Novel & Cerita Aphmau My Inner Demons

I demanded. The figure slowly turned. Its face. My face. A mirror image. "Your greatest fear," Amara whispered. My mind reeled as I stared at my duplicate. "Who are you?" I repeated. The doppelganger's voice echoed mine. "I am the shadow you've denied," it said. "Your darkest self." Amara stepped forward. "This is the trial," she explained. "Face your inner demons." The doppelganger began to change. Its face contorted, reflecting my deepest fears.

Her wolf struggles, her teeth elongate, glinting dangerously, while her claws extend, ready to fight. I come out of her nightmare and stumble towards the small, dimly lit bathroom tucked away in the corner of her room. With a violent heave, bile rises from the depths of my churning stomach, escaping my lips in a convulsive expulsion. The vivid, haunting images from her dream relentlessly replay in my mind, their grotesque details etched into the deepest recesses of my consciousness. I don’t consider myself a good person. I’m part demon after all, but even I am shocked by unimaginable depths of evil that now haunt me.

I reach out my good hand toward the cut on her forehead, my fingers hovering only centimeters above the split skin. Bailey closes her eyes and shakes her head. “No,” she whispers fervently. “It wasn’t you. It was Amos.” I know there’s truth to what she’s saying. No matter how much time might pass, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget the demon’s claws sinking into my brain, gouging at the deepest parts of myself until I had become something unrecognizable, something inhuman. That horrible, grating laugh will forever haunt me.

I said softly as Shade came forward, and we slowly slipped into the shadows. When we reappeared, we were in my room. It was dark. I sat on my bed with her wrapped tightly in my arms. She gripped my shoulders, her fingernails digging in as she searched for solid ground and found it with me. “I'm so sorry! I don't want to hurt you. This isn't easy for me. I want you but I can't be with you. I'm no good for you. There's too much darkness in me, and my past is so dark that if it wasn't for the darkness inside me, my dark past is too bad; you deserve better. Everything about me is wrong. Everything about me is bad, and everything about you is good. You deserve better than me,” I said, and I hated

Tears fell, one after another, splattering silently onto the floor. That night stretched on endlessly as I wandered the streets, searching for an open pharmacy. By the time I considered going to the hospital, rain had started pouring down, drenching me and washing away every last illusion. I finally stumbled home, soaked and defeated, a painful clarity settling over me. It was that night I realized our seven-year marriage had been nothing more than a mirage. But even now, in death, I hadn't found peace. Just when I thought I'd be a wandering soul forever, my friend Yuna sensed something was off.

By the time I came to, Mom was looking at me with eyes that sparkled like they held a secret. "Whoa! What's with Mom's look? Can she… hear my thoughts?" She gave me a playful wink. In that moment, my heart leapt with joy. "No way! She can actually hear me! This is amazing! Together, we'll be unstoppable! This time, we're going to make those scumbags regret everything they've ever done!"

Her voice trembled, but she still whispered, “You’re wrong.” I shook my head, stepping back again. “No, I’m not. Because I’ve seen what happens when it takes over. I’ve seen the blood. I’ve seen the bodies. That thing inside me—” I pressed a fist against my chest, breathing raggedly. “—it’s a demon. And it’s been clawing at me since the day I was born.” The silence between us stretched, heavy and suffocating. “Okay... and Nicholai, saying all this won’t keep me away.”

I want to comfort the feral desperation radiating from him. I’ve never heard Damion sound like this before. Never. His hand tightens around mine. Like he’s afraid I might fall back into darkness again. I try to squeeze back. My muscles protest, but I manage something. A tiny pressure. Barely there. But enough. Enough to feel him. Enough to ground me. Enough to remind me I’m alive. And suddenly I see them. His demons. They stand behind his eyes like shadows. Guilt. So much guilt.

At that moment, I remembered Mei explaining that demons hate reflections. I turned around to check if there was one present in their room and sure enough, it was right behind us. My eyes fixed themselves at the reflection in the mirror and I couldn't shake off the fear that struck me rapidly. It's red angry looking eyes staring back at me. They almost looked hollow and deep. Horns sprung out of its skull and it had hooves instead of hands or feet. It almost resembled a scary-looking goat that has been dressed for Halloween. My body felt numb and like life was draining out of me as I started getting images of my worst moments. I felt myself crashing down on the cold hard ground as my vision d