The Monster Beside you

      The sickening sound of metal scraping bone and flesh echoed against the night air as Alex slid the knife out from between the young man’s rib bones. The body slumped forward and Alex let it slide out of his grasp as he turned away. It landed with a dull thump and blood began to pool around the torso as Alex came face-to-face with a woman, who had materialized out from the shadows that clung to the alley's walls. The apparition was garbed in a black dress that swirled around her as if dancing in a playful breeze, but the air in the alley was as still as the dead.
      Alex raised his bloodied knife threateningly at the woman. A voice whispered in his ear. "Do it, Alex. Kill her. Kill her like you killed that boy."
      Alex moved a step closer to the woman in black but stopped suddenly when she smiled serenely. "Talk to me, Alex. Tell me why." Her arm moved fluidly as she gestured towards the figure on the ground. "Tell me why you killed that innocent boy." 
      Alex remained silent, glowering at the women with eyes hot with hatred. Finally, he turned to his left. "Because it told me to." He pointed to a figure that hovered a foot above the ground. It was a monstrous figure; gleaming yellow eyes peered out beneath shaggy brown fur and its gnarled claws and fangs dripped with poison.
      The women looked at the monster, then back at Alex. With a raised eyebrow she asked, "And what, exactly, is it?"
      Alex shrugged. "Some people call it demon, others devil. I really don't know what to call it. All I know is I can't help but do everything it tells me."
      A smile appeared on the woman's lips again, but this time something was different about it. It was a sad smile. "Look again."
      Perplexed, Alex turned back to the monster. A strangled sound escaped from Alex's throat as he jumped back in fear. The features of the monster he had grown to know so well were now changing. Just moments before the creature next to him had been more beast than human; the only characteristics of it that reminded Alex of a human was it stood on two short, hairy legs and had two long arms that ended with five fingers with twisted claws. But now, before his very eyes, the monster began to lose its beast like features; with every passing second, it began to look more like a human.
      The monster’s lips stretched into a toothy grin, his now blue eyes sparkled with amusement. “What’s the matter, Alex?” It hissed. “Do you not like my true form?” Alex whimpered as he stared at his own reflection.
      “What have you done?” Alex’s voice was barely audible.
      The woman shook her head sorrowfully. “I have done nothing Alex. You have simply seen the truth.”
      Rage built up inside Alex. “Why? Why did you do this to me? I was fine with lies!” He turned to lash out at the woman only to find that she had vanished. A metallic clang filled the night as Alex’s knife fell from his hand and he collapsed onto the ground, sobbing.