I walk through the dark street, light poles on.

I hold onto my jacket. A chill passes through me, making goosebumps run up my back. The lights flicker, my eyes grow wide. I turn my head left and right.

“ No! Not right now, not again! “

I whisper, trembling.

Then the voices start pounding in my head, once again.

“ Your wrong “

“ nobody likes you “

“ you can’t even speak to someone without having a panic attack, your useless “

I put my hands on my ears, begging to make the voices stop, but begging never works. So I crouch down, and take deep breath. The light poles turn off one by one. The winds’ current suddenly gets stronger, making my hair flutter in the air. My face grows pale, I’m about too faint. As always.

Until finally, the chills stop.

“ Lilith, Lilith? Are you okay? “

A hand reaches out, showing me the light in the pool of darkness I fell into. I immediately take my hands off my ears, and I mask my emotions. It’s surprising how well and how quickly I manage to do it. Practice makes perfect, I guess. But that’s fine with me, as long as no one finds out about the demons within me.

“ Yeah, I’m good. Just tired. “

I take Annie’s hand and slowly get up. She looks unconvinced, but she doesn’t ask. We walk hand in hand, and I slowly calm down. She’s the only one who can do that. I don’t know how she does it, but she does, and I’m grateful for having her, more than grateful, actually. But if she finds out truth, I’m afraid I’ll lose her, like I lost everybody else. And I can’t lose her too.