Overmastering Sleep Paralysis and Night Demons

I'm all dressed up to see you.

I've curled my hair and taught my face to accept the mask I threw on moments before you knocked 8 times.

E, B, B, B, Cb, B, E#, E.

I know it's you because that's your signature.

One tear falls from my eyes and my hands are quick to wipe it from my cheek before it falls onto the purple satin I threw over my bruises that have your fingerprints pressed into them.

The door is open only 8 centimeters before you shove your way in. I fall to the ground breaking my fragile wrists and you immediately yell at me for the crackling noise that is heard throughout my body.

I sit up and you grab me by the hair, dragging me out the door and hitting the cement face first.

I feel my chipped tooth and my bleeding lip as I stand to run.

I take one step and you grab my flailing arm with your rough calluses. Stopping me dead in my tracks and flinging me right back into your arms.

You're ready to end it here and now.

Too bad I'm not.

I bite you and run back to the door as you scream out at the first pain you've ever felt from me. The blood covers my hands.

I twist the door knob and permit myself access to the safety that lies just behind it.

It closes and is immediately locked. You will not have the privilege of the safety it has granted me.

You bang on the door yelling at me from the outside.

LET ME IN!! YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR THIS LATER IF YOU DON'T!!

Good thing I'm not planning on ever letting later happen.

One less thing to worry about I walk upstairs and play some soft, soothing music.

Slip off the dress and undo my hair. No longer in need of a mask he thinks is disgusting.

But it's better than not ever wearing it.

Forget all he's said, lay down.

For once the voices inside my head make sense. Just before I slip off into darkness I realize that I'm bleeding on my arms, my head, my knees, and my nose. My lip is now a scab.

I've lost so much blood that I know that the pool I lay in is a sure sign that I'm not merely falling asleep.

This is permanent.

But it puts a smile on my face.