"There once was a Girl that walked through the darkness. She was scared, her only company were the Whispers in the Dark. They teased her, mocked her, helped her, scorned her." Cassandra sang in her empty room, her raven perched on her shoulder.

"The older ones once said that they could help her, give herself to the Goddess and understand the Thing within. But they were confused." She gently traced a finger along the Ravens beak, her eyes slowly getting lost in the a dulled eyes of her pet.

"They were talking about the Tyrant of the Blood, the Urge of the Veins. They ignored the mistress of the mind and the lord of sight. She learned their little secrets, all the while the voices still mocked, laughed and scored her. Her tears of sweet scarlet framing her face in beauty, sorrow and fear."

"But then, she stopped worrying. Why fight what haunts the mind and blood? Don't just become the slave, become one of them. Join them in their mockery and slaughter. Let the world bleed away in what you see every night!" She stopped her story, her eyes no longer fixed on her raven now caste to the floor. Her twisted joy had all but fallen away as the world came to view for just a moment. No longer muddled by the smeared oils on the canvas.

"How else can something like me go on like this.....? She whispered as the colours started to run once more in her vision...