Den of Vipers

by K.A. Knight

I was deemed too insane to deal with employees after I burned one of their eyes out for calling me scum.

It’s been a whole two days since I got to kill someone, and I’m getting restless.

He knows what I am—death. Ryder might be the face, Garret might be the enforcer, the muscle, and Kenzo the dealer…but me? I’m the fucking Grim Reaper.

Vipers? Bitch, please, I bite too.

that it’s okay to just be there, to let them know you are here if they need you.

Those who love us have the opportunity to hurt us the worst, and in my experience, they always do.

trauma sticks with you every day of your life. But we have a choice whether to let it control or destroy us.

“It’s too fucking early for your crazy,”

If you get trapped in the past, you will never be free of its ghosts.”

So you have demons? Baby, they match mine.

“I used to be so fucking scared of you,” I admit, those ghosts and phantom fears rising within me. “I used to fear the dark because it was when you hurt me, but then I faced those demons. I looked into the dark and embraced my fear because hurt comes both day and night. The monsters don’t wait for the sun to set, this isn’t a goddamn fairy tale. This is life and monsters…monsters are everywhere.

I am imperfectly perfect. I am a lover and a fighter. I am strong and weak. I can be cruel and a killer, but also kind and a healer. I am all of those things, and loving my weaknesses means I can embrace my strengths and be just whom I want to be.