Darian Petty

The Demon Inside

I am a 24 year old female. On the outside I've lived a pretty normal life, inside I have lived with a demon since the age of 7. That was the year my first, and only, sibling was born, that was also the year I was diagnosed with depression. This was the first sign of the demon. He consumed my every being, I don't exactly remember, but I can see it when I go back and look at pictures. At every turn he was there, waiting until I was most vulnerable. I would cry myself to sleep not knowing why, I would imagine what it would be like to kill myself and have my family find me, I would dream the most horrible dreams of my parents giving me away because they were "tired of me." Life was hell on the inside. On the outside, however, I was the perfect Christian. I babysat for almost every family in my hometown church, I saved money, I was always kind and used manners, no one knew. I was able to keep a lid on him until I was 9. I had horrible dreams of the Demon crawling inside of my head and trying to eat me, so one night I cut my hair off. My mom was horrified, but I couldn't explain why I did it, so it was dismissed.