Holly stalked into the Room of Requirement, a thousand dark menacing thoughts racing through her head, threatening to take over. She looked around, taking in the plain walls, the nothingness filling the room. Her eyes fell on the only thing in the room. The knife. Enticing her to it’s beautifully hostile points. She sank to her knees in the center of the room, craving the feel of the metal caressing her flesh. Her hands held her head, wanting those somber, frightening thoughts to disappear. She took the knife in her hand.

She couldn’t take this anymore. The lying, the constraint, the bloodshed. She thought of her brother, Oliver. Goodness, she loved him. She thought of Lucas and felt a twinge of guilt that only lasted a second. There was no way she could have a normal life with him, or anyone again. Jayson’s beautiful face filled her mind. She couldn’t even think comprehendible thought about him right now. But no one else mattered to her anymore. What did she have to live for? There was no future down the path she chose.

A twisted smile appeared on her face as she ran her finger over the blade. She caught her reflection in the shiny metal and she blinked back tears. She would not cry. She had been too weak up until now. This..thing she had become was not her. Not what she wanted. No matter how hard she tried, though, she couldn’t change. It was like a deep pit of tar, sucking her in deeper and deeper until she couldn’t breathe. And it had reached breaking point. It would all be over soon.

Holly pressed the blade to her left wrist. It was like she could feel the vein begging to be opened, drained. She didn’t even flinch when she dragged the knife down her arm towards her body. She watched the sticky crimson liquid erupt from her skin. It poured out and dripped to the floor. She took the knife in the marred hand and cut open her right wrist. The mess of blood she was making was beautiful as it smeared on her body and floor. She tilted her head back as she felt everything leaving her body. The tension left, the hate, the fear, the frustration, the hopelessness. Her very soul was leaving. She felt her heart slowing, her breathing growing more shallow as the blood flowed out. This was it..the release. Holly didn’t feel one ounce of fear as she took her last wavering breaths. She noticed her arms were ghostly white, and a soft chuckled slipped out. It felt good to laugh. She fell over onto the floor, too weak to keep kneeling. Her eyes fluttered closed, but the smile remained on her face and Holly’s heart beat on last time. Her lungs expanded one last time. Then she was gone, and it was all over.