed, terrified of the sudden voice in her head. It had been years since she had heard that voice. Ever since she was a child, the voice had been with her. It followed her everywhere she went and tormented her, causing her to lash out at those around her. Things kept getting worse and she started having blackouts. Whenever she’d come to, people would stare at her strangely, as if they were afraid of her. It reached a point where her parents had her institutionalized after almost killing a fellow classmate during one of her blackouts. Even they looked terrified of her, and this was her own family. She screamed and wailed as the nurses dragged her away, begging her parents not to leave her there, and that she’d be a good girl.
The unpleasant memories came flooding back to her. The white room with a bed, window and drawer. Fellow patients who scared her. The nurses who would forcefully feed her whenever she’d refuse to eat. The many medications she had to take. The sessions with the doctor who tried to convince her it was all in her head and that the pills would make everything better. How often they put her in solitary every time she had an outburst. This went on for years until the voice finally seemed to disappear and she was discharged. She had thought that indeed, the voice was just in her head and she could live peacefully without worrying about the past. The voice chuckled as she thought about those events, mocking her.
“Silly girl, did you really think you’d be rid of me that easily?” it cackled, amused at her reaction as she resumed whimpering, putting her hands on the sides of her head and shaking profusely.
“If there’s one thing I enjoy about you humans, it’s how exhilarating it is to come into your lives and do as we please with you. It’s so easy…And such fun! You thought I was just an imaginary friend, another playmate to add to your collection. But truly, who was the toy? It was simple to whisper dark thoughts to you every day and night. The more you denied me, the easier it was to take over. That little classmate of yours, you remember him, yes?”
“No…you can’t mean…” she whimpered to herself, trying to go back to that moment.
“I was curious and wanted to see how fun it would be to rip apart his flesh little by little. I was the one who attacked him, but alas, we were interrupted and I was unable to finish my task. What a pity… I would have so adored to see what was inside that boy!”
The voice cackled again, relishing her misery and just how much suffering it had caused her with its actions. She fell to the floor and got into the fetal position, being flooded simultaneously with emotions and memories as the voice allowed her to see what had happened every time she had blackouts. Setting fires, harming small animals, cutting herself and eventually culminating in the attack of her classmate. She was overcome with grief and started crying again, wailing like a small child who was separated from her mother. She couldn’t believe it. It felt like she was just a backseat driver, like she had no control over her actions. She couldn’t deny it however. It was her. She had done all those things, every last one.
“Why? Why would you do this? Why couldn’t you leave me alone?!?” she screamed.
“Why? Because giving you hope and then taking it away is just such an incredible high for us!”
“Us…? There’s more of you?”
“Dear girl, there’s so many of us. We hide among you, forcing you to do our bidding. Since you all forgot about us long ago, it’s far easier. Such fools…Since you seem so curious about what we are, I’ll tell you. We are the Forgotten, we are the Fallen. Or as your kind calls us, demons. There’s nothing we enjoy more than torturing you, driving you to madness and leading you to commit horrifying acts. Sometimes we have to force you, but there are times where people have willingly gone along with our wishes. As for you… I have yet to finish with you. We have so much to do! This man was just the beginning.”
It dawned on her that the voice had been the one to force her into killing the love of her life. It seems it couldn’t allow her to go on with a normal life away from the sins of her past and would continue toying with her until her dying day. How many more would suffer because of it? She couldn’t bear to ruin more lives and grabbed the knife, using her right hand to put it against her neck. It realized what she was attempting to do and used the other hand to pull it away. It refused to let this vessel get away so easily, not after how difficult it had been to find such a remarkable specimen. They struggled, pulling the knife from side to side until she managed to finally get her right hand. She smiled and plunged the knife right into her heart, watching as the blood flowed from her chest. Coughing, her breathing became labored as she gave one last look to the man beside her. Maybe somehow, they would be together in the afterlife. It got harder to breathe and with one last breath, she whispered I love you. The voice scoffed, leaving her body and giving one last look to the pair of bodies lying on the floor.
“Foolishness…Ah well, it’s time to find another vessel. Let’s see if the neighbors’ daughter wants a playmate…” it said as it looked out the window and saw a little girl across the street.
“Perfect…”
