Voices

Prologue

My hands went for my ears, but it seemed that the noises were coming from inside me.

Kill her. Kill her. Kill her.

These voices, voices inside my head... they sounded just like mine. A chorus of repeated words, over and over, in a loop. Saying the same thing, again and again, and there was nothing I could do with it. I forced my eyes open, and I could see the girl, a few years younger than me, her hands behind her bent head, cowering. She was in one of the corners of the room, where only few spots of light could be seen. She was shivering, trying to protect herself from me.

There was a knife on the table, on my right. It was a sharp, small type, with a black rubber handle. By the looks of it, it was easy to handle.

Kill her.

The voices were now everything I could hear. The girl was saying something, something I couldn't understand. I couldn't read her lips. I couldn't hear her. My ears seemed like it was in a different dimension, only able to hear these voices. I closed my eyes shut, my hands compressing my head. Inside, I was begging for it to stop, stop haunting me. But it didn't work. Nothing worked.

Fearing the worst, I looked at the girl again. Tears were dripping down her face, endless torrents of tears. Her hands were over her head. Huddled in a corner of the room, she was shaking. She looked frail, weak.

Kill her. Kill her. The voices just seemed endless. It started out as an inaudible whisper, but it was everything that I could hear. The only thing I could hear. It just couldn't disappear. I felt confused. What should I do?

Several seconds passed. It was time to end this. No more voices after this, I hoped.

I grabbed the knife, and took slow steps towards the girl. My hand was shaking, gripping the knife so hard I thought it would break. I knelt down, right in front of her. I stared at her blue, ocean eyes.

Kill her.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to her.

The weapon plunged into her, drawing blood.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered again.

The voices stopped.