I felt so out of place amongst the young teenagers my age. They laughed, dance and drank. They were carefree and happy. Everything I wasn’t. Instead of taking part I hung back in the corner watching and wishing I was one of them. Their happiness was almost tangible, something I could reach out and touch. I watched in awe.

I had discarded the drink Parker had given me. There was no way I could even entertain the idea of being less than aware when I had a demon to keep at bay. Getting drunk and having a good time like my peers wasn’t something I could even entertain. It was a stark reminder of how different I was to them.

The only reason I stayed at the party was the fact the noise and crowd drowned out Damien’s existence. I had peace in the loudest of rooms, with bodies tightly packed. It was the first time I didn’t have a demon whispering in my ear, trying to talk me into going back to hell. It had been constant, chipping away at me all the time.

For that short time I could just listen to the blaring music and watch others dance, like no one was watching.

It was the first time I could remember being able to be without having to guard myself from Damien.

I could have stayed all night but eventually the party began to disperse and I found myself trudging back to my car. It was early morning.

“Look at you. Who knew you were into parties?” Damien said, walking beside me.

I didn’t want to encourage him by answering but I did anyway.

“It wasn’t the party I liked Damien. It was the fact that I didn’t have to listen to you.” I stopped to face him, knowing there was no one around to see or hear what I was doing. “For just a little while I forgot about you. And you know what?”

I paused.

“It was awesome,” I whispered harshly.

“If you just gave in we could have finished this years ago,” he reminded me.

“Just stop Damien,” I said before stomping off in the direction I remembered parking the car.

“I can’t and you know it,” he said, intent as usual to annoy me. “You don’t belong here Tessa. Let me take you back. Let’s right this mistake.”

I wished he was a physical person so I could try and shake some sense into him but I couldn’t so I stopped suddenly to face him.

“You are really slow on the uptake, aren’t you Damien. I’m never going back with you. It’s been seven years and you still haven’t succeeded. Why are you still here? When are you going to realize that you will never win this.” It was the most confident I had ever felt in my ability to withstand his determination to complete his task.

His eyes glowed with anger, making them more prominent in the darkness. “I will never give up Tessa. The only way I leave, is with you.” The determined set of his jaw, reminded me of how stubborn he could be.

He was so frustrating. I swung back to stride over to the car and got in.

It was dark. The only light from some distant street lights. It was after one in the morning as I navigated my way back home. I was nervous but I pushed through it. There was no one else to get me home, I had to do it. Beside I knew it was the fear of the accident that made it difficult for me to complete the simple task of driving home.

For once Damien was quiet beside me, instead of talking about everything and nothing.

“I hate you,” I whispered the words, trying to put my animosity toward him into words.

“Same,” he said, not bothering to even look in my direction.

My hands tightened on the steering wheel as we approached a nearby bridge. The water beneath was dark and foreboding. Water always brought bad memories back to the surface.

A flashback of my memory made me catch the breath in my lungs.

I pressed the pedal, wanting to be over onto the other side as quickly as possible.

I felt Damien’s eyes on me but I was frozen, unable to move. Unable to pull myself from the memory that surrounded me like the air I breathed.

The sound of the tires on the road, the sound of the metal against stone, the jolt of the car hitting the water. I knew it wasn’t real but I couldn’t pull myself out of the memory.

This time the screech of the car tires was real. The time the sound of the metal scrapping against the stone wasn’t a memory or a dream.

Before I could take in what was happening the car hit the water, jolting me. My head hit the steering wheel.

Water began to gush in.

It was the coldness that brought me back to reality.

My seatbelt was stuck.

I gasped as the water level began to rise. I had to get out or else. It was something my mind couldn’t even process.

There was no choice. I struggled with the seatbelt, jerking it to try and get it to unlock but no matter how hard I tried it wouldn’t budge.

“Come on,” I murmured, trying to stave off the panic so I could get myself out before it was too late.

In a moment of panic I looked to Damien who sat beside me watching me as I yanked at the seatbelt.

“Damien,” I found myself saying, crazy to ask for help of the only person who wanted me to die.

Panic clawed at me when I realized that I couldn’t get myself loose. The water was up to my neck. I closed my eyes briefly to fight my way through the paralyzing fear that I wasn’t going to get out of the sinking car.

Flashbacks to the accident that had taken the lives of my family flashed back.

“No, no…” I murmured before I screamed. “Help.”

My throat burned. I looked to Damien who was still silently watching me from the seat beside me. Our eyes locked.

“Damien,” I whispered, the panic and fear filled my voice.

The water was so cold I began to shiver as the water rose to my lips.

My eyes stayed on Damien’s.

I had spent the last seven years fighting him on a daily basis to survive and now I was going to die in a car accident while he watched. He was going to win.

“I hate you.” All my anger was focussed on him.

Those were my last words before the water reached my nose.

“I hate you too,” Damien said before the car filled up with water.

I held my breath for as long as I could, giving the seatbelt one last yank but it remained locked. Securing my fate.

In the last moments I struggled in a panic before my lungs felt like they were going to burst and I sucked in a desperate breath filled with water.

Darkness surrounded me, I felt like I was floating. The car was in the distance as floated away.

In the darkness was a glimmer of light that my eyes fixed on.

Water. Cold. Darkness.

Something jolted me and then I was on my side water gushing from my mouth. I turned to my side, shivering. I was so cold.

Water wrenched from my mouth before I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with air. Again and again.

On my hands and knees I dug my hands into the sand trying to make sense of what was happening.

Was the hell? It felt very much like I was alive but that wasn’t possible, was it?

Surely if I was in hell, it would be hotter.

Shoes came into sight. I looked up. Damien.

“I hate you so much,” he whispered, his eyes glowing red. There was hatred in his eyes like he could kill me right on the spot but he remained rigid over me.

I coughed and spluttered. He could do whatever he wanted, I had no strength to defend myself.

Once I could breathe I slumped onto the sand and realized I was on the river bank. No car in sight. Damien remained standing over me.

And I had no idea how I had gotten out.

I shivered as I heard a siren and waited for help.

The boy who had reveled in every moment of pain I had ever experienced stood watch over me.