We All Have Demons

You look around desperately and see no escape. You have a gun in your hand. One bullet.

"You know what you must do to escape, Aaron," says the persistent voice in Aaron's head.

He does know. He also knows that he cannot kill the young girl tied to the chair before him. He knows that he cannot take away her young, pure life.

You hear the young girl's voice and it surprises you with how old, worn and knowing it sounds. "I know you will not kill me. You are to great a man for that. But please don't kill yourself. There is another option; you must think, Aaron."


What else could I do but kill one of us? I knew not what was keeping us here nor why we were here. I didn't even know why I was holding a gun.

"The only thing that can keep you captive is your own mind, Aaron. Kill me and you will stay captive. Kill yourself and you will stay captive. Take my hand, run and you will be set free," said the young girl.

It seemed so blindingly obvious now. He unties the young girls ropes and takes her hand. Her razor sharp nails dig into the skin of his hand and she hisses into his ear, no longer a innocent young girl but a monster of unspeakable cruelty.

"Did you really think it would be that easy, Aaron? You are a coward. You could not kill," she hissed.

"I am not a coward for not wanting to kill, for not being able to kill. I am a coward for not facing the fact that I have killed. That is why I am here," I said quietly.

She screamed in fury at being outwitted. "I will be back and you will come with me to the pits of death."

I woke up with a jolt, sweat pouring down my face. I woke up that way every morning. Every night was the same. Only this time he hadn't killed himself. That was new. Maybe he would finally be free of his demons. But maybe that would be to good to be true. Maybe he would just get new demons.