She was not a kid, but not an adult either; and yet she had already taken life of another, spilled their blood out of pure spite. It was the ever-growing monster in her that had demanded her to do it, blinding her with anger. And she had gladly agreed, allowing herself to fall for the sick temptation. The little bird had to die.
 
It was his fault. All his fault. Ever since he had taken his first breath in this world, he had started to plague their lives with his existence. No one had realized it. Not even her. But as the years went by, and the little bird started to become more aware of himself and his surroundings, she had finally understood how much filth he produced. He had tainted their once so happy lives, but no, of course her parents didn't recognize a damn thing! To them, the little bird was so precious, so delicate and fair, his heart full of kindness and he was so talented in everything! He was the little sunshine of her parents' lives.
 
[i]Disgusting.[/i]
 
However, could she really blame them for being enchanted like that? The little bird sang with such a sweet tone that weak-minded could not possibly resist it. But she knew, oh she knew, he sang only with lies. Vile, venomous lies. His influence was so great that her parents barely even noticed her presence anymore. Intended or not, he had successfully banished her into the shadows – and she would not be able to return from there. Not as long as he was around.
 
Very well, she had thought. She accepted her role as the observer from the shadows. But little did she know how it would corrupt her mind, conjuring up many dark and twisted thoughts that nobody in their right mind would ever dare to think of. And as the days passed by, eventually turning into months, she became more and more isolated from everyone around her family's splendid mansion, accompanied only by her sinister thoughts that were fueled by her hatred towards the little bird.
 
As a result, a monster was born.
 
Could there have been a different ending for this tragedy if only her bewitched parents had noticed that their daughter was being troubled by something? She didn't know. Even if she had told them about her concerns, they wouldn't have understood and would have just shrugged it off as her wild imagination. After all, they were oblivious to all the changes that had been happening around them. They probably thought that her gradually shifting to solitude was simply an indication of her becoming mature woman. It was common that young people like her started to act more independently. In this case, however, it was something else.
 
Of course, from the surface, she was still the same. She still wore that gracious smile and maintained her polite and calm behavior around everyone. Nothing seemed to be out of ordinary. Nobody was aware of the monster that had tightly tangled itself around her heart, holding it firmly like a starving beast would after finally getting a piece of meat, and its jaws were gnawing at her soul, feeding on her hatred and jealousy, allowing the monster to grow more and more fat by each passing day. And the larger it grew, the noisier it became, haunting her with its disembodied voice, no matter whether she was awake or asleep.
 
One might think that being stuck with such anomalous company would be a terrifying experience. But that wasn't true, not in her case. She had welcomed the monster with open arms, for she had nothing to be afraid of. It had born from within her, it was undoubtedly a part of her. She wasn't that type of person to be frightened by something that belonged to her. In the end, though, perhaps that was her greatest flaw.
 
From there, her downfall began.
 
Kill him, kill him. Those sticky words became like a mantra which the monster repeated in her head, over and over again, and she took them to her very soul with delight. They were etched into the deepest corners of her mind, yet she could still bring them forth and seek strength from them for the upcoming, inevitable task.
 
And thus, on that one autumn night, she had finally started to fulfill her duty. When the mansion had got leisurely devoured by darkness, following with silence as the residents set out on their journeys towards the lands of dreams, she had been wide awake, tense and ready to seek out her prey – a moment she had been waiting for so long was finally at hand. She had lingered in her bed for a while before leaving just to make sure everyone would be asleep, and then snuck out of her room, like a ghost in the serene night, and headed to downstairs and infiltrated the kitchen. It wasn't a room she usually set her foot in; it was a working place for servants and a noble young woman like herself had neither interest nor reason to be over there, but tonight she had to make an exception. After all, that's where she could find a little steel partner to assist her in completing her deed.
 
The kitchen had appeared to be tidy and stainless as much as she could tell in the mere moonlight that shone through the windows, so it was also relatively easy to navigate her way through the room. The silvery light had also helped her to spot a set of kitchen tools that were left on one of the tables, all lined up in a perfect order, waiting for tomorrow's work. One of them was what she had been looking for: a knife. Swiftly as a shadow she had grabbed the tool and from that moment, it had been bound to serve her however she pleased. After her successful little theft, she had retreated from the kitchen and climbed quietly back to upstairs, her destination set to the little bird's room.
 
Nobody would hear anything, she had assumed. Servants slept downstairs and her parents' room was located on the opposite way of the corridor. Guest rooms were empty. Everything was perfect. She had still been rather tense – tense but excited. A gleam of madness shining in her dark eyes, she had opened the door to the little bird's room, slipped in and shut the door as quietly as she could. Then she had turned around, ready to face her prey.
 
The little bird had been fast asleep, just as she had expected. He was still young, had only seen seven summers, and his small and fragile body still required a lot of rest. Well, he would get a plenty of that from now on, she had thought as she licked her dry lips and stepped forward. The little bird had rested on the bed that was too big for him, surrounded by a pack of pillows and few teddy bears guarding his sleep. She had tiptoed right next to his bed, her hands tightly grasping the knife, her eyes locked on to his face. He had looked so peaceful that night, dreaming of happy dreams. And for a moment, she had felt hesitation; did he really deserve this? Had she judged him wrong? She had shaken her head, snapping out of it. She wasn't as ignorant as her parents. Sure, his appearance was that of a pure, young soul... But it needed to be sent to hell. This manipulative being could not possibly be the same flesh and blood as she was.
 
She had felt the rage rushing through her veins once more, and she had grabbed one of the many pillows surrounding the bed and pressed it against the face she despised so much. She had held the pillow with all her might, but that brute force had caused the little bird to wake up from his sleep. He had panicked, trying to struggle and escape, but to no avail. She was older and her anger made her much stronger. The little bird's cries of help were muffled by the pillow, and if that had continued for long enough, he would have died of asphyxiation. It would have helped to conceal the fact that he was murdered. But for her, whose mind was clouded by bloodlust, ending it simply like that wasn't satisfying.
 
So she had raised the knife.
 
And struck it down furiously, stabbing him right into his chest.
 
Stab, draw back, stab, draw back. She had continued this motion, over and over again, until muffled screams had faded away and blood had soaked the bed and dyed her nightgown in crimson color. The struggle was gone. The little bird's presence had disappeared. Only his lifeless body, now decorated with fresh wounds, had remained. Satisfied, she had thrown the pillow away, taken a last look on the little bird's dead eyes, and just walked away with the knife still in her hand and a pleased smirk on her face.
 
However, the joy she had gotten from her accomplishment didn't last for long as it got assaulted by an emotion she didn't know she could even have anymore in her dark heart.
 
Guilt.
 
The hesitation she had felt before killing the little bird probably was a forewarning of it, she just hadn't realized it. She had thought that she was ready and capable of fulfilling such a disgusting deed. But she wasn't. She was still too humane.
 
And now, sitting on her bed, feeling numb, she couldn't tell what would happen next. The little bird was dead, just like she had wanted... And the monster had gone missing too. She couldn't hear its demanding voice anymore.  She was alone in a silent world, remorse being her only companion.
 
Oh, and the knife too.
 
She caressed its blade in silence. It had served her well, but now she didn't really have any need for it anymore.
 
"Oh, you wicked little soul, what have you done?"
 
The knife dropped on the floor.
 
She stood up swiftly, facing a strange creature that was standing next to her bedroom's door. Most of his tall body was covered in a dark red cloak, showing only his hideous face that reminded her of a bat. She had no idea how he had managed to sneak in to her room without making a sound, but she didn't really care.
 
Raising her head proudly, feeling no fear, staring directly at the being's big, pearl-like eyes, she asked: "Who are you and with what right you have entered my room?"
 
The creature stepped forward, no sound coming from its movement. "Child, I am here because of your sins."
 
Immediately defending herself, she snarled: "I have done nothing wrong! He was a devil!"
 
A short chuckle left the creature's mouth. "Then why you are feeling guilty?"
 
She clenched her fists. She couldn't find any words for an answer, if there even was any.
 
The creature came even closer. "You are lying. You are lying to yourself and to me as well. But I understand you, and I can help you to atone your sins."
 
"What do you mean?"
 
"Just give me the hand that spilled the blood of another, and you'll see, everything will be alright."
 
Hesitating for a bit, but still obeying stranger's request, she reached out with her right hand, and the creature grabbed it with his own; it was covered in gray fur and had sharp, pointy claws in each finger.
 
"Oh you little fool; you're closer to the devil than that innocent boy ever was. And for taking his life, you must now pay”, the creature murmured, tightening his grasp. The girl got anxious and realizing that she had made a mistake and tried to pull away and struggle, but to no avail.
 
She screamed.
 
The creature had started to twist her arm with inhumane strength, bending it painfully, claws tearing off the skin and dotted the floor with her blood. She tried to fight against her tormentor, screaming and crying of pain, but she was completely unable to free herself. Her bones cracked loudly, and finally, a large chunk of mutilated flesh that formerly was a part of her limb, got ripped off, blood pouring down.
 
"Now your deed has been atoned for", the creature said, holding the damaged piece of limb in his hand. After that, he started vanishing from her sight.
 
Then she fainted.