Alex’s eyes opened wide. The knife! I left it in
the bathroom when I was talking with my demon!
The man let out a little chuckle from the bathroom. “Are you doing some late night cooking in
your bathroom, man? The bathroom is no place
for a cooking knife!” Alex entered the bathroom.
“You make a fair point; I left it in here by
accident when doing some baking for my niece.
I appreciate the reminder.”
Alex reached for the knife and picked it
up. The demon whispered in his ear, “This is
your chance. Take it. Don’t let me down.” Alex
slowly played the image in his head of what he
expected to occur. He then put up his hood and
brushed the hair from his face, exposing the devilish grin he was now wearing.
“Whoa man, you alright? It’s a little early
for Halloween, isn’t it?” the man laughed. “Shut
up,” Alex ordered.
“Just shut up. Quit running your stupid
mouth. You have no intelligence to contribute
anymore. I’m tired of hearing you talk and I’m
tired of hearing you say her name.”
The man quickly developed a puzzled
look. “You mean Jade? Look man, Jade and I
are going to be married soon. So whatever you
have going on here, you need to let it g-” The
man was interrupted by the sound of a knife.
“No. You let it go. I’ve let things go my
whole life. This is my one true chance to claim
my prize. To take Jade away from the coward
that stands in front of me.” The man coughed up
blood onto Alex’s shirt. Alex examined the stain
and smirked. “Didn’t your mother ever teach
you manners?” He pushed the man back into the
wall, the knife still in place under the man’s ribcage.
“You-You’re crazy! Jade wouldn’t ever
love a man like you!” the man let out with some
interrupting coughs.
“You’re wrong. You’re too stupid to even
see what’s going on. Jade loves me, not you.
She never loved you,” Alex said angrily.
“Cut the small talk, and get a move on,”
the demon said from the mirror, “Finish the job
and clean up the mess. We don’t have all night
to chit-chat.” Alex nodded, knocking the man
32
out. The demon smiled in the mirror. “You did
well, better than I expected.”
Alex analyzed his blood stained hands,
tears running from his face. “I…I’ve killed
someone. I committed murder and you are proud
of me?!” Alex screamed.
“Very. You’ve taken your prize. Think of
it Alex. No more distractions, no more interruptions. No one will be getting in the way between
you and your prize.” That’s where it all went
wrong. The sound that Alex heard next deprived
him of every emotion he could ever express. It
was Jade standing at the bathroom door, holding
her hand to her mouth, tears drenching her face.
Alex slowly turned to face the one thing he never
wanted to see: Jade being upset.
“Oh my God, WHAT DID YOU DO?”
she cried loudly. Alex leapt from his crouched
position placing his hand over her mouth to stop
the screaming. He couldn’t handle the screaming.
“Shhh,” Alex whispered, “I did this for
you and me, Jade. He was hurting you, depriving
you of happiness. I saved you from that monster,” Alex explained.
“You’re the only monster here,” Jade
screamed between the openings of Alex’s fingers. “You killed the man I loved! You’re the
one depriving me! I don’t even know who you
are anymore!”
Alex was crushed. The depression and
anger in his eyes grew as the sparkle in Jade’s
died. The sparkle Alex was always looking forward to see. He jerked his attention toward the
mirror, the demon almost mocking him. “This is
your fault! You did this to me! Now face me
like the man you claim to be!” Alex ordered.
Jade’s fear only grew, her eyes jerking between
Alex and the mirror. She struggled to break free,
which only made Alex angrier. “You don’t
move! You’re staying here with me!” She finally broke free, huddling herself in the corner of
the bathroom.
The demon slowly crawled out of the mirror. “You’re going to blame me for this? Alex,
we are one in the same person. You did this
yourself, you took your demons own advice. For