I knew I was in Ashfield as soon as I took one breath. The reek of sewage and pestilence, mingled with pine trees and tar, filled my nostrils, and I knew that somehow I was alive in the world I created. I pinched myself, but this was no dream; I was alive here, breathing and living. Which meant that She was here, too.

I heard her crawling from the crinkling leaves of the forest, and I turned from where I lay. The noise made her stop. She was a skilled hunter; I knew that better than anyone. So, I knew how to defeat her, too.

I inched forward and forward, clawing my nails into the dirt of the forest floor. She began to do the same. I saw her long, black hair trailing in front of her, hiding her face as she came, belly down.

I knew how to defeat her. I wrote characters that had defeated her again and again, yet she kept coming back. I knew how to defeat her once and for all, though.

Unfortunately for me, I didn’t want to. Ashfield felt like home, and I was finally here. I’d find a way to live along with the demon I created.