In life, everyone has demons that they must face and learn to fight. Some demons are small and some are big, some are loud and some are whispers in the darkness of a late night. Some demons will fade away and some will never leave your side. In a way, that’s what life is all about right? Face your demons and learn to fight back whether you’re doing it alone or you’re getting the help from the people around you. Demons are nothing more than just a whisper in the back of a person’s head, gnawing on all the doubts and flaws and pain of the person. 

So what makes her demons so different? For someone like Gwen Barker, she could only wish that it was just whispers in the dark. Sometimes she wishes it were that simple, she wishes it was just voices in the back of her mind, but it could never be that easy could it? Those voices had faces, could you even call them faces if she was being honest, and they all seemed to have their own minds. Some of them were big with loud voices, others were small and whispered voices and to Gwen it was the small ones that were the most dangerous. 

Gwen never really thought she was special, long black hair that she normally tied back into a ponytail and piercing blue-grey eyes, but she certainly never wanted to consider her “demons” as a special part of her. She had a family who cared a great deal for her and friends who supported her for years, friends that she made through her school years and the people she played online with were considered close friends to her.

“What’s pretty girl going to wear today?” That raspy voice from her shoulder pulled Gwen from her own thoughts, eyes raising to look in the mirror and staring right back at the dark shadow of a snake. She could almost hear the mocking tone in the creature’s voice, the small ones were always so much louder than the big ones that liked to take up the space of her room. Wherever the snake was, the others would be close by too. The small ones liked to stick together, made it harder for Gwen to pretend that they didn’t truly exist and that she didn’t have to hear their sharp voices. 

“I don’t know. I don’t have to go anywhere today.” She mumbled more to herself, following her usual morning routine of brushing out the knots in her hair before she even thought of looking at her clothes. She could just stay in her pajamas, but then that would just mean having to hear the comments from the rest of her family. Maybe she could hide away in her room, maybe they wouldn’t even notice if she wasn’t around. 

“Family won’t notice girl is gone. Too much family, girl is only one person. Girl can stay in bed all today and do nothing. Girl is good at that.” There was that voice of the crow, easy to spot in the mirror as it danced around her bed. Teasing Gwen. Mocking her. She could already feel her own walls breaking down, it took most of her strength to swallow the lump in her throat followed by the shake of her head.

“I promised my friends that I’d get on the game with them today.” She retorted through clenched teeth but even she could hear the lacking enthusiasm. The slightest jump from the crow and the wiggle from the snake didn’t go unnoticed, they’d picked up on that just as quickly as she had. Not a good sign, she’s just feeding them even more and giving them more fuel. It’s always been hard for Gwen to avoid topics like these ones.

“Friends won’t notice if you aren’t online.” She heard the snake hiss and coil itself around her neck, her own fingers reaching up to try and pull at the smokey creature. It was terrifyingly fascinating how many times Gwen watched their bodies morph from something solid that she could touch to smokey and gas-like and impossible to grab at. Maybe that’s why she could never get rid of them, no matter how much she tried. “Friends have each other, friends are happy with each other. Friends won’t notice if you don’t join them.” One voice turned into two and she could already feel the weight growing on her shoulders, realized how her eyes lingered on the bed. 

“Don’t let them talk to you like that.” Eyes drifted towards the corner of the room, right next to the closet door, at the hulking shadow staring back at Gwen. This one was always different, the crow and snake mimicked her voice but this one had… many voices. Specks of white on the creature stood out against the black, it rarely moved but somehow it always knew when to speak. Gwen could remember the difference in touch, this creature was always solid and soft and radiated some sense of comfort to her. The crow and snake were almost ice cold to the touch, on the rare moments that she managed to touch them. “Your friends are waiting for you.” It reminded her with a slight twitch of clawed hands, it reminded her of a bear, and Gwen couldn’t help but smile. 

“Do not encourage girl!” She heard the snake hiss, voice quieter more so now than it’s ever been, and she could already feel her mood lightening the longer she stared at the odd creature. If it had a mouth, Gwen was sure it would have been smiling at her. These creatures mimicked voices, the snake and crow mimicked her own but she could never pinpoint the mix of voices with this one. This one was special to Gwen, not only did it look different but it’s voice was a comfort to Gwen.

Steeling her own nerves, she never let herself linger too long around this creature out of fear of what it was capable of, she spared one last glimpse at the mirror before moving to the closet. With the bit of energy she had, more than she’s had in a long while, she picked out a simple outfit should she want or need to go out. “You look really pretty in that outfit.” That creature told her when she’d turned back to face it again. 

“Thank you.” Words that hadn’t passed her lips in who knows how long, Gwen briefly recoiled at the arms that reached out to her. A brief moment of panic, it had never tried for anything like this before, and Gwen scanned it’s body before stepping forward into the creature’s arms. 

“Girl has many friends, girl is pretty. Girl should not let them be mean to girl.” The creature seemed to purr and the only thing Gwen could do was blink back the tears; the arms wrapped around her radiated comfort and protection and images of her friends flashed to the front of her mind as fingers curled into the creature’s fur. Soft and warm and comforting.

Now she could recognize the voices that rumbled from this creature’s chest.