A   demon stared back in the dust stained mirror, her reflection wavering a smile. Blood dripped from her cheek, drumming against the porcelain sink before sliding down the drain. Silence hummed through the bathroom. Louder than the screams that plagued her mind but quieter than her ragged breaths. How long has she been standing here? The silence made her insides churn despite how still she stood. 

Every breath, another reminder of the way she is, every sigh a warning she can never unhear. Her eyes remained on the drain, her pale fingers gripping the sides of the cold sink. How long has she been standing here? Why does it matter? Her grip tightened. Isn't like anyone needed her, like she deserved anything else. Her eyes slammed shut. ‘You are nothing but a monster!’ their voices screamed all around her. She only shook her head. But, what else can she be? After everything she has done, how could she ever desire to be better? 

Drip

‘You are a living self fulfilling prophecy,’ a voice hissed emotionless from the back of her mind. Tension built in her body as she gripped her wrist tightly, his face flashing through her thought-cage. She could see him in the mirror, arms around her; his warm embrace leaving a bitter taste as she quickly looked away, the memory fading. Moonlight beaming through the ceiling skylight. How long has she been here? 

She gritted her teeth, her jaw going numb as she gripped her hair. It doesn't matter how long, why would it ever matter? Stupid question to ask, her time doesn't matter. What else does she have? He was there again as her gaze wandered back to the mirror, meeting her own eyes. A demon in the moonlight, her gritty smile making every inch of her tremble. How can she do this…how can she sit here and decide to continue? 

Drip

A hand now gripped her shoulder, bony and cold. She couldn’t help the chill that travelled up her spine as she stared at the hand. It was her mothers.  Pain materialized in her shoulder as her mother’s grip tightened. ‘Auburn, I don't even recognize who you are,’ she whispered in Auburn's ear, the foul perfume she would always wear choking Auburn's every breath. A tightness grew deep in her chest as her mother leaned closer, the man leering behind them. “Shut up,” Auburn whispered to the silence. But, for what reason? What reason does she have to stop these memories when it is her fault they exist. Couldn’t she have been stronger? Couldn't she have been better? 

Drip

With a dismissive sigh she finally stared at her face. Brushing away her gold-blonde hair as she picked glass out of her cheek, glass she had placed herself. Auburn’s hand lingered on the soft round corner of her face,  chapped lips parted as she looked into her purple eyes. “God,” she gasped, “how pathetic could a monster be?” Auburn choked as she fell onto the floor, the room swallowing her. Silence drowning her in sorrows all too familiar, every breath threatening to drown her in the ocean that consumed her mind. All she could do was stare at the rotting sink cupboard in front of her. Silent tears streaming down her face, his feet dangling suspended in the air before her. She really was nothing more than a monster.