The Devil | In Me

That night, the "Devil" introduced himself. Not with horns or brimstone, but with an extra shadow. Elias stood in his bathroom, toothbrush in hand, and noticed his reflection was three seconds behind. While Elias looked tired, the man in the mirror looked electric . He was grinning a predatory, wide-toothed grin that Elias hadn't used in a decade.

Elias was a restorer of rare clocks—a man of silent rooms and microscopic precision. His life was a collection of steady heartbeats and rhythmic ticking until he found the Solstice Chronometer in a damp cellar in Prague. It was a jagged piece of brass and obsidian, said to be crafted by a monk who had tried to map the exact frequency of the human soul. the devil in me

Elias felt his vision split. He saw his own hand reach out—not to hand over the clock, but to grip Sterling’s wrist. He felt the strength of ten men coiled in his muscles. His reflection in the glass of the clock wasn't his own face; it was a void with burning, amber eyes. That night, the "Devil" introduced himself

"It’s not me," Elias would tell himself, gripping the edge of his workbench until his knuckles turned white. "It’s the best of you," the shadow would retort. While Elias looked tired, the man in the

"You’re working too hard," the reflection whispered. The voice didn't come from the air; it vibrated inside Elias’s own teeth.