To Know Pain

The person in the mask cocked their head. An unspoken yet understood question, What do you mean? The boy was starting to understand that this creature would not speak. Now that he got a good look at it, he noticed reddish brown unruly hair leaping out from behind the ceramic surface. He noticed the large, hopeful eyes on the cat face that seemed to follow the expressions underneath. The small figure and energetic twitching and tapping movements made them seem childish in spirit. CJ took a shaky breath and whispered, trying not to break the calm of the silence, "What do I call you?"
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The man screamed at the sight of this creature in the icy rain, the dark Byzantium purple marks glowing down his arm. This schoolteacher was fearful for his life. The beast growled, large, looming, and angry. This demonic figure thundered, "Are you happy now?! This is his life! Our life! Look at what you've done to him!" The man began sobbing, not yet understanding what he had done to upset a being this powerful. The beast kept his fiery hatred in his eye but made no move to touch the man. That would ruin everything.

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WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE, GORE, VIOLENCE, HOMOPHOBIA, DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, DEATH

Typically short chapters.

I want to thank my best friend, my husband*, and my son* for being so supportive and keeping me from ending my life on several occasions and for telling me I'm worth more than what I have, even if we don't always agree.

The people who romanticize mental disorders, make fun of those in LGBTQ+ and those that have mental disorders , and those pretend mental disorders aren't real inspired me. Without you, I would have never learned how to stand up for my friends.

*I am not married, nor do I have kids. These names are used for privacy reasons.