It’s difficult to sit in front of a mirror and not know the person staring back at you. She had my face, my hair, my skin, my body, but she wasn’t me. When she spoke, I could hear my voice but it didn’t match the words that came from my lips. When she took action, the results were never my doing.

For a while, I didn’t care. I let her live my life so I wouldn’t have to. I was tired, weak, and allowing someone to take over the pain I carried seemed like a good idea at the time. If I knew then what I know now I would never have made this mistake.

“They say, the eyes are a window to the soul.”

I watched a smirk cross her lips, my lips, while looking at the reflection in the mirror. She wore this smirk as though I should already understand what this comment meant and where she was going with all this.

“I used to have beautiful blue eyes like the ocean, but now, as you can see, they’ve turned a light grey.”

~”What’s your point?”

My irritated voice echoed in the chambers of my own mind. She leaned closer to the mirror revealing grey colored eyes instead of my usual hazel. I felt as though she was almost mocking me in a way, reminding me that she was currently in control and I once again had no power.

“I simply find it strange that while all my pain has lightened my eyes, so to speak, yours darkened. Isn’t that interesting?”

~”If you’re trying to say you're a better person just because your eyes aren’t black you can save the rest of your speech.”

“I’m just saying that maybe we aren’t so different, we just hide things differently. We lie differently.”

Her smirk grew to a grin as she laughed softly under her breath.

“Mandii, when are you going to admit that we aren’t so different? When are you going to stop fighting me and actually work with me? I allowed you back in so don’t you think you should be a little nicer to me?”

~” Allowed? I had to fight to get back into my own head. You wanted me gone so you could take over and now you want to work together? Why? Because you know I’m not going away? Because you know I’m not going to give up so easily now? No, there’s a reason I suppressed you without even knowing about you and I’m going with my gut instead of your mind tricks.”

She shook her head and turned away from the mirror.

“I’ve given you everything you wanted because you were too afraid to take any of it. Where is my thanks? I’m still giving you everything you’ve ever wanted, a new start, a brand new beginning, a chance to forget the past and move forward. You don’t have to worry about the Sirens, your sister, or that pesky little mistake you called a daughter. You finally have everything you’ve always wanted and yet you won’t do one simple thing, you won’t fulfill one tiny request of mine and work with me instead of against me. You’ve always been the good girl, the hero, when you finally gave that up you actually got what you wanted, I took it for you Aria.”

I could feel the smile on my face stretch from ear to ear, mocking me.

~”Should I be scared that you know my birth name? I’m not.”

“No, but you are irritated by it. You can’t hide things from me, I’m in your head; literally. No, you shouldn’t be scared that I know your name but you should be scared of the other information I know.”

She turned back toward the mirror before pulling out a small bag from her bra. She spilled the contents out onto the vanity in front of her revealing pills and a small bag that appeared to contain heroin.

“I wonder if these work on us the same as they did when you were human.”

~”Don’t.”

“Why? Aren’t these supposed to be fun? You don’t want to have any fun Mandii? Of course you don’t because you’re so uptight since you quit them. Come on.”

She picked up the baggy causing my fight instinct to kick in. I started to fight against my own body and forced the bag back onto the vanity.

“Oh? Do you want to start with something a little less harsh? Ok.”

Next, she picked up a handful of the pills and tossed them in her mouth before picking up a glass of brown liquor. Once again, I fought, causing her to drop the glass and spit the pills out onto the ground. For a moment, I had my body back as I drug my arm across the vanity top causing the rest of the pills and small bag to tumble to the ground. A laugh escaped my mouth loudly and once again I was at the mercy of her, only able to watch her speak in the mirror. Her demeanor switched almost instantaneous from playfully mocking to serious. She pointed a finger at the reflection as it morphed into a split face. One half was me, it was my face, but the other half was a curly brown-haired freckled woman...her.

“I know everything about you Mandii, I know every dirty detail that you’ve tried to hide. I’ve been in your head for years, don’t forget that. You didn’t even know I existed while I played you like a puppet! Remember that because it’s one reason I’m stronger than you. I can ruin you if you get in my way. Face it, it’ll be easier to work with me instead of against me. We can have everything we’ve ever wanted, or, I can ruin everything you’ve ever worked for. Your choice.”

For the first time in a long time, I actually felt intimidated by a threat. She was right, after all, she was in my head and knew everything about me. She was basically an extension of me so how was I supposed to fight my own thoughts? How was I supposed to, in a sense, fight myself?









The mud under my boots slipped with each step as Chris and I climbed up the side of a dirt hill. There was a sudden chill in the air as clouds formed above coating the sky in gloom and forcing the sun to hide.

"What is so important that you had us drive out into the middle of nowhere instead of doing it at the hotel?"

I could hear the annoyance in Chris's voice, however, that didn't stop him from coming with me when I asked him to.

"Given my match at Snow Job, I thought a little pre-game fun wouldn't hurt. You know I love my foreplay."

I turned my head to wink back at Chris.

"Didn't you just say how you had to prove yourself again?"

"I can't do both?"

Once we reached the top of the hill I could practically hear the eye-roll Chris gave me. In front of us was a little setup of an electronic baseball pitcher already locked and loaded ready to start shooting with just the push of a button. I picked up the baseball bat laying on the ground and hit my heels on it causing mud to rain onto the ground.

"Your match is a Football Massacre, not a Baseball Massacre. You do know technically neither of those sports will actually be a part of this match."

"No, really? I was under the impression I would be lacing up some cleats and walking to the ring in a bra and panties with shoulder pads ready to tackle everyone.”

The words dripped in a natural sarcasm.

“I'm aware of what match I'm walking into and to be perfectly honest I'm excited, it sounds like fun. I love not being held back by a leash."

"Ok, that still doesn't explain why we came all the way out here for you to hit a few-"

A resounding CRACK echoed around us after the first ball was sent flying toward me and connected with my bat before crashing into a nearby tree.

"...Balls..."

"Practice love, that's what I brought you out here for. Granted, the bat I'll be swinging is going to be covered in barbed wire but I don't need that for this type of practice."

"What are you going to do? Go around knocking their heads off their shoulders?"

"I mean, Massacre is in the description of the match no?"

I let out a loud giggle before turning my attention back to the pitcher just as another ball was hurled toward me again. Another crack echoed through the air.

"Now, remind me of who's head I'm bashing in?"

"Claude Savage."

"Perfect start. Cute little back story he had going for him but my burning question is why exactly does it matter where you came from? Do you want someone to feel bad for you because you were a shitty teen? I'm pretty sure we all were. Do you want a pat on the back because you made an honest living shoveling shit to pay for your pot and pizza? "I never got into wrestling so I could be famous," no, of course you didn't, you got into wrestling and signed onto a big company so you could afford the finer things in life like meth and burgers instead of pot and pizza. Wrestling is an outlet for you? It's your therapy? Wrestling has been my life, or at the very least fighting has been. Don't worry, unlike you I'm not going to waste time explaining my life story. I suggest you find something else to be your painkiller because if wrestling is necessary for you, if you fall apart without it, if you're nothing without it-"

Another crack echoes in the distance.

"Then the nurses at the hospital are going to have to prescribe you actual antidepressants when I'm done with you. From what I've seen, you're nothing even with wrestling anyway. It might sound good in your head to make it seem like you have nothing to lose, that all you have is this job, but it's not. This is a job for some of us, this is an escape for others, but for many this is a way to take back power in some shape or form. Some people actually want to watch the world burn, to hurt people. It sounds sick and twisted but it's true and unfortunately for you, I'm becoming one of those people. In other words, thanks for putting it all out on the line right off the bat, makes my job easy."

CRACK!

"Next."

"Savannah Knightley."

"Ah, the dirty birdy. She gives a whole new meaning to quickie right? Quick in the ring and jumping in bed with someone. I'm sorry, where are my manners."

CRACK!

"I shouldn't base your abilities on your appearance. What I will base your abilities on is the fact you are chasing championships that are basically participation trophies for "wrestlers" who can't actually obtain main championships. Yes, I know the benefits of holding on to some of these championships and you very well could use them as a stepping stone to the real thing but let's be honest, if you're using 24/7 championships to climb the ranks and push ahead instead of proving what you're made of in the middle of the ring what ability do you really have? I guess you could say Savannah likes taking the easy way, if you catch the hint. Honestly, it doesn't take much to be on a person's ass until you finally get a cheap shot in or that person gets sick of defending and just gives it up. So, maybe work a little harder at being better in the ring instead of being a pain in the ass to the chump champs.``

CRACK!

"Next."

"Azrael Erebus."

"Yay, Donnie boy's daddy. I was actually meaning to ask you, buddy, how does it feel to have such a pathetic son trying to follow in your footsteps? I mean damn, I thought you would have raised him a little better so he wasn't such a quitter. Oh shit wait, you didn't raise him, did you? Well shit, I guess that makes you one of those dads who went out to get milk and smokes and just never came back."

CRACK!

"Your parenting skills aside, I hope that when I left the last time I didn't sing your praises for nothing. You were at one point the closest thing I had to a friend here in XWF but then I came back and you couldn't even tell it was me you were facing, remember? So you and Donnie boy do have something in common, you hate it when someone proves you wrong. He must have gotten that from you; the ability to think you're god and know everything when in all actuality you don't. Moving on to stroking your ego just a little though, you are literally the only hope for your team and that's not saying much. Tell me Azzy, do you feel the pressure of having to carry your whole team yet? The real question at this point is are you going to crumble under that pressure like your son crumbled under it on Warfare or are you actually going to step up and be a man?"

CRACK!

"Sorry, I forgot you're gender-neutral right? Ya, I distinctly remember you taking the bombshell championship off my hands which was a female-only championship until it became management's big ol' joke. Again, sorry for saying be a man...Just be...better. Next."

"Osira Themis."

"Well, if wrestling doesn't work out for you at least you have a good chance of making a career out of being a poet."

CRACK!

"Next."

"Broken Oswald Autem."

"Fitting name. Doesn't he go by Money Oswald? I can tell he put all that money on the line in a bet and, well, lost. Next."

CRACK!

"Tommy Gunn."

"Who? You know what, doesn't matter."

A much louder CRACK echoes out as the baseball is basically obliterated. I lean on the baseball bat with a smirk on my face.

"Usually, I don't like the whole group match thing or any match that I have to rely on others. However, I have to say I'm not mad about my team, at least not currently anyway. Besides, I need to learn to play better with others since we have the whole Chaotic Inc. thing going. On the bright side, as long as everyone pulls their own weight, this match should be fun considering matches that basically have little to no rules are always the matches I'm best at."