It was a nice, breezy evening. The home of Smith Lee was quiet, accompanied by the crashing waves of the ocean beside him. He lived alone. Not as alone as he would have liked, of course, but alone enough.

He would have to get rid of his _daughter_ to achieve that goal.

He had forgotten her name; not as though it mattered anyway. She always sat in that swing outside, staring still at the blue, foamy waves. It annoyed Smith to the point where he would drag her into the house and lock her in the room.

Why did she have to be so eerie? Why couldn’t she just act _normal_?

Sometimes, when Smith called on her she wouldn’t answer, she would not even look back. And the damned girl couldn’t talk either. Smith should have let the girl die a long time ago.

He…had tried…actually, several times.

But each time the girl came back as though nothing had happened. Each time she would return to her swing. Each time she would stare—silent, unblinking—at Smith, as though she knew. She knew!

Smith had stopped trying, but something was off.

Today, Smith went out to feed the thing because he thought she was on her swing. But when he came there, he saw nothing except the empty swing creaking and twisting as though wrestling in the salty wind.

**_No….

_**Smith dropped the plate, practically tossed it to the ground, and ran into the kitchen. There she was, with what he had expected in her small, innocent looking hands.

A knife.

She was cutting herself an apple. No doubt thinking about doing the same to Smith. Smith chuckled silently. He’d just have to kill her again and again and _again_ until she disappeared forever. He wasn’t going to die.

Smith went up to the girl, who looked up at him with a curious glance, knife stilling. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

The girl’s eyebrows creased, and she frowned. She placed the knife down and gathered her apple slices on a paper towel. Smith grabbed the knife with a tight grip. The man grabbed the girl, causing her to stumble, to drop her snack, and dragged her flailing body to the edge of the seaside land. Where the ground met the unruly waves.

He’d never tried this before. Usually Smith would just stab and bury here, or burn her in the oven. This would do the trick. This would keep her away from him forever—Smith would finally live the peaceful life he’d always dreamed about when he was young.

The girl was still thrashing, so Smith pinned her down to the rocky ground with a knee and raised the knife high.

He **_STABBED_**

And the noise it made was sickening—fantastic—this never happened before either, usually it was a hollow sound. An echoing sound.

The girl’s eyes rolled back.

Her body went limp.

Smith left the knife in, there was no use to get it out, it would be disgusting as her blood would probably stain the knife for eons.

So, Smith just tossed her body into the hungry ocean below him, relief clear on his face.

Finally…finally.

But then he heard a scratching noise, the noise of falling rocks and rubble. Smith shook, he didn’t want to look back…. It couldn’t be possible.

—

——

———

_Something’s wrong with Smith _

_He’s so loud, so hurtful_

_I don’t think he knows_

_Or even understands _

_What’s wrong with us both_

_He doesn’t know_

_I’m his wife, his lovely_

_Loving wife_

_I don’t understand why he looks _

_At me in such a way_

_As though I’m a stupid child_

_Just because I like to swing_

_Just because I like the quiet_

_Just because I like sweets_

_I love him_

_I really do_

_But I think he needs to go _

_Go to a mental hospital _

_For his own health _

_And my safety _

_He’s tried killing me several times _

_But each time I’m revived by some strange force_

_This is why I’m not discouraged _

_I will get him the help he needs_

_But first, I’m a little hungry_

_I’ll cut myself some apple slices_

_Before Smith notices and takes the knife away_

_Oh, he’s back_

_And he looks…_

_Frightened?_

_Oh, I suppose that would be the correct reaction._

_Seeing the woman you killed over and over again cutting apples with such intensity._

_He asks me what I’m doing. I don’t respond—I can’t. _

_He seems to have forgotten that._

_Smith takes the knife away from me_

_He grabs my wrist rather hard_

_Ah_

_It’s happening again_

_I play into the role_

_Knowing I’ll just be revived again_

_I thrash _

_I claw_

_Up until the point where he pins me down and stabs me in my head_

_…._

_That…that doesn’t feel right…_

_…………_

———

——

—

Smith watched in horror as pale, dusty hands grabbed onto the crumbling cliff side. The hands pulled some of the grass up as they climbed, closer and closer to the top.

Smith was frozen as the hands revealed a head, then a torso, and so on as it made it fully. The creature stood up, tears in its eyes. A knife deep into its fractured, bloody head.

It was a woman—

No, it was a girl—

A woman….?

A GIRL!

Smith stepped back as the thing approached him with wobbly steps.

It didn’t speak, no, but its eyes were pleading.

Smith didnt want anything to do with that thing, so he pushed it away.

It stumbled with its footing for a moment, then, with wide eyes, it started to fall back.

Down and down and down.

Back into the ocean.

Back where it belonged.

—

——

———

_I see now_

_I see that that…_

_That was my last chance_

_Time seems to slow _

_As I fall down into the water _

_The knife is like an itch inside me_

_But I have no more strength to relieve me of it_

_My poor Smith_

_My sweetheart _

_Why did he have to read that book_

_Or was it that conference that changed him?_

_Why did he have to think of me that way?_

_Just because I liked the simple things_

_Just because I wanted nothing more_

_Nothing more than his devotion and love_

_It’s funny how things and feelings can just change like that_

_Forever because of one thing we hear_

_Or recommended _

_Life or Death_

_It’s based off those very things_

_Smith had plenty of time _

_Plenty of time to realize his mistake_

_But he never corrected it _

_He…he didn’t care about me anymore_

_All he saw was a child_

_And a stupid thing to feed _

_The water is cold_

_It seems I’m fading now_

_Finally _

_Finally…._

—

——

———

Finally…FINALLY!

I’m free.

***

_(Really, what we believe and the choices we make create pathways to what will happen next._

__

_Alice Cullen has no hold on me._

__

_Thank you for reading and have a good day!)_